Exam 101 Preparing for the exam

Exam 101 Preparing for the exam

Exams really aren’t that hard – once you’ve got a fairly good idea for how to anticipate the exam question you can essentially hone your preparations to ensure that you’re set for studying (to learn how to anticipate the exam question refer to the archive blogs for August 2017).

There are several routes that this can take. I personally recommend that you begin studying 6 weeks out from the exam. I will label what to do for each week and you can step in wherever you fit in. (For example, if you only have four weeks left begin from week four not week six.)

You will reap the most benefit if you do the program from start to finish, but it is the final weeks of consolidated learning that you must focus on if you have limited time.

Week Six

Daily Activities

·        Check for the examinable areas of the course

·        Summarize the biggest topics into four pages each

·        Summarize critical topic components into cue cards

·        Scan forward for the next six weeks and devise a study plan to get through the material a little faster. Use study notes from old students (Available online) or watch old lectures (often found on youtube or itunesU) to gain a better understanding. – Aim to finish three weeks before the end of term.

Weekly Activity

·        Arrange for a consultation with tutor/lecturer/teacher to ask questions about areas you’re unsure about

Tip

·        Find some quotes you like from key readings and put them into your summaries

Week Five

Goals

Ø  Begin final review of learning material; begin with weeks 1-4

Ø  Attempt two exam questions (long) and three exam questions (short)

Daily

·        Continue summary of biggest topics into four pages each

·        Continue summarizing critical components onto cue cards

·        40 minutes per day on study plan to finish course

Weekly Activity

Assemble your old assessment items in a logical order and write out the critical comments from each of them. Apply them to a simple checklist for use next week.

Tip

·        Don’t highlight anything yet. Save that for your final review.

Week Four

Goals

Ø  Begin final review of learning material; begin with weeks 3-6

Ø  Attempt two exam questions (long) and three exam questions (short)

Ø  Have your cue card summaries finished

Daily

·        60 minutes per day on study plan to finish course

·        Begin summarizing the small/less important topics into two pages each

Weekly Activity

Use the critical feedback list you compiled last week to check your results on your exam questions. Where you haven’t applied the feedback properly rewrite the question in a different colored pen and properly apply the feedback. Take the rewritten answer to your instructor and ask for their opinion on the piece. Take your feedback with you so that you can show them how you interpreted the feedback.

Tip

You should show them your interpretation because sometimes you might receive a comment like ‘be more precise’ so your response is to use less words – but the instructor intended for you to use more technical language, not fewer words.

Week Three

Goals

Ø  Begin final review of learning material; begin with weeks 5-8

Ø  Attempt two exam questions (long) and three exam questions (short)

Ø  Finish summarizing smaller topics into two pages and combine all topics into one study guide

Daily

·        60 minutes per day on study plan to finish course [YOU SHOULD FINISH THIS WEEK – IF NOT, either increase the amount to finish this week or move on.]

·        Review notes 20 minutes per day

Weekly

Spend time with at least one other student in your course and go through one full exam with them. If you don’t have much time don’t write out full answers, just answer the question in dot points and discuss what you think is most important.

Tip

Respect what the other students says, while you can’t rely on others for 100% accuracy a different perspective will focus on other critical components of the course and will help to keep your mind on track for where it should be.  Don’t be put off if they haven’t studied as much as you already, some people work well with less preparation – but you’re always better off to have prepared more than less.

Week Two

Goals

Ø  Begin final review of learning material; begin with weeks 7-11

Ø  Attempt two exam questions (long) and three exam questions (short)

Ø  Finish summarizing smaller topics into two pages and combine all topics into one study guide

Daily

·        Review notes 30 minutes per day

·        Extra focus on finishing your final review. Don’t write in full sentences now if you’re running short on time. Instead just summarize in dot points and draw diagrams. It’s about learning the information, not making it look good

Weekly

Do a timed practice exam, practicing calming techniques and using any of the notes you’ll be allowed. If you’re not allowed notes in your exam – then it won’t be to your advantage to use them.

Tip

Check your exam afterwards and give it a grade estimate by looking over the feedback and analysis you’ve already being given and see how it matches up.

Week One

Goals

Ø  Finish final review of learning material

Ø  Attempt three exam questions (long) and four exam questions (short)

Daily

·        Review notes 30 minutes per day

·        Extra focus on finishing your final review. Don’t write in full sentences now if you’re running short on time. Instead just summarize in dot points and draw diagrams. It’s about learning the information, not making it look good

Weekly

Do three timed practice exams, practicing calming techniques and using any of the notes you’ll be allowed. If you’re not allowed notes in your exam – then it won’t be to your advantage to use them.

