Motivating gyg blog 2024 Bio/Chem
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Original post by wilderose
thank you for the support !!
I think notes is something really important for me ( I am the opposite I started making notes/flashcards in year 13 when I got my ish together - year 12 was me following Ali Abdaal crap and finding out it wasn't really working for me if I didn't structure/put information into context by making notes- that makes flashcards so much easier to remember for me)
anyway we got this !!
I think notes is something really important for me ( I am the opposite I started making notes/flashcards in year 13 when I got my ish together - year 12 was me following Ali Abdaal crap and finding out it wasn't really working for me if I didn't structure/put information into context by making notes- that makes flashcards so much easier to remember for me)
anyway we got this !!
oh okay! glad u found something that works for you, haha whos ali abdaal?
yes we got this!!
Original post by aamina.hs
oh okay! glad u found something that works for you, haha whos ali abdaal?
yes we got this!!
yes we got this!!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOae5nYA7VqaXzerajD0lg - this guy?
Original post by wilderose
Oooh yeah i think ive seen him and/or similar. Videos like those are such empty promises, they make it seem like it'll be life changing but really you just need to find what works for you. It's a shame schools dont prioritise emphasising this more, rather than wasting their time implementing baseless rules bc not everything works for everyone!!
Original post by wilderose
Hello hope your revisions are doing okay!!
I am getting anxious I won't be able to finish all of mine on time and need advice on my revision strategy because I am afraid I won't be able to do enough practice!
Predicted:
Biology: B
Chemistry: B
German: B
French: A* (native)
Target= A/A* in all (apart from german maybe)
For sciences I am freaking it out because my plan was:
- march: finish notes
-april: learn notes
-may (study leave whole of may) : practice questions/past papers
I was a bit late on making notes so I am still making some for chem/practicals whilst learning what I did (I use Anki cos I hate looking at physical flashcards (on average 50 reviews a day, I did 220 today tho))
Do you think it is feasible to get an A in sciences and 1 month is enough to do practice questions? I am freaking out because I think I will get Cs because I am not doing enough revision / and I feel like I am burnout at the same time but this is the last straight line (I am taking a gap year to recharge my batteries next year)
Any help/advice welcome and much appreciated!!
I am getting anxious I won't be able to finish all of mine on time and need advice on my revision strategy because I am afraid I won't be able to do enough practice!
Predicted:
Biology: B
Chemistry: B
German: B
French: A* (native)
Target= A/A* in all (apart from german maybe)
For sciences I am freaking it out because my plan was:
- march: finish notes
-april: learn notes
-may (study leave whole of may) : practice questions/past papers
I was a bit late on making notes so I am still making some for chem/practicals whilst learning what I did (I use Anki cos I hate looking at physical flashcards (on average 50 reviews a day, I did 220 today tho))
Do you think it is feasible to get an A in sciences and 1 month is enough to do practice questions? I am freaking out because I think I will get Cs because I am not doing enough revision / and I feel like I am burnout at the same time but this is the last straight line (I am taking a gap year to recharge my batteries next year)
Any help/advice welcome and much appreciated!!
I do bio chem and Religious studies and I'm in the same boat of you beacuse of my laziness I'm still making notes and understanding content and haven't even started past papers. I'm also taking a gap year so I can have a FAT year off after trauma of A levels 😭😭. Your plan seems good and similar to mine because you have a whole month off use this to fine tune exam technique. Btw I wish i could review flashcards I see it as such a chore !!!
Original post by Melissa6789#
I do bio chem and Religious studies and I'm in the same boat of you beacuse of my laziness I'm still making notes and understanding content and haven't even started past papers. I'm also taking a gap year so I can have a FAT year off after trauma of A levels 😭😭. Your plan seems good and similar to mine because you have a whole month off use this to fine tune exam technique. Btw I wish i could review flashcards I see it as such a chore !!!
yay I am happy we have so many things in common
I used to hate flashcards but I found a couple of things to make them better (for me personally)
•
make them urself (or use the pmt ones and reformulate them when you struggle to remember them the way they are worded) - I think wording helps so much to make stuff stick
•
gamify it - for example I have a countdown for each flashcards + I have cute little dogs pictures everytime I do a certain nbr of flashcards
•
I also use the anki heatmap because it motivates me
•
and I also use a little pokemon thing that makes you collect pokemons as you do your flashcards
•
and also a review page before every deck so you know how many you have left etc...
