I really like what Chessbrook are doing, and they were perfect clients to work with.  At the end of the project, I did usability testing with the students to get their feedback on the website.

So this is the second week of exams. Last week I did my Module 4 ICT exam, which was… well… the questions were quite reasonable, apart from the one asking me to describe the ‘behaviour’ of a computer system which threw me a bit. I was feeling great at the beginning of the exam and pacing myself well (even writing legibly!) Last year I rushed and finished in half the time and spent the remaining hour fretting because I thought I hadn’t been given all of the questions.

Half-way through the question paper, my hand felt as though it was going to drop off (the result of not having used a pen in weeks, and not having written more than a paragraph by hand since the AS exams last year). So my answers were not as well thought out, and I think I fell into my bad habit of making up words when I can’t find one that works well in the sentence.

I finished with just 5 minutes to spare and checked through the paper to see if I’d labeled all the question numbers correctly. I then realised I’d missed out a question and spent the remaining 30 seconds scribbling an answer between the lines. Oh dear.

Up next is my Media exam on Thursday which involves writing two essays in response to questions based on Audience, Representation or Genre. Then on Friday I have a 4 hour exam paper in the morning for Design & Technology. I don’t know what this will contain because it’s a completely new syllabus ..which is a bit daunting.. Then Friday afternoon I’ll be sitting my Module 5 ICT exam. Fun fun fun. So that’s 6 hours of exams in one day. The morning one will probably run over lunch too, so I’ll have no time to eat :(

But after Friday, it will be all over. Then I will have the rest of the Summer to worry about things like getting a job so I can buy shoes that don’t have holes in them

I’ve been finding it hard to stay focused and motivated on getting good grades when the course I’m doing after the Summer doesn’t require any qualifications at all. The only thought that is keeping me going is that I’ve worked so hard these past 7 years, and it would be a waste to throw it all away because I couldn’t be bothered.

Since they’re only a few weeks away, I thought I’d share a few ideas to help anyone else preparing for their exams.

Revision Tips

• Split your subjects into sections. For example, my IT course has 2 modules split into 10 sections each. Therefore I need 20 revision sessions (maybe an hour long each) before the exam, plus 2 hours at the end for each module as a ‘recap’
• Make a revision timetable on a calendar application such as Google Calendar or iCal. Add a block for each section on each day at a time you find revising easiest. I find between 4pm and 6pm is the best time because it’s straight after school and I have the rest of the day to waste after that.
• Add your exams to the calendar so you can see how many days you have to revise, and pace yourself accordingly.
• Set alarms 15 minutes before each session. This can be done on most calendar applications, either by email, or a little popup. This gives you time to get your stuff together.
• Revise in the way that you find most fun. Revision is deadly boring, so I try to incorporate the things I enjoy doing into it. This could be by making a web-page for each section with notes in bullet points, or drawing diagrams, pictures or brainstorms. If you do it on the computer, you can search, print and and share your notes with others which is useful!
• Keep breaking down all your notes so they fit on a couple of pages. Then use those pages for a cramming session the day before the exam.

I hope that helps. I’ve found it has certainly made it easier to get down to revision despite how I feel. Maybe you have some additional tips?

Room for Improvement

Some of the aspects of the website that the Headmistress, Mrs Murrell, was eager to improve was the site’s accessibility (to comply with the disability act), usability (to make it intuitive for non-Internet-savvy users) and also the image that the site represented of the school. (At the end of the project, I produced an accessibility report and manual for the website editors).

Design

I presented the school governors with 20 different designs to choose from. Some might say this was perhaps too many, but the governors were not sure exactly how they wanted the website to look, so a range of rough ideas was, in this case, more ideal than a few.

Construction

In December, I started making the website on the CMS (content management system) Drupal.

The features include:

1. a 360 degree panoramic view of the entrance (with hopefully more to follow)
2. an interactive map of the building
3. the photo in the header is randomly selected from a library of photos, showing different aspects of the school
4. there is a search box to help the user find the content they need