3. Write any question you can't answer onto a card.
4. Ask your teacher how to answer that question.
5. Write the answer on the back of the card.
6. Review the cards once a week until you can answer all the questions without looking at the answer.
7. Then review the cards once a month until the exams.
StudyPass 
Time to fast.
One month of fasting for me.
Rules: Eat as much as I want to between around 6.15pm and 5.00am (times depend on sunset/rise)
I cannot eat from 5am to 6.15pm again.
Nothing at all, no water, no food, no juice, no medicine, NOTHING.
The hardest bit about starving myself isn't the hunger. No. It's the sleep.
Going to bed at 11pm, waking up at 4.30am and going to bed again at 6am, and waking up again at 7.30am
It's hard.
Even though the number of hours of sleep add up. The quality is very low. It's hard to change your sleep patterns. The good thing is, I have a month of fasting ahead of me to get used to the sleeping.
If I look dull when you see me. You know why.
I'm currently waiting for 6.01pm so I can start eating.
I'm sleepy.
And that's why this post is of very very low quality. I can't think straight.
I couldn't even do 8 - 1.5 this morning.
Yeah. It's bad.
But it's also fun.
- As a result I have identified the specific questions and the parts of the answer that I had trouble with, highlighted them so I can review them in the future, and made notes to myself to remind me of what I learned. Great work. Time to play!
StudyPass
Growing Minds, PO Box 633, Christchurch, Canterbury 8140, NEW ZEALAND
There are a lot of strategies I want to share with you this year ... specific actions to help you achieve outstanding results this year.
You see, this coaching isn't just about creating results in your study ... it's about creating results in any area of your life.
Consider this coaching as your opportunity to personally test drive these peak performance strategies ... to apply them in your study and to see what you are capable of .... to see what is possible when you align your vision, your intentions, and your actions.
Create your AIM for the year ...
Do you know exactly what you want to achieve in your study this year?
The first step to achieving any result in your life is actually quite easy ... it is simply to get clarity on what the result actually is!
As absurd as this sounds, it is the main reason why most people don't achieve the results they wish for in their life ... They don't have clarity on what they intend to create. By clarity I mean a specific statement of intention that defines the result they want to achieve.
If you haven't written a clear AIM for your studies this year, then you haven't taken the easiest and most important step in this process.
Writing a clear AIM for your studies this year might not seem like a significant step. Please don't make the mistake of skipping this step.
This coaching is designed to build your results one step at a time. It only requires you to take a small step each time. But the accumulated results of those small steps is huge.
How to write your AIM ...
Your AIM your studies this year is your long term goal. Consider these AIMS written by students ...
"I want to do well in Maths this year"
"I want to pass NCEA Level 1 this year"
The first problem with these AIMS is that they are wishes not goals. "I want ..." is just a wish. These statements have little punch to them as they don't imply any commitment.
"I will ... " is better because it has more commitment. However because it is still stated as a future event, it is not as powerful as it could be. When you say "I will ..." there's always room for a little voice of doubt ... because anything could happen to derail your efforts.
1. State your goals in the NOW.
"I have" and "I am" are stated in the present. Stating your goals as if they have already happened is not delusional ... it's simply the fastest way of getting to your goals. Your actions then have to catch up with the place you are committed to being.
So, when you write your goals make sure you state them in the present using words such as "I have ..." and " I am ...". Whenever you read them, read them AS IF they are already achieved.
From this state of mind your actions will be more focused and more directed. It is from this place that you create outstanding results.
2. Make your goals S.M.A.R.T.
An effective goal needs to be Specific: It needs to state the goal clearly.
It needs to be Measurable: "I want to do well in NCEA" is not measurable as it does not clearly define what "do well" actually means. How would you measure that? It would also mean different things to different people.
The goal needs to be Acheivable and Realistic: You should see the goal as within your reach. But be careful not to sell yourself short. Your goals should stretch you ... they should make you feel a little uncomfortable because they imply a commitment that will test you.
Your goal should have a Timeline. Without a deadline the goal doesn't actually exist, as it could be pushed out into the future indefinitely. Make sure each goal has a date against which it can be measured.
An example of a S.M.A.R.T goal stated in the present:
I have gained a minimum of Merit grades
in all my NCEA Level 1 assessments and Excellence in 20% of my
assessments as stated in my 2009 NZQA results received January 2010.
This goal is stated in the present (I have ...). It is Specific (Merit, Excellence), Measurable (minimum ... 20%), It would be Achievable and Realistic for a student, and it has a Timeline (January 2010).