•
and I have a square thing physical representation of the number of flashcards in a deck.
•
and also don't use flashcards for everything because some info cannot be flashcarded and you need to understand
Today: 20/04
•
making all French/german/english flashcards for German on Anki (only way I can learn frr english-german is too difficult fro my brain to handle)
•
finishing to make flashcards for practicals (bio+chem)
•
marking a paper 1 AS paper bio I did in Jan (got a B)
•
anki for biology
•
wanted to make chem notes for specific topics as well but didn't manage to (too tired/lazy lol)
(edited 5 months ago)
24/04 small academic wins that make me proud of myself:
25/04
•
went to school for the first time this week ( was sick before)
•
wrote a due German essay in a morning free
•
got my 1st A on a Bio past paper ( paper 1) - even tho I marked it generously (like gave the mark when I was in doubt)
•
This grade shows using Anki for bio is paying off ))
•
Did 400 flashcards for the 1st time
•
Got my EPQ grade back: 47/50 so A*
•
Had my speaking exam for French last week! (out of the way)
•
worked 1h30 on preparing answers for the discussion of my German IRP
•
worked 1h on Anki bio/organic synthesis/german vocab even tho I had no want to do it whatsoever
Original post by wilderose
24/04 small academic wins that make me proud of myself:
25/04
•
went to school for the first time this week ( was sick before)
•
wrote a due German essay in a morning free
•
got my 1st A on a Bio past paper ( paper 1) - even tho I marked it generously (like gave the mark when I was in doubt)
•
This grade shows using Anki for bio is paying off ))
•
Did 400 flashcards for the 1st time
•
Got my EPQ grade back: 47/50 so A*
•
Had my speaking exam for French last week! (out of the way)
•
worked 1h30 on preparing answers for the discussion of my German IRP
•
worked 1h on Anki bio/organic synthesis/german vocab even tho I had no want to do it whatsoever
Wow well done!! 👏
04/05- 1st day of study leave
Icl I have not been doing much work for the past week because it was the last week of school + was only doing german speaking work for my 3rd oral may, so that's done.
Today I have a flu/headache typa thing so I didn't work much but I managed to go to the library where I worked for 2hours straight + 1h at home doing chem practice questions (30 min/topic)
So I did 30 min open book/old spec on the following topics:
NMR
Thermodynamics
Properties of period 3 elements
Amino acids, proteins
I want to do 30 min of practice questions for each topic open book every week (so complete the spec in practice papers every week) for the next three weeks. Any tips/revision advice for study leave?
Icl I have not been doing much work for the past week because it was the last week of school + was only doing german speaking work for my 3rd oral may, so that's done.
Today I have a flu/headache typa thing so I didn't work much but I managed to go to the library where I worked for 2hours straight + 1h at home doing chem practice questions (30 min/topic)
So I did 30 min open book/old spec on the following topics:
NMR
Thermodynamics
Properties of period 3 elements
Amino acids, proteins
I want to do 30 min of practice questions for each topic open book every week (so complete the spec in practice papers every week) for the next three weeks. Any tips/revision advice for study leave?
Study leave diary -2- 05/05/2024
What I did today:
What I did today:
•
Watched osmoregulation videos by Miss Estruch (1h)
•
Reviewed Topic 3.1,3.2,3.3 Topic 8.1,8.2,8.3 Topic 10.1,10.2,10.3,10.4 and 9.8+9.6 from Edexcel b Spec (read revision guide+did anki) (3h)
•
I also tried to replace my screen time with reading a fun/interesting book (to me). Currently reading: The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri. (1h reading probs?)
