To quote the little old women at my bus shelter, “It comes earlier and earlier every year”. Okay, so they were talking about Christmas and I would normally complain too about the early arrival of everything Christmas-related but not this year. Everyone seems so down and out about the Budget and just the state of the country in general that I say, why not talk about Christmas? I don’t know about you all but for me I can think of no happier time. Two weeks off school (even longer this year though), mouth-watering food, busy shops, a nice cosy fire at home…Okay, snap back to reality Ciara before you break into song. What I was trying to say when I started writing this (yes, would you believe that this actually leads to something exam related?) was that while I have no problems discussing Christmas now, I think it’s too soon to start talking about about Christmas Tests. The sad thing is, the Christmas Tests are before Christmas. Crap.

Yeah, the second we arrived back last week the teachers started calling out prescribed chapters for the exams and before you know it, everyone has made study timetables and Granny has started lighting the candles for them at mass. I’m sat here wondering where to start with all my study…Times like this I’d really like a crystal ball. Or a photographic memory. Maybe if I get Granny to light an extra big candle I might get one of the two. I think a trip to the library is in order this weekend, without my friends in tow because let’s just say they make it hard to study…ever play Hide and Seek in a library? I have. I need to finish the second draft of my History RSR anyway.

In other news, we got our Drémires this week. I know, the fun never stops in my life! For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s like a mini Irish book with essays and grammar tips, etc., aimed at LC students. It’s handy but I find the comprehensions too complex. I’ll stick to my Foinses for the most part, thank you very much. My French teacher advised our class to pick our documents for the oral in the coming two weeks. Is she serious? The oral is months away! I don’t know what to pick, any ideas? I was thinking of a picture from the Gaeltacht but I just know that’ll put me in the Irish language state of mind that I really have to avoid, considering it’s a test of French. She said it could be a picture of anything but the other class’ teacher told them it really should be French-related, so they’re all picking French movies (the same one) and French celebrities. Unfortunately I’m not as absorbed in the culture, although I like croissants (cliché much?).

I’m going to start studying in a few minutes (I promise) and then reward myself with some TV. The Apprentice- I’m addicted! And I do Business so it’s practically educational.

Hey everyone. Sorry that the title sounds like a topic for a French written piece (if I see this come up on the paper in June, Department of Education, I’m suing you for stealing my ideas). I don’t have school today and was trying to plan some revision of sorts when I started thinking about revision books and podcasts, etc.*

Can I ask, how many people reading this have purchased revision material for the LC? Or are planning to? And which ones do you recommend and which ones are so unhelpful that you’ve started using them as coasters? I’ve always been a bit sceptical about these so-called revision aids but the few that I have are actually pretty good.

I remember for the Junior Cert, there was a shocking number of girls who bought ten revision books, one for every subject. Even for CSPE, of all things. I bought one Less Stress More Success book for Irish and it was so bland it bored me to tears. Although it had a good vocabulary section, it didn’t tell you how to approach or prepare for each question. I gave up on the whole idea of revision books until late last year, when a friend gave me her sister’s Revise Wise Business book and I became pretty taken with it. Last month I bought the Geography edition of the same brand, which has since become my new bible. I love how it’s student-friendly and tells you exactly what you need to be able to answer in the exam. Of course, it doesn’t have anywhere near the same amount of information as my textbooks but breaks things down into more simple terms. Before anyone gets suspicious, I’d like to clarify I don’t work for Revise Wise, I’m just a fan…But if they’re reading this, I’m currently unemployed and free after July.

I can’t do a blog post on revision aids (or often just a blog post) without mentioning Foinse, one of my great loves in life. For any Foinse virgins, it’s a newspaper supplement that comes with the Irish Independent every Wednesday. The best part? It’s totally as Gaeilge! Although it serves as a regular newspaper, it also has a section on LC Irish, with notes on each poem and story and general tips for passing the exam. We get Dréimire in school but I find it too complex most of the time. Usually after the New Year newspapers start doing supplements on each subject, which are handy to have too.

