Joe’s Jotter: How to become a Specialist at Maths Exams (Part 2)

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Thousands of students have gone through the exam system having achieved their dreams, so be sure to aim high and keep believing in yourself. Put a plan in place today, so that you can revise effectively for all your upcoming Maths exams. Here are my top twelve tips to ACE any Maths Exam – both in preparation and tackling an exam paper on the day.

Top Twelve ACE Tips to Success in Maths

  1. Do out a weekly study timetable ensuring Maths is prominent on it. Make sure there are loads of topic variety with Algebra and Functions being the Initial cornerstones of learning.
  2. Buy a hardback and enter all keynotes, new information learned, and formulae’s that are not in your log tables into it. Divide it into topics to find Information easier.
  3. Note all new words you learn each day. If you don’t understand the meaning of them, ask your teacher or google them. Write down their meaning in your own words when you find out. One of the biggest issues in Maths is not understanding the words used on the paper.
  4. Practice past exams questions to get used to the wording, layout, and style of them.
  5. “Homework is study”, so approach all Maths homework as an exam hall question.
  6. Practice challenging questions at home. Time yourself on each question to get used to ‘Exam Hall’ pressure. Stick rigidly to the timing for each question.
  7. Get a “study buddy” that will complete past exam questions for you and with you. You can then meet up regularly and share Information and exam solutions with each other.
  8. On the day of the exam, read the wordy questions three or four times and then step through them word by word, line by line, underlining the key words as you go.
  9. Prepare for each exam the night before by checking you have all the materials you need for it. This is especially important in Maths.
  10. Don’t be afraid to express yourself in simple English if you are not sure what Maths to use to solve a problem. The State Exams Commission (SEC) encourages this type of creativity.
  11. Buy yourself an Exam Paper Solutions Book. You can use this book to check the work you are doing and to help you get started on the more challenging exam questions.
  12. Start today.

The Importance of the Words and the Formulas

Lastly, the language of Maths is extremely important especially since the birth of ‘Project Maths’ in 2008. The State Exams Commission (SEC) now place more of an emphasis on students knowing and understanding concepts and topics, as opposed to just been able to do numerical calculations. There are more words than ever on our Junior and Leaving Cert Maths exam papers, and it is crucial that you start familiarising yourself with them.

If you are not familiar with the words and phrases that appear on the paper, you may not be even able to get a question started. This would be an awful shame given the amount of time you have spent learning the mathematical skills. You need to be aware that different words have a different meaning depending on the subject. For example, the word “Evaluate” in Maths is quite different to what it means in English. I believe that knowing the key words and phrases is now a key component of “Ace-ing” a Maths exam. Apply the principles that I have outlined in this feature article to ACE any Maths exam you take on in 2022. Wishing you good luck students. Joe

To view last week’s feature article on ‘Maximising Your Junior and Leaving Cert Results’, click here.

More details about Joe as a Maths Tutor for Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate (2022) and his Award Winning ACE Maths Solution Books can be found via the links below.

ACE Maths Classes: acesolutionbooks.com/ace-maths-tuition

ACE Maths Solution Books: acesolutionbooks.com/buy-my-books

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Photo:@ZhangChaosheng

Joe’s Jotter: Maximising Your Results (Junior & Leaving Cert 2022)

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With the exams finally set in stone for June, what is the best way you can maximise your chances of achievement with a few months to go? How do you go about getting the highest possible result in each subject? As a student, you obviously cannot change any of the work you have done over the last eighteen months, but you still have over two months left to focus in on what you really need to get done. The purpose of this feature article is to give you some practical tips on how to ensure your grades are as high as possible across all subjects. Both Junior and Leaving Cert Students can benefit from the below guidance.

Four Ways to ‘Up Grade’

Maintain Your High Standards.

