Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.
I’ve been hearing this theme in various guises a lot from students recently and I absolutely understand…
In my experience, this is the same for a lot of students.
Once they have the template, or a model answer, or a structure to ‘hang’ their own knowledge on, suddenly all that fog and fuzziness clears and they can move forward with writing their assignment, essay or extended exam response…
The reason I can so quickly see where students is going wrong, is partly from
over 8 years as a state and national examiner and coursework moderator,
partly from
over 11 years as an award-winning high school teacher,
and a LOT from the fact that I made almost all the SAME mistakes when I was a student.
I didn’t know any better.
And neither (unfortunately) do most students today.
So, I thought I’d share 4 of the mistakes I know I made back then, and now often spend time with parents and students highlighting and working on.
Evaluation – is one of THE highest levels of cognitive ability when it comes to the level of questioning or the level of response in exams and assignments.
However sometimes, this level of response, the ability to EVALUATE, is a little more subtle or trickier to identify.
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!
Have you ever seen the demo of filling up a jar as if it’s your life – and starting with the small things, and there’s no room left for the big important things?
I was reminded of this analogy recently and I got to thinking – What are the big rocks for happy, smart and successful students?
One of my favourite motivational quotes is: the best way to predict your future is to create it.
For students, this can be tricky.
Students have all sorts of decisions to make at a relatively young age when we consider the long term impact.
The truth is,
Any choice in life takes a certain amount of courage.
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!
