Description: In this blog article, Telios Tutor Robert, shares his experience on how he managed to improve his grade from E’s to A’s in A Level Economics.
Realisation
Surely when receiving nothing but bad grades in a subject, you might think you’ve perhaps made the wrong choice.
By the time I realised this, I was in for a bumpy ride, it was a little too late to swap subjects.
Both the January exams and summer exams of my first year at A level Economics were graded E’s, followed by the next January exam during my second year – another E.
This meant the retakes and final exam in the summer had to go well, otherwise this A level would be failed.
I was a little hot under the collar from the look of the economics exam lineup when it was sent to me, as you could imagine.
But, I changed my approach completely and received an A at the end, to my surprise – this change worked.
Knowing What Examiners Want Is Key
As simple as it sounds, I was trying to answer the question to the best of my ability previously, but was missing out the key ingredient, answering the questions the way the examiner wanted.
Good grades were dished out when answers had a quick introduction.
Also, clear evidence for the argument of the writer as well as the criticism, labelled graphs demonstrating the point, with a slick rounding off the conclusion.
This simple format replicates how we can better make decisions in life if we think about it.
‘What’s the issue? What are the options to fix this issue? Which option will you choose and why?‘
These are the fundamentals of constructive conscious behaviour, and thinking properly.
There is a Way for Everything
It was no wonder my many pages of meaningless waffle didn’t get me good marks.
I was bouncing around from one subject to the next, with no precision and no idea!
There is a way for everything.
Your own way sometimes doesn’t quite work however hard you try, but if you look hard enough to find the right way it all might just make sense.
The process to get there, consisting of trial and error is what makes our next attempts better and more clinical.
Isn’t this how we would all like to be? More precise and assertive?
I had little notebooks for each exam, writing everything I didn’t know as neatly as I could with a fair amount of colour.
Nice-looking handwriting and colour do not make for a bad read, it sort of encourages the brain to stay focused for as long as possible.
I frequently would read a sentence, repeat the sentence, walk around space and repeat again 60 seconds later.
Only when it was embedded in my head did I move on to the next unknown piece of information.
Trial and Error
I received good grades throughout my education, I now speak 3 languages and have written many journals relating to events in my life.
I’m also dyslexic. Dyslexia doesn’t have to be a hindrance.
It took me quite a while to understand that our brain is like a muscle, the more you exercise it, the bigger it grows.
I’m not talking so much about ‘brain training’ via apps on the phone, I’m talking about constant trial and error, whilst evaluating one’s self along the way, through writing.
New experiences, new ideas, new people, and new environments all mould the mind to a better understanding of why the world is how it is.
Persistence, practice, patience and passion to push it along.
Write to Remember
Writing has been something that has helped me tremendously throughout the years.
Initially, I started writing because I wanted to remember more of the fun events I was part of, it seemed 2 weeks after the holiday had finished I had forgotten a lot of what happened.
Journalling starts as a memory box, but now I can see how to describe and fix something on the same piece of paper.
Just like the structure of those Economics exams.
What is the problem? Why is it a problem? What options are there? What are the positives and negatives of the desired options?
Final Note
This structure has solved many issues, as it allows us to get all that we are thinking about down onto paper.
The mind can only think of one thing at a time, which can be noisy and exhausting.
Writing all of it down is like tidying a room completely, which more often than not uncovers the aspects you were looking for.
A decluttering of the brain. This method helped me tremendously when I was navigating around Brazil, solo, whilst the whole world shut down due to Coronavirus.
Without pen and paper, maybe I would’ve quit and gone home.
Instead, I wandered around an incredible country for 11 months with not one other foreigner in sight. Thank you pen and paper!
By tutor Rob. Contact Us