Tip

Use this week to give yourself some rest and eat healthy foods. You’ve worked hard for the last six weeks – you can afford to take a little bit of extra time to relax than the other students – plus this will help you to reduce your anxiety before the exam.

Best of luck preparing for your exam – I know you can do it!

How to speed read like an expert

Hello everyone and welcome to another blog post on the underage lawyer.

 One of the topics that have been coming up frequently in my conversations with others is speed reading. It’s a skill that you probably only think about when you have three days to complete an essay, and you haven’t started researching yet. However, speed reading is an important skill that can assist you in everyday life. It shouldn’t be disregarded as useless skills. 

Those who want to pursue a career in law need to know that they will spend every day of their life reading. 


Client’s files can be anything from one to forty volumes long – and it’s your job to read and study them all. Reading is also the best way to expand your vocabulary and improve your thinking capabilities.

 Think of reading as upgrading technology. The more you do it, the better it gets. The less you do it, you eventually fall behind. Here are a few ways to improve your reading speed:

 1. Read a lot

 This is a basic essential. The more you read the faster you get. The less the read the slower you will become. Some scientific studies suggest that reading things on the screen of a computer is actually different to reading on paper. I’m not entirely convinced, but just to be certain you’re actually reaping the benefits of reading make sure you read both on and off screen. To improve your reading, think of it a little like sprinting. You have to run as fast as you can regardless of whether you can maintain the speed or not. When you are first beginning training yourself to speed read, don’t worry so much about comprehension. As your retrain your eyes to move along the page at a faster rate, you’ll begin to take more in.

 2. Pick the operative words 

One fatal mistake when it comes to non-recreational reading is that we read all of it. It’s very rare that all of the text will be relevant to you. To improve your reading pace identify what it is you’re looking for. Then pick three or four words that will describe that thing. From there you can run your eyes over the text. Every time you see a relevant word stop and read a few sentences surrounding the word. If it applies, congratulations. If it doesn’t apply, then keep skimming through. This way you’ll be able to ascertain just how relevant the material is. If you don’t see any words that seem relevant then either rethink your operative words or move on to the next paper. 

3. Read the first and last line 

There’s a lot to be said for introductions and conclusions. Remember learning about topic sentences in high school? Well, this is why you use them. Academic literature uses these to highlight what they’re going to say. When you’re in a rush, don’t bother with the rest of the paragraph. Just focus on the first lines of every article. By the time you reach the end, you’ll have a general idea of what’s being said. Additionally, if you read the last line of every paragraph, you’ll have a concluding statement and a linking statement. The linking statement usually explains how the next section will connect to the first. This is important because it will show you the pace that the essay evolves at and any assumptions that you need to be aware of. 

 4. Don’t sound the words aloud in your head 

When reading a lot of readers like to ‘speak’ the words in their head. This is a waste of time. Your brain is capable of comprehending the phrase without sounding it out. The more you read, the more you will be able to do this. But to begin with, help yourself to lose the habit by reciting random words in your head as you read. I began doing this by saying ‘aeiou’ over and over again while I was reading. To do this at first, it is best, to start with relatively simple reads. Try reading opinion articles or Buzzfeed pieces. They’re much easier to comprehend than academic literature and will build your confidence. You may be surprised at how much you can understand without having to focus too much on sounding out the words. 

 5. Dot point as you go 

A critical issue with speed reading is that people are concerned they can’t read quickly and understand the text. A simple way to of getting around this is to write one word describing the paragraph. Skim read the article as fast as you can and then summarize it immediately. The use of summaries in one or two words helps to lessen the fear of not understanding. The human brain is far less reliant on the sound of the words than people think. When reading the shape of the letters is just as important.

 6. When you don’t understand keep reading 

This may sound a little counter-intuitive. However, the biggest trap for slow readers is that they are hesitant to move on before they understand something. That will slow you down. Some points are poorly explained, and it will take multiple readings to understand. You need to know that if a point is badly explained it’s likely not essential to the argument and is irrelevant to your reading. It may also be that you’ll come to understand it when you read something later in the document. Your best bet when trying to rush your way through a massive pile of information is just to keep reading. Stopping and rereading things will break the rhythm of the reading. That may also cause you to read slower.

Why successful people talk to themselves

I want to talk about the importance of self-communication. There are a lot of buzzwords surrounding the skill of communication. It’s something that we all promote that we have when we apply for a new job or attempt to make new friends. It’s a skill that we could not survive in this universe without. Communication is as essential as breathing, but what is often forgotten about is self-communication.

