Can you believe we’re heading into 2020?!
It used to sound so futuristic and sci-fi! But hey, we’re about to get into it.
Each year now I have made it a bit of a habit to come up with one word
that will be my focus for the year ahead
and I’d love for you to share yours if you have one.
Mine came straight to me this time – That one word is…
I’m looking to get more results for more people in 2020.
That means I’m going to be offering more individual one-on-one private consults for parents and students.
I’m also revamping the whole 10 Week Grade Transformation Program.
We’re filming right now!
I’ve given myself so much to do over this holiday period
and I’m loving it because there’s just so much cool stuff happening.
Since we’re talking about cool stuff –
I’m also going to be working with more schools next year and it’s going to be amazing.
This means I’m going to be able to help so many more people get bigger and better results.
I’m also going to be sharing the best-of-the-best of my blog videos each week.
I’m going back through and figuring out the most useful, most popular topics
that helped so many parents and students this past year.
I’d love to hear your focus for the year ahead.
If you’d also like your friends or family to hear about all my tips, tricks and advice then direct them here: www.gradetransformation.com (for my free Parent Guide) and they can subscribe to my email list.
I’m really looking forward to the new year ahead
and can’t wait to share all the ways I’m going to help your teen get bigger and better results.
Let’s make this a fantastic year!
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.
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.
Having to think about every little thing…
the clutch, the accelerator, the steering, the gear changes,
the mirrors, the road signs!
It’s amazing how, once we’ve practised,
and practised (and practised!) something,
with guidance and teaching and advice along the way,
that thing that once felt
– and genuinely WAS so complicated,
and took so much thought and concentration…
becomes almost effortless.
It’s pretty amazing when you really think about it.
Find out how this happens for students when they master exam technique
and the skills of strategic and effective study.
I just finished a quick journey
where I was following a learner driver for much of the time.
They were struggling a little bit at a junction
and as I’m pretty sympathetic with learner drivers,
I was sat behind them thinking about all the things they were trying to do in that moment.
The accelerator, the clutch, the steering,
looking both ways down the road as well as in the mirrors
and everything else!
And I had a bit of a double-whammy-thought-moment.
First, I started thinking about how there’s a parallel
with all of the strategic study and exam technique
that I train students in.
At first and for people outside of that training
when they hear me talking about it all,
it can sound pretty overwhelming and complicated.
It can feel like there’s a lot going on
(and just like if we had to break down and describe everything we have to do and have to think about when driving… there is a lot to know and do and think about!).
You might wonder…
‘How’s that all going to fit together?’
‘How does my teen put into action all those skills when they’re sat, under pressure, in the exam hall?’
For example,
let’s just consider the 6 elements of exam technique.
And what about just ONE of those elements.
Command Words.
Well, there’s quite a bit involved just with that
(like there is with just pulling out of a junction,
never mind all the other scenarios and skills with driving).
There’s:
IDENTIFYING the command word
Then
Figuring out the LEVEL OF COGNITION
And
The TRIGGER WORDS they need to use in their response
to alert the marker they really are answering exactly what the Q is asking.
Yep, no messing…
there IS indeed a lot to it.
BUT:
Students who’ve had my training,
feedback and worked with me on practising and honing these skills
totally end up doing ALL of this naturally, automatically and effortlessly.
They don’t have to be actively thinking about each and every element.
Just as, when we’ve been driving for years,
we don’t have to think about exactly what to do with our feet
and our hands every few seconds.
And here’s the double-whammy moment I had.
As I sat there thinking:
‘Oooh, I should make a video about this’.
I realised I get quite a lot of my ideas when I’m driving.
And then I thought:
‘Well, isn’t that interesting!’
That while I’m doing the thing that I used to have to think about,
with every little action and nitty-gritty detail,
I now not only don’t have to do that…
but in fact my brain is so free,
having mastered the skill to such an extent,
that it can actually think creatively and at an even higher level.
Now think about what that means for students!
When they have their exam technique and study skills nailed,
everything’s a lot smoother and more efficient,
then they can up-level themselves even more.
Because when their brain is free from having to think about those skills, they can come up with even more creative language,
come up with better ideas,
be more able to draw on and convey higher level knowledge
they’ve worked so hard to learn in their subjects.
It creates the space and brain power to produce even better quality work and responses.
Has your teen ever had these sorts of thoughts?
I know plenty of students who just think:
“I’m just a B/C kind of student”
or
“I’m just not that great at exams!” or
“ I do well in my coursework and assignmments. (Mum thinks I spend too long on them, but I wanna get a good grade, and so yeah, they do take ages!)”
Truth is, with the right sort of training any student could be achieving so much more than they ever thought possible.
Here’s the proof…
I know for sure that things can change, despite previous experiences.
I’ve got soooooo many examples of success stories with students that have made changes that have results beyond what they thought possible..
Take, for example, Jess.
She was a B/C grade student and she just couldn’t get higher grades.
Her belief was:
– “That’s just the student I am”.
But her mum always knew she could be doing so much better with the right help.
Once Jess started working with me she continued to work hard and is now consistently getting A grades.
Now we’re working on achieving those higher grades but in a more efficient way (goodbye long and perfectly scribed notes!!)
And Josh:
He was scraping by with C grades in Year 9.
So his parents got in touch and we worked together on his assignments and essay-writing.
After working with me and putting in lots of effort and hard work,
Josh achieved an A- in his year 12 ancient History enquiry assessment (wowsers!)
and got a straight A in his most recent year 12 English (what *is* this kinda magic we’re working here?!) 😉
Another student, Tara.
Now Tara was already getting good grades but it was taking forever for her to complete tasks (many, many drafts… and ‘I’ll just do a bit more research first’).
