ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => Victorian Education Discussion => Topic started by: werdna on December 29, 2010, 05:04:28 pm
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Has anyone actually ever made and used a VCE study timetable?
I'm contemplating making one (as I can get really disorganised) but am just wondering whether I should do a fixed timetable with all the study sessions fixed in, or do a blank timetable and fill in the timeslots on a weekly basis?
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Just write a list of things you need to do and go through crossing them off when you finish, it's what I do when I have important revision to do. Break it down as far as possible into nice simple chunks
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timetables never worked for me. My Uni timetable doesn't work in getting me to my classes either.
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study timetables can work if you learn how to make an effective one (but not everyone is suited to a timetable). perhaps something not too solid and concrete. Add variations to it so its not always so boring. I have to run off somewhere but i can help you with making a timetable if you need help.
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I agree with Russ.
I've made a set plan/timetable before and as what tends to happen, I never follow it by the rule. I've made one for these holidays, leaving gaps if unexpected things come up/or I procrastinate. It's working, so far. Break your timetable down into small portions of what you're going to do each day, and work through it gradually. It's more overwhelming (I find) if you do one massive fixed plan, which you can't always follow.
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I made study timetables and it never worked out, seeing I had other things going on at the same time.
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@werdna the offer is still available. but yeah like i said not everyone is suited to a timetable; people go with the flow! Part of the reason i might use a timetable is because i want to feel organised haha but that's just me :P
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Creating a strict timetable may build pressure for yourself (this is a positive/ negative depending on whether you like working under the pump). The idea of a flexible one is good for people who like to know exactly what they are doing at a certain time.
But this is highly up to the individual, if you are one who struggles for time or if you aren't used to routine, then you may find yourself staying up late and jeopardizing your health without a timetable.
I will probably set myself a strict bed time, and make sure i sleep at that time every night. I have 30mins for any catch up work from the day before before i begin the night's hw. And then generally, the night will be flexible, given that i never eat consistently at the same time.
I will do homework/study knowing that i sleep by __ time. Good sleep= More attentive next day, learn better, and grasp concepts better= feel better about study/homework.
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A good study routine is learning everything you set out to learn that day in the shortest amount of time possible.
30 minutes of intense, impulsive study is more effective than 2 hours of planned, boring "what did I just read about?" time-wasting sessions.
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timetables never worked for me. My Uni timetable doesn't work in getting me to my classes either.
+1
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I tried to use this one, but everyday's different lool sometimes I'm not in the mood to study one thing so I'll study something else. Personally, I think timetables are hard to keep up with!
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Thanks for the replies guys.
I think I might just plan each day as it comes..
Sticking to a fixed timetable would revolve around time, not the quality of work produced, if that makes sense.
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Throughout the year I just did what I needed to do however when exams were approaching I set a timetable to stick to. That way I could prevent favouring 1 subject over another
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^ That's a good idea. :)
What's the go with study times? At what times did you guys feel you studied best?
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Study timetables don't work for me because I tend to underestimate the amount of time it takes to do things...eg. I allocated 30 minutes to making a summary of chapter 3 but instead it takes me 45 minutes because I came across a difficult concept to grasp and there were sentences full of unknown jargon. Like I guess you could preview things beforehand and estimate the amount if time it would take...but if you are going to make a study time table, make it flexible. You never know what might distract you as life tends to be a bit unpredictable.
Just know what you have to do and just do it.
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Just make a small list of things you need to do. That's what I did each night. Make sure you don't put too much stuff on it otherwise you'll give up. Put around 3-4 things on there, only add more once you've completed some of the things on the list. Then check off each thing once you've finished it. You'll get a lot of gratification from finishing everything you've written on the list for that night. I know I did :P
I think that's also the best thing to do because you know best what you need to do each night, and a generic timetable doesn't allow for different circumstances (say you have a lot more work to do in one subject one night than another)...
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I definitely agree with just generally having lists of things to do.
Closer to exams, you may need to ensure that you can complete everything by certain dates. Start assigning certain tasks to certain days, but don't set times for it. Just put down what you believe you can do in a night and work to complete it. I think leaving things vague allows you to be more flexible whilst ensuring that you will get everything done.
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Has anyone actually ever made and used a VCE study timetable?
I'm contemplating making one (as I can get really disorganised) but am just wondering whether I should do a fixed timetable with all the study sessions fixed in, or do a blank timetable and fill in the timeslots on a weekly basis?