Original post by wilderose
04/05- 1st day of study leave
Icl I have not been doing much work for the past week because it was the last week of school + was only doing german speaking work for my 3rd oral may, so that's done.
Today I have a flu/headache typa thing so I didn't work much but I managed to go to the library where I worked for 2hours straight + 1h at home doing chem practice questions (30 min/topic)
So I did 30 min open book/old spec on the following topics:
NMR
Thermodynamics
Properties of period 3 elements
Amino acids, proteins
I want to do 30 min of practice questions for each topic open book every week (so complete the spec in practice papers every week) for the next three weeks. Any tips/revision advice for study leave?
Icl I have not been doing much work for the past week because it was the last week of school + was only doing german speaking work for my 3rd oral may, so that's done.
Today I have a flu/headache typa thing so I didn't work much but I managed to go to the library where I worked for 2hours straight + 1h at home doing chem practice questions (30 min/topic)
So I did 30 min open book/old spec on the following topics:
NMR
Thermodynamics
Properties of period 3 elements
Amino acids, proteins
I want to do 30 min of practice questions for each topic open book every week (so complete the spec in practice papers every week) for the next three weeks. Any tips/revision advice for study leave?
I would say my top tip would be to make sure u slot your revision in throughout the day - Since you have study leave you have more control over how many hours you do and at what time - also set small goals like waking up at 9am 🙂 (my school doesn't give study leave for yr 13's 🥲)
Original post by A.2KK
I would say my top tip would be to make sure u slot your revision in throughout the day - Since you have study leave you have more control over how many hours you do and at what time - also set small goals like waking up at 9am 🙂 (my school doesn't give study leave for yr 13's 🥲)
Oh thank you ! I do that already but the problem is that my focus wavers/and I don't stay really productive during the day although I am "working" the whole day.
I usually wake up early but I don't really want to start work straight away/ so I kinda start later.
gyg for the last couple of days:
7/05- library
spent whole day at the library and did topical bio questions for everything to do with ecology I reckon from 10am to 6pm (with breaks in between of course - I also did 1h of Anki for chem)
10-13: Bio topical questions
13-14: Pause
14-15: Anki chem
15-18: Bio topical questions
8/05 - home
Such a lazy day, staying at home is no good but it was kind of a break after Tuesday which was quite productive.
made mind maps for topic 4 circulation (still can't get my head round it since Y12!!!) (3h but I was chatting at the same time, so NOT efficient studying)
Watched Miss Estruch Topic 3 AQA whole video (equivalent to topic 4 in my exam board) (45 min/1h)
I also made a list of topics that come up most often in exams to rank them in order of priority for Chem/Bio. (1h)
Did Jim Clarks Calculation questions (1h30-2h)
So total around 7h.
9/05 - library
Did a chem past paper 1 (2h) Got a B (my predicted so not astonishing/but not worrying either) - was marked very harshly. Now I know what areas I need to improve) (to get an A in paper 1 at least)
Spent whole day doing Chem calculations (litt/ when I wasn't doing that I was learning Inorganic chem)
Inorganic chem learning 1h30 morning
1h30 calculations morning ( amount of substance)
3h calculations (acids and bases)
A well deserved 1h break.
2h of calculations (rate of equation/buffers/Gibbs)
30 min of learning / revising stuff to do with calculations
30 min of revising inorganic chem
2h of chem test.
7/05- library
spent whole day at the library and did topical bio questions for everything to do with ecology I reckon from 10am to 6pm (with breaks in between of course - I also did 1h of Anki for chem)
10-13: Bio topical questions
13-14: Pause
14-15: Anki chem
15-18: Bio topical questions
8/05 - home
Such a lazy day, staying at home is no good but it was kind of a break after Tuesday which was quite productive.
made mind maps for topic 4 circulation (still can't get my head round it since Y12!!!) (3h but I was chatting at the same time, so NOT efficient studying)
Watched Miss Estruch Topic 3 AQA whole video (equivalent to topic 4 in my exam board) (45 min/1h)
I also made a list of topics that come up most often in exams to rank them in order of priority for Chem/Bio. (1h)
Did Jim Clarks Calculation questions (1h30-2h)
So total around 7h.
