Grade Transformation Blog

Grade Transformation Blog

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Posts filed under Goal setting

How to make things EASY (not an effort)

Following on from last week’s video,
I’m sharing the key to your teen actually
following through on the goals and plans they set for themselves.

 

If you didn’t catch Part 1 last week,
you can click here to access that first.

I was discussing the hurdles we all come across
when setting goals and tasks and that in the moment of ‘doing’
it’s very easy to tell ourselves that some of the smaller steps
aren’t going to make a difference
and it’s easy to talk ourselves out of doing them altogether!

Now, in the summer
there’s plenty of time so we can juggle things around
and absolutely stick to the things we’ve told ourselves we’re going to do.

And I wanna talk more about the practical nature
of setting students up for success over the summer.

It’s all about making it as easy as possible
to follow through and complete the tasks that have been set.

I remember reading about somebody who was really struggling to exercise
but really wanted to do it.
So she decided to go to bed in her gym/running gear
and put her running shoes right next to her bed!
So that in the morning it was actually more effort to get up and take all her gear off
and push aside her running shoes
than it was to just get on and get out there to go and do the session!

As amusing as this is,
it’s a good example of setting yourself up for success
and making it easy to follow through so there’s no excuses for not doing the task.

I gave the example of a student I’ve been working with
who’s been set the challenge of completing three maths questions per week over the summer.
This is so she can keep the momentum going with the success and results
she’s already seen
and really have something she can thank herself for in the future
in the lead up to her next exams.

So the steps that need to be taken for this could look like:

– Pen/pencil and all other equipment needs to be close to hand and organised.
So no time is wasted searching through cupboards and drawers.
This is to avoid any excuses that get put on that mental list of thinking something is too hard.

– Know exactly what questions are going to be attempted.
You don’t want to be flicking through text books aimlessly wondering what to do.
This can be flexible depending on feelings and motivation on any particular day.
Again, we want to minimise the opportunity to make excuses for not getting something done
and should instead be attempting to best set ourselves up for success.

Whatever your teen has set themselves
(and this is not just limited to their study),
take the actions at the time of setting the challenege
to put every little thing in place that can make completing that task as easy as possible.

 

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Let your teen’s future-self tell ‘em what to do

Does your teen have tasks to complete over the summer?
Or do they have no actual homework set
but are wondering what they should do?

Here’s my thoughts on a topic I get asked about (every year like clockwork)
before schools break up for the summer…



I know some students get set tasks,
especially if they’re in Y11 and going into Y12.

But for many students there’s nothing specific laid out over the summer.

For some, it’s a much-needed time to reset
and do nothing (which is absolutely necessary).

For others, they see it’s also an opportunity to get ahead
and set up for success in the new year
(and I absolutely agree with this also!).

It really depends what sort of student your teen is
and what sorts of aspirations and goals they have.

For many students I work with, it’s entirely appropriate
for them to complete some directed tasks
to get ahead of the pack, store up some confidence and ensure they don’t
lose some of the progress they’ve already made.
So they move into their new year group in a smooth and streamlined way
that has them hitting the ground running in Term 1.

So, for some students it’s going to be going through some of my online trainings over the summer.
And for others it could be more specific tasks,
personal to them and their subjects.

All of this is to help avoid the dreaded ‘summer slide’
where memories of content and info fade,
and study skills generally get a bit rusty.

 

If you’ve followed me for a while
and you’re familiar with what I do
you’ll know I’m a big advocate of “every little helps”.

This is especially true when it comes to students getting higher grades,
becoming more confident and less stressed.

Now, at some point during the summer,
for the students that have been set tasks (by me, themselves, or their teachers!)
they’re gonna have thoughts like:

“It doesn’t really matter if I don’t do them this week”

Or

“Is this really going to help?”

 

Students need to know that these thoughts are going to pop up
(sometimes with warrior-level strength!)
and therefore, if they aren’t gonna succumb, then they need to be prepared for when they do!

