Croissanting my way to A*A*A
I have decided to make a 'Grow your grades' thread for the remainder of my Year 13 journey.
I actually made one last year for AS, but it was on a different account which I will no longer be using
. Academic Profile:
GCSEs: A*A* BAAAA BAAAA (The baa baa bit sounds cool.)
AS: AAD (Psychology, Maths and Physics respectively)
UCAS Predictions: AAC
My Goal: A*A*A
I don't care if my goal seems unrealistic; these are the grades that I want to get. So I guess this blog will be me challenging myself to try and get these grades.
Next year, I intend to study Psychology at Lancaster University. I am leaning towards Lancaster at the moment anyway. For that, I need to get AAB. But if I get A*A*A, I will be awarded with an academic excellence scholarship
. Let the challenge commence
Maths past papers grade tracker:
Spoiler
Scroll to see replies
Thank you!!
I will be making a post tomorrow because I have been very sleepy today
.
Did you enjoy it?
Tuesday 17/01/17
Good morning!
Guess who has overslept, again? Luckily I have frees all morning though.
I have been quite naughty over the past couple of days in the sense that I haven't really done as much work as I'd planned. I have a lovely little day-to-view diary where I write a to-do list for each day, and I think I have perhaps started making my to-do lists too hefty. Over the course of Sunday and Monday for example, I had planned to do:
Spoiler
Hmmmm. The only thing I have done off that list is the exam practice for partial fractions because I have a test for it today.
I have come to the conclusion that daily planning my revision just isn't working
. So instead, I'm going to write some lists of EVERYTHING that I need to revise, including notes I need to make, textbook questions I need to do, past papers I need to do etc. And then, I can perhaps just plan what to do the night before each day, as then I'll have a better idea of how much work I'll be prepared to do.
Basically, instead of making lots of mini to-do lists, I'm going to make some BIG to-do lists.
Not much action today I'm afraid, as I have been a silly, lazy little croissant.
Also, if someone could PM me at 10pm telling me to go to sleep, that would be great!
Thursday 19/01/2017
Just a little update today because I have been very tired over the past couple of days, so I haven't done much. I'm still writing my lists of things that I need to revise
. I need to sort out my sleep schedule. Lessons:
Double mechanics: This lesson is actually a killer. DOUBLE mechanics starting at 9am. Ugh. We were just answering questions on moments for the whole two hours. Fun, fun fun. I was craving pasta so much, so telling myself I'd buy some at break was the only thing that got me through the lesson
Free period: Didn't do ANYTHING because the sixth form's WiFi was down and the study room was full of year 12s acting like they were on their lunch break and playing rap music on loud speaker from their phones...
Physics: We went through the booklet of PPQs about moving charges through Magnetic Fields that we did for homework, and I got a B
. This is a vast improvement from the Es and Us I have been getting all year! 
Independent study:
Organisation:
•
I continued making my lists of all of the topics I need to revise. I have now finished the Psychology list. Not gonna lie, the amount of content in research methods makes me want to cry. Kind of worried that I'm not going to have time to revise everything before June.
Psychology:
•
I made an essay plan for atavistic characteristics of criminals. I still need to do one for genetic and neural explanations of criminal behaviour, but I'm going to wake up early tomorrow and do that in the library before class starts.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Monday 23/01/17
Croissant explains why she has failed her mocks...
Today has been quite difficult. We received our mock exam results and mine were terrible. By terrible, I don't mean that I got As instead of A*s... oh no, I did terribly.
I was kind of expecting this outcome though because I couldn't revise for them. This probably sounds quite silly. Basically, from November, I have had a job on a zero hour contract and they were asking me to work all weekend, every weekend. I should probably mention that my shifts start at 8am and finish at 7pm. Therefore, I had nowhere near enough time to revise for my mock exams as I would have liked.
More bla bla bla-ness about my job and me deciding to resign:
Spoiler
Anyway, I haven't been very productive today due to feeling quite low and fed up, but this is what I've done:
•
Psychology: Forensics- Half of an essay plan on the Bottom-Up Approach to Offender Profiling. I'm really not liking Forensics... I wish we were doing Addiction instead!! 
