The well-being department organized a group session facilitated by an alumnus of Tema International School (T.I.S), Dr Brown. Dr Brown graduated from TIS in 2016 to pursue Medicine at the University of Ghana Medical School.
He shared his experiences and insights from his time as a student of the institution. Dr Brown touched on various learning strategies and techniques to improve efficiency in learning.
Dr Brown provided a comprehensive overview of techniques to adopt in revisions before exams (group discussions, identifying varying questions in past papers) and also techniques during the exams (reading through questions carefully to identify command terms, elimination strategies in multiple-choice questions, and principles of educated guesses).
Dr Brown finally touched on having adequate sleep and food to keep their bodies replenished before and during the course of examinations.
The students were engaged throughout the session, testing out their knowledge by tackling IB-style questions and receiving instant feedback and advice from Dr Brown.
During the Q and A session, students asked diverse on exam preparations. These included:
1. Can we come for help to deal with stress?
Dr Brown: Yes, the wellness department is ever ready to help you deal with your stress.
2. How am I supposed to learn if I keep falling asleep?
Dr. Brown: If you keep falling asleep it could suggest that you’re not resting enough, in which case I suggest you rest some more.
If you are resting enough but happen to find yourself still falling asleep, you can consider some of these strategies:
A. Drinking Coffee/Caffeinated Drinks (Long-term dependence on coffee/caffeinated drinks can have adverse effects on health so I would encourage caution with the intake of coffee)
B. Taking very minty/peppery snacks. This stimulates your sense of taste and can increase your alertness. It can help increase your attentiveness when you’re sleepy.
3. How can I handle high expectations and pressure from my parents when I feel like I can’t meet them or am not good enough?
Dr Brown: Most parents do have very high expectations of their children. Sometimes this puts undue pressure on children and adversely affects their productivity. Pointers to handling high expectations from parents:
A. Understand that expectations are coming from a place of love and goodwill. Your parents love you and want you to excel. Their expectations are not backed by malice or hatred; they are an outworking of the love and goodwill they have toward you.
B. Your best response to high expectations is to do your absolute best. Understanding parents will always give their children a pat of encouragement on their backs if they realize that their children did their absolute best yet still did not meet their expectations.
Below are the reflections of some students:
Today’s assembly was very informative. I learned the right way to properly study for an exam and how to set my mind before an exam. –Sybil, Grade 7
This assembly was very interesting and engaging. For once, there was an assembly to which I could pay attention and find useful. Before the assembly started, I wondered what one could teach me about preparing for exams. However, when the presentation started, I realized that there was a lot I didn’t know. I didn’t know about the different study techniques and how to solve past questions. I didn’t know the effect my mentality had on how well I would perform in an exam. Finally, I realized the true importance of sleep when writing exams. I hope to make use of all these techniques when preparing for my exams in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. This was an amazing experience, and I would never trade it for anything. – Lois Entsua-Mensah, Grade 8
Today’s assembly was very insightful. One thing Dr Brown said that stood out to me was reading over past test questions. I will be sure to implement this in preparation for my E-Assessment, as I have a lot to read over by looking at and solving past summatives. – Ebenezer Agyeman, Grade 9
This assembly was very different from others because the speaker gave us advice on how to balance our time while preparing for exams. The speaker, Dr Nana Kwame Brown, talked to us about possible difficulties we might have been encountering while preparing for exams, and I was shocked to see that I could relate to them. This was quite helpful mainly because our end-of-MYP exams are coming up. He gave us advice on how to handle each exam, particularly if it differs from what we had anticipated during revision. One thing that I took away from the presentation is that I need to interpret the command terms well, which was something I had trouble doing before. – Obaapanin Tweneboah-Koduah, Grade 10
