Teach Secondary 13.7

W e teachers generally keep our minds and lives quite well organised. With our day-to-day activities typically governed by a timetable, it’s no surprise that many of us would choose to revise for exams using a timetabled revision programme. Yet for some students, the stress of constructing an unrealistic timetable – which they probably won’t manage to stick to – simply isn’t worth it. Worse still, their likely failure to organise their time can easily lead to lower self-esteem and spiralling stress levels as their exams approach. Mix it up If you want your pupils to at least attempt using revision timetables, then keep it coarse. Base them on the start date of the exams, setting targets like ‘ Revise all Geography Paper 1 content by the start of May ’ if the exam is in early June, to allow time for revisiting the relevant topics. “I don’t know HOW to revise!” Neil Dixon offers some advice for helping students plan, organise their time and experiment with revision techniques more effectively Keep revision sessions fresh by mixing subjects and returning to areas previously covered; students’ growing familiarity with the material should then boost their confidence. You can find further tips and advice on helping students revise via the BBC’s Bitesize Study Support (see tiny.cc/ ts137-RT1). Introduce your students to a range of revision strategies, so that they can experiment and see what works for them. When students are reflecting on prior assessment performance, have them identify and self-evaluate the revision techniques they used. They might find that some topics can be revised more effectively using mind maps, while others may benefit more fromuse of flashcards. Get themmotivated Some students can be incredibly self-motivated. For others, motivation can be a huge problem. With the latter group, engage parents and carers if you can (as well as any tutors and support ABOUT THE AUTHOR Neil Dixon is a science teacher at South Bromsgrove High School and the author of several revision guides and textbooks; he is also currently a Subject Matter Specialist for Ofqual You can find more student-oriented revision and wellbeing support at BBC Bitesize via tiny.cc/ts137-RT4 I recommend to students that they use mark schemes alongside past exam questions, especially in subjects where the mark schemes are easy to understand. For subjects where the mark scheme is more complex, youmay need to dedicate some lesson time to showing themhow to assess their own work. Practising peer assessment and peer feedback can be helpful here. Students can also revise using audio media (such as the Bitesize podcasts available fromBBC Sounds via tiny.cc/ts137-RT3) while walking in town or travelling by public transport, which can be a real help when managing their time. Of course, we all know that the same devices students use to access digital revision materials can also be hugely distracting. It might be worth explaining to students how to configure their devices with screentime controls and restrictions on certain apps or websites during study sessions. They can then look forward to those restrictions being lifted in the evening – at least until bedtime... staff) in helping students set specific goals. Doing this might help them to stay on task when the revision piles up. Ask them to consider, for example, ‘ What will achieving a 5 in English mean for me? Why is it important for my future plans? ’ Encourage your students to try revising with others, be they peers or family members. I love it whenmy own children explain something to me that they’ve been studying at school, because when you explain something to someone else, it challenges your own understanding. That’s why I’ll sometimes ask my Y11 students to explain something back to me as if I were a Y9 student. I can then use questioning to challenge their understanding and use of terminology. Park the past papers (for now) I always recommend leaving past papers until fairly late in the revision process, once the content and skills are more familiar. Otherwise, there’s a good chance that students will destroy their confidence by finding the paper too hard. Before using the limited supply of available genuine past papers, build up to them by using exam- style questions of the kind found in workbooks and online – you can find plenty of examples at BBC Bitesize via tiny.cc/ts137-RT2. 31 teachwire.net/secondary R E V I S I O N TEACH SECONDARY SPECIAL REVISION