#macrobstudytips

Hey there! 

I think we all struggle with this - well I for one definitely understand. Let’s say there are about 4 hours a day to study. You dedicate half of that time to your ¾ and the other half to your other subjects. A thing about VCE is that many teachers don’t set you homework and expect you to do your own thing and kinda help yourself to keep up with the content and do your own work. Another thing I do is to maximise class time. If you do a maths subject, try to finish the exercise in class. Sometimes I ALMOST finish in class and finish it during lunch.

You’ll notice that between SACs there’s kinda a little lull in stress. Like when there are no SACs or assessments coming up, rather than using that time to procrastinate, you could get ahead in the content. For me, the UMAT was coming up and I knew I was solely going to study for it for a week, so during the holidays and the first week of school I tried really hard to complete as many spesh exercises as possible so I wouldn’t fall behind. It’s also good to have a timeline of your ¾ course. Usually they’re very accurate so you can tell when a SAC is coming even if your teacher doesn’t tell you. If you see it coming up in 3 weeks, rather than waiting until 1 week before to fully study, you could start your revision earlier and do a little bit everyday. By the time it comes to 1 week beforehand you’ve cut down so much of the workload and can focus on really solidifying your knowledge.

Every subject is different. You know yourself better than anybody else and should know which subjects require more effort/practise/attention.One tip my teacher taught me was to have 3 levels of intensity. High level - such as doing a practice sac/essay/exam/etc. Medium level - Writing/finalising notes. Low level - revising flash cards/notes. These are just a few examples and could vary depending on subject. But you should do the lower intensity activities later at night cos you’ll be tired. There are also heaps of articles on how to manage your time and be more productive.

Hope this helps!

Hey there,

FAM Member 1: First off, it’s super okay to be scared or nervous but trust me when I say you’ve got this and I believe in you!

For me, methods was not one of my favourite subjects which was actually quite disappointing as maths was a subject I used to really enjoy. I hate to say it, but I do think my teacher had a great impact on my learning experience and thus my motivation when it came to methods.

If I had any advice to give in terms of motivation and commitment it would be to envision a goal or an endpoint that you want to reach at the end of the year in terms of this subject (this can apply to any subject really) and then come up with ways to get there. For example, before I started Year 12, I wrote a list on how I planned to ‘Slay VCE’ where I wrote down each of my subjects and little things I should remember throughout the year. For methods I had things like: ask questions, stay up to date, write out examples and difficult questions you come across, constantly add to reference booklet, etc. 

Hey,

This sucks and we’re sorry to hear you feel this way. The best thing you should do would probably be to talk to your teacher about your progress and what you’re currently doing in terms of study to gain their perspective as to whether or not what you’re doing is the most useful to you or if there are alternatives they could suggest so that you can do better. You may need to try a few different study techniques in order to produce better marks

Also remember that what you perceive as ‘shit’ or otherwise not so good, someone else – perhaps even your teacher – might perceive it as good so try not to be too hard on yourself.

Hey there,

We’re sure you’ve heard this phrase before but it is so important to remember: “Study smarter, not harder”. No matter how much you’re studying, it won’t help if you’re not actually learning anything. Are you learning from your mistakes? Revising stuff that you don’t remember after a while? There are certain habits you’ll have to maintain when you’re taking a VCE subject. Chances are you’re not actually bad at maths, rather it’s your study habits that need a bit of refinement and that’s okay! You have the whole of next year to try new things, or maybe stick to what you’re doing right now (studying I mean) and add on improvements.

Take some time to reflect on how you study and learn maths and take some steps, no matter how small, to improve your studying techniques and this should then help you improve your maths application skills.

Though, remember to believe in yourself and never give up. When you get your test back it might be good to see if you can make a time to meet with your teacher to go over areas you can improve on, discuss where you’re at and how you can improve.

Heyo,

I definitely get you! It’s the strange ‘non-feeling’ - where you feel like you don’t have that feeling of wanting to do homework. Symptoms include procrastination, spending a long time doing one thing (e.g. reading, on your phone, binging tv shows/ food, hanging out with people) but not doing what you need to do. And honestly, having this ‘non-feeling’ sucks because you know there’s homework that needs to be done and wouldn’t it be great if you finished it at a comfortable time before it’s due, but you don’t touch it anyway. I’ve felt like this throughout my school life and even now in year 12 I don’t do as much as I should be.