One way to do this is for them to put themselves in the shoes of their ‘future-selves’.
It’s a bit like when you’re stressed out and wishing you had done more work earlier.
What will their future-self be thinking about this moment in 3, 6 or 12 months’ time?
If they asked their ‘future-self’, what would they tell them to do?

Another way of framing this is to consider actions now as gifts to your ‘future-self’.
What is your ‘future-self’ going to be sooooo grateful for you doing in this moment?

The thing you maybe don’t want to do,
but know will reap you rewards in the future.

Like putting the duvet cover back on the bedding as soon as it came off the line, and *isn’t* waiting in a heap as you go to get into bed that night.
Putting on the doona cover is one of my least-favourite household chores. But it’s MOST hated when it’s 10pm and I’m exhausted and forgot I’d left it ‘to do later’…. ?

Students HAVE to be mentally prepared
for when the little devil on the shoulder chirps up with negative/lazy/doubting thoughts. (Which it will!)

Otherwise, Netflix (or back in my day, re-ordering my CD collection) 😉
and that whispering devil will win… with ‘what-if’s rather than ‘wahoo’s!!!’ waiting for them in the future.

 

 

 

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What’s this leading to?

When it comes to open tasks and having to come up with your own choices, it’s not enough to go with what you like the most. To gain maximum marks and best ever results you really need to get your head around this:

How can students go about tackling open tasks?

I want to talk about not just choosing a topic or idea that students like the most, enjoy or interests them.
Yes that’s important,
but what’s critical in achieving top grades is to find something that ties in with the criteria or marking guide really, really well!

I’ve worked with a couple of students this week where they have both had English assignments relating to specific texts they are studying and are having to come up with their own ideas and concepts.
Very quickly I asked them:
“What’s this leading to?”

What I specifically want to highlight is that most students will go down the path of choosing ideas they like the most or that interest them.
I want to steer students down the path that will access the most marks
and yield the greatest results.

So, let’s pick ideas and topics that are going to work really well for the assessment or task that follows. Let’s be strategic.

I want students to think beyond just making a choice at the surface level
and dive deeper into making choices that are truly going to benefit them in the marking guide or criteria…
That’s where the REAL gold is!

My perspective has been honed from many years within education
including both assessment marking and formal exam marking.
Previously I have only worked one-on-one with students that have completed my flagship online program (the 10 Week Grade Transformation program).

However, I’m going to be making an exciting announcement in the next few weeks.
Keep an eye on your in-box very soon as I’m going to be offering the opportunity for more students to work with me personally on a regular basis. This offer will be limited so you’ll have to act quick.

 

 

 

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Stop! You’re going the wrong way!

Just because you’ve been doing something a certain way for so long, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should just keep going.

Recently I was working with a group of school students and had a couple who were adamant they wanted to continue making their notes in the same way they always had.

Despite the fact that I’d just been through the proven reasons why that strategy – which was basically typing them out almost word for word – was not effective both in terms of recording and remembering that info.

Just so you know – having a set of typed notes to refer to is not as useful as having a set of hand-written, colour coded summaries, condensed and ideally transformed or processed in some way. Our brains don’t take in the info in the same way and the act of actually handwriting those notes and condensing them also enhances our understanding and retention.

 

 

I see this all the time in students’ revision too.

They have always revised by reading back over and highlighting notes.

They have always written out palm cards crammed full of info for topics.

And sometimes the reason is perfectly reasonable too.

They’ve always gotten decent grades that way.

But that doesn’t mean that’s as good as it can be – as good as it’s gonna get – that you have to continue to take that slow and inefficient route to exam success. (Because – blunt but true – all those strategies I’ve just mentioned are slow and inefficient. Even if typing is faster than writing, the learning is less effective)

I remember hearing someone talking about an analogy that totally works for this situation – consider this:
If you were travelling to a destination, and you’d already walked for 2 hours to get there, but then you realised that you were going the wrong way,
would you keep on walking?

It would be frustrating for sure, you’d maybe even be a bit angry.
It would certainly be understandable for you to want to question that info, the map, the GPS,  or whatever it was that told you, you’re going the wrong way.

