(Grow Your Grades 2017-18) Trying not to be SALTY

I'm not sure if I'm doing this right so I'll do a tester. :u:

Okay, I guess I did do it right.

How ironic that my username is Salty, for all you none chemists, NaCl is a salt. Put it together and it should say '(SALT)-TY'? A chemistry joke made by someone who flunk AS chemistry last year.... :K:

How cringy right? but we live and we learn. I wanted to join the GYG because :

a) My AS did not reflect my capability and I have one last year to prove it otherwise
b) This is the first I'm hearing of GYG
c) I saw the mac book prize, come on, lets be real and honest here, although I do want to do this for me, not for the mac book. It just makes it more motivational
d) I like writing and I talk too much to not do a blog, especially if its ranting about school and the educational system
e) I want another excuse to procrastinate :biggrin:

ABOUT ME
I am 17 years old (I'm a Girl btw), fresh out of AS and already dreading life :bawling:

Why, you ask? Well I am currently doing MATHS, CHEM and BIO A Levels, not AS and I can't do what I want in UNI. Well I can, but my AS grades...https://media.giphy.com/media/l2SpKBAxpCCLuUGU8/giphy.gif Let's just say that they weren't top notch BUT that doesn't mean I am giving up, and neither should you if you are facing the same predicament!

SO THIS YEAR ~> I'm trying not be be salty about my grades and try and grow them! Hopefully you like what you read!! I'm kinda late...hehe. I'll upload a summary of last term shortly...

Thank you, Salty :u:

Side note: I also tend to use alot of memes, gif and smileys....

New follower!

Original post by A.N123

New follower!

Thank you! :wink:

Reply 4

y.u.mad.bro?

Hey, at least you live and learn. Just stay positive and work hard. Who knows, you might get into uni for the course you want to do if you get really high grades :wink:

Best of luck!!!

Reply 5

(NaCl)-ty

DATE: MONDAY 23rd OCTOBER 2017

AIM: REFLECTION OF TERM 1 SEP - OCT

You know that cheesy thing we do every year: New Year New Me, But we actually do the same thing we did last year, in fact maybe even worse? Yeah. That was me, and probably the majority of us in everything.

After receiving my shambolic AS grades (I'm not evening going to add them in, but let's just say that I didn't fail - I barely passed. Yes. I can imagine your imagination running wild. Note the sarcasm.) I legit let the single tears of failure stream down my face. And I failed at crying too, I couldn't even bawl because I was so SHOCKED! From getting 11 A*-A in my GCSEs, (I did 11 subjects) to getting not even a B, I was pretty devastated. I knew A Levels were harder than GCSEs believe me, WE ALL KNOW. For any one in AS reading this, just know that YES IT IS HARD but it DOESN'T have to BE HARD FOR YOU!

WHY? I remember when people used to ask me what I was studying, BCM - BIO MATHS and CHEM, they all said, literally apart from all the BCMers, "OMG THOSE ARE REALLY HARD SUBJECTS. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MANAGE! YOUR SOCIAL LIFE IS GONE" :smile:

To all those people https://media.giphy.com/media/JyW51lx5XMDgQ/giphy.gif

FIRST OF ALL, TO ALL YOU BABY BCMers (AS) and ASers, LISTEN TO ME! (listen to the song here in my heart, A melody I start, but can't completeeee Beyoncé....no? okay :dots:

) Let's get back shall we... Right as I was saying. ALL A LEVELS ARE HARD NO MATTER WHAT so what that really means, is that no subject is HARDER than the other! It's only more complicated... You obviously chose the subject because you like it or your parents insisted - guided - nudged - 'wink-winked' you to ... but if you are able to study them, that must mean you are capable - if you met the entry requirements, right? RIGHT.

I wanted to study BCM because I liked it in secondary school, and I still like it now - only they do not like me...https://media.giphy.com/media/kVev1dICsJ1ss/giphy.gif

BUT OVER SUMMER and the first half term, I realised why these SONs OF STEM did not like me :smile:

:

1) I revised incorrectly: Revising for A levels is not the same as revising for GCSE. You heard right from ME. (I'll make a post of revision later as this blog is already longer than it should be)
2) I let the excuse of my subjects being 'hard', demotivate me to even prove them wrong. I mean, yes there are challenges but I wasn't willing to try. I also realise that I can become frustrated really, really, easily....
3) I gave up: COUNTLESS times. I was ready to be done and over with it. I began to hate the subjects I LOVED! That's like a really bad break up, when they say: "It's not me, its you!" <~ I said that right and it was me for all the reasons listed above. https://media.giphy.com/media/l0MYtK8KsLZoQb4KA/giphy.gif

THIS SEP-OCT

I stopped mopping. YES I WAS HELLA SALTY over my grades, but I can ONLY MOVE FORWARD and so can you. Even if you got AMAZING GRADES or LESS THAT SATISFACTORY, you can still push yourself to do better.