Working with me got her much more strategic with her planning, more focused with her direction and research, and a lot more efficient with her drafting.
Not only is everything a lot faster and smoother (no more ‘false starts’ and ‘starting over again’ on projects or assignments),
she’s getting even better results than she was previously (and Tara was already working at a pretty high standard).
So, let’s be clear that these limiting beliefs are just thoughts based on past experiences.
And they can be overcome.
I’m going to be revealing many more info on this, plus some key strategies AND an opportunity for your teen to work with me directly, in my latest webinar training this Tuesday 26th Nov.
If you haven’t already registered, you can click here to save your seat.
So what’s the deal with leaving exam answers blank?
Can you ever have marks taken off? What should you do instead of leaving an answer blank?
One of my students asked a question and I wondered if anyone else wondered or thought the same thing so I want to set the record straight.
She asked: “Katie, some of my friends have been saying that if we leave an answer blank in a formal, external ATAR exam…we can have marks taken off and we should just write something. Even if it’s just rewriting the question into the answer space.”
Let me be very clear…
NO. That does not happen!
I have never come across an exam style of marking where marks have been taken off for a blank answer…ever!
So what should a student do if they’re not sure on an answer or if they’re running out of time and don’t want to leave something blank?
Firstly, if it’s a multiple choice question and you really have no idea on the answer, simply have a wild guess.
It’ll likely be a 1 in 4 chance of getting it right and could even be the easiest marks you ever get!
Please don’t ever leave multiple choice questions blank. It literally takes seconds and you’ve nothing to lose. Writing something is always better than writing nothing.
If you’re running out of time but don’t know how to tackle something then write some bullet point facts or information that you know you would want to expand on if you had more time.
Very often, some of the basics can get some of those low level marks (the low hanging fruit).
Here’s a simple trick to make goals relevant and actionable for your teen
so they jump up their own personal achievement and confidence scale Every. Single. Day.
I’m going to share a spur-of-the-moment bit of gold with you this week.
I spent a day in a meeting with a Sydney school and one of the things we talked about was to do with students setting goals and being able to make them relatable to school or to whatever they’re doing that day.
The school usually goes through the start of year, start of term goals exercise but what really happens with those goals after that?
They said so many students struggle to see how they are relatable on a day-to-day basis in their schooling.
Something that I shared with the school and that they’re going to be implementing and putting into practice as part of their study skills program is the idea of ‘chunking-down’.
One way it can be done with goals is to track- it -back and think about what steps need to be taken throughout the year to make that goal happen.
Or some things that we need to do this term in order to achieve that goal. Perhaps what we need to do this week, today or even right now.
Your teen can do this in any aspect of their study for whatever it is they’re looking to achieve.
I hope that is really useful, another quick tip for you: If you don’t already have my free parent guide (3 Huge mistakes even smart students make in exams and assignments) you can check it out at www.gradetransformation.com. If you know anyone else that would benefit from this video, please feel free to share it with them. Until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week.
Clarity, succinctness and structure are important.
Especially for extended answers.
(Those answers worth 8 marks or more, or those with ‘graded’ marking that have multiple criteria per grade boundary.)
That’s exactly what I’m discussing in detail, with examples, in this (final!) 2019 EMVD entry.
Every year I’ve been selected to be one of the Referee Markers
(phew! That basically means you’re good)
and it’s like the grand finale *think fireworks bursting all over the sky!* when it comes to me learning what’s letting students down and possibly leading to them missing out on marks.
Because, this stage is full of the responses where both markers have judged the same answer to be worthy of two different marks.
It’s like one big, bright spotlight shining on the more complicated aspects of marking,
showing all the ways students are (inadvertently) making it difficult for the marker to award certain marks for certain criteria, or simply writing their answers in a confusing or non-succinct way!
Now, there are two ways this could go when an answer is confusing to mark:
The marker accidentally awards credit where they shouldn’t.
(Possible, but less likely as we can only mark what we read, and there are strict rules around not ‘reading in’ meaning – i.e. where we can see what they mean, but they haven’t actually conveyed it fully).
The marker misses wording that could earn credit, because it’s jumbled within another point being made,
not clearly worded or the grammar makes a clear connection difficult,
or it’s led to a random tangent that isn’t relevant. (More likely because markers are expected to mark to a time-frame and therefore cannot re-read over something more than 2, or total max. 3, times realistically. Plus, we know the key points we’re looking for and if they are ‘hidden’ amongst waffle or off-task content, then we’re simply more likely to miss it).
*Side-note: Honestly, exam marking isn’t that different to sitting the exams! 😉
So see if any of this sounds familiar for your teen, and then grasp my advice to ensure they don’t end up putting any marker on the fence or miss a mark they just maybe shoulda-coulda got.
Ever have words that mess with your mind when reading or writing?
Or should that be words which mess with your mind?
I ALWAYS have to double check on that pair of pesky words. (Though after google-ing it about a million times now, I think I’ve got it, but I still check… just to check) 😉
Well, after getting through 660 papers, by Day 3 of exam marking
I realised there was an exam-specific pair of words where students were either:
Missing out on marks by not giving the (relatively easy) info required
OR
Providing unnecessary info that wasn’t asked for.
In EMVD Part 3, I share the *specific* wording of the Q that led to this confusion.
Thing is, it’s crazy-easy to figure out ONCE students know the exact meaning of these two words and how to deal with them!
Don’t miss this one!
Katie
P.S. I also touch on how external exams are actually marked… what if a marker judges your teen’s paper incorrectly?
Does it get remarked?
How rigorous is state exam marking?
It’s all in this –just over 4mins of jam-packed- video!
