It’s long been accepted in education that ‘teaching to the test’ is NOT the most effective way to great grades.
Plus it’s also not really possible these days.
Exams and the curriculum are designed so that it just doesn’t work.
And this is a *good* thing as it means students have to be taught in a more holistic way and are required to actually understand the content, rather than learn and rehearse it parrot fashion (like so many of us used to do!).
Memory flashback happening right now – reciting and memorising German verb tables – arrrrgh!!!
But that doesn’t mean that students can’t prep and practice for tests and exams.
There’s a much more useful and transferable skill and process: ‘TRAINING for the Test’.
In other words:
- Getting familiar with the format of the exam to be sat.
- Being clear on exactly how to tackle it strategically.
- Having go-to strategies to address different types of questions and a toolbelt of techniques to write top-notch responses.
…So that the ‘unknown’ of an exam is no longer daunting, (partly because those ‘unknown elements’ are minimised).
And the fact that many students still AREN’T being trained in exam technique is a little bit crazy – or at least I think so – and is of course why I’ve made it my mission to help as many students as possible with this.
Because we wouldn’t go to an interview without having rehearsed our answers to possible questions they might ask us , and researching what will likely impress them (AKA – things that I should definitely try to include in my answers!) 😉
No TED Talk presenter would turn up not having practiced their talk or knowing what rules or expectations or guidelines they’ll need to follow.
And if we had our driving test coming up, we’d not only know exactly what manouevers they could ask us to perform, but we’d have practiced those exact procedures many, MANY times and have a clear strategy to follow for each, like lining up the wingmirrors for a reverse park or having specific steps for a three-point-turn.
And yet SO many students go into exams having learnt the subject info but not having clear strategies, steps or techniques to perform at their best.
That’s like going into a dance competition having read a ton of books about ballet but never actually having danced. Or going into a boxing match having watched hours of matches but never having been coached and trained in the ring yourself.
Being able to perform brilliantly and knowing exactly what the judges are looking for is a whole other world, right?!
So make sure your teen isn’t just relying on their subject knowledge to help them achieve success in their essays, exams and assignments.
They need practical strategies and go to tools, templates and techniques so that they can produce answers and responses that align with the wording of essays, tasks and exam questions AND with the mark schemes and rubrics.
Be sure to check out my upcoming ‘Exam Special’ webinar with loads more practical and in-depth training on this. (Look out in your inbox or on the Facebook news feed for registration info next week!).
And until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week!
Katie