This term, I improved by a milestone, and that's because of my new approach to studying (again, I'll create a different blog for that) and a new approach to failure.
I read read somewhere that "It's not what happens to you, it's how you react to it" And that is so true. I fell in love with my subjects again, because I wanted to, not because I had to in order to pass. Now I'm not working towards the A*, I'm working towards gaining as much knowledge as possible, simply because I WANT TO LEARN. It's not all about the grades, its about your knowledge, to get the grades.

Every exam is different, so is every grade boundary....

MY Advise to you: Treat everything you do separately. It doesn't matter if you have failed or succeeded before, treat the next thing you do with a blind eye because Cockiness will laugh at you, and fear of Failure will haunt you

AND NOW IM LIKE : https://media.giphy.com/media/TvhEMG6vlXNcY/giphy.gif

~ Thanks for reading that marathon, If you made it to the end, reply to this thread with " :elefant:

" or the emoji if you're reading this from your phone/ tablet
PLEASE ALSO SEND THE LINK TO ANYONE WHO NEEDS TO BE MOTIVATED AND A VIRTUAL SHOULDER TO CRY ON :smile:

~ SALTY ~

Reply 6

(NaCl)-ty

Original post by y.u.mad.bro?

Hey, at least you live and learn. Just stay positive and work hard. Who knows, you might get into uni for the course you want to do if you get really high grades :wink:

Best of luck!!!

Thank you! And hopefully I can too !! :u:

Reply 7

username3460126

Original post by (NaCl)-ty

" or the emoji if you're reading this from your phone/ tablet
PLEASE ALSO SEND THE LINK TO ANYONE WHO NEEDS TO BE MOTIVATED AND A VIRTUAL SHOULDER TO CRY ON :smile:

~ SALTY ~

Wow, you truly are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! And your HILARIOUS! :biggrin:

Also congrats you've landed onto my 'inspirational people list' xxx

Reply 8

(NaCl)-ty

Original post by A.N123

Wow, you truly are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! And your HILARIOUS! :biggrin:

Also congrats you've landed onto my 'inspirational people list' xxx

What? Thank you!! That means alot!!! :p:

p I hope to keep inspiring you!xxxxx

Reply 9

(NaCl)-ty

AUTUMN HALF TERM 2
30TH OCTOBER - 3RD NOVEMBER

AIM: NEW REVISION TECHNIQUES + I FLASHED FOR MY GRADES (part 1)

HI! So its been a week since I last posted. Last week was half term so I was mostly trying to catch up on work and notes etc. Basically, binge watching Riverdale and Stranger things... BUT I have to say that I was productive in the work I got done: I manged to revise some AS stuff and A2 since I have mocks in December.

:clap2:

Lets get started on the aim of today's blog. (Also, I apologise for any grammar, spellings mistakes etc. I do all maths and science subjects, I left English in GCSE...)

NEW REVISION TECHNIQUES

1) FLASH CARDS
Yes, I flashed for my grades. I got an A in my biology topic test which is a plus, since last year I barely revised for any topic test... *wonders why I did so bad in AS...* https://media.giphy.com/media/y3QOvy7xxMwKI/giphy.gif

Last year, I would rely on my lessons when doing my end of topic tests. I mean, we would study a topic, like, 3 weeks max? We had four lesson a week for each sub. I would get away with a B or C, and I knew I could do better, so I would tell myself, "Imagine when you actually revise, You'll get an A!" NO YOU WILL NOT. BECAUSE IF YOU SEE THE SPEC FOR ANY A LEVEL, IF YOU DO NOT GO OVER EVERYTHING CONSECUTIVELY, YOU WILL FORGET! Biology is probably the worst subject in terms of the amount of content, plus new key words and terms, and who ever wrote the marks scheme and exam paper is an absolute a$swipe. Who TF writes a 1 mark question, and expects an essay in order to get the mark? Have you seen the space they give for the answer? Have you seen my brain capacity? I can barely remember when my mom tells me to take the chicken out the freezer...speaking of which, excuse me un momento.