The best thing for students to do now is to listen to their teachers and complete all homework and classwork to a high standard. Each piece of work you complete well that has been verified by your teacher, will help get you familiar with the examiners expectations in June. This includes daily homework, class tasks and overall contribution to class. Students should actively listen in class and show a genuine interest in topics they are studying.  Similarly, and as I always say, ‘complete each piece of homework as if it were an exam paper question’. If you haven’t taken things seriously up to now in some subjects, start tomorrow.

As you meet new topics in class, work hard to try and get a better understanding of them using the Internet and your book. Each teacher will be aware of your efforts and will be more inclined to help and offer you advice as a result. Be sure to maintain a good working respectful relationship with all your teachers. Remember that any work done or efforts made to create notes and summaries will essentially be ‘money in the bank’ when it comes to sitting the exams in June. Every revision block and hour spent preparing will contribute to your success, as you deepen your knowledge of the course.

Stay Engaged in Class.

As always, teachers look for genuine engagement from all students during class. Students should endeavour to participate and learn as much as they can in each class. They shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions as they normally would, as this shows initiative and a desire to learn. If I were in your position now, I would bring a little hardback into each class and note down any key points the teacher emphasises as important. This ensures you stay engaged during each class. Treat all topics from now on seriously and consider that they could appear on your Junior or Leaving Cert Paper. Tend carefully to homework in subjects that you didn’t show much interest in up to now. It isn’t too late to turn things around in any subject. It is never too late to begin revision for any exam, but certainly the sooner you start the better.

Keep ‘Showing Up’.

During the various restrictions and lockdowns, we all had to find ways to stay focused and motivated. Key elements that help motivation include having a daily structure, having a sense of achievement, and having something productive to show at the end of each day. Be sure to attend school every day and go into each class with a positive can do attitude. With only a limited number of weeks left, stay motivated as best you can. For 6th year students, you may be attending third level in the Autumn, and you will have to learn new ways of processing Information. Any knowledge or skills you can pick up now will be useful for that. Investigate different ways to learn. Creating study notes, analysing texts, doing summaries, and listening well are all useful skills to enhance prior to commencing any third level course. Practice giving your subject teachers as close to 100% attention as you can now.

Retain Your Focus.

At this stage, your Teachers and Parents know your abilities. They also know that you may have had dips in your results over the last two years. If your Christmas test or mock result  was a lot lower than you could have got, they will know it may have just been a blip or a bad day for you. Worrying about previous performances or past class results will not get you one extra percent in June. In fact, it may affect preparation. Take the learnings from each test by writing your mistakes down, and then move on and be forward looking in your approach.

In general, my advice to you is to revise consistently each day and reach out and chat to your friends if you have any worries. Take time out, get enough sleep, do video calls/zoom sessions with your nearest, exercise, take loads of breaks, eat well, and try to enjoy life. During moments of stress, we all need to breathe deeply and calmly. Keeping in touch with friends and having a regular exercise routine will help you maintain a positive mindset when it really matters in your life now. Retaining focus will help you remain productive.

A healthy daily balance improves ones chance of success. Continue to enjoy activities and maintain that sense of fun daily. Since much of the hard work is now behind you, park the past and focus on the present and future. For 6th years, shift focus onto your subject performance, as opposed to a certain set number of CAO points. You have done so well to make it through this difficult year, so believe in yourself and the work you have done now. Get in touch with me if I can advise you and I wish you luck in your endeavours. Joe

To view last week’s article on ‘Positive Ways to Cope with Exam Strain’, click here.

More details about Joe as a Maths Tutor for Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate (2022) and his Award Winning ACE Maths Solution Books can be found via the links below.

ACE Maths Classes: acesolutionbooks.com/ace-maths-tuition

ACE Maths Solution Books: acesolutionbooks.com/buy-my-books

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Photo: @ZhangChaosheng

Joe’s Jotter: Positive Ways to Cope with Exam Strain

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Play is as important as study

It is vital that you build in time to have fun and relax between study sessions. Use your Lifestyle (Study) Timetable to help you plan enjoyable activities of relaxation and ‘play’. Going to watch your favourite team is a great way of taking your mind off school. Listening to music works also, especially if you combine it with a walk. Neuroscientists have done research into the link between music and anxiety. They say they have discovered a song that reduces anxiety by sixty-five percent. The song is called ‘Weightless’ and is written by ‘Marconi Union’. Download it.

“Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while,
you might just miss it”
                                                                                                                                                                                Ferris Bueller

Take and enjoy your breaks

Breaks are to be viewed as a positive around exam time. Academics with high concentration levels know the importance of breaks. Air traffic controllers are forced to take regular breaks to ensure they stay fresh. If you find that you are losing concentration, take a short break – go for a walk, talk to a friend, or just do something different. When you resume study, you will feel refreshed and be better able to concentrate on your revision again. Never beat yourself up for taking little breaks to keep fresh.

Liquid discipline

I would discourage you from drinking too much coffee, tea, or fizzy drinks around exam time. Caffeine may key you up and cluster your thinking. Naturally, you will feel a sugar rush from fizzies but remember “what goes up must come down!”. Just for this short period, maybe try some herbal teas like camomile or peppermint. I find peppermint tea is a great stomach settler. Try and get as much water into you as possible as the exams approach. If you become dehydrated from the lack of water, your concentration levels will drop. This is a scientifically proven fact.

Exercise the body as well as the mind

Regular moderate exercise such as a brisk walk, a swim or session in the gym will boost energy, clear the mind, and help reduce feelings of anxiety. Exercise releases endorphins (the good mood feeling) and will help you see the positives of life. A walk outside will get air into your lungs with a short thirty minute stroll being enough to reap many benefits.

Seeing and breathing in the senses of nature has been proven to enhance relaxation. Team sports are also brilliant as they improve relationships with your friends, allowing you to feel good about yourself. Sport will bring discipline to your studies as well as enhancing your personal confidence. From coaching Gaelic Football and Soccer teams over the years, I am of the opinion that students who involve themselves in sport tend to perform better in exams.

In general, exercise has actually been proven to have benefits as exams draw closer. The results of a University College Cork study (published in the US Journal of School Health in January 2013) headed by Dr John Bradley, back up this claim. In the survey of over four hundred boys who graduated from Secondary school between 2008 and 2011, those who participated in some kind of sport during the last two years of school “conferred an extra 25.4 CAO points benefit to their final Leaving Certificate score”. This increase is similar to what a student would receive from the current Maths bonus point’s structure. Need I say more? In other studies, it was also found that exercise helps one sleep better as the body is more physically tired (in a good way) and needs rest. In essence, when you exercise, endorphins induce a requirement for rest and feelings of sleep.

 Do your best to retain control

It is natural to feel some nerves prior to the commencement of exams, however getting excessively nervous is counterproductive, as it will hinder your ability to think clearly. Make sure to have a plan in place on the off chance that your mind goes blank. Breathing deeply will help should this scenario occur. Students always know more than they think they do. I constantly see them underestimating themselves and their abilities. Believe in yourself and all the preparation and revision you have done, both at home and in school.

Remember, the best thing you can do is to try and stay calm and retain control of your emotions, as this will make it easier to recall information. Before the exams, write down all fears and worries that you are currently experiencing in your journal. This will give you more of an awareness of what you are anxious about and why these feelings are actually occurring. Writing things down also serves to ease the burden of carrying everything around in your head. Wishing you luck as always. Joe.

To view last weeks article on ‘How to Revise more Effectively’, click here.

More details about Joe as a Maths Tutor for Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate (2022) and his Award Winning ACE Maths Solution Books can be found via the links below.

ACE Maths Tuition: acesolutionbooks.com/ace-maths-tuition

ACE Maths Solution Books: acesolutionbooks.com/buy-my-books

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Joe’s Jotter: How to Revise more Effectively

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Spending a short amount of quality time with someone is better than spending hours paying very little attention to them at all. Revising for an exam is similar. You must hit revision in small intense bursts where you give it your 100% attention. The following are three useful efficiencies that will help you construct good study sessions.