9/05 - library
Did a chem past paper 1 (2h) Got a B (my predicted so not astonishing/but not worrying either) - was marked very harshly. Now I know what areas I need to improve
) (to get an A in paper 1 at least)Spent whole day doing Chem calculations (litt/ when I wasn't doing that I was learning Inorganic chem)
Inorganic chem learning 1h30 morning
1h30 calculations morning ( amount of substance)
3h calculations (acids and bases)
A well deserved 1h break.
2h of calculations (rate of equation/buffers/Gibbs)
30 min of learning / revising stuff to do with calculations
30 min of revising inorganic chem
2h of chem test.
Original post by wilderose
gyg for the last couple of days:
7/05- library
spent whole day at the library and did topical bio questions for everything to do with ecology I reckon from 10am to 6pm (with breaks in between of course - I also did 1h of Anki for chem)
10-13: Bio topical questions
13-14: Pause
14-15: Anki chem
15-18: Bio topical questions
8/05 - home
Such a lazy day, staying at home is no good but it was kind of a break after Tuesday which was quite productive.
made mind maps for topic 4 circulation (still can't get my head round it since Y12!!!) (3h but I was chatting at the same time, so NOT efficient studying)
Watched Miss Estruch Topic 3 AQA whole video (equivalent to topic 4 in my exam board) (45 min/1h)
I also made a list of topics that come up most often in exams to rank them in order of priority for Chem/Bio. (1h)
Did Jim Clarks Calculation questions (1h30-2h)
So total around 7h.
9/05 - library
Did a chem past paper 1 (2h) Got a B (my predicted so not astonishing/but not worrying either) - was marked very harshly. Now I know what areas I need to improve) (to get an A in paper 1 at least)
Spent whole day doing Chem calculations (litt/ when I wasn't doing that I was learning Inorganic chem)
Inorganic chem learning 1h30 morning
1h30 calculations morning ( amount of substance)
3h calculations (acids and bases)
A well deserved 1h break.
2h of calculations (rate of equation/buffers/Gibbs)
30 min of learning / revising stuff to do with calculations
30 min of revising inorganic chem
2h of chem test.
7/05- library
spent whole day at the library and did topical bio questions for everything to do with ecology I reckon from 10am to 6pm (with breaks in between of course - I also did 1h of Anki for chem)
10-13: Bio topical questions
13-14: Pause
14-15: Anki chem
15-18: Bio topical questions
8/05 - home
Such a lazy day, staying at home is no good but it was kind of a break after Tuesday which was quite productive.
made mind maps for topic 4 circulation (still can't get my head round it since Y12!!!) (3h but I was chatting at the same time, so NOT efficient studying)
Watched Miss Estruch Topic 3 AQA whole video (equivalent to topic 4 in my exam board) (45 min/1h)
I also made a list of topics that come up most often in exams to rank them in order of priority for Chem/Bio. (1h)
Did Jim Clarks Calculation questions (1h30-2h)
So total around 7h.
9/05 - library
Did a chem past paper 1 (2h) Got a B (my predicted so not astonishing/but not worrying either) - was marked very harshly. Now I know what areas I need to improve
) (to get an A in paper 1 at least)Spent whole day doing Chem calculations (litt/ when I wasn't doing that I was learning Inorganic chem)
Inorganic chem learning 1h30 morning
1h30 calculations morning ( amount of substance)
3h calculations (acids and bases)
A well deserved 1h break.
2h of calculations (rate of equation/buffers/Gibbs)
30 min of learning / revising stuff to do with calculations
30 min of revising inorganic chem
2h of chem test.
wow ur on fire!! well done and keep it up! not long left we got this <3
Study leave diary
10/05 - was supposed to do a bio paper 2 at the end of the day after revising all day. I did kind of revise but did not sit the paper.
