Before Exams

Make sure to revise effectively like you would revise for a normal test in school.

These exams were quite important for my grades so I would advise trying your best to study before your exams. Use the revision methods that work for you but using past papers and doing tests can help quite a lot.

Let people in your household know when you will be revising and when you will have your exams.

I told my family when I would be doing my exams, which can help to ensure they don’t distract you. Also, this can help to avoid noise. 

Know the details of how to submit your exams.

For me, my mock exams were held via Google Classroom and my teacher posted a video a few days earlier to explain how to submit your exams and how to conduct them at home. Ensure you know all these details beforehand so that you don’t end up wasting time during the exams figuring this out or even missing your deadline for submission.

Have someone in your household to be an invigilator.

If possible, have someone in the room when you are doing your exam to act as an invigilator. Not only will this make it more motivating for you to work, but it may feel even closer to a normal exam.

Do something relaxing before your exams.

For example, you could do some gentle exercises, meditate or pray to God before your exams and this can help you to feel relaxed.

During Exams

If given the choice between typing or writing on paper, do what suits you the most.

For me personally, I chose writing on paper as it is much more effective for me. Most of the time, writing on paper is the best option as you don’t have to stay in front of a screen for long periods of time, you may be more used to writing on paper and you won’t be restricted by your typing speed. 

Have a minimalistic space to work on.

It is best to replicate an environment that you are used to having tests or exams in usually. For me, I kept my desk pretty minimalistic while doing my exams and this will help to keep you motivated, distraction-free and be in that exam mode.You may need to have your charger with you for the device you are doing the exam on.

Remove your distractions.

Ensure that you put your phone away and social media so that you are not distracted during your exams.

After Exams

Take a break

After your exams, take a break and get out of your environment where you have been doing your exams. Go to another room, talk to your family members, drink some water, use the toilet and do some exercise. Do something like this.

Track your exams.

After every exam or in the night, journal how your exams went. This can be in the form of a diary entry, a voice memo, a vlog or even an article like this. You can even predict what grade you will get in that test if you want. This will help you to keep it as a memory.

I hope that this article has helped you to ace those online exams. I know that this is a different experience but you should embrace change when it is needed. 

Comment down below if you have any other article ideas. 

Make sure to check out my other articles.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

Figure out how you will be receiving work 

Firstly, find out how you will work from home. Will you have to join live classes from home through Google Meet, do tasks the teachers set you or just revise independently? I had to do all three so figure out when you will do all of these. 

Make a good routine 

For me, waking up early worked best. Stick to your school timetable as much as possible, and make sure that you try to get all the work done within that lesson. This will add structure to your routine and make it feel like you really are going to school.

Make to do lists

Have a piece of paper with all your tasks for each of your subjects, and then tick off or highlight when you have finished it. You can then add other tasks you want to complete such as schoolwork.

Have a post it note for questions

If you will be returning to school soon and you want to ask some questions to your teachers in person, I would advise getting a post it note or even a small notebook dedicated to writing down all your questions. You won’t forget to ask all the questions you have!

Get organised

Make Google Drive folders and keep your notebooks tidy.

Try to have breaks without the screen

Many people are used to going on social media and being in front of a screen after just spending hours on front of another screen. This is not only harmful for your eyesight, but also for your concentration levels. Instead, take regular breaks in which you leave your study space and do other activities such as talking to your family, which will leave you feeling replenished.

Change environments

When you are in school, chances are that you are moving to a new environment every lesson and this may subconsciously make you feel more productive. Therefore, do the same thing at home and after every lesson, go out of your room for a break or for your next study session, study somewhere else in your room. It’s you tricking your brain into thinking you are ‘commuting’ when really you might be in the same room.

Have other extracurriculars 

If you have online classes, you may feel like you are studying continuously all the time. However, if you incorporate activities that will also add value to your life but not necessarily be academic, you will feel accomplished in other ways. You can do this through an extracurricular activity such as making a podcast or starting a YouTube channel. 

Have someone that will keep you accountable

If you want someone to be there to motivate you, you may need that one person to do it. I would advise having someone in your life that will check that you are working. For example, if you have an older sibling, they could check every hour to see if you are working. Alternatively, you could have a friend whom you send your to-do lists via social media every morning and in the night, you could check if you completed all those tasks (make it a friendly little game). 

