6 th Form Study Skills Session 2

Prize draw! Thanks for attending the session today At the end of the session we will draw a name to win a voucher.

Objectives By the end of today’s session you will have: Developed strategies for time management and organisation Recognised a suitable revision technique Planned a timetable for future work / revision

Self reflection Complete the self reflection sheet you have been given by ticking yes / no / don’t know Be honest – you will not be marked on this!!! What do the answers to these questions suggest about how well you manage your time now? Do you need to change any of your attitudes to time in order to manage your studies well?

Plan your timeIdentify tasksPrioritiseAllocate time and dateTimetableStick to the planAchieve outcomeReduce stressAttain your target gradeRelax

10 steps to effective time management 1.Be systematic in your time management 2.Find out your time requirements 3.Clarify how you use your time currently 4.Decide how you want to spend your time 5.Prioritise what is most important 6.Plan what you will do when 7.Do it, keeping to your plan 8.Apply time management techniques 9.Manage distractions and procrastination 10.Monitor Keep checking it is all working

Clarify how you use your time now Be aware of how much time it takes you, personally, to do things. Where you think your time goes and where it actually goes. If you were to keep a record of everything you do for a day – how much time do you think spend on your phone?!

How do I waste time?

How do you procrastinate? TASK Write a list of all the things you do to avoid what you should actually be doing!

Why do we procrastinate? Motivation Fear of failure Overwhelmed by tasks Bored So how can we overcome some of these barriers?

Manage distractions & procrastination Build your understanding of when and how you become distracted from using time effectively, despite your best intentions. How will becoming organised help you to manage distractions?

How will being organised help you beat procrastination?

Effective planning Use the blank plan you have been given and write in: – Lessons – Catch up sessions – Tutoring – Work commitments – Family commitments – Sleep!

Prioritise You may find it hard to fit in everything you would like to do and some things will be more urgent than others. Identify your priorities and set a time by when these must be completed. Write a ‘to do’ list and highlight Essential tasks Urgent tasks (tightest deadlines) Most important Work out an order in which they should be done

How will you get your tasks completed? Think about: Exactly what you need to achieve? How much time is available? How long might each task and Sub Task take to achieve? The resources available? (e.g. internet access) Dependences – Who or what else you rely on before you can complete a task. E.g. Printing in school)

With your own list of tasks Allocate how much time is needed for each Make a list of the hours you will allocate to school work including your in-school study periods and some after school and weekend time. Now plan the work and revision you need to do into your ‘free’ time, both at school and at home.

Plan & Do it Be very sepcific and comprehensive in your time planning. Keep a detailed plan and make sure it is somewhere visible Work backwards from deadlines such as assignment hand in dates and exams

Monitor Check that you are sticking to your plan. If not, either update your plan to make it more realistic OR work out what you need to do to stay on target

Revision What is revision? The process of reviewing the work to be examined, going over it to: Check you have covered the syllabus in sufficient breadth and depth Remind yourself of what you have learnt Check your understanding Employ strategies to help recall in the exam room

Are you organised for each subject? Do you have a clearly organised folder for each subject with the following: Lesson notes Worksheets Handouts from your teacher Marked essays Text books / resources

What next? Organise your notes – the process of sorting out what is ‘essential’ helps to remind you of material covered during the year. Reduce your notes – to key headings, points and citations (name and date only). Make flash cards – using memory triggers. You could also use pattern notes, mind maps or concept pyramids. Check your learning. Work interactively with materials. Write out a record of what you have to recall. Test your recall. Write and test recall of difficult material several times to build your memory

Revision strategies Have a revision mentality from today onwards Make notes clear, visual, colourful and memorable. Leave lots of space and revisit at the end of the day to add to your notes Make flash cards with key info as you go Go over material at regular intervals, so that you have less to do at the last minute

More revision strategies Keep a positive mindset Work with others Ask for help from subject teachers Use memory triggers Revise by ear (record yourself!) Stay healthy Use past papers

Preparing for your next session Find out the AOs for the subject you are currently underachieving in the most. Bring an example of a past essay question for your subject. (you may need to be proactive and ask your teacher) Add these tasks to your timetable for this week