HOW TO PREPARE FOR S.S.C EXAMINATIONS (10th BOARDS)

Second School Certification or the 10th Board Examination as we all call it, is considered as the first stepping stone in one's career. Parents encourage their children to study well and achieve the desirable score and even students work day and night to achieve so. With all these efforts and hard work some kind of pressure is bound to grasp. It's results are the major deciding factor of where their interest lies and what career path they wish to take up. Marks scored in the examination is the key to attain admission in top ranking colleges. With this said, the fear of the examination begins to overpower among most of the students.

Here are some steps that would help you have a better approach towards the examination.

1. Start at the right time : SSC examination has quite a vast syllabus, hence starting preparation at the right time will help you complete the syllabus before-hand and save ample time for revision. The preparation must start a year prior. 
2. Set a Clear Goal : Setting a goal is the first stepping stone. It is a simple fact that you have to know where you have to go in order to physically get there. Having a Goal gives vision and motivation. This enables you to build a path to reach your goal and achieve it. By 'Set a clear goal' we mean set an achievable target and this has to be the ultimate goal for the examination. You may also set targets for the completion of the syllabus i.e deadline to complete a syllabus or subject, etc.
3. Have an Organized schedule : Organized living is the key to happiness and success. Organized schedule will enable you to prioritize your subjects which you wish to work on. This will in turn help to overcome the fear of the difficult subjects. Having an organized schedule shall prevent cluttering of tasks and allow you to take adequate breaks. So preparing a time-table shall put the process at ease.
4. Physical exercise is beneficial : Physical exercise helps you to boost blood circulation and energy. Regular exercise will not only help you stay fit and active, but it will also help boost your concentration and focus.
5. Shed the fear : Fear is the enemy of confidence. It makes you take a step back and hinders your attempt to try. It is rightly said, "There is nothing you can't achieve. And until you try, the fear is always going to stay but once you try all that remains is learning and confidence".
6. Self study is the key : There has always been a question 'Why is self study so important?'. The answer lies in the word 'Self Study'. Self study means to learn and understand yourself, by trying to find the answer of your questions yourself. The understandings or the knowledge gained by self study is much more effective than someone teaching it to you.
7. Make self made notes : Self made notes are the outcome of Self study. They are the points to remember or simplified versions of a concept made by you while studying. These may also involve making a formula list, curating of science diagrams, the grammar tricks, simplified chemistry notes, definitions etc. These form the integral part of your revision.
8. Start with working on your weak subjects : There is nothing to shy off about the subjects you find difficult. It's important to understand that nothing remains difficult unless you try it with all your efforts. Similarly, prioritizing your weak subjects helps you pay more attention towards it and practice it more often. This would help gain confidence over the subject over the time, in a way that later you wouldn't worry about it.
9. Adopt Create strategies : Strategies can be fun, it enables you to simplify your actions and efforts. While preparing for an examination, the first strategy must revolve around studying and understanding the paper pattern. This gives you insight on the kinds of questions asked and the marks weight-age given to each of them. Other strategies can be regarding learning long answers, by making a code for all the points which enables you to remember all of them. One of the best strategies used by scholars to remember mathematical formulas are by learning them with diagrams. Eg: Volume of a cylinder The cylinder has an elongated portion and two ends. Volume of the cylinder means its capacity to hold a substance in it. So when we read the formula as Volume of a cylinder (V) = πr²h π is the constant, h is the height of the elongated portion, r² is the radius of the two ends. You can always come up with unique ideas and strategies to simplify any concept like this.
10. Revise on a daily basis : This is a long journey of about a year, and retaining all that you learnt is important but can also be difficult. Revision of the concept you have finished on a regular basis will help you remember them for a longer time. You can adopt the practice of revision after your self study.
11. Take adequate breaks : Exam preparation can be time occupying, with multiple tasks to accomplish in a single day. But as much as the accomplishment of these tasks are important, so is relaxation. A psychological study states that people with a healthy and relaxed mind, tend to achieve their goals easily. This is because, with a relaxed mind one can have a better focus. And a relaxed mind can be achieved by taking adequate breaks. One can do so by either doing nothing or by doing something you absolutely love. Doing things that make you happy, releases chemicals and hormones that make you feel happy and fight stress. Therefore, work hard for the examination but also take out time for yourself.
12. Make the most out of Previous years question paper : Previous years exam papers are usually only looked upon as a medium of practice. But as a matter of fact they are more than that. They can be effectively analyzed to understand the importance of a particular question or concept with its repetitiveness on the question paper. This analysis shall help in dividing your focus on concepts adequately.
13. Practice how to write the exam appropriately : Writing an exam is a skill. There are proven techniques that help your paper preparation be good enough and complete the paper on time. The paper presentation depends majorly on cleanliness i.e good handwriting, highlighting important points and headlines, no spaces to be left, neat diagrams.A question paper can be completed in the given time frame by attempting the long questions first like writing skills, comprehensions, Brief Answer etc. Allot time to each question and accomplishing it can be beneficial. For eg: This is the question which you need to complete in 1½ hrs. Q1 Fill in the blanks.  Q2 Match the column. Q3 True/False. Q4 Answer briefly for the following questions. Q5 Short notes. Major time i.e 45 mins can be allotted for Answer briefly and Short notes and rest of the time can be utilized in objective questions.
14. Assessment : Assessment is important to analyze where you stand and work forward. Taking up a test is the best way to know the areas you are good at and the areas you need to improve. This gives you confidence and motivation to keep improving. Prelims must be considered as Board examination itself. This is like the practice of board examination. The better you do here, the better are the chances to do well in the main examination.
15. Stay positive : Staying positive helps to cope with stressful situations like prelims, assignments etc. It enables you to find an appropriate way to tackle the situation and gives confidence. In this journey and throughout life, staying positive would help you in numerous ways which would work like a magic.

Keeping all the above points in mind start your preparations and you shall see the results. All the best!