Mapping out the top Junior Cert results

Teenager Tammy Strickland has turned a €5,000 profit from her website providing mind maps for Junior Cert students. So how did the exam entrepreneur come up with the idea?

TAMMY STRICKLAND is 17 today. She has plenty to celebrate: her year-old online study guide company is in profit to the tune of €5,000 and she is facing the Leaving Cert cycle in Mount Sackville Secondary School, Dublin with confidence. Her website, junioncertmindmaps.com has had over 20,000 visits since she decided to put the fruits of her labours online last year. She is already planning leavingcertmindmaps.com and will be building her business as she studies for the biggest exam of her life. Talk about synergy.

It wasn’t such a fairy tale in third year when Tammy, after two years of study and mind mapping for the Junior Cert, found herself unable to close the deal. “I was sick at the time of the Junior Cert and did not sit the exams,” she says. “It was so disappointing after all the work I had put in.”

Tammy had high expectations for her Junior Cert. She had bagged nine As and two Bs in the mocks and was hoping to do even better on the day.

After the disappointment of missing the exams, Tammy was left with a large collection of mind maps that she had created as part of her study routine. It was an organisational trick her father taught her, and it had become core to her exam preparation strategy.

“My Dad introduced me to mind mapping at about nine years of age,” Tammy explains. “Initially I used them for planning holidays, shopping trips and for organising my thoughts. We had a computer program that allows you to draw and print comprehensive mind maps and I gradually started using them for school work to help me to remember what I had learned in class.”

Tammy found that maps were easier to remember than pages of linear notes. “I can retain vast amounts of information if it is laid out in a visual way. Once it is visual, most people can see the logical structure of the information, which is set out like branches of a tree. This is a really good aid to memory as you are not looking to remember abstract data, but rather ordered information that is linked in a logical way and can easily be recalled when required at exam time.”

She is a big fan of science and found that mind maps were especially helpful in subjects that comprised a lot of detail, like biology. Over time though, she found ways to apply mind map models to all the subjects on the Junior Cert syllabus.

Tammy’s approach to study allowed her to tackle each subject systematically and, she says, it didn’t involve an unusually punishing study schedule. “I tended not to focus on putting in a specific number of hours each day or week,” she says. “Instead, I would set myself the target of completing a chapter of a subject at a time and summarising it into a mind map. It was less stressful and more constructive.”

It also left her free to pursue her very busy extra-curricular schedule. A keen sportsperson and debater, Tammy also spends a considerable amount of time on her music.

“Music is my favourite hobby. I study music outside of school in Kylemore College and play the piano and guitar. I also like to write my own music and I am in the process of writing a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet which is a musical with 20 original songs set in New York City. I also enjoy art and reading as well as several sports.”

So, apart from falling at the last fence, Tammy believes that mind mapping allowed her to take on the Junior Cert without sacrificing her other interests. During Transition Year a plan started to hatch in Tammy’s mind for the mind maps she had made. “I was looking at all these maps and wondering if they would be useful to anyone else. I thought they would benefit other students and particularly help them avoid the significant stress that often comes with preparing for State exams. I also hoped to make some pocket money,” says Tammy.

She knew that the maps were, at the time, somewhat idiosyncratic and would need to be reworked to suit a wider audience. “I spent the entire Transition Year redoing the mind maps so that they covered the whole curriculum in 10 subjects. I averaged one subject per month with science and maths taking somewhat longer.

“My dad is a businessman and was always at hand to offer me advice when I needed it. In fact, it was my dad who encouraged me to consider sharing the mind maps with other kids because he believed they would be of benefit to them. He helped me build the JuniorCertMindMaps website at the beginning of the project.”

The owners of MindGenius, the software product used to create the mind maps, wrote a piece about Tammy on their blog and sent a press release to a number of newspapers and this resulted in a little bit of publicity. Soon hits to the website began to mount.

“The response has been terrific and I have had more than 24,000 page impressions during the last year. I have a customer comments section on the website and most people are very complimentary about the mind maps,” says Tammy. “I’ve already earned about €5,000.”

At €9.95 per subject, there are now 500 sets of Tammy Strickland Mind Maps floating around the system. Tammy is convinced they are worth the money. “I put a huge amount of work into each map. The cost reflects the work and I think that’s fair. They cost a lot less than getting a grind and can be used by anyone to improve retention and recall of information. Even people with dyslexia can benefit from seeing the information rather than trying to sound it out in their minds.”

Wouldn’t students be better off preparing their own mind maps? Tammy says it took two years of drafting and refining to create her maps, so they can save students a lot of work. But she recommends the mind map approach to anyone, whether they buy her notes or not.

