There is a difference between staying in your comfort zone during lessons and assignments, compared to doing this in exams…
Students can be a bit ‘out there’ in their class oral or persuasive speech.
And students should definitely try out some higher level vocabulary or more complex sentence structures in their homework.
Now of course, to raise their results, they DO need to do something different to what they’ve always done…
As a successful student, your teen needs to be the interior designer, rather than the magpie.
The interior designer is able to work out what fits, what works, what’s necessary and what’s just clutter, and what makes something truly impressive.
Your teen needs to be able to create a clear plan, structure and design for their work before they start.
I’ve been guilty in the past.
And if your teenager is a bit of a perfectionist, or a bit of a worrier, then they are probably guilty of this too.
It’s committing the sin of editing WHILE writing or typing.
This is not the most efficient or effective way to do things, for two main reasons…
Verrrryy often I see essays, assignments and analyses that are too vague.
The student might use sophisticated language, they might have a good point in there somewhere, they might include plenty of technical vocabulary, but the overall message lacks clarity – it’s just too wishy-washy.
Here are the things that start the ‘vagueness alarms’ going off for any teacher or examiner so your teen can avoid them!
It struck me recently that a significant proportion of students are just not clear on what study really involves or what elements actually comprise their study.
In this video I share a few key questions that will help your teen REALLY figure out what’s holding them back and how they can get on that fast track to amazing grades and confidence!
I’m a big fan of giving students templates for top quality answers that can be applied to any subject and an infinite number of topics.
Structural templates give students a kind of skeleton to hang their knowledge on.
One of these templates is PQE and I share it here as an example of how good templates can work.
The biggest jumps in marks and grades are often not in the writing stage.
They are in the edit and proof-reading stage.
This is also one of the easiest ways to get more marks or jump a grade boundary without needing to research more info, or add more content.
It’s also a great way for parents to help out their teen, without doing work for them.
Your teen sits down to write their short story/essay/speech/ insert whatever task you like here 🙂
And 15 minutes later they’ve not done anything.
There might even be mumblings of:
“I just don’t know how to start”
or “ I’m no GOOD at writing essays/stories/speeches – #insert your version here!”
You spend a few minutes trying to give them some encouragement or ideas but then afterwards,
They spend another 10 minutes staring at the screen, wondering
what to write, wondering where to start.
I’ve seen it so many times in the classroom and with tutoring students.
So I want to let you in on a little secret that has worked wonders for my students…
I’m here – in full festive spirit – and thought I’d use CHRISTMAS to produce a little summary and some of the key strategies I’ve been sharing this year.
Okay, this is definitely unofficial…
I’m not here to be controversial but I AM here to give students the best chance of getting THEIR best possible grades.
So first of all, let me explain what QWC actually stands for.
And secondly, I’ll reveal the very unofficial reason why it’s so important.
