Vidambu Sam
Results do not come by accident. Performance do not improve by mistake. Students do not get A's in KCSE by diffusion or osmosis. That is the truth.
The most important people in the school compound are those in the staffroom and the ones in the classroom. The work of teachers is syllabus coverage while the work of students is syllabus understanding. Truth be told, most people focus so much on syllabus coverage and forget syllabus understanding. This article will explain and elaborate how teachers can help the students to understand the syllabus now that the syllabus is getting cleared in most schools.
If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. If you do what everyone else does, you'll get what everyone else gets. The late Professor Magoha used to say 'Only a fool does the same thing over and over again expecting different results'.
If you dropped last year, try something different this year. If you improved last year, make the program better this year because different levels require different mindsets and different mindsets need different skillsets.
Here is a practical model for conducting intensive revision:
The program is in three categories.
1.Studying.
Studying is the work of the student.
For studying to be effective, students must must have a common study timetable which they will be following during their morning studies and evening studies.
In a day, the students should study three subjects. In each of the subjects, the students should study one topic. The students should spend a minimum of 2 hours to go through a topic.
Example;
Monday.
4:30AM- 6:30AM:Mathematics
6:20PM-8:20PM:English
8:30PM-10:30PM:Technicals
Tuesday.
4:30AM- 6:30AM:Chemistry
6:20PM-8:20PM:Kiswahili
8:30PM-10:30PM:Geography/History
Wednesday.
4:30AM- 6:30AM:Biology/Physics
6:20PM-8:20PM:CRE.
8:30PM-10:30PM:
(This is just an example).
As you can see up there on Monday the students are studying three subjects, Tuesday has three subjects and Wednesday so far has two subjects even though there are three sessions.
This is because most students in high school are doing 8 subjects (3+3+2), few are doing 9 and some do 7.
Now, this is the first cycle. A cycle is the number of times a subject appears in the students' study timetable in a week.
In the timetabling, the timetabler should ensure that the Red subjects appear 4 times in a week, the Orange subjects must appear three times while the Green subjects must appear 2 times in a week.
Red subjects are the subjects that challenge most candidates, green subjects are the ones which students are okay with while orange subjects are the ones which don't do well and don't do bad, just lukewarm.
2.Assessing.
This is the duty of the teacher. There will be two kinds of assessments.
~Topical Assessment Test (TAT).
This is the assessment which the teacher gives immediately after the students have studied a particular topic. TAT should be done within 20 minutes, it must comprise of 20 marks, it must be KCSE Topical past paper questions, the students should answer without referring, it is not mandatory for teachers to mark TAT.
(In the study timetable, a topic takes 2 hours. The first 1 hour 40 minutes is for studying whole the last 20 minutes is for TAT).
~Fortnight Assessment Test (FAT).
These are assessments which will be given to students on the second Saturday and the fourth Saturday of every month.
FAT will comprise of questions from the topics that the students have studied within the past two weeks.
FAT will be done within 1 hour per subject, it must be out of 50 marks, it must be Topical KCSE questions from past papers, it must be marked by the teachers.
(Remember, in a week Red subjects are appearing four times meaning in two weeks the students will have studied 8 topics and from the 8 topics questions are given for FAT. Orange subjects will be 6 topics while green subjects will be 4 topics after two weeks).
3.Intensive Revision Model.
Studying is for the student, assessing is for the teacher but Revision is for both the teacher and the student.
A revision timetable will have to be made.
The revision timetable for the candidate class but be block and must change from 40 minutes to either 1 hour or 1 hour 20 minutes depending on the school routine.
The teachers have already cleared the syllabus meaning their normal lessons are now strictly for revision.
But how?
For the past two weeks candidates studied and got assessed on 8 topics in Red subjects, in the same period they were assessed on 6 topics in Orange subjects while in Green subjects it was 4 topics.
For the next two weeks as the teacher comes for his normal lessons as stipulated in the revision timetable he will be revising the questions he gave the students in the FAT.
Example;
History and Government.
To most schools History is a green subject.
Because green subjects are studied twice a week, it means within two weeks the students will have studied 4 topics, they will have been given 4 TATs and one FAT.
I will use examples of the following 4 topics in History:
-World War.
-International relations.
-Cooperation in Africa.
-National philosophies.
If the above topics are the ones which the students were assessed on the FAT, for the next two weeks the teacher will be revising those questions and expounding on the other possible and probable KCSE questions from the same topic.
How to make the program more effective:
1.Teachers should mark FATs.
2.Marks of FATs per students should be recorded and tabulated.
3.FATs must be done like a serious exam, no copying, no consulting and no girrafing.
4.No negative energy.
5.There must be consistency.
6.There must be unity of purpose.
7.All the departments must use this same model.
8.The questions used should be strictly KCSE past paper questions.
9.Both teachers and students should be time conscious.
10.The Dean's office should analyse and release the results of FATs.
Reasons why this revision model is good:
1.It enhances content retention.
2.It helps the students to understand the language of KCSE.
3.It helps the students to learn how to answer one mark within one minute.
4.It improves study habits.
5.It improves classroom-staffroom Intercordination.
6.It enhances objective studying.
7.It reduces sleeping in class during preps time.
8.It promotes teamwork.
9.It increases syllabus understanding.
10.It creates an Academic culture.
You want a practical, tried, tested, proven revision model?
This is it.
(Not All The Information About The Revision Model Has Been Included In This Article).
To God Be The Glory.
By Sam VIDAMBU.
Vidambu is an Academic Mentor with over 3,300 high schools in Kenya running his academic programs.
His Academic Mentorship Programs revolve around Syllabus Coverage, Syllabus Understanding Strategies, Content Mastery, Content Retention, Content Delivery, Proper Revision Techniques, Time Management Strategies, Working Timetable, Study Book,
He is a Trainer of Principals during KESSHA conferences and teachers.
He is the President of Global Student Mentorship Center, He is an author, and a Tutor.
To Have Vidambu launch their Candidates Academic Mentorship Programs in your school and be a Class Mentor kindly call/text/whatsapp 0743480435 (Sam Vidambu).
To have Mr Vidambu mentor your son/daughter call/text/whatsapp 0743480435 (Vidambu).
If you’re not happy with your child’s results whatsapp Mr Vidambu to help them.
He has Catch Up programs for Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology and also Languages.
Kindly Forward This Article To Whatsapp Groups of the Teachers, Parents and All The Principals you know.
To Be Added To His Whatsapp Group Full of Principals and Teachers To Receive His Mentorship First Before Anyone Else Kindly Whatsapp His Number (0743480435).
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