First-term Exam Prep: ‘Create acronyms to remember points’

With less than 15 days to go before the first-term exams start, students would now be busy studying and their noses buried in the books. But did you know that just cramming everything seldom does you good? The chances that you will forget are high. The idea is to understand rather than rote learning.

According to Geetha Guruvayurappan, TGT, Social Science at Apeejay School Nerul, who has been teaching for 37 years, the first thing that students should do is make notes. But there is a trick to making them, she said.

“I always tell my students to have a thorough understanding of the textbook. They must read the chapters properly. Second, they should make notes on Post-it. The paper is colourful and attractive. When the students revise, the coloured paper catches their eye and makes it easy for them to read through them. Third, presentation is extremely important. A student should not submit an answer sheet that has too many strikeouts or the questions have not been answered chronologically. A tidy answer sheet catches the attention of the evaluator,” Geetha stressed and shared the following tips for the students for the first-term exam.

1. When it comes to answering the questions always give a subheading and then expand your answer in four to five sentences.
2. In a history exam, sticking to the word limit may not always work. You must write all the relevant points associated with the questions asked.
3. Don’t write everything, stick to the facts; mention the date of the event. It adds value to your answer.
4. When you write an answer try and give examples; these can be from real-time and current news.
5. Never rote learn. Give a thorough read of the chapter. Understand what is trying to say. Present the information so understood in your words.
6. Make acronyms to make it easy to remember the points.
7. It is imperative that you read the question properly, understand what it is asking, and only then answer.
8. Write the complete answer; if the answer requires you to write four points, write them even if it is for 2 marks. The Board will not cut marks for exceeding the word limit.
9. Increase the speed of writing the answers. Practice at home. Start with trying to complete three questions in 10 minutes and so forth. The more you practice writing the faster you will become.

“Many students make mistakes when it comes to understanding the question itself. This is a common mistake and needs to be avoided. For instance, there is a question: What makes India a Federal country? The answer to the question lies in writing the Union and State List. If the question asked is: How is federalism practiced? The answer lies in writing linguistic characteristics, language policy, and restructuring of center-state relations,” Geetha said.

Since the school gives students a newspaper, she tells her students to cut the relevant articles and attach them with the chapter. “It is not always possible to remember all the articles a student may have read but when attached to the chapter, it immediately has a recall value. This exercise should be followed for all the four Social Science subjects – History, Political Science, Geography, and Economics,” Geetha advised.

A student should not submit an answer sheet that has too many strikeouts or the questions have not been answered chronologically. A tidy answer sheet catches the attention of the evaluator

–Geetha Guruvayurappan, TGT, Social Science at Apeejay School Nerul

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Time management is of the essence, Geetha stressed. The good part is that just like the Board exams, the students are given 15 minutes to read the questions paper. In these precious minutes, students should be able to tick mark the MCQs saving precious minutes.

“I always tell my students to attempt the question with the maximum marks first; so begin with question No 37 and move to question No 36 and so forth. You have to remember that MCQs don’t take time and since the student has already ticked the answer, it will take 10 minutes to do this section. If there is a dearth of time, you will only lose one or two marks and not five marks,” Geetha opined.