11/05 - spent 3 hours at the library reviewing stuff I got wrong on a past paper I did for chem paper 1. Did Kp questions for 2 hours and a past paper for bio (half of it because I quickly got bored as I always do with past papers)
12/05 - went to a coffee shop for 3 hours and memorised period three weird ligands+ organic chemistry mechanisms+ inorganic chem reactions of period 3 elements with O2 and H2O - did a past paper (1h30 ish) kind of relaxed after because ✨tired✨
13/05- dragged myself to school because I messed up my sleep schedule - ended up analysing my past paper for 1h/marking it. Then did some topical questions on organic analysis and took a nap. Then went home and relaxed (read procrastinated) then took another nap.
14/05 - dragged myself to the library after sleeping a substantial amount of hours. Sat two past papers I was supposed to do yesterday afternoon instead of napping and procrastinating. I have two questions left that I haven't bothered to finish cos too fed up but I'll do it later. ( kind of 1h30 each but up to 2 hours with procrastination + 1 h of marking and analysing)
(These are not official past papers btw they are practice past papers, I wouldn't dare treat real ones like this 🙇🏻*♀️ - apart if it's bio, bio has a way of boring me to death if Idk content, but I do the AS ones as well to give myself more practice)
Anyway I am currently reading five books all at once: (as my relax time instead of watching youtube or dumb scrolling+ I really look forward to read on evenings: (all non fiction so that it doesn't impact my revision hehe)
I (nearly) finished The Ungrateful Refugee + We should all be feminists today (14/05)
Good luck with you revision!!
10/05 - was supposed to do a bio paper 2 at the end of the day after revising all day. I did kind of revise but did not sit the paper.
11/05 - spent 3 hours at the library reviewing stuff I got wrong on a past paper I did for chem paper 1. Did Kp questions for 2 hours and a past paper for bio (half of it because I quickly got bored as I always do with past papers)
12/05 - went to a coffee shop for 3 hours and memorised period three weird ligands+ organic chemistry mechanisms+ inorganic chem reactions of period 3 elements with O2 and H2O - did a past paper (1h30 ish) kind of relaxed after because ✨tired✨
13/05- dragged myself to school because I messed up my sleep schedule - ended up analysing my past paper for 1h/marking it. Then did some topical questions on organic analysis and took a nap. Then went home and relaxed (read procrastinated) then took another nap.
14/05 - dragged myself to the library after sleeping a substantial amount of hours. Sat two past papers I was supposed to do yesterday afternoon instead of napping and procrastinating. I have two questions left that I haven't bothered to finish cos too fed up but I'll do it later. ( kind of 1h30 each but up to 2 hours with procrastination + 1 h of marking and analysing)
(These are not official past papers btw they are practice past papers, I wouldn't dare treat real ones like this 🙇🏻*♀️ - apart if it's bio, bio has a way of boring me to death if Idk content, but I do the AS ones as well to give myself more practice)
Anyway I am currently reading five books all at once: (as my relax time instead of watching youtube or dumb scrolling+ I really look forward to read on evenings: (all non fiction so that it doesn't impact my revision hehe)
I (nearly) finished The Ungrateful Refugee + We should all be feminists today (14/05)
Good luck with you revision!!
keep going, I remember having these back when I did my A levels
Original post by wilderose
thank you for the support !!
I think notes is something really important for me ( I am the opposite I started making notes/flashcards in year 13 when I got my ish together - year 12 was me following Ali Abdaal crap and finding out it wasn't really working for me if I didn't structure/put information into context by making notes- that makes flashcards so much easier to remember for me)
anyway we got this !!
I think notes is something really important for me ( I am the opposite I started making notes/flashcards in year 13 when I got my ish together - year 12 was me following Ali Abdaal crap and finding out it wasn't really working for me if I didn't structure/put information into context by making notes- that makes flashcards so much easier to remember for me)
anyway we got this !!