Rotate your Place of Study

It is good practice to rotate where you study. The main reason for this is that if you start to get bored or listless there, you’ll associate boredom with learning. Try other places such as the kitchen table, the park, the back garden, the library or just a different room; anywhere you want to really. Try revising certain topics in unusual locations. An example of this could be to learn English drama quotes on your lawn in the sun. When you need to remember these quotes in the exam hall, you can visualise yourself being back there in the sun, recalling the day you learned them and hopefully triggering your mind to recall that information. Experiment to see if music or TV helps you concentrate. Some subjects will be more suited to this than others. I believe some Maths topics do not require one hundred percent attention, an example being adding words or formula’s to your hardback notebook. This, however, may be associated with my aptitude for the subject. You may be able to listen to some low level music in subjects you are more tuned into. This varies from person to person obviously and definitely won’t work for every subject.

Leaving Material Out

Come the next few weeks, as regular as a clock ticks, the rumour mill kicks into action. Comments like “Oh, this is coming up this year”, “I heard this is expected to come up”, “There’s no way that will be on the paper” or even ‘I’m leaving that out’ are common both online and offline. Please be aware that if a topic is listed on the syllabus for your subject, it can appear on the paper, even if it came up last year. Your teacher will source you a copy of the syllabus document if you wish to view it, or alternatively you can download it online. The syllabus document will tell you exactly what can be examined in the subject and is useful when you are creating a list of topics to be covered for each subject.

In relation to exam preparation, I know you all will try cutting corners; you will predict, throw topics away and ignore information. I would not recommend leaving out big chunks of the course. The State Exams Commission, who set the exam papers each year, state that they do not want any element of predictability in them. In general my advice is to cover your bases well and be as sensible as you can.

The plan now should be to continue to whittle down and reduce the volume of your keynotes. I am convinced that summarising information helps assimilate it better and leaves one with a more concise set of notes. Keep re-writing summaries into something manageable that you can read and understand. As exams approach, be careful who you listen to. Teachers with many years’ experience (whether that’s your subject teacher or someone you know well) won’t put you far wrong. Having seen many exam papers, I think you can certainly place a good level of trust in them. The newspaper revision supplements, written by experienced professionals, can be a useful revision aid also. However, too much notes are a bad thing and may overwhelm you. Summarise, Summarise, Summarise!

Implement a Solid Study Plan Now

Now that you are aware and have listed out all the topics on a sheet (per subject), it is time to make a robust yet practical study plan that you can follow. Here are twenty practical study tips you can start using today:

  • Divide your study time into small sessions
  • Take a break of five or ten minutes after every session
  • Revise during the hours when you feel most productive
  • Each student has their own method of studying, so figure yours out and use it
  • Divide study times as per topics and effort needed. Difficult topics = More time
  • Underlining the key points for each topic is a great habit to start now
  • Make a practical study plan you can follow. A plan that is not doable is a big NO
  • Short notes should be just that – short and concise. This makes revision easier later
  • Use abbreviations and note down the key points only. No waffle or padding
  • Do not skip a topic because it seems difficult. Revise it a few times to let it sink in
  • Use revision breaks for something productive such as music, exercise, or activities
  • Always set a target score you are aiming towards in each subject
  • Take tests regularly. Your test scores are a regular reminder of your target score
  • Maintain test records so that you know which subtopics you need to work on
  • Sleep 7-8 hours daily. Losing sleep will affect your ability to concentrate and retain
  • Stay as healthy as you possibly can. Exercise
  • You cannot change the amount of revision you did yesterday. Start today
  • Be kind to yourself. Use positive self-talk each day
  • Reflect on the amount of revision you did today, instead of what you didn’t do
  • If today’s study plan didn’t go well, revisit it and tweak tomorrows one

and remember..

