Class of 2016!!

[Elizawei]

Yo Elizawei!
I usually turn off the laptop and phone (because the blue light can make you stay awake...).
I also usually read for half an hour before the sleeping.

Ahhhh true! I have a bad habit of looking at my phone before going to bed

[Swagadaktal]

Same haha, I'd rather sleep late and wake up late (even though it's so bad because school starts at 8:30 for me and I need heaps of travelling time :/)

Isn't the recommended sleeping time 8.5 hours +? I barely get 7 lol
Hmm and does anyone have tips for falling asleep fast? I need to toss and turn for like half an hour before I can fall asleep. I've always envied those people who can just hit their pillow and doze off

Same.. I can't get much sleep. I'm horrible at sleeping. On holidays I can't even get more than 7 hours and I have no idea why...

[HopefulLawStudent]

Isn't the recommended sleeping time 8.5 hours +? I barely get 7 lol
Hmm and does anyone have tips for falling asleep fast? I need to toss and turn for like half an hour before I can fall asleep. I've always envied those people who can just hit their pillow and doze off

I think the actual recommended sleeping time is actually like 10 hours. Not 100% sure tho. Knowing sorta just makes me feel guilty about how much sleep I'm *not* getting so I sorta make an effort to not know...

Have you tried that 4-7-8 breathing exercise thing? My brother swears by it and says it helps him sleep and sorta forces him to shut down his brain but I've never personally tried it; always been very lucky in that I've always been able to sleep v. easily.

[Swagadaktal]

I think the actual recommended sleeping time is actually like 10 hours. Not 100% sure tho. Knowing sorta just makes me feel guilty about how much sleep I'm *not* getting so I sorta make an effort to not know...

Have you tried that 4-7-8 breathing exercise thing? My brother swears by it and says it helps him sleep and sorta forces him to shut down his brain but I've never personally tried it; always been very lucky in that I've always been able to sleep v. easily.

How do you sleep easily...

TBH I think I always think before i sleep. And I just spend hours just thinking. Can't stop thinking. Like it ranges from my studies to my dinner last week I have no idea why... and i cant shut off my mind :O
any ideas?

[cindywindy]

I'm no expert in sleep, but I studied a bit about it in Psych.
Adolescents like us are generally meant to get 8-10 hours of sleep, but it really depends on the individual.
And we experience a sleep-wake cycle shift (delayed sleep onset) in which we can sleep 1-2 hours later than usual because of hormones (melatonin) being produced later or what not.

Also, sleeping immediately when you hit your pillow might not necessary mean a good thing; I think someone told me it might mean you're really exhaustesd and sleep deprived if you do?

But yeah, try to not look at any electronic screens (phones, laptops, iPods, etc.) before going to bed. Make sure it's dark and quiet too, so your body knows it's time to sleep... oh and have you tried listening to relaxing music, like meditative music or just instrumental music? That sometimes helps me...

[Elizawei]

But yeah, try to not look at any electronic screens (phones, laptops, iPods, etc.) before going to bed.

Hard when all my schoolwork/stuff are on laptop

[cindywindy]

Hard when all my schoolwork/stuff are on laptop

Oh, do you usually do school work (laptop) and then go to bed after? If that's the case, maybe make sure to leave some period of time between, like 20 minutes, or start your work earlier so it's not that close to your bed time? Or, if you print some of your work out, maybe look at that instead? Otherwise, I'm not really sure sorry 

[conic curve]

Just curious to know but how do you guys study? (if you don't mind me asking obviously)

[Swagadaktal]

Just curious to know but how do you guys study? (if you don't mind me asking obviously)

So what I like to do is I like to play some nice relaxing music, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF-Rl5acQdA <-- this.

Next, I place a glass of vodka water next to me, to keep me refreshed. That way, you stay hydrated .

After, I sing myself to sleep to keep the empty void within myself during year twelve filled in order to temporarily postpone the inevitable feeling of failure.

Pretty much the standard - doesn't everyone study like this?

[Maz]

So what I like to do is I like to play some nice relaxing music, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF-Rl5acQdA <-- this.

Next, I place a glass of vodka water next to me, to keep me refreshed. That way, you stay hydrated .

After, I sing myself to sleep to keep the empty void within myself during year twelve filled in order to temporarily postpone the inevitable feeling of failure.

Pretty much the standard - doesn't everyone study like this?

yeah I think you got it pretty much on point ...adding to it: I study on my bed (everywhere else is noisy) and occasionally I bury my head in a pillow to mourn the fact that my textbooks are in front of me haha
joking...I like studying/learning so I sit on my bed with my physics, chem and whatever other textbook and we have some fun
then I sleep with them 

[Elizawei]

Oh, do you usually do school work (laptop) and then go to bed after? If that's the case, maybe make sure to leave some period of time between, like 20 minutes, or start your work earlier so it's not that close to your bed time? Or, if you print some of your work out, maybe look at that instead? Otherwise, I'm not really sure sorry 

Haha yeah thanks for the advice! Mmm I'll have to try to finish work a bit earlier and leave myself some reading time

 

we have some fun
then I sleep with them 

This just reminded me of this XD 

[cindywindy]

Do you guys also do practice exams? I am curious to know how people find time to mark them as well..? Like especially long exams that take like 2 and a half hours. Do you mark them straight after you do the question (like my friend), or do you also get your teacher to help mark them other than doing so yourself?