But would you be like …
aw, you know what I’ve come this far,
I’m just gonna keep going and somehow hope that it’s going to get me where I want to go.

Hopefully, you’d have someone come up to you (someone like me maybe!) and go –
‘Wait! Stop! You’re going the wrong way. Turn around. Here’s the right way.
Certainly don’t go any further in the wrong direction!

Yes, you’d be sceptical,
yes, you’d be annoyed,
but should you carry on going the wrong way?

Of course not!

Hopefully that route has taken you at least slightly in the right direction at least, and often that’s the case.
Students have been able to find some success in what they’re doing. But I want to be the GPS that sends out flashing notifications to as many students as possible and shows them the right way to go about their study. To make it as efficient and effective as possible.

So, has your teen been given advice anywhere along the way that they haven’t yet taken on board?
Is there a different path they need to get onto in terms of their research strategies for assignments,
their note-taking systems, and – the big one…
their revision techniques?

I’m a big believer in the fact that it’s never too late to get onto the more direct and faster, easier route to awesome grades.

So if you feel your teens not on the right path right now, then be sure to check out my free parent guide – the 3 huge mistakes even smart students make in exams and assignments  – www.gradetransformation.com– and I’ll show you precisely where they’ve likely been going wrong and how they can easily get back on track.

You’ll also then get all my weekly videos like this one delivered straight to your inbox – (don’t know about you, but I love making life as easy as possible).

 

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DON’T Just Start Somewhere

“Where do I start?”  Or “I don’t know where to start.”

Ever heard anything like that from your teen?

And have you or one of their teachers ever, in a totally well-meaning way, ever replied with
“Just start somewhere.”

Or, maybe been tempted to say
“Try anything just to get started.”
“Start with the bit you do know.”

Unfortunately, that’s not good advice.

It’s coming from a place of encouragement and action, but it can just lead to many hours of wasted time and energy. And plenty of frustration and disheartenment to boot.

So what to do instead?

 

 

Plan.

Make a clear plan of what needs to be done and what’s going into each element.

So for an essay, just having a plan that says intro, body paragraph 1, body paragraph 2, and 3 and conclusion isn’t good enough. It’s a fraction better than having zero structure, but it’s definitely not enough.

Now, I’m not going to go into all the details of what should exactly go into a plan, and HOW to do it.
I do that in my Write Like an A-Grader Training.

Instead I want to focus simply on why that plan is so essential
and why it’s such an amazing indicator of whether a student is going to complete a task smoothly and successfully,
or whether they’re heading into the dreaded waffle zone,
(or not even that far – staying stuck and frustrated with a blank screen or blank page in front of them).

Because if your teen isn’t able to make a clear and detailed plan,
then they aren’t going to be able to write a clear and cohesive, high quality response.

In other words, if they don’t know what to put in their plan,
then it’s no wonder they are feeling stuck and finding it hard to get started or make progress.

They’re likely confused or simply feeling kinda empty about what they need to do and how to do it.

 

To make a plan, they need two things:

  • They need to learn how to identify what a task or question or essay title is REALLY asking and what they need to do to respond appropriately.

And

  • They need to be clear on the subject content and how it links to the demands of the task.

 

Only THEN will they be able to devise a thesis statement or have a clear focus.

And only with THAT will they be able to pick out the evidence and examples that need to go in their body paragraphs.

 

These are the things that need to go into their plan.

The direction or focus or thesis
and then
the content to support that.

If they aren’t able to create a clear plan, then they have little hope of creating even a satisfactory response.

 

So many students want to bypass the planning stage because they feel it’s time-consuming and they want to just dive straight in.

The total.opposite. is true.

The planning stage is not only an essential part of crafting a high quality response,
but it’s a very clear indicator of whether your teen’s clear on the task, the demands of the command word (or words!) and the focus of every paragraph.

 

So if your teen’s feeling stuck, confused or finds themselves in the waffle zone part way through an extended response, assignment or essay task,
then they need to go back to the planning stage.

