ATTENTION all biology A level students: some tips for you!
Please check out below copy of text I sent to some of my students who thought they were struggling [the saying at the end refers to boys [I am quoting], but it applies equally to girls so please don't start sulking!!] 
:
Hi young lady/man - I understand you have a mountain of work in next few weeks:-
Just to explain my multi-pronged strategy, which I hope you can exploit to your own advantage in next few weeks of short time left.
With essays, the advantages are:-
1. Coverage/revision of actual material of essay itself
2. Discussion around the actual topic [you know very well how I wander around the syllabus] means we cover various parts of syllabus simultaneously [3-4 chickens with one stone lol!]
3. Cross-referencing as in [3] above means recall of a large number of facts PLUS it is a super memory aid [no time for A level now, but try to buy "Use Your Memory" by Tony Buzan: a superb book that will hold you in stead during uni & beyond].
4. Last Q in paper 3 of A2 exams is actually an essay Q, so practising essays is a time-efficient method of preparation [25 marks worth against other Qs of 4-8 marks each]: REMEMBER: mark, mark, mark!
A similarly super-effective tactic I use is to get the student to prepare then give a talk for 30 min on a topic in the presence of sometimes illiterate [at least in biology!] parents; unfortunately, as I teach online now after COVID-19, that tactic is not possible.
DW - we WILL get there: even at this "ripe" stage A or A* are not completely out of reach - be positive: I have had students much less capable than you exceeding expectations dramatically! My father always recited this old adage:-
"Though you tumble down boys,
Don't be downcast,
Try & try again boys,
And you will succeed at last!!"
Best of luck to everyone!
M
:Hi young lady/man - I understand you have a mountain of work in next few weeks:-
Just to explain my multi-pronged strategy, which I hope you can exploit to your own advantage in next few weeks of short time left.
With essays, the advantages are:-
1. Coverage/revision of actual material of essay itself
2. Discussion around the actual topic [you know very well how I wander around the syllabus] means we cover various parts of syllabus simultaneously [3-4 chickens with one stone lol!]
3. Cross-referencing as in [3] above means recall of a large number of facts PLUS it is a super memory aid [no time for A level now, but try to buy "Use Your Memory" by Tony Buzan: a superb book that will hold you in stead during uni & beyond].
4. Last Q in paper 3 of A2 exams is actually an essay Q, so practising essays is a time-efficient method of preparation [25 marks worth against other Qs of 4-8 marks each]: REMEMBER: mark, mark, mark!
A similarly super-effective tactic I use is to get the student to prepare then give a talk for 30 min on a topic in the presence of sometimes illiterate [at least in biology!] parents; unfortunately, as I teach online now after COVID-19, that tactic is not possible.
DW - we WILL get there: even at this "ripe" stage A or A* are not completely out of reach - be positive: I have had students much less capable than you exceeding expectations dramatically! My father always recited this old adage:-
"Though you tumble down boys,
Don't be downcast,
Try & try again boys,
And you will succeed at last!!"
Best of luck to everyone!
M
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