“It is never too late to step into your own greatness”

Joe McCormack

To view last weeks article on ‘How to become a Specialist at Maths Exams (Part 1)’, click here.

More details about Joe as a Maths Tutor for Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate (2022) and his Award Winning ACE Maths Solution Books can be found via the links below.

ACE Maths Classes: acesolutionbooks.com/ace-maths-tuition

ACE Maths Solution Books: acesolutionbooks.com/buy-my-books

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*****

Photo: @ZhangChaosheng

Joe’s Jotter: How to become a Specialist at Maths Exams (Part 1)

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Surprisingly, thousands of top Maths students over the years have struggled when it comes to performing to their ability in Maths exams. In my experience, there is now a disconnect between how teachers teach a Maths class and the skills students use during a Maths test.

For some students, a fear almost overcomes them with the thought of a Maths test upcoming.  Similarly, a fair percentage of students that breeze through other subject exams freeze during Maths ones. A significant aspect of Teaching Maths now is helping students overcome their anxieties, while teaching them the key techniques to retain their calmness and confidence.

Sitting a Maths exam is a skill, but it is something that if you practice and apply a defined strategy to, you can get quite good at it. Every day, I work closely with students to teach them these vital skills to excel in all kinds of Maths assessments.  Below are my insights into how to ACE any Maths exam – from the five minute class test to the full on final state examination.

Make Changes to How You Revise and Prepare for Maths Exams

Below are some clipits of advice to help you get set for a Maths exam. Applying these practical guidelines in your revision plan and during exams will 100% improve your grades.

  1. Apply the skills you have learned from practicing past exam questions under time pressure at home. A time budget plan is a key part to success in any Maths exam.
  2. Keep a hardback of Maths notes. Being familiar with words that appear on Maths papers are vital to aid understanding of the questions you are being quizzed on.
  3. Find multiple-choice questions online or ask your teacher if they have some. These are like ‘speed-studying’ and require less time to work through and test yourself on.
  4. Attempt past exam questions. After completing each past exam question, be sure to view its exact and fully developed solution to see how your work stacks up against it.
  5. Stay alert for key words and phrases to guide you through a question. For example, the volume of an object should allow you to find measurements on it by working backwards.
  6. Use familiar mathematics to guide you. Think back to relate the test question to a concept, topic, or technique your teacher did with you in class.
  7. Formulas are key in Maths. Reflect on what formula you know that may help you solve the problem. This formula may in fact be printed on the test paper or in your log tables.
  8. Can the diagram in the question help? Writing relevant information on a given diagram may prompt relevant thoughts and connections to help you start a Maths question.
  9. Show all workings. Always show how to get from one step to the next. Provide all your workings out to support your answer. At the end of each question, always ask yourself ‘Is this a realistic answer or solution to the question being asked?’ Example: Ten metres would never be an acceptable answer for the height of a pencil. You get the Idea.
  10. Read the entire question… twice. Check what the question is asking and in what form you need to present the answer. For example, you might need to round the final answer (decimal places, significant figures, scientific notation) or convert to an annual amount.
  11. Note the key Information given in the question onto your answer book. Subsequently, note the Information that isn’t present. Link these two to help complete the full jigsaw.
  12. Don’t be afraid to utilise diagrams or tables in your solution. This will clarify your understanding of the information in the question and support your workings out.
  13. Show all relevant substitution (subbing in). This shows the examiner that correct Maths processes are being used (e.g. showing the substitution of an x-value into a function). Joe

To view last weeks article on ‘The ACE Guide to Exam Prep from Home”, click here.

More details about Joe as a Maths Tutor for Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate (2022) and his Award Winning ACE Maths Solution Books can be found via the links below.

ACE Maths Classes: acesolutionbooks.com/ace-maths-tuition

ACE Maths Solution Books: acesolutionbooks.com/buy-my-books

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Photo:@ZhangChaosheng