 

Figure that out first, use the gaps in it to guide them on getting the help and clarity they need
and the rest will become a LOT quicker, smoother and more successful.

If you know anyone else who’d benefit from this tip, then feel free to forward it or share it online,
and until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week!

Katie

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Whoops! Forgotten any of the basics?

Lesson from Bonnie and her leash-training!

It’s a two steps forward, one step back affair at the moment (literally!).

And we realised (after a ‘help!’ email to our dog trainer!) that we’re just trying to do too much ‘fun stuff’ without having the basics TOTALLY nailed.

Makes sense.
(We’ll put the Australia’s Got Talent application away for now then) 😉

And it might be the same for your teen.

Check out the ‘basics’ they might be leaving behind in pursuit of the higher grades (and of course, how they can get any missing parts of their foundations filled in)!

 

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Simple trick to fit ANY writing to ANY type of task

When it comes to writing, students need to show they can craft their writing to the purpose of the assignment or to the audience they’re writing for.

So it’s essential that your teen’s skilled at adapting their style and vocabulary depending on the type of task.

That’s why I’m gonna share with you a quick and simple trick they can use to do this easily and instantly.
(Yep, really!)

I love this snappy little technique, because it’s super simple, really quick (no genius brain cells required) but also hugely effective.

 

 

I can tell you, from marking hundreds, actually it’s probably thousands, of creative and formal writing exams, that this ‘style’ or ‘appropriate to genre’ element is a critical part of the marking criteria for almost any task.

Now, there are LOTS of different types of formats, genres and forms of written tasks.
Some of the most obvious or common are narratives or short stories, persuasive speeches, inquiries, analytical essays, scientific reports, feature articles… and that’s just a few.

There are heaps more.

So I want to share with you one of the ways to make a clear distinction between these, and then a simple but effective way your teen can adapt their writing to fit it.

Right, STEP ONE:

Your teen needs to determine whether their task requires them to write formally or informally.

Examples of a formal assignment include:
– an analytical essay,
– a research report,
– a scientific investigation,
– a historical enquiry.

Examples requiring a less formal writing style include:
– a monologue,
– a narrative (AKA a short story),
– a blog article
or even
– a movie or book review,
or
– magazine column.

 

Of course these examples are not exhaustive and this is really a continuous scale.
After all, when it comes to a speech, an official speech from the Prime Minister would be quite different in style and formality compared to a speech at a wedding!

So that first step is to consider where the task lies on the scale from formal to casual.

 

Then, once they‘ve determined what level of formality their writing needs to take – they can think about…

STEP TWO:
Identifying the tools and techniques that are most appropriate and getting to work on incorporating them into their writing.

Wow, there are LOTS of different tools.

So I want to give you just one.
Why?

Because it’s one of the simplest and easiest, but super-effective tricks to make their writing instantly stand out as either formal or informal.

 

It’s using CONTRACTIONS – or – NOT using them.

 

Let’s take a quick flash back to English grammar lessons…
*cue floaty flashback music*

Contractions are where we join two words to make one with an apostrophe.
Like:

  • it is – becomes – it’s
  • where has my pen gone – becomes – where’s my pen gone?

And from that last example you can probably already see the effect this little change has.

Contractions make things more casual.
They’re great for using in direct speech for characters in a story.

— Oooh – there’s another one – see how I contracted they are to they’re 😉

Anyway…

Students should use contractions when they want to produce a less formal style of writing.
Perhaps for a script or a blog, or even a feature article.

 

And the opposite is true for formal writing.

Keeping all words complete and separate keeps writing sound a lot more serious and official.
Like this: They are good for science reports, essays and other formal style tasks.
See how that already sounds more official than ‘They’re good’?

Have your teen give it a go.

You’ll be surprised at the difference it makes and how it can boost their achievement in writing appropriately to the task, genre or specified audience.

Then, once you’ve seen what a difference such a tiny tweak can make,
go check out my Write Like an A-Grader online training – 9 short and powerful modules for creating writing that WOW’s the marker!