Don't do it, it's a waste of time and causes unneccesary stress.
It's like trying to preplan conversations by writing scripts beforehand. You need to go with the flow and adapt to cicumstances as they come.
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I honestly only studied when I felt like it. If I wasn't in the mood, or I was too tired or whatever, I wouldn't pressure myself to study because I rarely got anything done. Instead, I watched the tv programs I'd recorded, eat lunch, do whatever, and hopefully get a few things out of my system. That way, when I WAS in the mood to study, I'd study my butt off to make up for it. I honestly think this was the best way to do things for me.
Another thing I found helpful, was planning a lot of social stuff on the weekend, or planning to see a friend on Wednesday (my day off, because my only class was English so I just didn't go). That forced me to do the work I had to do in order to reap the rewards of going out, or seeing a friend. If you have too much time, you just think "oh I can do it later", but if you're plannning to go shopping at 2 (for example), then you need to get everything done.
Another idea, because Wednesday was my day off, I'd decide that if I got a lot of work done on the weekend, monday and tuesday, Wednesday would be a relaxing day and I wouldn't do any work until the evening, but if I didn't get enough work done, I'd use it to study. I almost never used Wednesday to study unless I had nothing else to do because I'd be really motivated to study if I knew the reward was kicking back, or seeing friends.
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Well this year one of my friends in yr 12 managed to stay behind school on Mon~Thur till 5:15pm doing study (or more like "catching up on work since she likes to muck around in class" quote her :P)
I stayed behind with her on a few days since we're practically neighbors but I found that I was feeling quite burnt out at the end of the day + I wasn't doing any 3/4's but I did exceptionally well in my Japanese and Accounting 1/2's (got the awards for them!)
Anyway, this year I plan to stay behind school till 5:15pm on Mondays and Wednesdays (assuming im doing MUEP on Tuesdays) to get a solid 1.5+ hrs of work done without any distractions then try to take it easy on Thursdays and Fridays until exams come
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Well this year one of my friends in yr 12 managed to stay behind school on Mon~Thur till 5:15pm doing study (or more like "catching up on work since she likes to muck around in class" quote her :P)
I stayed behind with her on a few days since we're practically neighbors but I found that I was feeling quite burnt out at the end of the day + I wasn't doing any 3/4's but I did exceptionally well in my Japanese and Accounting 1/2's (got the awards for them!)
Anyway, this year I plan to stay behind school till 5:15pm on Mondays and Wednesdays (assuming im doing MUEP on Tuesdays) to get a solid 1.5+ hrs of work done without any distractions then try to take it easy on Thursdays and Fridays until exams come
I'm aiming to do a pretty similar thing, except I'll walk the 15 minutes from my school to my local library so I have a break from my last class to when I start studying. A nice, relaxing walk out in the sun to chill out will be perfect in between school and studying. I haven't thought about what days I'll do this howwwwwwwwwwever.
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i find that i study best at night ~ 6.30 til about 10.30 and then i switch off, so i never bother studying after 10.30 because i know i won't get anything done. but to compensate for this i actually pay attention in class.
you probably know what time you work best at (obviously for everybody it's different) but an important thing to remember is to not force yourself to study all night because it usually is ineffective. if you find that you still have a lot of work to do and it's getting really late, i suggest you go to sleep and wake up earlier and you might find you get a lot more done with a fresh mind. e.g. a girl in my physics class always pulls an all-nighter and she literally gets only one subject done, and then she'll come to school and fall asleep in class (thus she gets even more behind) and sometimes she's so tired she misses classes (again falls even more behind). i don't know how many of you agree with me, but i think this applies to quite a few people i know.
p.s study timetables have never worked for me and they probably never will, so i just write a list of things i have to do and cross them off
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I actually love studying after midnight. Everything is so quiet and nobody is in the house moving around; it's just perfect for studying. There's also usually the added pressure of having work due in a few hours. Of course I'm used to sleeping very few hours, so it's not exactly advisable if you're not used to it.
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I actually love studying after midnight. Everything is so quiet and nobody is in the house moving around; it's just perfect for studying. There's also usually the added pressure of having work due in a few hours. Of course I'm used to sleeping very few hours, so it's not exactly advisable if you're not used to it.
I'm like this too. I'm much more alerted at midnight after hours at school and I couldn't function straight after hometime and dinnertime. However, it's bad since I would only have few hours of sleep. Lack of sleep make me grumpy and even less alerted for the next school day.