1) HOW I CREATED FLASH CARDS: I'm pretty sure everyone knows that you just write a question on one side, and write the answer on the back... well sure yes, but its how you write the question that helps you successfully utilise the power of THE FLASH(cards).

1) use the headings of the topics. DON't write q's like, what is the mitochondria? Because, come on. :hello:

Is an exam question going to sound like that? Most likely not. Plus, you kind of limit what you can write and remember for that q. Instead, write a q like, "What are the functions and properties of the mitochondria?" This way, you cover, functions, properties and WHAT the mitochondria is. Helps you to remember the correct facts that LINK them together so in the exam, BAM! :007:

, you know what to write.

2) Use the flashcards and answer the questions by writing it down. It's good to be able to recall information in your head or out loud, but writing it down helps because you can actually see where you go wrong, words you cant spell, or simply your phasing.

DISCLAIMER: I would say that these work for facts only type of topics. Like bio, english, organic chem etc. Any where where you need to remember key facts for that particular subject or subtopic. Also, It helps to look at your specification to get an idea of the things they will test you on because a lot of the time, the text books chat random BS. GET PAPER CLIPS or rubber bands, or wallet to hold them together. I've lost some already in my bag, along with my Vaseline. My lips have been hella chapped. https://media.giphy.com/media/SozI4WsgpcA9i/giphy.gif

2) USING PAST PAPERS. How original. BUT every time a teacher says use past papers, I dont see how that helps to be honest. I still get the questions wrong, and pull a new face every time I see a weird or hard question. https://media.giphy.com/media/11caUX0P0nYZ32/giphy.gif BUT HERES A TIP TO USING PAST PAPERS because people forget to tell you how to. :smile:

1) Dissect the hell out of the question. If you're revising, dissect the question. I don't know how to crop images on here because the scaling is actually messed.Here's things to look for:
a) Command words. For essay subjects, ask your teacher to confirm the command words for you subject because I know outline basically means describe for some subjects. This is to know how to structure your answer and the details you need. Because I know, in biology, suggests means, use your PhD knowledge to answer this 4 marker :smile:

jk.

b) use the key information in the question. If see key words like polysaccharides, diabetes, insulin. You can know the type of info you need. It also helps to use sticky notes. Like if you see a question, like a 6 marker etc, write short details or bullet points about the topic relating to the topic, then pick out the things you need relating to the command words. Also I would say for each topic, etc, have a little word bank for the terms that get credited, like 'hydrolysis' instead of 'breakdown', or 'colour solution' instead of 'clear.' etc.

c) go over old tests and try and get full marks. It helps to see what you keep going wrong in your knowledge of answering techniques. For example, I waffle, much like this blog post.https://media.giphy.com/media/B0vFTrb0ZGDf2/giphy.gif

d) do tutorial or questions. For maths subjects like physics, chem, maths (duh)...what else... economics, business... If there are certain ways to answer a question, create you're own steps and answer the question. This way, you end up with a bank of exemplar working outs and structure. It definitely helped me in maths and chem. I got an A in C3 topic test, B in stats (tbh, if i got a C in stats, I would be happy because I hate stats with a burning passion https://media.giphy.com/media/y1WDIwAZRSmru/giphy.gif <- me squeezing the life out of EDEXCEL.) In chem, I got an A so whooohoo! I have certainly improved comapred to last year, and I working towads the A's for now, then A* when I build up my confidence!

OTAY...

Hopeful, these have helped or will help you in ways they have helped me. I think this is the time to experiment with revision techniques before December, or at least before the end of November. Not everything with work for each subject or sub topic. RECALL. DEMONSTRATE. PRACTICE Is what I would say helps the most.

PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS!!
Don't be (Na-Cl)-ty
BU-BYE!
https://media.giphy.com/media/3KWHzadf2Iq64/giphy.gif

BTW, Is any one watching Stranger things? you know, when you are procrastinating or meant to be studying? I'm one season one, so if one of you mofo add spoilers, I will COME AND FIND YOU https://media.giphy.com/media/3QegDkfeLfRUA/giphy.gif