It’s packed with strategies, tips and techniques like this and much more sophisticated ones too, from coming up with A-Grade ideas and structuring them, to the final edit and proofread.

And if you know anyone else who’d benefit from this tip, then please feel free to forward them a link to this video or blog article and feel free to share it on your social media.

And until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week!

Yours,
Katie 🙂

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My personal story and HOW it can help YOU

Flashback time…

I wanna share a moment in my life when I was a student.

There really was nothing stand-out, unusual or particularly special about it at all (which actually shows why it’s an issue for so many teens still today).

But now, looking back, I think it’s very telling why I remember it so clearly (and is the reason I’m sharing it!).

Here, I explain where I was going oh-so wrong!

 

 

Now, I shared this story just once or twice in the early days of Rock Solid Study.

But it’s occurred to me that most of the parents and students in our community NOW have probably never heard it.

There I was, 17 years old, sat in the study area of the library at Sixth Form College (that’s the equivalent stage in England of Year 11 and 12 here in Aus).

I was being the model, diligent student.

I’d heard more than once how good students needed to do ‘extra reading around the subject’ to get great results.

So I did just that.

Sat writing notes from a National Geographic article to add to my Geography work.

I can’t remember exactly what the article was about – something to do with rainforests I think. I can’t even remember exactly what the topic or unit was we were studying in Geography at the time. I think it might’ve been something to do with ecosystems? Or maybe it was sustainable resources, or even sustainable tourism.

But whatever it was, there I was sat writing out notes about some ‘case study example’ that had SOMEthing to do with the topic I was currently studying.

Now, that shows self-motivation, right?

No-one had made me do it.
No-one had set it for homework.
I was going over and above.
It shows independence and pro-active, positive steps to improving my results.

Right?
Right?!!….

Well, no.

I’m afraid not.

Well, yes to the self-motivation, to being pro-active, to doing what I thought I had to, what I’d been TOLD I had to, to get my best possible grades.

But taking positive steps to improving my results?

Nope.

Just… no!

And here is the interesting part – or at least it’s interesting to me now.

I genuinely remember feeling even at the time, sat there, blue pen in one hand,  red pen at the ready for key words, feeling like I didn’t really know how this was going to help me.

I figured that maybe I’d be able to mention it in an answer to an exam question.

I just blindly followed the very general advice.

I kinda questioned it in the sense that I wasn’t sure HOW it would help.

But I buried that uncertainty and just did it anyway!

The truth is, that advice of wider reading is one of the very LAST things students should or could do to improve their grades.

They don’t really need extra case studies. They’ll cover the ones they need within the syllabus and term planners – or at least they should be.

And they don’t need extra information beyond what’s in the syllabus dot points because it won’t and can’t be examined anyway. That’s a very strict rule of exam boards in how exams are written.

Plus, I could list a hundred other activities that would have a greater and more direct impact on building skills, knowledge and success academically.

I know them from over a decade in teaching, tutoring, exam marking and extrernal exam board training.

Which is why I’ve made it my mission to train students in the very best and most effective actions and skills in my programs, workshops and personal coaching, especially in my 10 Week Grade Transformation program.

So, my message is this:

If your teen’s doing something to extend themselves, but has no idea how it links to building their skills or performance against the syllabus criteria and exam technique elements,
then either they need to find out HOW it’s really going to help,
or,
if there IS no clear link, then they need to stop doing it and find something a LOT more effective to put their time, energy and effort into.

So they aren’t working hard for little outcome or reward.

So they aren’t wasting time and effort.

But instead:

They study and build their knowledge and skills in a way that gets results.

Or,

even use the time to relax or enjoy some time with friends and family instead.

Just don’t let them work hard without knowing exactly how that work is going to help boost their results.

So if you’d like them to have the exact steps and guidance to do things that’ll actually pay off – that’ll give them the biggest bang for their buck – then go and checkout the 10 Week Grade Transformation Program so they can be led step by step through the most effective ways to make their foundations really solid, and do the things that will really catapult their grades and confidence.

