When you were a kid, did you ever do that thing at the shopping centre, where you try running up the down escalator?
And at first it works, you make the first few steps pretty easily, but then as you get further up, like somewhere in the middle, you’re like, “Oh man, this is actually getting pretty hard now”, right?
And you’re still moving, still pumping your legs, but you’re not actually moving.
So what do you do?
You try to go faster, keep working harder.
And if you haven’t done it, then I’m sure you’ve SEEN a kid do this.
So what if I told you that this is kinda how many students are studying.
Even though they’re working harder than ever before, they’re not making the progress they want.
Here’s why (and how to END that downward momentum)!
So… the goal is to get to the top of the escalator.
Whatever that is in real life, a certain grade or set of results, or getting into a particular uni or course, or just getting a particular assignment or essay written!
We have the goal, and we’re working hard to achieve it, taking action.
But there might just be something that’s actually stopping us making the progress we want or feel we should.
Or something that’s just making it a LOT harder than it should be.
I’m doing things, I’m working, but I’m just not getting anywhere.
Whether that’s doing tons of revision, but still not getting the exam results you want.
Whether it’s doing tons of research for an inquiry, but going round and round in circles not knowing what to actually focus on or how to use it.
Or perhaps it’s struggling on where to start with an essay, just waffling around the topic, but having no real flow or direction through the writing, so that it just doesn’t feel like you’re making any real progress.
Well, wouldn’t it be easier if we turned off the escalator and they just became normal stairs. Now that means it does still take work and effort to get to the top.
But there’s no wasted energy and effort.
So what is that downward force?
How does your teen turn off the escalator?
Well, it’s different for everyone, it could be that they’re not clear on how mark schemes and success criteria work and how to use them to their advantage.
It could be that your teen isn’t accurately identifying both the topic and focus – separately identifying those two things – in essay titles, so they aren’t clear on how to plan or write their response. I
t could be that they’re missing one or more of the 6 elements of exam technique. It could be that they’re revising hard, but not using methods that are effective.
(In fact MOST students are using revision techniques that don’t work. Sad, but true).
It could be another factor that’s dragging down their results and performance in assessments and of course their confidence.
The key point here is about understanding what’s going on and then taking action to identify it.
So let me know… Is your teen trying the climb the down escalator at the moment?
Or, is there someone you know who’d benefit from hearing this? In which case, please – pass the link to this blog on to them 🙂
And until next week – let’s make this a fantastic week 🙂
Katie
