Do you find yourself prioritising relaxation over studying? Well, Aidan will show you the best tips to turn your work ethic around so that you are achieving your best possible marks.
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Aidan is a Year 9 Sydney Technical High and Matrix student. In this article, he shares his best tips on how he turned his marks around and explains how to boost your year 9 marks with revision and practice.
Aidan Miu
I am currently a Year 9 student and attend Sydney Technical High School.
My university goal is to study Law. I have always enjoyed speaking and doing debating during my upper primary and high school life.
My career goal is to become a politician.
I enjoy the field of politics and want to help make the country the best it can be and fix flaws that I have experienced to ensure that future generations do not suffer the same flaws as I have.
The subjects I do at school are:
Ever since Year 7, my performance at school was never outstanding. I was above average, but I would lag behind in my classes for the major 3 subjects.
Aside from the academics, I also play the piano for the intermediate band at STHS.
I perform the best in Commerce because I enjoy the subject.
The topics in which this subject incorporates was something that I was attracted to and I think that is why I perform better in it.
I perform the worst in English.
The long tedious stages of reading and breaking down each technique in a scene or paragraph really overloads my brain. This means that I would forget the techniques quickly.
That is why I enrolled at Matrix for English. They help me break down and identify different techniques in my different texts and show me how to analyse meaning in them.
My number one problem in Year 8 was the lack of effort I put in.
I was so focused on relaxing that I neglected my studies.
When it came to exam preparation, I would freak out and not remember any of the content.
So, I started to change my work ethic when I entered Year 9:
These are the 3 steps I took:
Take all the spare time that is available to look over your notes and revise the content taught that day.
Since you will always learn something new in class, revising what you didn’t understand is very important.
This will help you identify areas where you need more assistance or practice to improve.
Make your own notes. Since Matrix is one term ahead, it allows you to have an idea of what you will be taught next term.
For example, in Science, nearly everything taught at Matrix is the same as what you will be taught at school the following term.
So, use the holidays to go over it and make you own notes from the theory books.
The 2 weeks of the holidays will help to keep the content fresh in your brain. So, when you go back to school, you will remember the content as you revised it.
Finally, put your knowledge into action.
This part will help you determine if you understand the content or not.
Working through these also helps you figure out if you need more practice with writing or answering questions.
For example, when you are practising English essay paragraphs, you need to first revise the paragraph structures and your sentence writing.
Then, you should put that knowledge into practice by writing an essay paragraph with a sample question.
Some advice I would give to people who are enrolled in the term course is to use it wisely and to your advantage.
The theory books for Maths, English and Science all contain notes and tips for improving your marks.
At the end of the day, you need to ensure that you revise and remember the content.
That is why if you need further clarification, you should attend a workshop or even ask you, class teacher, since they have great insight and knowledge to assist you.
My most effective strategy consists of 2 stages.
Firstly, you need to go over your worst-performing topics and sections.
For example, you have a Math test that covers statistics, algebra and trigonometry. If you perform better in trigonometry and algebra than statistics, you should go back and revise statistical related questions.
After that, I would go through past papers.
Past papers are so helpful. They give you an idea of what type and sort of questions you would be given in your exams and their level of difficulty.
I attended Maths, English and Science at Matrix from 9:30am – 3pm. It was like an extra day of school.
Sometimes, the content at my school would be taught at the same time as Matrix.
So, this helped me to keep the content fresh in my mind and practice more questions at the same time.
At the start of the year, I did not have a timetable to regularly revise my content.
I consistently created study notes, but I did not regularly revise and reread the concepts.
I only started revising when online learning came around.
If I had only begun creating and adopting a regular revision timetable, I believe I would have been more ready and equipped for exam periods much better.
Also, I do Judo as a sport and I have to juggle between training and school work.
Sometimes, my Judo competitions would affect my weekly timetable.
So, I wish that created a weekly timetable earlier to help me adapt with weekly change and give myself adequate time to revise and do sport.
My advice is never stress and overthink what you are being asked in a question.
Just remember the content that you have been taught and you’ll be fine.
1. Revise revise revise
Through revision and looking over the content and techniques you have been taught.
Creating a regular revision study timetable will help benefit.
2. Past papers
Teachers have always stated that past papers help you understand the type of questions can be asked to you.
This is very true.
But doing one or two is not enough.
I recommend doing at least four or five past papers since this is a good amount for your brain to remember those sorts of questions and their levels.
3. Don’t overcomplicate nor provide insufficient evidence
What I mean by this is that you need to answer the question with enough evidence.
But also be careful to not over-complicate your answer and add unnecessary language.
This may be hard to understand but at the end of the day, just answer the question straight forward.
1. Stress
Stressing is not going to help you in your studies. The more you stress, the more likely you will perform badly.
2. Don’t leave revision to last minute
Keep the revision going. If you do not have a regular revision timetable, you will forget content quickly.
3. Don’t get distracted by little things
Your final exams are your last ones for school.
Don’t end it on a low note.
Work your absolute best and hardest, so that you can the results you want.
After that, then you can relax and calm yourself. But don’t get distracted and side-tracked by things that may jeopardise your studies.
Written by Guest Author
We have regular contributions to our blog from our Tutor Team and high performing Matrix Students. Come back regularly for these guest posts to learn their study hacks and insights!
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