I’d love to hear your take on this.

Are there any examples of work or practise that really has or totally hasn’t paid off for you in the past, or right now for your teen? Drop a comment below this video or send me an email, – katie.price@rocksolidstudy.com.au–  and until next week, let’s make this a fantastic and USEFUL week!

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Is THIS stopping your teen becoming GREAT?

Being good at something and being comfortable with it is certainly no bad thing.

However, being ‘good’ or being comfortable, can stop us from pushing ourselves and therefore prevents us from becoming GREAT. It means we won’t work harder or do more and we don’t therefore discover how brilliant we could be… How awesome things COULD be.

 

 

Being good at something can actually be the thing that stops us becoming great at something.
What on earth am I talking about? I’ll explain all in this video.

I’m Katie Price – Grade Transformation Expert, and as a student I was in the ‘good’ category pretty much across the board.

I got mostly As and Bs, in my subjects – not without a lot of work though. I was decent at sport – always made it into the B teams for the sports I played (and sometimes got a shot in the A teams – I was the one who’d get bumped up if an A team player was away) and socially, I would be the odd Vice-captain of something on the odd occasion. So generally good, never terrible, but never GREAT.  Mostly ,I blended in and was totally okay with ALL of that.

If this is anything like your teen, OR if they’re kinda cruising or staying happily in their comfort zone right now, then this message is definitely for you.

Being good at something and being comfortable with it is certainly no bad thing.

However, what I’ve noticed – ONLY once I’ve gotten older and experienced moments of growth as well as moments of struggle and major challenges – is that being ‘good’ or being comfortable –  can stop us from pushing ourselves and therefore prevents us from becoming GREAT.

It means we won’t work harder or do more and we don’t therefore discover how brilliant we could be. How awesome things COULD be.

Now – this isn’t any major revelation… it’s really a THING and so many coaches, authors and well, pretty much everyone who studies or teaches human behaviour and psychology in any way have laid this out clearly for years. But it’s something I’ve been hearing about more and more from parents, and like I said earlier, it’s something I can definitely relate to in my own life and decisions and in others around me.

Cruising means we’re not pushing ourselves. And I certainly wouldn’t say I was cruising as a student, but I did realise just how much more I could push myself when I once got a D in an exam…Argh!

It was my first major exam of A-Level Maths – the equivalent of Maths Methods or Advanced Mathematics depending on your state over here. And it was certainly a big jump from the GCSE level Maths I’d gotten an A in previously.

And that D freaked me out!

I started going to all the extra lunch time tutorials, did extra practise Qs for homework and basically levelled up my study. Because I was a little concerned that that could happen in my other subjects too. I pushed myself harder than I ever had before because I was suddenly uncomfortable.

And you may well have seen this happen in aspects of your own or your teen’s life. It takes something that makes us UNcomfortable to make us change or take action.

I bet you’ve had that situation in the car, where we experience a hairy moment or a near-miss when we’re driving, and suddenly we’re paying super-close attention to EVERY car, pedestrian and road sign for the rest of the journey. That dodgy moment made us uncomfortable and made us focus and concentrate harder straight afterwards.

My mum used to be a smoker and had tried giving up heaps of times, until her best friend – also a smoker – was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. One week later, my mum had given up smoking and hasn’t smoked a cigarette since.

If a situation isn’t GOOD – it FORCES us to take action, to work harder or to seek help or do something about it. To become great at whatever will help us overcome or avoid that situation.

Which is why many parents come to me or enrol their teen in my 10Wk Program, when they’re struggling in some way or with some aspect of their study and need to take action to get good or become great at the things that are holding them back.

AND it’s why I get especially excited for those students and parents who get on board when they’re NOT uncomfortable and they’re already doing pretty well – BUT they’re either keen to see how much better they could be. They know that they COULD be GREAT rather than GOOD if they just had some of the skills, techniques and know-how that I teach.