Have a positive mindset about online classes

If you tell yourself that you hate online classes, then you will hate it. So please try to keep positive about having online classes and try to enjoy this new experience. Remember, that there are many people who do not have any access to education at all but at least, we still have access to education, whether it is online or in school.

If you do online classes, make sure to tell me in the comments down below! 

This pandemic is testing everyone so do not think you are alone.

Now get working!

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

Step 1: Find out what work you have missed

For each of your subjects, ask someone in your class or your teacher about what you have missed. They can show you and you can understand how much work you have to catch up with. 

Step 2: Try not to miss any more school

After seeing this huge amount of work, you may feel overwhelmed and confused on how you are supposed to catch up with previous lessons and stay on top of the current lessons. The best thing to do is not to add extra work on yourself and just try not to miss any more school. 

Step 3: Make a revision timetable and a routine

For the first few days or weeks of catching up, you may feel disorganised. My tip would be to create a routine with times designated to do work that is being set now but also times where you are completing tasks from the previous lessons that you missed. Try to focus on one or two different subjects every day and if you follow this, you will see progress. 

Step 4: Create to do lists with deadlines

Now that you have made a routine and know at which times you will study (remember to incorporate breaks!) you now want to start creating daily to-do lists with deadlines. I like to use my bullet journal and I can also migrate tasks for future dates. Plan every day and make sure what you have to do and this will keep you on track to finish the work. 

Step 5: Remove distractions

Now you may sit at your desk, your couch or the floor (wherever you study) but you don’t feel motivated to get started. Is it because you have your phone next to you? If so, remove your distractions and start being productive.

Step 6: Seek help from your teachers, friends and parents

Whether you are feeling stressed with this work, or you don’t understand the catch up work, I would advise you to seek help from your peers, teachers or parents. It is okay to share your feelings and get some help.

Step 7: Ask for a time extension

If your teacher has set a specific deadline for an assignment, and you feel that you cannot keep up with it, it may be worth asking for a time extension to your teacher so you have more time to complete it. 

Step 8: Don’t stress

Please do not stress. It is just not worth it and will end up wasting more time and energy than actually doing the work.

Step 9: Catch up on holidays

If you have a few tasks that are not urgent and you know you can delay, perhaps you could migrate it for the weekends or the holidays. Since lessons do not happen on the weekends or holidays, you won’t have the current lessons to go to and you can spend this time catching up. 

Step 10: Manage your time efficiently

Catching up is all about time management. When you make your routine, please do include some breaks and maybe some extracurriculars, skills or hobbies that you can also do alongside studying. This will ensure you are not getting bored with studying.

Those were some of my tips and advice on how to catch up. It is okay to catch up with work. As always, comment down below how you catch up with work when you miss school.

Please check out my other articles relating to Islamic content, My Experiences, Teenage Advice, Book Reviews and Poetry.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

My name is Surobi. I am a 15-year-old teenager who is among the 66.65 million people living in the UK who has been affected by this invisible virus. This article will be presenting some of the key highlights of how my life has been in these 6 months. 

March:

• Wednesday 18th March 2020 was the first day of lockdown for me. My school was partially closed but then on Friday 20th March, Boris Johnson himself announced a lockdown for the UK. This was the first time in billions of years that this ever had to happen. 
• Schools all over the country got closed down until further notice and GCSEs and A-Levels 2020 were cancelled, as well as people started working from home. This meant that as a Year 10 student, my GCSE Biology exams were also cancelled and I would get predicted grades from my Biology teacher. Most people slowly stopped eating out often including me and my family.
• There were certain precautions that everyone had to take which still exists today such as wearing face coverings outside, washing hands regularly and sometimes doing social distancing.
• I had to start doing online school where my teachers set me work through Google Classroom. Everyone had to adapt to staying at home for a long time.
• Since the NHS were and are the ones working hard and risking their own lives to save lives, the Government released a ‘Clap For Carers’. 
• On Thursday 26th March, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, himself got Coronavirus and even some other ministers got it too. 
• On Sunday 29th March, I made my first ever podcast which is known as ‘The Chat Library’ with my sister.We discuss all girl problems and we post twice a week still to the present day. This really boosted my confidence and pushed me out of my comfort zone. 

