HOW we revise at Waldegrave

Music for the mind- Mozart How parents help- a film

Key points to cover this evening:

• The purpose of Revision

• Effective Revision environments

• getrevising.co.uk

• Learning styles (VAK)

• Revision Techniques

• Transition to KS4/ PDC

• Top 10 mistakes we make when revising

Knowledge Understanding

•Facts•Figures•Equations & Formulae•Key quotes•Key people•Current Affairs•Historic events•List

•Evaluation•Compare & Contrast•Synthesis•Discuss•Analyse•Application

*Individual Learners

Learning Environments

Learning Environments

Create an effective revision space • A clean, well equipped study environment helps revision.

It removes distractions and promotes an organised approach to study...things you can include:

• Creating a tidy undisturbed place to work• Having a comfortable chair, but not one you could fall

asleep in (so no sofas, couches or bed!)• Using a table which gives enough room for books and to

spread out etc• A bright lamp• Pens, pencils, other equipment including scrap paper• Warm (but not too warm that you get cozy and sleepy)

getrevising.co.ukWaldegrave School has registered with the getrevising.co.uk website, which allows girls to :

-Set up a personal profile

-Enter their exam boards and exams (this information was sent home to each family)

-Enter their Controlled Assessments and modular assessments (this information was also sent home to each family)

-Devise a revision timetable

-Investigate various learning/ revision help

-Join study groups

VAK- Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic

Use coloured highlighter pens to mark your revision notes. You should identify key words (these may be names, dates, places, etc.) You could even use different colours for different types of information.

You might find it helpful to play soothing music as you revise. Experts suggest that some types of music (particularly with a tempo of 58-60 beats per minute) can help you learn more effectively. However, music at a faster tempo or music with a strong lyric can have a distracting effect.

Stick keywords on post-it notes at strategic points around your room. For example: by the light switch - left hand side of shelf - right hand side of shelf - left-hand cupboard door… Now, walk around the room, pausing in front of each sticky-note in turn and reading the key-word. If you do this a few times, you will find it easy to recall what is on each of the sticky-notes without actually walking around the room.

Have different colours for different topics, or different rooms for different Subjects.

In the margins of your subject note-book, draw sketches or cartoons that relate to that particular topic or paragraph. These will not only help you to locate that particular section but will also make it more memorable.

Record key points on an audio file and play them over, especially just before you sleep.

Identify key points and try to make these into a rhyme, rap or song. This will make it memorable.

Pay attention to the layout of your revision notes. You might find it useful to use flow-charts (in science, history, English …to keep track of events) or diagrams (in science, geography , Maths...)

Explain what you have learned to someone else, perhaps to your parents. (We tell them parents usually go on about how important it is to revise properly - so why shouldn't they suffer as well!)

Write on the mirror in the bathroom or have mind-maps on the outside screen of the shower.

We are different combinations of these

…leading up to the exam- what should we be advising?

MIX THE VAK

Brainsmart animation

• Languages: ITunes podcasts that are in another language. E.g. French/ German or Spanish to help practice listening skills

• Music: board games (research to make the questions…i.e.: The Poo Game)

• PE: Articulate (cut up the keywords and then play with PE keywords)

MATHSHISTORY SCIENCE

Symbolism

Advantages and Disadvantages

Mark 11:15-17 

Food and FastingPublic and

Private Worship

Philosophy 1 Unit 2

Rudolf Otto• What does Spirituality mean?• Explain Otto’s idea of numinous and ‘Wholly other’. • Ways in which people can express their spirituality?

Monks & Nuns

Keywords/ TermsBelief

Spirituality Numinous

Awe and wonderHoly spirit Pentecost

BaptismRosary Beads

IconsEucharist

MassLiturgy

Lords Supper Holy Communion1st Covenant2nd Covenant

Holy Spirit

Why is Private Worshipimportant for Christians?

Why is Private Worshipimportant for Christians?

Advantages and Disadvantages

AidesThe Last Supper

The Covenants

Jesus’ Teachings

Matthew 6:5-13 Luke 18:9-14 The

Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Does Prayer work:Arguments for and Against

Church Buildings

How do Church building

show spirituality?

What would you find in a church?

HarvestFishLentVegetarianism Easter Eggs

-Why Christians use that particular food

-Why they fast and the significance

Prayer and Meditation

Religious and Spiritual Experience

Why do people fast?

Music & Art

Handel: ‘Messiah’Gloria in ExcelsisMozart: Requiem

Hymns

Why is Musicused in worship?