Don’t worry all you recessionistas (I’d be one of you too if  Topshop stopped getting in such pretty clothes), there are good resources which are completely free. You can get any question you have about school answered on this website and if it’s good notes you’re looking for, I like skoool.ie. Be wary of any sample answers you get by typing ‘Leaving Cert + Subject + Sample Answer’ into Google, though. If you use them in class, you’re not guaranteed to get a high grade and if someone else uses the same website, the teacher will know there’s something up. There’s a Boland answer which has been doing the rounds a lot lately and I know people (who would never write something as cheesy as it) who’ve used it in tests and gotten less than they hoped for. Now it’s my turn to be cheesy when I say, wouldn’t you rather get the grade you deserved for something you’d done yourself? Some of you may agree but others will probably leave me comments asking for a link to this Boland answer.

A good Tuesday to you all!

* When I began writing this post, I did not intend for it to sound like one giant advertisement. It just worked out that way.

I was just thinking of how this week has flown…and then I thought we’ve a day off on the 11th and on the 12th I’ve the Mary I open day and then it’s practically midterm…then Christmas, Easter and then suddenly it’s leaving cert and summer:)

While this might inspire fear in some people (for that I’m sorry!) I simply cannot wait to be finally finished…seriously guys attempt to do you’re leaving cert in the one go! I can’t go on facebook without seeing pictures of nights out and people talking of how amazing college is. I am so unbelievably jealous!!!

Anyhow…anyone at the ploughin’ championships this week??? It was my first time and I loved it!  I loved wearing my daisy-print wellies,the squelchy mud,getting loads of  brochures,taking pictures of cows( for my project!), free pens and even free lipbalm and talking to lots of people. I was so disappointed that I didn’t find a pig on the day though! I was mad to!!!

We met some lovely dairy farmers (road frontage;)ha) and we even went to see some of the farmerette ploughing. I have to say I’m loving ag science as a subject…maybe it’s my inner-farmer coming through.

We eventually ended up in the Irish independent tent and I was talking to the lovely Foinse team.  They asked what my favourite part of their newspaper was and I replied Dáithí Ó Sé. What I meant to say was that I love his column. For anyone who doesn’t know,  Foinse is an Irish newspaper which comes free with the Independent every Wednesday and is a must have for anyone doing, in particular, the honours paper. They have a section on the leaving certificate course and even if you have good notes, I found the odd nice phrase to use. Last year they even put up podcasts for the oral which was good.

Apart from all that think everyones settling in to repeating and starting to mix a bit which is great because school is so much easier to deal with when you have loads of people to talk to. Although you probably study less…!!!!

anyways I think I’ll get started on my ag project:) until next time:P….slán:)  Naomi.

Salut!

hi guys, hope this week back wasn’t too stressful. I am so glad i revised my chemistry course because we got back and jumped straight into a new, difficult chapter with a substitute teacher. I have yet to make a new timetable but I’m sticking to my old one which isn’t too bad I suppose. I’m feeling more and more nervous about the HPAT exam though,which is on the the 27th of next month, time flys I guess. I was reading in the Irish Medical Times that this year (2nd ever sitting of the exam!) students can ask for rechecks of their answer sheet if they feel they may have been incorrectly scored. You have to pay a €90 fee though. To be honest I wouldn’t really mind, what’s done is done, unless I really get a bad result,seeing as im practicing every few days id be shocked to see a really,really low score. Just if anyone wanted to know Btw, how was the final HPAT practice course in the IOE today if anyone attended? iId love to know what you thought! Also, HPAT registration closes on MONDAY, so get your CAO code and sign up ASAP if your thinking of doing medicine.