Obviously this goal would vary for different students. For some, this goal may not be realistic ... for others, it might not be enough of a stretch.
The point is however a statement like this is so much more powerful than a loose statement such as "I want to do well in NCEA this year".
Your efforts will make a difference ...
You may have tried this exercise in the past ... it may not have worked for you. If so, I am asking you to give it another try.
The difference is that this year I am willing to coach you throughout the year to help make this goal a reality. But I can't do it for you. You need to take some action.
Follow the instructions above and write your AIM on paper now. Set yourself a target for the year against which you can measure yourself.
When you have, I encourage you to print it and put it on the wall. It is such a simple yet powerful strategy for aligning your actions this year.
I have one last step in this goal setting process to share with you. After that I want to share with you the most cunning study strategy I know. Most of the top student's use this strategy all the time without even realising it. When you know how to use it it will virtually guarantee you improve your study effectiveness by 200 - 300%.
Sound too good to be true? I promise you it's not.
If you haven't done so already, please take a moment to write your AIM for your study this year. Just follow the steps above.
Until our next communication.
All the best
Geoff Peterson
StudyPass
Š 2009 Growing Minds Ltd
Growing Minds, PO Box 633, Christchurch, Canterbury 8140, NEW ZEALAND
School final exams are coming up in a few weeks.
This is the time when most people start asking if you have started studying or not.
Anyway, I will tell you that I probably will not until 1 week before exams.
But that doesn't mean, I will not be posting about studying. Oh, no.
Thanks to my subscription to the StudyPass website, I get free study tips in the form of e-mails.
So what I'm going to do is copy-paste those onto here.
All of it is the work of StudyPass and none of it is owned by me. I am only posting to spread the knowledge. So, to StudyPass, this is only to help fellow students. I am not trying to rip off your work. Please don't sue me.
Study tips coming up. Look out!
Life is a routine, face it.
We get up for school/work five days in a week.
We go and do what we are told to do and come back home.
Eat. Sleep.
And somewhere in the middle, you go to the toilet a few times.
This happens every week.
What makes life different for every one of us, is how we choose to spice it up. (That links to the title, clever eh?)
When I say spice it up, I mean everything. Studying is spicing it up, believe it or not.
Anything out of the schedule is spicing. So the difference in our lifestyle is all thanks to these spices that we all use.
Its like a recipe. In the end, we all end up with a different dish. My dish is hopefully rich guy.
The choices we make are helpful towards us reaching our goal of (insert goal here). Someday, I hope to be rich and happy. Make that dish rich and HAPPY guy.
Some people choose to compromise their future by having some fun now. I call it, eating the cookie dough.
Without the dough, you cannot have cookies. Therefore, you inevitably will fail in achieving your goal of making a cookie.
The message of this post? DO NOT eat the cookie dough. Let the dish simmer, add the right condiments and you will end up with a fabulous dish that you have always craved for.
I hope I got my point across.
What makes a person notice you?
I've always thought about this.
Every time I wanted to make a new friend or walked past someone, this question passes through my head.
Here's my understanding of it.
Humans are primitive creatures. We follow our natural instincts and are bred/evolved/created by God to breed as efficiently as possible and ensure the survival of the human race. This means that we automatically, or should I say instinctively notice a person we find attractive.
So there's one aspect of it. People notice you if you are attractive to them. That's the easy factor done.
But what other factors are involved in noticing someone?
Surely, a person you do not know cannot attract your attention by pulsating messages around their heavenly aura about their personality. What I'm trying to say, is that you cannot magically know a person's personality just by them walking past you. Therefore personality does not make people who do not know you, notice you.
What about people who do know you? Maybe if they're really interested in a person with your personality. But this is rare and if this does happen - you are likely to be in a very close relationship with them. So only a person who is a good friend will notice you on a regular basis but what we are trying to do is get people who do not know you to notice you.
The other reason people might look at you is if they want something from you. E.g: "Can I look at your book?" or "Do you know when so-so is?" .
I personally cannot think of anything else that would get a person to notice you apart from a simple hello. Thus, I come to the conclusion that looks are what makes a person look twice at you and want to get to know you.
It's a sad society we live in. No wonder the top paid stars are always good looking.
Do you have any thoughts?
Don't you love the feeling when someone ACTUALLY compliments you?
Directly or indirectly.
It cheers you up and leaves you with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
What I hate is when people compliment for no other reason than to act nice to you.
E.g. "You're so funny" or "You're so beautiful" when you know they don't think that.
It almost makes it seem like they're doing it out of pity.
I've had those kind of compliments many times. It annoys me.
It ruins my life for about 10 minutes.