•
Double Physics: We started learning about capacitance and also marked some PPQs that we did on Magnetic Fields. I ended up getting 71%, but I'm not sure what grade that would be considering they are difficult new-spec questions (my teacher finds them difficult and he went to Cambridge!!).
•
Maths: M1- I answered a couple of PPQs on Moments, which I actually found quite tricky. I'll spend another hour doing some tomorrow, since we have a test on Thursday and I want to get an A to prove to my teacher that I'm not a dunce.
•
Psychology: Relationships- I'm now going to spend some time revising this topic because I have to resit the mock exam next week.
Goals for tomorrow:
- Maths: C4- Complete my integration homework, watch some ExamSolutions tutorials.
- Maths: M1- Answer more PPQs on Moments.
- Psychology: Relationships- Make some cue cards.
- Physics: Magnetic Fields- Finish the CGP textbook questions.
Monday 23/01/17
Croissant explains why she has failed her mocks...
Today has been quite difficult. We received our mock exam results and mine were terrible. By terrible, I don't mean that I got As instead of A*s... oh no, I did terribly.
I was kind of expecting this outcome though because I couldn't revise for them. This probably sounds quite silly. Basically, from November, I have had a job on a zero hour contract and they were asking me to work all weekend, every weekend. I should probably mention that my shifts start at 8am and finish at 7pm. Therefore, I had nowhere near enough time to revise for my mock exams as I would have liked.
More bla bla bla-ness about my job and me deciding to resign:
Spoiler
Anyway, I haven't been very productive today due to feeling quite low and fed up, but this is what I've done:
•
Psychology: Forensics- Half of an essay plan on the Bottom-Up Approach to Offender Profiling. I'm really not liking Forensics... I wish we were doing Addiction instead!!
•
Double Physics: We started learning about capacitance and also marked some PPQs that we did on Magnetic Fields. I ended up getting 71%, but I'm not sure what grade that would be considering they are difficult new-spec questions (my teacher finds them difficult and he went to Cambridge!!).
•
Maths: M1- I answered a couple of PPQs on Moments, which I actually found quite tricky. I'll spend another hour doing some tomorrow, since we have a test on Thursday and I want to get an A to prove to my teacher that I'm not a dunce.
•
Psychology: Relationships- I'm now going to spend some time revising this topic because I have to resit the mock exam next week.
Goals for tomorrow:
- Maths: C4- Complete my integration homework, watch some ExamSolutions tutorials.
- Maths: M1- Answer more PPQs on Moments.
- Psychology: Relationships- Make some cue cards.
- Physics: Magnetic Fields- Finish the CGP textbook questions.
Aww, sorry to hear about your mocks
However, all is not lost, not by a long shot. I think it'll be best to create your revision plan on the basis of what you find most difficult, whilst not neglecting your other subjects. And with stuff like maths you just have to keep practising and you'll be fine!. I'll admit that it sounds easier than it is but if you keep at it then you'll get those results!
Also, one of the most important things is to avoid stressing as much as possible. Make sure you do lots of what you enjoy to balance all of this out. Too much work isn't good for anyone
Good luck!
And I'll look out for updates. The title of this thread was actually enough to convince me to subscribe However, all is not lost, not by a long shot. I think it'll be best to create your revision plan on the basis of what you find most difficult, whilst not neglecting your other subjects. And with stuff like maths you just have to keep practising and you'll be fine!. I'll admit that it sounds easier than it is but if you keep at it then you'll get those results!
Also, one of the most important things is to avoid stressing as much as possible. Make sure you do lots of what you enjoy to balance all of this out. Too much work isn't good for anyone
Good luck!
And I'll look out for updates. The title of this thread was actually enough to convince me to subscribe Thank you!! I definitely find Physics and Maths the most difficult, but with Psychology there's so much to remember!!
Aaaah I agree with you about the stress. That's actually another reason why I've decided to quit my job; being at sixth form all week and at work all weekend means that I literally have no time to do anything that I enjoy!
Thanks again! Well, what can I say, croissants are formidable!
Monday 23/01/17
Croissant explains why she has failed her mocks...
Today has been quite difficult. We received our mock exam results and mine were terrible. By terrible, I don't mean that I got As instead of A*s... oh no, I did terribly.
