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Exam Diary
Mon 13 June - Leaving Cert Maths (Hons) - Paper Two
Finally - a paper that gave students a chance to show what they've learned in the last 2 years. Some difficult parts as would be expected in an honours paper but this time, regardless of whether you could answer the questions or not, at least you could understand what you were being asked! Contrast this to Q8(c) in paper one - I did this question with a group of students only a day before exam and still only one of them recognised it on the paper 24 hours later! This was the most frustrating thing about the paper - questions that students were well able for were unrecognisable such was the convoluted language used. It's easy to see what the examiner is trying to do here - i.e. get the students to think outside the box, solve familiar problems in unfamiliar contexts etc. etc. and I am all for this approach except for one important detail - the course at honours level is so long and wide ranging that teachers, much as we would love to, simply haven't got the time to practice loads of mindbending maths puzzles in class. Basically, the examiner can't have his cake and eat it. Those questions would have been ideal for a shorter maths course with more emphasis on problem solving but please give kids a break. You can ask them to study one thing and then examine them on the other!

Fri 10 June 2011 - Leaving Cert Maths (Hons) - Paper One
The Homer Simpson Philosophy applies to this paper - i.e. 'If you try and don't succeed, the lesson is: Never try'
This seems to be the lesson from the already 'legendary' paper one today - i.e. Why try hard at honours maths for two years when they are going to do this to you after all your hard work? Why not just drop to pass early on and save loads of effort? As a teacher, I feel equally useless. Why should I stress myself covering the whole course when it still doesn't help students to answer the questions on the paper? Why didn't I just sit back after Easter?
Of course Homer Simpson's philosophy doesn't apply to real life - the only advice I can give students is to put today's paper at the back of your mind - simply because you have no other choice! You must remain 100% focused on the remaining exams. Think positive - paper one will have to be marked easy because everyone found it hard. It was probably the hardest paper of the last 20 years. It's not your fault - it's the Exam Commission's fault - let them sort it. It's a game of two halves - paper two is still there to play for - never, ever give up - (see commandment 10 below!)
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Wed 8 June 2011
Best of luck to all my Junior Cert and Leaving Cert students in the exams!
To book lessons for 2011/2012 send email to info@livemaths.ie or phone: 065-686461

The 10 Commandments of Exam Technique

1. Answer every part of every question
2. Start with your best question - not necessarily question 1
3. Never go over the time allowed for each question (25 mins max in Maths) - if not finished within the time, drop it and come back to it later
4. Answer every part of every question
5. Don't daydream or tot up your marks in the exam - be 100% focused on answering the questions to the best of your ability. Let the examiner worry about the rest
6. Don't do post-mortems - when you come out of the exam forget about it as you need to focus your energy 100% on the next one
7. If you know how to do a question but are running out of time to complete it, say so. Give bullet points explaining the steps you would go through if you had the time to complete it. This is not ideal but it is still better than nothing!
8. Be aware of links between parts of questions - e.g. you might have to use some result from part (i) of a question to answer part (ii). If you didn't get an answer make up a sensible answer for part (i) so that you can still carry on and get the marks for part (ii). Again, not ideal but no point punishing yourself twice for the same mistake
9. Don't be too neat - neatness costs time and time costs marks. For example, in Leaving Cert Honours, a ruler or compass is rarely required.
10. Never, ever give up - if the going gets tough at any stage in an exam just hang in there. Very often after a difficult exam you will find that all the others found it difficult also. You are always in with a chance as long as you have something written. No examiner, no matter how generous, can give marks for a blank page

Note: Check my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/leavingcert for worked solutions to past exam questions.

LiveMaths 2011

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