So this is a notice to all readers: DO NOT COMPLIMENT me without thinking carefully.
Anyway, what I want to know, is how to react to a compliment.
Do you smile and say thanks or do you deny whatever the person just said about you?
E.g. "You're so awesome" and in reply I would say "Oh nah, I'm just average"
Are you supposed to react at all?
I'm completely lost when it comes to compliments and I'll tell you why.
It's because I do not compliment people unless I have to do it to prove a point etc.
Now it's not because I'm evil or anything. It's just because I don't know how and it's not going to change how the other person thinks about me as far as I know.
I'm complimentarily-challenged. So I'm up for lessons on complimenting. Tutor needed, will pay high salary.
I remember the days when I used to be nothing short of less than top of school.
However, these days, this is an unimaginable dream.
Too far to reach and impossible to contemplate.
I am now an average person. My one talent/skill in life, diminished.
I am not going to blame NCEA or anything else for that matter.
I have caused this failure.
My brain can no longer can keep up with the work by not studying.
I have to study to keep up with what the teacher is telling me.
As opposed to when I was 5-13. My brain it seems, has hit its peak.
Therefore I have come to the conclusion that there is nowhere for me to go but down into the depths of failure.
Only thing I can do is to slow this decline down by memorising pages of notes which ceases to be useful when exams are over. Study how to write an answer instead of what to write as an answer.
I cannot think freely anymore and I will put that bit down to NCEA.
I cannot write what I think the answer is in MY words. No, I have to write it down using the government approved sentence structure.
Freedom of speech is one thing but freedom of thought should never be stopped.
As I cannot think freely or confine myself to rote learning, I am stuck on this one-way road to failure.
Exams do not measure intelligence. No. What they do measure is a person's ability to confine themselves to a room and limit their thoughts to do what the government wants. And in that, I fail.
Discussion is not recognised. Although the questions might say "Discuss", what they really want is for you to write down what few sentences you have memorised as a result of one whole year of learning.
One paragraph of memorised sentences to account for one year of learning. One year where I have learned countless things. And to compress all that into a few sentences? Surely that is a disgraceful measure of what you have learned and how intelligent you are.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that I am smart or can get high marks if it were not for NCEA.
What I am saying is that it is an inadequate measure for what a person has accomplished or is capable of.
And to think that many people, all around the world, lose their dream life or careers just because they cannot write down what they know onto paper the way the markers want it, is a horrible thought.
In around 16 months, my schooling would have come to an end. Thus an end, to the happiest part of my life so far. And with it comes the knowledge that my future has been decided by what has been written on around 50 pages of paper.
The brain has been estimated to have around 5 terabytes of storage capacity, to put it in computer terms.
That's 5000 gigabytes for the technologically challenged.
5TB is a heck of a lot more than 50 pages of writing.
Tell me what you think on this.
Australian Chemistry tomorrow.
Apparently we're going to be doing it in class.
I'm looking forward to it as I have an advantage of being able to do the Year 12 paper while having done Year 12 Chemistry.
Therefore, I SHOULD know more. But I probably forgot half of it.
Anyway, hope to see you there tomorrow and wish me luck.
I joined yet another challenge hosted by the Auckland University.
This time, the Software Engineering department.
Me and my teammate have to design a program/game for a cellphone that allows us to play scavenger hunt.
So far we have made good progress and on track for a winning entry.
What this post really is for, is to ask the readers (you), what feature of a scavenger hunt game would make it fun for you? (eg: a race feature, or timed feature)
There's a new neighbour.
And with that neighbour person, comes a cat.
This cat, called CHICKA according to the nametag is a grey and quite furry cat.
Very tame and nice to stroke.
I'll sell it to you for $200.
Time for the 2nd scholarship question that Mr. Thompson wants us to answer.
See if you can help me out.
There is a bird in a cage. (The cage is like a normal bird cage, ie. barred)
It is standing in the cage.
The cage is placed on a set of scales.
The weight is registered by the scales and it has stabilised by now.
The bird now starts flying inside the cage.
What happens and why? (I'm guessing he was referring to the weight)
I have a couple of theories but I don't want to influence your thoughts.
I realised that my internet security is horrible as my wireless network is unsecured.
My job: Secure it NOW you idiot...
... as quoted by my dad.
It turned out harder than I thought it would be. 15 minutes turned to 2 hours as I racked my brains for all possible options and googled my way through 100's of pages.
In the end, I found a page on howtodothings.com that told me how to secure my network, with instructions specified for my modem.