I was kind of expecting this outcome though because I couldn't revise for them. This probably sounds quite silly. Basically, from November, I have had a job on a zero hour contract and they were asking me to work all weekend, every weekend. I should probably mention that my shifts start at 8am and finish at 7pm. Therefore, I had nowhere near enough time to revise for my mock exams as I would have liked.
More bla bla bla-ness about my job and me deciding to resign:
Spoiler
Anyway, I haven't been very productive today due to feeling quite low and fed up, but this is what I've done:
•
Psychology: Forensics- Half of an essay plan on the Bottom-Up Approach to Offender Profiling. I'm really not liking Forensics... I wish we were doing Addiction instead!!
•
Double Physics: We started learning about capacitance and also marked some PPQs that we did on Magnetic Fields. I ended up getting 71%, but I'm not sure what grade that would be considering they are difficult new-spec questions (my teacher finds them difficult and he went to Cambridge!!).
•
Maths: M1- I answered a couple of PPQs on Moments, which I actually found quite tricky. I'll spend another hour doing some tomorrow, since we have a test on Thursday and I want to get an A to prove to my teacher that I'm not a dunce.
•
Psychology: Relationships- I'm now going to spend some time revising this topic because I have to resit the mock exam next week.
Goals for tomorrow:
- Maths: C4- Complete my integration homework, watch some ExamSolutions tutorials.
- Maths: M1- Answer more PPQs on Moments.
- Psychology: Relationships- Make some cue cards.
- Physics: Magnetic Fields- Finish the CGP textbook questions.
What's good is that you know why you didn't do as well as you liked- as for the real thing you have much more time to revise and prepare for them.
I've finished capacitance and I'm about to start magnetic fields after my mocks- it looks hard- I hated gravitational and electrical fields. I found capacitance okay though. Posted from TSR Mobile
I've finished capacitance and I'm about to start magnetic fields after my mocks- it looks hard- I hated gravitational and electrical fields. I found capacitance okay though. Posted from TSR Mobile
Yes, that is the only thing making me not feel so bad about the grades I got haha
I've definitely found Magnetic Fields to be the most difficult topic so far in Physics. The maths side of it is okay in my opinion, but describing and explaining why things happen is something that I have found tricky!
I'm glad to hear that Capacitance isn't too bad!
Tuesday 24/01/17
I forgot to post yesterday so I'll just write this now in my study break!
I managed to do 3/4 of the things on my to-do list:
Maths:
•
C4- I completed the homework questions on integration and also did some questions from the Solomon worksheets on C1 integration, as I will be resitting C1 this summer. When we marked the homework in class, I got all of mine correct besides the one that I didn't do because I didn't know how. We then started learning about how to integrate things where you have to apply trigonometric identities before they can be integrated. I think I need a little more practice on that!
•
M1- I answered a couple more PPQs on Moments. For some reason, I'm finding the exam questions for this topic really difficult. I think it's because the questions contain so much writing and that intimidates me because I'm here for the numbers, not the words!
Physics:
•
Magnetic Fields- I answered the questions on Electromagnetic Induction and Faraday's law and Lenz's law from the CGP textbook. For the wordy questions, I made flashcards so that I can easily test myself on these again in the future.
Wednesday 25/01/17
This morning got off to quite a shaky start so I didn't end up going to any of my lessons. I have still tried to be productive though despite feeling a bit under the weather.
Psychology:
•
Relationships- I made some flashcards on Physical Attractiveness.
•
Relationships- I made some flashcards on the Filter Theory.
Maths:
•
M1- I did some more PPQs on Moments because the test is tomorrow. I only did three questions but the total number of marks these three questions are worth is 35!!! 
. I ended up getting 32/35 which I am happy with. There was one part of a question which confused me because it wanted you to find the range of values for the tension and I thought you had to set up a quadratic inequality (you didn't! ).
Physics:
•
Magnetic Fields- I read through the CGP textbook spread on Alternating Current and added a few things to my notes that my teacher didn't mention. I then answered the practice questions and got the majority of them right, besides one where you have to convert from mscm-1 to scm-1 and that confused me for some reason!
