5 Steps For INEFFECTIVE Revision This Easter Holidays

Let’s see how many your teenager is doing

If you want to make sure that your teenager’s revision this Easter is as INEFFECTIVE as possible make sure each of the following steps are followed carefully.

Step 1: No Plan

It should go without saying,

That revision should be as random as possible.

If you want to be really creative,

You could create a really unrealistic plan,

I like the idea of getting 15-year-olds to do at least 8 hours a day because if we can do it at work why can’t they …

And then make sure that if they do not live up to this rigid plan,

They chastise themselves for failing and then just don’t bother anymore.

Having an intentional, realistic and flexible plan will only lead to outcomes we want to avoid.

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Step 2: When

Let’s be honest,

We are approximately a month out from the start of GCSEs & A Levels,

If you are not working at 10pm most nights then are you really working hard enough?

Circadian rhythms are a real thing.

So we should make sure we ignore them,

And force everyone to revise on our, parental schedule.

Bonus points if we book some family outings right in the middle of a student’s peak working times.

We want to make it as stop, start as possible because we all know how easy it is to get back into the rhythm of revising!

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Step 3: Where

It’s lonely revising by yourself, right?

Let’s make sure we are never alone.

We are either ‘revising’ with a friend,

At school,

Or with mum or dad on the kitchen table.

If somehow, we ever do find ourselves alone,

Let’s revise on our bed with all the distractions of our room within arm’s reach,

And mum, dad, please make sure you come in at least once an hour with tea and biscuits, laundry or a funny Facebook post.

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Step 4: Past Papers & Essays

If we accidentally find that we have done a past paper or an essay,

We’ve completed the task,

There’s nothing else to do.

Stash the essay or past paper in a draw and consider it a job well done.

I am certain that you will just magically get better.

The definition of SANITY is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results,

Right?

Please, please, please do not send your essays into your teacher for feedback or actually use the past paper as a vehicle to finding out what sub-topics you do not know in an exam context.

This would be a complete waste of time.

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Step 5: Choosing What To Revise

Okay, we have almost maximised the ineffectiveness of our revision this Easter,

But there is one more thing we need to do.

Life is tough,

And learning something new is difficult,

So when we revise,

Let’s go over our favorite topics,

Maybe read over some old notes,

We must not think intentionally about how you could use the revision session to tangibly get more marks.

It is enough that you are revising anyway,

Let’s not make it more difficult for ourselves.

Plus,

We can tell our mates and our parents that we’ve done loads of revision,

They don’t need to know what we actually did.

Additionally,

You know that thing you want to do next year? A Levels, B-Tec, Apprenticeship, University …

Don’t think about it,

Definitively don’t prioritise in respect to this goal.

Let’s revise what we feel like each day,

Or better yet let’s spend 75% of our time just on French for a laugh.

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The point of this newsletter is not to make anyone feel bad or point any figures.

I know real life is more nuanced than just simply being optimally effective.

However, we all do things without fully thinking about the consequences.

So hopefully this newsletter has provided some food for thought.

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I hope you all have a great week ahead,

Best wishes,

Joel