(sorry these might be some pretty stupid questions..)

[K888]

On the topic of sleep - I need at least 9+ hours to feel even remotely well rested. I'm tired almost all of the time (oops). I have a pretty large sleep debt during the term - generally get 7 and a half to 7 and three quarter (maybe 8 if I'm lucky!) hours sleep - not taking out the time it takes me to get to sleep. It's really bad, I know.

Do you guys also do practice exams? I am curious to know how people find time to mark them as well..? Like especially long exams that take like 2 and a half hours. Do you mark them straight after you do the question (like my friend), or do you also get your teacher to help mark them other than doing so yourself?

(sorry these might be some pretty stupid questions..)

Yeah I'm not really into doing practice exams for fun, but will do them if I get told to for holiday hw. I definitely do them as a big part of revision for my exams.
During the term, I tend to do practice sacs, etc. but in terms of correcting, I don't stress too much about the detail to which I've got something correct or wrong. All it means is I don't spend ten minutes reading and obsessing over every question. I'll generally also mark after I've done the whole thing. And if my teacher is offering to mark the short answer, then I'll probs give that to them as well - particularly for stuff like Bio.

[MightyBeh]

Just curious to know but how do you guys study? (if you don't mind me asking obviously)

At home I mostly just study at my desk. A lot of people live in my house so getting some quiet's pretty hard, I study in the morning (5am lyfe) to get some peace. Movie soundtracks or classical/jazz/instrumentals in general as music with speakers down real low. Water and finger food (usually fruit/veg) close by because otherwise I get up every five seconds to eat. Anything and everything goes, practice Qs/Essays, singing every line in the textbook, reading/annotating, typing notes, etc. etc. 30 minutes on, 5 minutes off three times, then 20 minutes off and back to 30 of studying. Not that I usually study for more than an hour or so at a time, but it's important to schedule breaks for stretching/wellbeing anyway.

I like to do "punishment mode" (as bad as it sounds, maybe I should come up with a new name) at home, where I have to do X number of pushups/minutes cleaning/rounds of Mario Kart with my siblings/whatever for each mistake (spelling, poor notation, just getting it wrong, etc.) because it adds a little more incentive to doing well and breaks the monotony of studying. Also because otherwise I'd probably never do those things, so it's pretty win-win.

Do you guys also do practice exams? I am curious to know how people find time to mark them as well..? Like especially long exams that take like 2 and a half hours. Do you mark them straight after you do the question (like my friend), or do you also get your teacher to help mark them other than doing so yourself?

(sorry these might be some pretty stupid questions..)

Not that I've started going hard on practice exams (haven't finished the courses for anything because I'm not crazy), but for maths I usually take a break after doing them then mark them. Lit/Classics I do a photocopy and snag a teacher from the english/humanities department (i.e. whoever's not sick of me yet) to get feedback, and after a day (or more if I can wait) mark it myself. IT I do and mark on my own but check with my teacher if I'm particularly stumped.

Seems to me that marking them yourself is a good way to work out what examiners are looking for. Teachers give good feedback but marking them yourself gives another perspective - instead of thinking 'yeah I finished all the questions' or whatever, it helps me think in terms of criteria - 'is it clear how I got from this step to the next?' or 'have I identified all the correct dates/relevant information?'. Nothing to lose (except time) by marking your work, but imo there's a lot to gain.

[mtse]

Do you guys also do practice exams? I am curious to know how people find time to mark them as well..? Like especially long exams that take like 2 and a half hours. Do you mark them straight after you do the question (like my friend), or do you also get your teacher to help mark them other than doing so yourself?

(sorry these might be some pretty stupid questions..)

2015er here... In regards to practice exams, i began unit 3 ones (for sciences mainly) during the term 2 holidays and did them consistently throughout term 3, while for subjects that aren't split clearly into unit 3 or 4, I had a handful of papers (generally older dodgier ones) which I would do randomly when I had time, i.e. just do the questions I could do and leave the rest. This just helped me get used to the style of exam questions.
In regards to marking practice exams, particularly for chem and bio marking your own exams can be super helpful - reading the sample answers can really help shape your own answers especially for long worded questions. For me, my teachers weren't all too keen on marking exams so you can always swap with friends and give each other feedback.
And for the next few weeks before uni starts up again, I'd be happy to mark some bio/chem exams (I don't remember my other subjects that well sorry ) or just particular questions. Just PM me for my email
Have a good last few days of holidays