What I’ve realised is that I lack a sense of discipline in making myself study without distractions or letting myself go into the void of procrastination, as well as no strong perseverance in consistently studying. I used to have no purpose to study either, until I became a year 12 student.

Here’s a take away - instil discipline into your daily routine. Whatever takes you away from studying, you’re going to have to make yourself avoid it whether it requires your family reminding you to pick up a pen or locking away your phone in a safe that doesn’t open ‘til the day after. For example, start doing homework with a subject you like so you can get into the mood easily, then continue with other subjects. Take short breaks where you walk around (don’t recommend going on phone) or anything to take your mind off of homework real quick. Give yourself rewards for finishing one page, or a snack nearby to energise you throughout. Write a checklist of things to do. Personally, I always go home and while unpacking my school bag, I open my exercise book and leave a pen on top so I can’t tell myself that I won’t study. You don’t have to do all of these things but do whatever makes you pick up that pen/ open that device.

Hey there,

I can relate to exactly how you’re feeling, but you need to know that it’s super, super important to make sure you don’t burn out as this can lead to low productivity levels and then it may be useless doing all that work if your study mode is not as good as it could be. Maybe try taking at least 5 min breaks to do whatever you want (except go on social media) between study sessions; read a page of a book, squeeze in a quick meditation session, or even close your eyes for 5 minutes. Or if that doesn’t seem to work for you, set a time when you finish everything. Social media, homework, everything. And before you go to sleep take do some relaxing activities; run a bubble bath, apply a face mask, etc.

Hope this helps!

Hey there,

FAM Member 1: In my opinion if you aren’t going to do the ¾ subject next year, and you don’t enjoy the subject, think about whether you really need to have good grades in this subject. Your grades do not define you. There is less than a term left, you may as well just turn up to class and listen, and do the bare minimum expected of you, and use your time more wisely by focusing on other areas, rather than wasting time putting effort into something you don’t enjoy and don’t benefit from doing. Perhaps if you are doing a ¾ subject you could spend your time diverted from this subject into that, or investing back into your mental or physical health by doing something you enjoy. So if you show up, do the bare minimum, you will pass the subject :)

FAM Member 2: To an extent, I think I agree with FM1. At this point of the year, most people are feeling all kinds of exhaustion and, for the most part, want to focus what energy they have left on the things they want to do. Try not to feel guilty for not getting enough done because, as FM1 said, you simply need to pass the subject. For a lot of people, especially at Mac.Rob, ‘simply passing’ is not an option because of a subconscious need to always be the best. Remember that this is not the case and you can only do as much as you can. Always try your best to work hard but also remember that because this subject is one you won’t be continuing, you shouldn’t feel guilty for not putting in as much as you’d like. Perhaps you could try talking to your teacher about your plans for next year and how this subject is not one of your priorities. I’m sure they’d at the very least try to understand because they’re your teacher and should be concerned about the best education for you – even if it means you won’t be taking their class anymore. Stick it out, you’re almost at the end!

Hey there,

Writing up a study schedule is a great place to start and although it doesn’t seem to be working at the moment, there are probably an abundance of ways to overcome it. Have you considered why it’s not working? Maybe you are setting too many tasks in one day and it’s so overwhelming that you can’t bring yourself to begin? Maybe you’re too strict on timing and not allowing much room for adjustments? Whatever the reason, that’d be a good place to start as it’ll give you a fresh take on schedules. However, maybe a study schedule just isn’t the best method for you – and remember that’s okay.

If you find that you’re leaving things last minute, it might be because you don’t feel a sense of urgency and trust us that you’re not the only one. Sometimes you just need to set your own personal deadlines so that you can stay on track. Of course, sticking to these might be hard because of the fact that they’re not the actual deadline so telling a friend about your goals might help in making them happen as your friend now knows your intentions and can give you a hand and reminders to do things so that you stay on task.

Have a scroll through our study tips tag (#macrobstudytips) for some more ideas on how to overcome this and if you have more specific questions about certain things that you read or ones that you come up on your own, please let us know because we really want to help you out but we’re not sure how to specifically target your personal experience with studying.

Good luck! You can do this!