(edited 3 weeks ago)
Original post by wilderose
Study leave diary
10/05 - was supposed to do a bio paper 2 at the end of the day after revising all day. I did kind of revise but did not sit the paper.
11/05 - spent 3 hours at the library reviewing stuff I got wrong on a past paper I did for chem paper 1. Did Kp questions for 2 hours and a past paper for bio (half of it because I quickly got bored as I always do with past papers)
12/05 - went to a coffee shop for 3 hours and memorised period three weird ligands+ organic chemistry mechanisms+ inorganic chem reactions of period 3 elements with O2 and H2O - did a past paper (1h30 ish) kind of relaxed after because ✨tired✨
13/05- dragged myself to school because I messed up my sleep schedule - ended up analysing my past paper for 1h/marking it. Then did some topical questions on organic analysis and took a nap. Then went home and relaxed (read procrastinated) then took another nap.
14/05 - dragged myself to the library after sleeping a substantial amount of hours. Sat two past papers I was supposed to do yesterday afternoon instead of napping and procrastinating. I have two questions left that I haven't bothered to finish cos too fed up but I'll do it later. ( kind of 1h30 each but up to 2 hours with procrastination + 1 h of marking and analysing)
(These are not official past papers btw they are practice past papers, I wouldn't dare treat real ones like this 🙇🏻*♀️ - apart if it's bio, bio has a way of boring me to death if Idk content, but I do the AS ones as well to give myself more practice)
Anyway I am currently reading five books all at once: (as my relax time instead of watching youtube or dumb scrolling+ I really look forward to read on evenings: (all non fiction so that it doesn't impact my revision hehe)
I (nearly) finished The Ungrateful Refugee + We should all be feminists today (14/05)
Good luck with you revision!!
10/05 - was supposed to do a bio paper 2 at the end of the day after revising all day. I did kind of revise but did not sit the paper.
11/05 - spent 3 hours at the library reviewing stuff I got wrong on a past paper I did for chem paper 1. Did Kp questions for 2 hours and a past paper for bio (half of it because I quickly got bored as I always do with past papers)
12/05 - went to a coffee shop for 3 hours and memorised period three weird ligands+ organic chemistry mechanisms+ inorganic chem reactions of period 3 elements with O2 and H2O - did a past paper (1h30 ish) kind of relaxed after because ✨tired✨
13/05- dragged myself to school because I messed up my sleep schedule - ended up analysing my past paper for 1h/marking it. Then did some topical questions on organic analysis and took a nap. Then went home and relaxed (read procrastinated) then took another nap.
14/05 - dragged myself to the library after sleeping a substantial amount of hours. Sat two past papers I was supposed to do yesterday afternoon instead of napping and procrastinating. I have two questions left that I haven't bothered to finish cos too fed up but I'll do it later. ( kind of 1h30 each but up to 2 hours with procrastination + 1 h of marking and analysing)
(These are not official past papers btw they are practice past papers, I wouldn't dare treat real ones like this 🙇🏻*♀️ - apart if it's bio, bio has a way of boring me to death if Idk content, but I do the AS ones as well to give myself more practice)
Anyway I am currently reading five books all at once: (as my relax time instead of watching youtube or dumb scrolling+ I really look forward to read on evenings: (all non fiction so that it doesn't impact my revision hehe)
I (nearly) finished The Ungrateful Refugee + We should all be feminists today (14/05)
Good luck with you revision!!
As a book girlie I'll always pick reading over tiktok scrolling so love seeing this🫶
Original post by halfharry
As a book girlie I'll always pick reading over tiktok scrolling so love seeing this🫶
yeah it was way less stimulating and helped my sleep schedule because I couldn't read movie analysis for very long haha even tho it was interesting I would know when to stop unlike scrolling that has no start and no end 😭 It was also very exciting to make my non-fiction tbr 🙂 do you have Goodreads ?
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