April:

• On Thursday 2nd April, I let my school friends know about my podcast which again pushed me out of my comfort zone but I got a lot of positive feedback and appreciation for it.
• On Friday 10th April, I started my second anonymous podcast which I will not share here but I also post there with my sister twice a week.
• On Thursday 16th April, I did my GCSE Biology Paper 2 Mock at home which was definitely a first for me and many others. 
• On 19th April, I started a mini series on my website where I shared 4 articles talking about my one-month experience quarantining.
• On Friday 24th April, Ramadan for us Muslims began, and this was the first time I was fasting in quarantine. Mosques were closed and families from different households were not able to eat together, but we went through Ramadan at home. Throughout this month and the next few months, I may have had a spiritual and religious awakening as I pray more and focus on my religion Islam.
• Boris Johnson was recovered after getting admitted to St Thomas Hospital and he came back to work. 
• As a person who used to watch Bollywood very frequently, I also found out that on 29th April, a famous actor called Irfan Khan passed away, and the next day Rishi Kapoor passed away (RIP to them both).

May:

• On 10th May, I started an Instagram for my podcast which is @thechatlibrary, where we post motivational quotes and podcast previews. 
• On Sunday 24th May, it was Eid-ul-Fitr which I celebrated at home and only went right outside my house to take some photos. Again, this was very different to my usual Eids.
• On Monday 25th May, one of the biggest tragedies which set a huge fire amongst many was George Floyd’s death, a man who was mercilessly killed just for being black. This went viral on social media, and people started raising awareness of ‘Black Lives Matter’ and even protesting outside during COVID-19. More people also started learning about racism and its history.

June:

• On 5th June, I activated my old Instagram @valuable.seconds and changed to @surobiscribbles. That is my personal/business account where I post poetry and photography. 
• My school decided to allow Year 10 students to come into school if they wished to only for 6 days before the end of the academic year. I did not go though.
•  On 14th June, I found out one of the biggest shocks ever. One Indian actor known as Sushant Singh Rajput passed away.
• On 20th June, I properly went out grocery shopping with my mother since lockdown began.
• Near the end of the month, I started having one-to-one meetings with my teachers via Google Meet and this was just such a new experience for me.

July:

• On 3rd July, a famous Indian choreographer called Saroj Khan passed away (RIP to her).
• On 17th July, it was the last day of school as a Year 10 student and on that day, I even went to Westfield Stratford with my mother. I took the bus for the first time since the lockdown began.
• On 19th July, it was my 15th birthday! I got ready, went to my local park with my mother, ate delicious homemade food and cut a small chocolate cake.
• On 22nd July, I met my three school friends after about four months at my birthday picnic. I, therefore, celebrated my birthday with my friends in my local park.
• On 24th July, I went to Lloyd Park with my sister.
• On 31st July, I celebrated Eid-ul-Adha by going to Gokyuzu Restaurant with my sister and this was the first time we ate in a restaurant since lockdown began.

August:

• Rishi Sunak, one of the Conservative MPs released the new ‘Eat To Help Out Scheme’ where you get a 50% discount on food or non-alcoholic drinks to eat or drink in (up to a maximum of £10 discount per diner) every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between 3 and 31 August as many times as you like. People started going out much more often and posting food on their social media.
• I started promoting my podcast  and my website on my personal Instagram page @surobiscribbles. 
• On 20th August, along with the other GCSE students, I went to school (after about 5 months) and collected my GCSE Biology results. I reacted to it at home and told my family. Some GCSE and A-Level students had mixed feelings about this.
• Throughout the month of August, I had travelled to Lea Valley Park, Gokyuzu Restaurant,  Sahara Grill, Franzos , Koz Restaurant, The Urban Chocolatier  and also went normal grocery shopping.
• Near the end of the month, I disabled my Instagram @thechatlibrary (which had over 100 followers) and my Instagram @surobiscribbles (which had over 500 followers) for my own personal reasons.
• Chadwick Boseman passed away on 28th August 2020 (RIP to him).

September:

• On 2nd September, I went out with my friend to Walthamstow Wetlands.
• I also have done some back to school prep.

My school will be starting again from 7th September 2020 and I will, In Sha Allah, be going into Year 11.

These were some of the key highlights of what happened over the 6 month lockdown. It has been a very different experience. Of course, there is no denying that I did have some low and negative days but you know what, there were more positives than negatives.

I know that this COVID-19 battle has not ended yet and I know that the cases could increase in the future. All my thoughts go out to those who have either passed away, have had loved ones passing away and to every single person’s life who has changed because of this virus. Please comment down below how your life has changed due to COVID-19. 

Please check out my other articles related to experiences for more of the experiences I have been through or feel free to surf through my website for any other article.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!