“I do debating in school and often use mind maps to organise my thoughts and prepare my speeches. By using just key words on the mind map it becomes a memory aid for making presentations without the need to appear to be reading a script.

“I am already using Leaving Cert mind maps as part of my study programme and I have registered the domain name for Leaving CertMindMaps.com. It will be a little while before they will be offered for sale as I have not finished the entire course in any subject yet.”

So, is Tammy bound for a career in business?

“I put the maps online because I genuinely believe they can help other students and because I wanted to make a bit of pocket money to fund my great passion: travel. I want to visit as many places as I can to see how other people live and to experience their cultures.

“My real ambition is to be a doctor and the mind maps are just part of my study programme. It really is an accident that I am making some money out of them. Business is fun for me but my heart is set on doing medicine.”

What is a mind map?

A mind map is usually built around a single word or piece of text in the middle of a page.

Connected ideas and words grow in branches around the central idea. Mind maps are pictorial, often using colours, typefaces and differing thickness of lines to create visual variety. The idea is to make a “picture” of a subject that is easier to remember than plain lines of text. The branches follow a logic dictated by thinking patterns, making them easier to recall, according to users.

Mind maps have been around for centuries, but were popularised in the 1970s and later by author Tony Buzan, who has written a number of books on the subject of how to structure and use mind mapping for all sorts of activities from budgeting to writing speeches.

The Junior Cert: key subjects guide

MATHS

Paper one at higher level has six questions and all six must be attempted. The paper carries 300 marks, an equal amount of time should be spent on each question.

Paper one generally consists of two questions on arithmetic, rationals, decimals and square roots. There are also two questions on algebra and two questions on quadratic equations.

Paper two at higher level also has six questions and all six must be attempted. The paper carries 300 marks, an equal amount of time should be spent on each question. Paper two generally consists of questions on applied arithmetic, co-ordinate geometry, geometry , trigonometry and statistics.

If students successfully attempt the a and b parts of the question, they should pass.

If students can successfully answer the c sections correctly they should get very good grades.

Students should attempt all parts of every question, as attempt marks are given for all questions and examiners are willing to give marks if a concerted effort is made to answer the question properly.

ENGLISH

Paper one English higher level:

Section one – reading:In this section you are required to read a text and answer questions. You should always answer the question asked. In order to secure good marks you should support the answer with references to the text, displaying that you have understood the text.

Section two – personal writing: You are required to write a piece based on a number of titles offered. This will give you an opportunity to display your writing skills.

Section three – functional writing: The task set in this section normally requires you to write a report, letter, etc. You should make sure you are clear about what you are writing, give a well-structured answer, and be careful with grammar and punctuation.

Section four – media studies: You are required to write about aspects of communication in the media. In your analysis, you should be able to discuss your target audience and use imagery to convey your message. You should also have an opinion on your favourite advertisement, magazine and newspaper so you can write about it.

Paper two – drama, fiction and poetry:

Drama:In the unseen drama, students are required to read the extract and answer the questions asked, which may be about the relationships between characters, or about the characters themselves. You should always support answers with references or quotes from the extract. The studied drama is about a play studied in school. You may be asked about the setting of the play, themes or stagecraft.

It is important to make your point, develop the point and support your point.

Poetry: You may be asked about the theme or tone, imagery or atmosphere in the poem. Answers should always be backed up with references/quotations from the poem.

Fiction: You will be asked about an extract from an unseen novel and a novel studied. You may be asked about the theme, characters, style or plot. All points should be supported with quotations or references.

IRISH

Roinn Iis the listening comprehension. To prepare for this, students should practise listening to previous listening comprehensions or listen to Radio na Gaeltachta or TG4.

Roinn II– Léamhthuiscint: These are unseen reading comprehensions. You will be required to answer questions on the text.

Roinn III: This section requires you to rewrite a piece in a particular tense and is a test on grammar and verbs.

Roinn IV– Ceapadóireacht: This section requires students to write an essay, story, debate or article.

Paper 2

Prós:This will involve answering questions on an extract from the story. You will also be asked about a story you have studied. You may be asked about themes and characters. You should if possible support your answer with references. It is important to answer the questions asked and use grammar correctly.

Filíocht:This section requires you to answer questions on an unseen poem and on a poem you have studied. You may be asked about themes, characters, feelings, you should use quotes to support your answer.

An litir: This question requires students to write a letter which could be on one of the following – letter to a friend about your holidays, letter about a summer job, your hobbies, the concerns of young people, etc. It is very important to get the structure of the letter correct, date, address, greeting, the body, and the sign off of the letter right.

This section will test the ability to write, grammar and vocabulary so students should practise writing letters to get full marks.

Notes provided by mocks.ie