Goals for tomorrow:
- Wake up on time and arrive at sixth form for 8am so that I can revise in the library.
- Maths: C4- Watch the ExamSolutions tutorials on integrating partial fractions, which is what I should have done today in class. Also answer the corresponding questions from the textbook.
- Psychology: Relationships- Make flashcards on the Social Exchange Theory and the Equity Theory.
- Physics: Magnetic Fields- Answer CGP textbook questions on Transformers & make flashcards if need be.
- Psychology: Social Influence- Complete Milgram's Situational Variables essay plan.
- Write a letter of resignation for my job.
Thursday 26/01/17 & Friday 27/01/17
I'm going to make a joint post for today and yesterday because I haven't really done much today
Maths:
•
M1- In lesson, we started learning about vectors in the first hour which I am... not so good at. In the second hour, we did the assessment on Moments which I felt prepared for but it didn't go very well. I have calculated though that I only need to get 62 UMS maximum in M1 in order to get an A/A* in Maths, so long as I do well in C1, C3 and C4 this year.
•
C4- I watched an ExamSolution tutorial on integrating partial fractions. Basically, you just write f(x) as a partial fraction and then integrate it using the standard 1/x rule.
Psychology:
•
Relationships- I made some flashcards on the Social Exchange Theory and the Equity theory.
•
Forensics- In class today, we learnt about cognitive explanations for criminal behaviour but I wasn't very productive because I felt really tired.
Physics:
•
In class today and yesterday, we made notes on Capacitance and started answering some PPQs. I seriously need to improve my productivity in class; it was a struggle keeping my eyes open today, never mind doing Physics. To be fair, I think I might have Iron-deficiency anemia and it's also my time of the month (tmi, sorry!), so this might explain why I feel so exhausted. *Sigh*.
I have decided to not do anything related to A-levels this evening because I am so tired (have I mentioned that yet?). I'll probably just read a book soon and then go to sleep early since I have to wake up early for work tomorrow *groan*. I honestly can't wait until I've officially left my job because the hours so long. Illegally long in fact, since I am only 17
. To-do list for tomorrow:
- Psychology: Relationships- Make flashcards on Rusbult's Investment Model.
- Psychology: Relationships- Make flashcards on Duck's Phase Model of relationship breakdown.
- Maths: C3- Answer some questions from my CGP revision workbook. I don't know which topic I'll do yet, but I'll decide tomorrow.
Monday 30/01/17
There's no point mentioning the weekend because the only thing I managed to do is make flashcards on two and a half Psychology sub-topics
. Luckily though, I haven't had to go to sixth form today because it has been a staff training day
. Psychology:
•
Relationships- I finished making flashcards on this entire topic. I'm not sure whether or not I'll be making flashcards for every topic, but I'll make my mind up once I get my mock resit result. The resit will be on the 9th February, so I have plenty of time to go over my flashcards. Luckily, I already have a set of Biopsychology flashcards which I made in November .
Maths:
•
C4- I did some textbook questions on integrating trigonometric functions which went okay... I made a few very silly mistakes, such as writing that sin3x + sin7x equals sin10x. Why...how?! 
•
C3- Recently, I purchased the 'CGP Revision Workbook' for A2 Maths as I am currently finding C3 quite difficult, even though I did really well in all of the class assessments. I keep getting Bs and Cs in the past papers I do, so I want to make sure I understand each topic thoroughly before doing any more papers. The questions in this workbook are like exam questions anyway. Today I answered the questions on algebraic fractions. Somehow, I managed to get a + sign mixed up with a - sign in one of my answers. The question was worth 5 marks too 
.
Physics:
•
Magnetic Fields- I made some flashcards and answered the CGP textbook questions on transformers, which is not the most stimulating of topics! I did get a little bit confused on a couple of the questions, especially where you had to work out the length by dividing the total resistance by the resistance per kilometre. Oh well, at least I know what to do now!
Here is a picture of the to-do list I made in my planner/diary today, for anyone who's interested!
Spoiler
Thank you!! 😊
Yes, I definitely need to start doing more past papers- and frequently!
I'm most worried about physics because it seems that I am never prepared enough for the exam questions haha
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