We were given an Irish essay to do this weekend “what would Ireland be like in 2050″. Our teacher based it on a book of a similar title. I really enjoyed writing it actually,,scary that i just admitted that but yet, it’s true. I must say though, Foinse is amazing! iIve been buying the Irish Independent for the past few weeks every Wednesday just for the Foinse supplement. They have published so many articles in Irish about the ‘Tuilte’ or floods and the snow, new year, movies, concerts  and loads of other worldly topics, it really is helpful when it comes to composing. Last week in ‘Foinse sa rang’ they had a sample Oral convo about the Irish point system which i cut out and stuck in my oral copy:) My other secret weapon to getting As in Irish essays is a lovely little book my Dad got as a gift from his colleagues who bid him farewell from his post in Cork by saying “Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí”. An almost perfect seanfhocail as gaeilge for a child psychiatrist. At the time i thought, who in their right minds gives someone a book of proverbs? why? it frustrated me at the time and my young 12 year old mind just failed to accept such a ‘useless’ present. Today however, I thank those people,wherever they are for this magnificent piece of work. It has over 200 proverbs and sorts them out into categories, like ‘happiness’, ‘patience’ or ‘love’. I use about 10 or more in each of my essays and have some for my orals too. Simple, old, traditional ones. They boost your marks so the more the better, obviously you shouldn’t saturate your essays with just proverbs, but it’s clever when used correctly.

Did anyone go to the RDS for the BT Young Scientist competition? I hoped to, but i had my ‘Gaisce’ work experience that day. My brother went (TY) to support his two friends,who,were as a matter of fact, featured on news2day on RTÉ, “excuse me,would you like a rose”,yep those guys Fair play to them for representing their school I guess..I really regret not trying out for the competition when i was younger and had more time..its seems a great experience. Richard O’ Shea’s project i thought, was deserving of the win. He even said he’d prob donate the money to charity. His biomass fired cooking stove was thoughtful of the current time, third world countries could really make use of his idea, especially Gaza and now,unfortunately Haiti. I wrote in my Irish essay that Ireland would most definitely produce some of the world’s brightest scientists, our country really does embrace this subject and offers kids of all ages the chance to experience it in some shape or form,that i think, is commendable.

Mock timetables are up…Biology and L.C.V.P on Friday then a week off then back again. Thank God i did Business in J.C and actually got a B to my surprise! i always hated the subject, boring and irrelevant (well to me anyway), it was prob the hardest subject i had to do for the J.C,,,L.C.V.P is basically business for dummies,so i love it! (no offense intended). I got free, extra English notes today in I.O.E because my french teacher (also teaches English) had a few extra notes left over. What a legend ^_^

Anyway, i felt i had to blog, ill get back to my studying now, or rather have to

Bonne Chance mes amis! ^_^

The amount of my fellow students who want to give up French as their third language is shocking! All of course due to last night’s game…the least said about it the better. On the plus side, we learned a new verb today en français. Tricher- to cheat!

So all discussions on gloomy matters such as footballers’ hands and flash flooding cast aside, this week has actually been really good! This is mainly due to;

1. The Public Sector strike on Tuesday means we have a day off to look forward to!

2. I got 92% in my Geography test, my best result so far this year.

3. I had a really good lunch today (lunch can really make or break a day).

4. I got Foinse (the newspaper published as Gaeilge) in the Irish Independent and it included an article on John and Edward. Irish combined with John and Edward, what’s not to love? Foinse is really good by the way, I recommend it to anyone who wants to do well in Irish. It’s out every Wednesday with the Irish Independent. We also get Dremire at school too but I find the articles really complex and they’re nearly all on the recession!

5. We got our timetables for the Christmas tests today…each year, this signifies the commencement of widespread panic in the school. I think it’s because it confirms we actually have Christmas tests! I have one day off during that week because I don’t do Biology or Home Ec. I really better start studying but it shouldn’t be too hard- I have to admit, I’m still on a high after my Geography result!

I have to spend this weekend in the library because we have to hand in our proposal for the History topic by Monday. It’s all so rushed but I think I’ll manage! The topic isn’t too hard to come up with, it’s mainly the sources that are the problem…

P.S. Is anyone else as disgusted as me that Breffny was fired from The Apprentice? I love that guy!