Battling SACS

[BLACKCATT]

How do you guys overcome a question you can't do in a math SAC? I feel as though if i were to look at the question in a room by myself with silence and no distractions i would be able to solve it. But i just can't do it during the actual SAC. The nerves get the better of me and i start breaking down, wasting time staring at the question where i could be using it to check over my answers. This really depresses me and it has happened over and over again across the year. With further last year, i felt like i was more determined, motivated and just felt 'smarter' than what i have become now. I don't think this is due to the content but rather my ability and concentration seemed to have degraded. If anyone could provide any sound advice on how to tackle the SAC/use time efficiently or anything else, i would greatly appreciate it.
Oh and one more thing, i'm not sure whether if i should start doing practice exam questions (because we haven't covered the whole course and i would eventually run out of practice papers), but would it help if i did? Should i work ahead in the course to start practice papers?
 Thank you

[Tyleralp1]

Here's my usual plan of action:

1. Proceed to continue on with other questions.
2. Stare blankly around the room until I come up with something.
3. Wait until the teacher isn't looking, or they're preoccupied and then gesture for the guy next to me to move his paper closer to the edge so I can grab a peek. Or I just whisper/mime to them in search of the answer or clues.

[Zealous]

3. Wait until the teacher isn't looking, or they're preoccupied and then gesture for the guy next to me to move his paper closer to the edge so I can grab a peek. Or I just whisper/mime to them in search of the answer or clues.

Seriously?

[psyxwar]

Skip it, and come back to it later. That said, I don't think questions that actually require critical thinking are that common. Typically question formats are re-used so if you have experience doing questions from study guides and past SACs you should be fine

[Tyleralp1]

Seriously?

No haha. Definitely not worth the risk!

[keltingmeith]

3. Wait until the teacher isn't looking, or they're preoccupied and then gesture for the guy next to me to move his paper closer to the edge so I can grab a peek. Or I just whisper/mime to them in search of the answer or clues.

Yeah, you can be failed on the spot for that.

lencake - Know the reading time thing? It's super useful!

Generally on any SAC or exam, the questions will follow a logical order. Use that order to your advantage. Figure out what questions are your strongest and your weakest, and you'll find it'll probably fit into that order somewhere, and answer the questions from strongest to weakest. That way, you get the easy marks out of the way first, and have plenty of time for staring blankly at the paper.

In terms of going further into the unit - go ahead. In terms of methods, most of probability is completely new content, but it's not really that hard, so why not get a head start, smash the competition?

I also see you're doing specialist - a lot of the upcoming stuff is pretty hard, except for mechanics. Mechanics is incredibly easy, and the reason why it's left for last is only because it's a logical progression, not because it's hard. So if you have some spare time, try teaching yourself the mechanics section. That way, when everyone else in your class is learning that, you'll just be revising, and will have more time at the end for harder topics, like modelling and diff equations.

[BLACKCATT]

thank you- euler