This post is a great read for anybody, but it will be especially intriguing for:
- Anybody embarking upon Year Twelve English this year.
- Teachers of Unit 3/4 VCE English who have just begun their journey with their new class.
Once the excitement of Christmas has died down, January somehow disappears and across Victoria, another forty thousand odd students find themselves back in the classroom for their final year of schooling. Whilst many things change within schools, there are a few well-worn principles that remain true for any student undertaking Unit 3/4 English.
Perhaps you are one of those students, perhaps you live with one, teach one or perhaps you know somebody embarking on this critical year of schooling. No matter what school, or what history the student has had in their experience with English through primary school and years 7-11, these are six thoughts that will go through the mind of every student on the morning of the English exam later this year.
I had more time than I thought…
Far too often, students underestimate how much time they have at the start of the year (“I’ll get to reading the novel, I’ve got all year!”), only to greatly overestimate how much they can achieve in the final month before exams (“If I cut out all social activities and sleep for three hours a night, I may just be able to follow this study timetable.”)
Of course, success lies in finding the balance. Stressing and placing pressure on yourself every week of every term for the year won’t help, but nor will planting your head in the sand and leaving all preparation and study for that magical land of ‘tomorrow’ or ‘someday’. The best prepared students in English are those who commit to the little things. Doing something small each day, or a little bit each week to stay on top. There’s thousands of hours between now and the exam, and the only person who can control how those hours are spent is you. Be smart in using your time to chip away at each of your texts, to write practice pieces and seek feedback, to begin a habit of emailing your teacher your practice work - all of these small acts compound upon each other to build a student who is confident and prepared come exam time.
As your kindergarten teacher told you, slow and steady wins the race. The tortoise, in our case, is the student ‘chipping away’ at the work that needs to be done. The hare, the unfortunate ball of stress who thought that they could do it all ‘when it mattered’.
Hint: It all matters, everyday!
I’ve known what’s going to be on this exam since day one…
English is unique in that your teacher can tell you what the exam is going to look like right now. There’s no chapter or dot point from the study design which you are comfortable with or which you struggle with that may or may not appear on it.
You’ll be asked to write an essay in response to one of two questions. These will be about the ideas, the values, the characters, the structure of your texts. None of these things can change between now and the exam - your novel has been printed. They can’t ask you about a structural element or a character or an idea that doesn’t exist - they can only test how well you know all of those things.
You’ll then compare two texts, just like you’ll do in your term three SAC. Again, the similarities and differences between those texts can’t change. In fact, the only variable is how well you know the texts and how confident you are in expressing your understanding of their conceptual differences and similarities.
Finally, you’ll engage in the only part of the exam which every other student in the state will also be doing with you - analysis of argument. There’ll be a visual, there’ll be a range of arguments, deliberate language choices - all the same elements from previous years exams and your language analysis SAC from earlier in the year. There’s only so many ways one can argue - get in the habit of identifying arguments and using comfortable sentence structures to express your analysis.
I probably could have written more practice pieces…
Thousands of study tips are shared in school corridors or from your teachers throughout the year. Place a character map or a list of quotes on the back of the bathroom door, write down every quote imaginable on flash cards, listen to the audiobook of one of your novels on a long trip. And while all of these have merit, the truth is that you’ll be assessed in the exam only by how well you can express your understanding and knowledge in a written format. The essay that shows up before the assessor is simply words on a page - lacking the presence of the human being who spent hours getting to the point where they could write it. So, whilst many forms of studying are useful, none are better value for your time than writing practice pieces and receiving feedback from your teacher.
Marathon runners do plenty to ready themselves for their big race, but the majority of their training comes down to running long distances. Whilst you can do millions of things to ready yourself, nothing will instill confidence in your ability to write great exam pieces quite like writing great practice pieces.
I could have read my novels throughout the year…
The newspapers and other media outlets love telling the stories of the students who read each of their texts 23 or 24 times throughout the year on their way to a great ATAR and whilst this is admirable, it’s really not realistic as a goal for most students.
You’re at an age now where people (including your parents and teachers) aren’t going to indulge you in your excuses. You’ve chosen to undertake Year Twelve. Whether reading is your favourite hobby or not is completely irrelevant! Becoming an adult is about engaging in many tasks which aren’t exactly enjoyable, but are rewarding. Also, reading is a habit of some of the most interesting and successful people you’ll meet post high school.
So, find a way to enjoy it. Reward yourself for spending time on this valuable activity. Think of yourself as not being all that different from a mouse in a maze - train your brain to do an activity and then reward yourself for it. Your reward can be anything - chocolate, half an hour on your xbox, heading to your friend’s 18th guilt free and ready to have a great time. Set yourself in a habit of doing worthwhile things and then rewarding yourself for it.
So often, teachers see students who genuinely want to do well and really do set out to read and re-read their texts, only to see them run out of puff or wonder where the weeks and months went. There’s a trick in progressing yourself from being a student with good intentions to a student who gets things done and it lies in committing yourself in a precise manner.
Commit to a day, a time and a location. Then think about how you’ll reward yourself.
Rather than ‘I’ll get to it on the weekend’, change your thinking to ‘I’m going to read my novel on Saturday after netball in front of the heater. I’ll reward myself by going out for a coffee with my friend afterwards.’ You’ll be surprised how quickly your brain gets used to this simple reward system and you’ll soon find yourself doing these things on autopilot.
This is important…
Regardless of what your plans are after highschool, the experience of preparing yourself for exams and trying your best is an important one. The number on the screen, be it ATAR or Study Score does not define you. However, the effort and time you put in to doing your best does.
Your career may have nothing to do with anything you do in English, although I’m sure your teacher would probably fiercely debate that! However, even if this was true, it’s irrelevant. Preparing yourself and trying your best for something challenging is a great dress rehearsal for whatever career or lifestyle you may be aiming for and whilst you may not ever need to be fluent in knowing multiple quotes from Shakespeare, being a young person with an attitude of always striving for your personal best is more valuable than any score you may receive. Unfortunately, some students figure this out when it’s a little late.
Ultimately, you should be aiming to be able to walk out of that exam and tell yourself that you gave it your best effort and that’s enough. Teachers are proud of those who got the best out of themselves, regardless of the number on the piece of paper at year’s end. It’s pleasing to see the high flyers, but equally pleasing to see the student who needed a 25 for their uni course reach that goal or the student who surprises themself with just how well they did.
That was fun/I could’ve enjoyed it more…
Whether secondary school is your favourite or least favourite place to be, the truth is that after this year you’ll never be in an environment like it again. By studying English, you’ve placed yourself in a room with a group of others who are all reading the same books, watching the same films, completing the same SACs. Chances are that every student in your cohort is studying English. Enjoy that feeling of community and support.
As a Year Twelve teacher, I’ve had many students return to school for some reason and recite a bunch of quotes from our studied texts years down the track. Enjoy the fact that you’re making memories with your English class each day which will stick with you for some time. You’ve got an opportunity to work with your friends on a daily basis in improving yourself.
As mentioned earlier, there’s thousands of hours between now and that morning of the exam. Make the effort to enjoy them. Enjoy the challenge, enjoy the camaraderie and enjoy the unique journey that is VCE!
For further help and support with your Year Twelve texts, check out our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwLnkUCslDiUs9JWSJPlOtA
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