Advantages andDisadvantages

Difference b/w sign and symbol

Egs. of Art in Christianity

Adv. and Disadv. of Art in Christianity How has the image of Jesus changed throughout history?

Puritians?

P.R.A.Y

Adoration

Confession

Intercession

Petition

Thanksgiving

Mind-mapping: A thinking tool…Mind-mapping: A thinking tool…For visual/ kinaesthetic learners it is the easiest way to ‘put info in the brain’…

… and therefore it is the easiest way to ‘take info out of the brain’ (recall)

6 steps:6 steps:

1.Start with a central idea (theme)- try an image as they are easier to recall2.Add the thick braches3.Colour each thick branch a different colour for easy recall4.Label the thick branches- try to use single words or terms as they are easier to remember5.Attach images where possible ‘a picture paints a 1000 words’- pictures have a massive impact on the brain6.Connections: 2nd/ 3rd/ 4th level branches… This means that the brain is working by association, making the act of ‘remembering’ easier…

Lets try one now… work together to try build a quick mind-map on:-Cars-Raising a Teenager, or-Food

EXPERT ON A TOPIC

You will be acting as a professor and an expert on the topic you have

been given.

TASK: You have 1 minute to explain and share everything you know on your area of expertise.

Spaced Learning• Spaced Learning is a learning method

in which the condensed learning content is repeated three times, with two 10-minbreaks during which distracter activities (such as physical activities) are performed by the students.

• Experiments proved that its not constant stimulation of brain cells which cause them to be switched on (and make a memory).

• To make memories, scientists found that stimulation had to separated by gaps/spaces when the brain cell was not stimulated. (thus ‘spaced learning)

Revise

10 min break

Revise

10 min break

Revise

• Different rooms- different subjects• Learn together• Reinforces the purpose and importance of

learning and recall• Demonstrates support

REVISON in REVISON in the FAMILY the FAMILY

HOMEHOME

Breathing and Relaxation

IT sounds hippie, but for many of our girls, when they are stressed prior to, or in an exam, they forget their breathing.

It is important to calm nerves, settle thoughts; and oxygenate the body allowing it to work to a premium.

Waldegrave works on techniques throughout their PDC lessons in years 10 & 11, where girls do Yoga and breathing classes. The ILD also work further with breathing techniques with our more vulnerable pupils.

Transition to KS4/ PDC

• Tutor time activities

• Coverage in the PDC curriculum

• Individual subjects

• Select students for academic mentoring

Our top 10 mistakes…‘I’ll just do it…’ For the vast majority of you- you won’t. Get a revision timetable up and

running- make it realistic. Make it public.

‘ I need to clean my room/ I need to do this now’… (putting it off)

Don’t procrastinate- Just do it!

‘I need my phone/ computer/ gagetty-thing to help me’

You should unplug your computer or laptop, as it's simply too tempting to go off roaming the wide, open spaces of Web-fordshire, instead of ploughing through the causes of the agricultural revolution. It is also imperative to turn off your mobile phone (one distraction too many).

‘I can revise anywhere… including my bed. I revise well when I am comfortable.’

Establish a routine! Choose a place where you will do your revision. Seated and where you won’t be distracted.

‘I can do it by myself… I don’t need their help.’

Make your family aware of the fact that you need some peace and quiet during your revision periods, so they know not to disturb you.

‘I just need to read my notes… I just read.’ Revision is about using all your senses- mix up revision using the VAK styles.

‘I need a coke’ Believe in bananas! Take a leaf out of the Olympics and make use of this

potassium-rich performance- enhancer. Don’t fuel your body with sugary

rubbish- your body won’t revise very far on that!

‘It doesn’t matter, I can re-sit’ Fundamentally, it is harder to prepare for a resit- it is more time consuming than getting it right the first time/ it is not you and your peers- it is just you/ you will have moved on to another topic so will be ‘juggling’ more

‘I remember it all better the night before’ No. Learning is about retention of information, application of this knowledge and building on this understanding. Don’t leave it all to the night before- you’ll forget it within the week.

‘I have revised! Look, I made flash cards!’ The most effective way to approach a revision session is to focus on understanding rather than memorising. Practice Qs!

Where to find help:

• School website (these resources)• School Fronter page• getrevising.co.uk• BBC bitesize (just check the correct exam board)• Call your daughter’s:

– Subject Teacher,– Form Tutor, – Deputy Head of House, – Head of House, or– Director

In summary…

• Encourage, discuss and support revision- positively reinforce all efforts to revise

• Revise in chunks, not the last-minute attempt

• Personalised revision- not everyone learns the same way

• Talk to Teachers/ Tutor/ Head of House- we want to hear from you and help where we can