SPM Tips *Self Notes*

1. Leave everything behind (for the time being while doing something)
 `One target at a time’.
 FOCUS on the task in hand. Say, you are in maths class. Then, don’t do other stuffs during your maths class.
Strictly, only do maths stuffs. It’s a good time to finish your undone chemistry homework!
2. Blend in with the education system
 Don’t go fussing about the downside of our education system. Eventually, you’ll be the one going through it.
 Save your effort! You don’t like to memorize, do you? Well, don’t memorize! Instead, you lean on the
“practicing” approach. Trust me, you won’t even realize that you could answer questions because you are
already so familiar with. This technique is much more effective for slow-learners.
 However, some ‘facts and figures’ are unavoidable. You need to memorize somehow. But here’s the trick.
You practice ‘remembering’ the facts. In other words, you might need a few days, maybe weeks to get them
familiar with. You will remember them in times of need!
3. Never stop asking stupid questions! *Not annoying ones*
 Firstly, don’t ask repetitive questions.
 Secondly, explain what you are trying to do before asking what you wish to know further. You get the picture.
 Keep your questions simple and straight to the point.
 Believe me, trying to be stupid to gain extra info is better than trying to be “Mr-Know-It-All”.

4. Dream BIG & Dream ON!

 Now, you got a BIG DREAM and you must literally DREAM ON to keep the spark alive in me.
 With this, you’ll have just the right push to be successful. Motivation is a very powerful tool to spur one on. No
man will be successful doing things that they themselves are not passionate about.
5. Narrowing down on how to do well in different subjects
i. Language subjects - (Bahasa Melayu & English)
 Start practicing your grammars.
 Try grabbing maximum scores in grammar, comprehension and literature sections.
 Grammar - Start off easy with building simple sentences to writing complex and compound sentences with
beautiful words in it. Here, I’m not stressing on bombastic words but anyhow a handful of beautiful words
would definitely suffice to add colours to your essay.
  Comprehension - Grammatical errors in this section are rarely penalized as this part tests on the ability of a
student understanding a passage. As long as you write down the answers that are understandable, you
might be in your way to scoring a few marks here.
 Literature - Don’t cheat in your literature sections by just reading the synopsis on everything. This is not
going to work.
ii. Science
 Start off slowly by doing topical assessments, which includes actual-exams format questions - By doing this,
you’ll get to know every topic inside out. (Possible questions, definitions, level of difficulty and most
importantly, your mastery of the topics.)
 Do questions first before memorizing facts .
 Paper 2 is where you need to pay attention to the most.
iii. Maths
 Again, all you need is practice, practice and practice.
 Get yourself familiarize with all types of questions.
 Start off slowly by doing topical assessments, which includes actual-exams format questions.
 Therefore, start practicing with real-exam format questions after understanding the concepts of each topic on
the whole.
 Again, practise more and you’ll get the hang of it! This subject would be easy if you did your homework back in
lower secondary.
iv. Sejarah & Moral
 Start early - By doing so, you not only create more time to remember the facts, but also lessening your burden
during last minute study.
 Sejarah
 Use the ‘topical approach’ to remember facts from each topic without jumbling up everything.
 Refer and answer questions simultaneously.
 Slowly after some time, try answering without textbooks. You don’t want ending up being too dependent on
textbooks, right?
 Must-score in Paper 2. Using the same technique, use answers provided at the back of the exercise books as
quick notes! They are perfect to use as long as the facts are extracted from the official textbooks.
  Moral
 There is nothing much to do but to memorize the definitions first.
 Easily, you can break down any one of the definitions into key words on the spot. You save all the time
memorizing definitions alone and then key words another.
6. High Order Thinking Skills - HOTS
 Practise - Search the net for these questions. Dig them up in books.
 Apply - All the facts that you’ve memorized and are ready to regurgitate (only to choke on them when you see
a question that isn’t related) can actually be applied in answering KBAT questions.
 Master the Basics - If you do not have a firm grasp or understanding of the basics for any particular subject,
you can’t apply your knowledge effectively. Practise and work on those before attempting any HOTS
questions.
 Read - Reading newspapers and articles allows you to keep up with current news, which you can reflect on or
manipulate, especially for arts and humanities. You don’t even need to read physical newspapers and
magazines. Hit up social media sites like Facebook or Twitter and subscribe to pages that cover the daily news,
both national and international.