It still wasn't enough. The instructions were quite a bit off from what I was seeing, and the picture of the modem was different. I'm assuming they are talking about the American version of my modem.
So I had to decipher the instructions and enter the settings so that my network would work.
And after all USB transfers to copy my settings to the laptop, it still DID NOT WORK.
By now, I was starting to question my understanding of my skill with computers. I thought for about another 30 minutes while repeating the H2DT instructions about 6 times.
Then it came to me. My laptop was incapable of connecting to WPA encrypted networks, which was absurd considering it was released after WPA encryption was standard through the industry.
So I changed the settings and network keys on my laptop, router and desktop to that of WEP encryption and it WORKED. Finally.
The moral of this? Persistence pays off.
I was watching Enter the Dragon yesterday.
It's a 70's movies starring Bruce Lee.
It was the first time I saw it on DVD. I used to watch it on VCD.
The DVD quality let me see clearly for the first time how amazing Bruce Lee is.
He is like a muscle structure diagram. You can see every muscle in his body due to his low body fat %.
So thanks to Bruce Lee, I now have a goal.
Goal = To get my body like Bruce Lee.
Obviously, I know its impossible but I think I have the best chance out of all the people I know thanks to my skinny build. The first thing I need to do is get motivated.
Right. Motivation.
Okay, I give up.
I entered a physics competition run by Auckland Uni. YAY!
Well, the happy bit of it is the prize and the exclusivity.
The school only lets people (it's a 4 man team competition) who have done 13PHX and calculus to enter the competition even though the competition itself does not have that requirement.
I talked to Mr. Dass and managed to let me and my Year 12 buddies to enter.
That's the exclusive entry part.
The prizes...
1st place = $5,500 (split equally between the team members)
2nd and 3rd place = $1800 (also split equally)
and also if you are in the podium placing and you choose Engineering Science as your specialisation during your Engineering degree; you will be offered a guaranteed summer internship at either Orion Health, Fonterra or the Department of Engineering Science...
which is nice.
The competition involves answering one open-ended question to do with physics and maths.
We have one whole day to research and answer. A report needs to be presented.
Winners should have a report that shows logical and creative thinking etc.
Our competition as far as I know from our school is the Year 13 team.
Team name: PMS (Perpetual Motion Squad not Post menstrual syndrome)
Abhilash
Michael
Tae
Nikhil
Each a genius in their own right with wide and varied abilities and skills.
Compared to this team, our team pales in comparison.
Team Name: Year 12's
Caleb
Me
William
Pranav
Looking forward to beating atleast one team in the whole competition.
Today was the last game of the season for my badminton team.
We went into the match as the team 3rd on the table.
1st was Lynfield.
2nd is Mt Roskill 1.
3rd is Mt Roskill 2. <---------us
So, the team we were facing? LYNFIELD.
The quality of the players was very high. They were all like Andy. GASP.
Anyway, I hadn't lost a match this season yet. I had been winning them quite comfortably playing No 1 Singles usually.
This time however, I did not want to play anywhere near No 1. Unfortunately the rest of my team "Baggsed" the No.s 2, 3, 4 and I ended up playing their best player.
Scoreline = 21-4 to Lynfield.
That scoreline was the reverse of the usual which ticked me off but it was fun and my game improved so I'm happy. The rest of my team also lost miserably and we ended up as 4th on the table.
Downside? - No certificate as we don't finish in the top three.
Time to think about table tennis for Term 3. Another $20 and 2 extra hours a week with Jordan though. Anyone interested in replacing Jordan in our team?
So we have to interview a business about how they buy and sell goods and then write a report on it.
4 credits for that and its an internal.
Here's the dumb bit.
There are checkpoints that we have to strictly meet.
I have to have the business name, phone number and the name of the person I'm interviewing due in by 21st July.
I had everything except the person's name by that date.
The teacher gets quite mad and gives us one day to find out the name of the person I'm going to interview. So I go to my business (Resene Colorshop on Carr Rd) and ask for the name of the person I called in the holidays (the person who said it was okay to interview). Turns out that that person is not there and some employee from another branch is in charge for the day.
So I ask who the manager of this branch is and I get a name, Bob.
Now this is what I write down on the teacher's sheet.
What I don't know is if Bob is the person who I am going to interview and if BOB will tell me to interview another employee.
Let's say I happen to interview a guy called X. And then to check the authenticity of my assignment my teacher calls up and asks for Bob and it turns out I don't interview BOB and have instead interviewed X. Do I FAIL??
Random checkpoints do not help. The school should only ask for the person's name after the interview is done, not before.
The point of this rant? I don't like the HOD. I won't mention the name.