So if your teen’s currently a little uncomfortable or facing challenges in any aspect of their study – assignments, essay-writing, exams, note-taking, researching or just being organised, motivated and efficient….

OR if they’re doing ok but kinda cruising,

OR perhaps they’re going good but you wanna see if they can turn good into great – then drop me an email or check out my 10 Week Grade Transformation Program which is open for enrolment right now.

And until next week, let’s make this a GREAT 😉  week!

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The truth about these ‘fun and modern’ assignments

Do you remember the days when an essay was an essay, and a presentation was a presentation?
We knew where we stood with those (even if we didn’t necessarily like them).

But now it’s all ‘create a video movie review’,
or ‘record a podcast episode about a historic figure’,
or ‘write a blog about a character in such-and-such a novel’
or… (and this is probably the most common right now)…

‘perform a TED talk about a current issue in society’

Well, I’m here to tell you that really – not a lot has changed.
Stick with me and I’ll explain why really, it’s still just essay-writing in disguise.

 

Tell me if your teen has been set anything like this lately…

– Create a VLOG movie review, or record a podcast episode about a historic figure,

or write a blog about a character in such-and-such a novel OR…

this is probably the most common right now… perform a TED talk about a current issue in society.

Do you remember the days when an essay was an essay, and a presentation was a presentation? Back when there wasn’t even powerpoint to take the pressure off YOU  and onto the slides alongside us?

Well, I’m here to tell you that really – not a lot has changed. Stick with me and I’ll explain all…

Because oh-boy – it’s something I’m seeing crop up more and more for students and the tasks they’re being set.

I want to share with EVERYONE out there the key point that so many are missing when it comes to
these new, fun, and funky style assignments I see cropping up a TON these days.

Or at least they’re TRYING to SOUND fun and funky…

Like, perform a TED Talk, create a VLOG, or record a podcast episode.

These new-fangled assignments are supposed to:

(a) be more up-to-date and relevant to life today and

(b) be more FUN.

So that students see the point of them and enjoy doing them more.

And there is nothing wrong with that – except that actually these are all just pretty much the same thing, wrapped up in different coloured bows.

And those fancy bows are causing quite a few students a bit of confusion.

They don’t know HOW to write a blog. They’ve no idea where to start with planning a podcast.

And so I have some good news and bad news. And a very clear message to take away – so stick with me to the end here.

Okay – the good news is this:

There are no fancy or brand new structures, templates or scaffolds needed here. No new-fangled techniques, features or skills required that your teen doesn’t already know about or haven’t been shown before (or at least HOPEfully knows about if they’ve ever written a PEEL or TEEL paragraph, or a standard 5 paragraph essay).

Because the marking criteria for a TED talk will still demand an introduction, body and conclusion – but maybe just with a fancy hook thrown in as the very first sentence of the intro.

The teacher is still going to be looking for a VLOG or a podcast or a blog article to have a clear intro to the topic, discussion – in other words – a body – and a summary or – yep, you guessed it – a conclusion.

So here’s the bad news:

These cool and funky tasks really aren’t all that new and exciting when it comes down to it.

Because – shock-horror – It’s basically still an essay, with a bit of a tweak of language or an extra little bit of word-based glitter thrown on top, like a fun and engaging opening or ending.

And I’m not here to pooh-pooh the idea of making things more relevant to today or trying to make them a little more fun.

But I DO want to reveal these tasks for what they really ARE so that students aren’t left feeling confused about what they have to do or how to tackle them.

I want students to realise that really, they just have to write an essay and then perform it.

They still need an intro with a thesis statement or hypothesis or key argument, 3 body paragraphs that support and discuss their key point or theme or message, and a conclusion that reinforces it.

So, the message I want you take away from this, is no matter what the task is called, it’s very likely that it’s still an essay format behind the scenes. So don’t let any fun disguises lead to confusion or overwhelm. Just write an essay.

Intro – body – conclusion.

And tweak that essay a little to fit with the genre and final format.

 

 

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Posted in Assignments, Homework, Techniques & Strategies
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