It sounds complex but the reality is simple

To some extent, self-communication is talking to yourself as if you were another person. It is strange to think about, as society often rejects the notion of talking to yourself as something that mentally unwell people do. But in truth self-communication is the process of the subconscious mind talking to the conscious mind.

I want to bring this to your attention, as a young lawyer, because I think it’s so important to understand yourself. A lot of lawyers work late hours, deal with traumatic or confronting situations and find themselves walking the line between morality and the law. These compromising situations are quickly repressed and ignored in the mind, leading to later issues.

Suppressing the complicated feelings that arise from facing such issues is unhealthy and such repression can lead to ignoring your subconscious thoughts. This is where I will raise the concept of self-communication.

What I mean by this term, is to talk to yourself as if you were talking to another person. For example, if you find yourself not focusing on a task that you know must be done, rather than getting angry you would initiate the self talk.

The conversation would begin with an investigation into why you were not focusing. Are you craving nutrients, sleep, comfort, warmth or are you in pain? These five things may appear obvious, but many people who are under stress or skilled at ignoring their body’s cues can often miss these essential human needs.

Skipping a meal can be very bad for
your focus - and your stomach!

It’s not uncommon for me to lose focus only to realize I forgot a meal time or have goosebumps. This most commonly happens during the period before exams when there is lots of work to be done and little time to do it. Forcing yourself to ask the question may seem childish or irrelevant, but it is important to draw your attention to these five pillars.

It refers back to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. For those who aren’t aware, Maslow is a philosopher who created a theory that humans cannot function unless they have certain requirements met first. The lowest tiers include basic necessities such as shelter, safety, food, sleep, and comfort. They are not privileges to be awarded once your work is done.

A stern reminder to all students and professionals, your job will never be complete. The longer that you withhold things from yourself that are required for your body and mind to function properly the worse your attention and focus will become. Often your mental health will suffer before your physical, and that is why critical indicators such as lack of interest or regression to unhealthy habits, like overeating, hair pulling or overwhelming negative thoughts must be paid attention to.

Negative self-talk is the most harmful consequence of failing to build your skill of self-communication. Those people who cannot understand their subconscious needs often find themselves lost in a mixture of confusion, negative habits, and low self-esteem. It is not an insignificant correlation that lack of self-communication results in poor habits and frustration.

If you do have low self-communication and you’re struggling to focus, I’d like to extend a challenge to you. In fact, even if you’re not facing an issue at work, but struggling to come to terms with a complex event in your life I’d like you to attempt my challenge.

Maybe treat yourself to a hot drink after
writing this letter, you deserve it!

My challenge is to write yourself a letter. Please don’t type it, use a physical piece of paper and pen.

The letter must have four components

a)    Tell yourself what’s going wrong

b)    Tell yourself why you have to do this task

c)    Explain to yourself what’s been happening in your day, week and month

d)    Answer the question; what would I rather be doing?

If, at any point during your letter you feel that you’re leaving the question or statement that I’ve asked you to write about don’t stop yourself. Often putting pen to paper is a calming physical motion that encourages you to feel safe due to the repetition of the movement. This calm can help you to feel safe and for any overriding emotional issues that you may not have dealt with to come to the surface. This is why I encourage you not to stop yourself from going on a tangent and writing about anything that your brain takes an interest in.

Sometimes it may be that you have watched or read something that was emotionally disturbing. I have been impacted by news articles or legal cases that were morally challenging, emotionally disturbing or similar to something that I have experienced in my own life. However as we all lead busy lives, it's hard to bring that disturbance to the surface, leaving it to fester and destroy your work ethic or mental clarity.

I hope the letter that you write to yourself becomes a useful tool that you re-use to develop stronger self-communication skills. Sometimes initially writing the letter won’t bring you an immediate understanding of what is going on. Don’t assume that this means nothing is wrong. Our bodies and minds are more intelligent than we give them credit for and often they tell us more than we know. If it so happens that you read your letter back after writing it and actually believe that there is nothing behind it, that is okay, but if there is something unusual about your behavior I’d recommend leaving it for an hour or so.

You can do it!

After the time, away from your letter re-read it and consider any reoccurring themes. Sometimes you may realize that there was an unusual focus on losing an item, having a bad day or wanting something. These simple circumstances can indicate many different things, usually though they will reflect back on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and suggest that you are missing one of the lower tier requirements. Missing one of these requirements does prevent you from focusing your brain and having a productive work session.



Good luck on building your self-communication skills and I hope you will all promote this challenge to your friends and please tag me on #theunderagelawyer if you found my task helpful.

Unique DIY study board; perfect for exam time!

Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a productive holiday – if you’re studying in Australia that is. Either way I have had a super productive week at home and thought I’d love to share this ‘study-planner board.’

It’s a quirky DIY that aims to help you shape up for whatever big events you have planned. This was totally customised to my colour preferences, so whatever colours or materials I suggest feel free to drop them out and try your own colours/materials.

Things you will need:

-          Calendar with space to write details on

-          ‘Priority List’ Paper

-          A4 or bigger decorative paper

-          Staples or tape

-          Pins and decorations to match

-          Pens

-          Tape

-          Weekly planner/ note paper to make one

1.       The board itself

I have a large cork board from IKEA. It costs $8 AUD at press time, but you can usually purchase them from your local craft or discount store.

 These are better than canvas or paper boards because they hold the pins firmly.

2.       Priority list

Write out your top priorities and then order them according to time, difficulty to complete and desire to do them.

It is important that you don’t overwhelm yourself with work. You will quickly become demotivated if you see a long list of seemingly endless tasks.

I use a ‘Top Three Priorities’ List from Kikki K. This list allows me to pick three big tasks for the day and break them into smaller chunks. My work now is more streamlined, polished and focused because I’m not trying to complete twenty tasks in one day.

It is also important that you remain flexible and work intuitively. This means that you need to acknowledge how you are feeling – some days you may feel stressed or anxious. Then it is important to take care of yourself and not to push hard workloads. Doing so will only force your body to become run down and inefficient.

3.       Weekly Planner

This planner can come in any form, you can draw up a seven-day grid and divide it into three-hourly blocks. I bought a ‘Meal Planner’ from Kikki K, this breaks my day up into four sections. It also allows me to block out time for each of my subjects throughout the week.

It is important to use these overall planners because it helps you to gain a picture of how you intend to spend your time. I like to think of this planning like budgeting. Each task demands attention, but there is only so much to go around. By using planners, you can economically and efficiently spend your time. You can also realise where you can improve your time management.

When you create a weekly planner – as you can see on mine, use different colours.

For me;

Blue are the reminders,

Red are loose tasks that I would like to be working on during that time

Brown are items that I need to complete for heath and well being

Purple means it requires planning

Yellow are unavoidable and essential pre-planned events

When completing your weekly planner always fill in pre-planned events first as you need to work around these.

Also, don’t forget to remember your mental health and well-being. Plan in times to exercise, snack and relax. These are not optional because without these activities you will lose motivation and focus for your work.

4.       Monthly planner

Monthly planners are useful for those who have bigger tasks due in months or weeks. They help you to keep track of days and deadlines.

Those who are studying for exams or similar be aware that it is easy to fool yourself about how long you have left. Using monthly planners can help you to remain realistic and practical when organising

social events and breaks.

Studying, particularly for school, can be gruelling and at times demotivating. My article on ‘endurance studying’ may help you find some ideas to beat this challenging issue.

5.       Notes and key reminders

I like to pin on my board some go-packs. These are similar to snack packs that savvy school-moms make.

In each of your subjects write out the topics you have the most difficulty with and summarise each of these. You could put them in snaplock bags or I have included instruction below to DIY cute paper envelopes.

DIY STUDY GO PACK INSTRUCTIONS

1.       Make your materials, how big they are will depend on your envelope size. I fill mine with flash cards and mind maps folded in half. 

2.       Make a triangle shape with your square piece of paper and crease along the middle

3.       Open out your triangle and then turn the paper to make a diamond and fold the lower corner up to the centre.

4.       Roll your paper up so that you can no longer see the small triangle and instead there is a bigger triangle.

5.       Fold one bottom corner of the big triangle in roughly towards the middle. Repeat on the other side, creating two flaps.

6.       With the top flap, fold it back so that you have a backwards triangle and then push it forwards to create another diamond.

7.       Fold down the top triangle and tuck it into the diamond to complete your envelope

8.       Now slide in your materials and label it.

9.       You are now ready to take your go pack anywhere! Happy studying!

For a video and more information click here

On my vision board, I also included some

• -          Informative vocabulary sheets
• -          Tickets to a Geoffrey Robertson lecture who I aspire to meet and work for
• -          Pictures of friends and family
• -          Mind maps for things I am trying to remember
• -          Quotes that I find inspiring

Your vision board should include things that inspire you. I have in the past pinned up logos of universities that I wish to attend, scores I was proud of – or wanted to improve. Customise it to be something that inspires you and makes you feel confident in the future.

Next blog post will be giving you some tips on what to do before you enter the exam room.

Happy Creating!

The Underage Lawyer.

[[No products mentioned were endorsed products. I am not making any promise of quality or suitability.]]