Grade Transformation Blog

Grade Transformation Blog

No.1 in Transforming Students’ Grades

Posts filed under Assignments

Working SMARTER in homework and assignments

Has your teen ever gone over and above in their assignments or homework tasks?  Perhaps adding an extra case study in a research project, using some amazing home-crafted props to add some pizazz to a presentation, or simply making a beautiful, front cover for a project, (laminated of course)! ?

What was the payoff and the result?

Was it worth it?

Because there are times and places for this sort of extra effort.

Sometimes it can pay off, sometimes it won’t.

So how do you know which situation is which?

 

Well, as a general rule, in tests and exams, this is not the time to do this. Every question has been given a clear and strict mark scheme as it’s been written, and every mark will have been accounted for in the specific directions and wording in every question.

In extended tasks, assignments, projects and coursework, these are a little more flexible and there is the possibility of added extras or special effort gaining credit, extra marks or at least some form of informal recognition like a positive comment from, and a great impression made on the teacher.

 

Now, when it comes to these sorts of extended or open-ended tasks, the lower the year group, the more these sorts of extra efforts will be rewarded.

It’s certainly the case that a great first impression can put the teacher or marker in a more generous frame of mind. Even with a marking rubric teachers are still human

(yep, really) 😉

And of course they want to nurture and encourage that effort and work ethic by having it pay off for your teen.

Plus, more officially, some of these ideas and added extras will actually count towards the success criteria. For example: Props in a presentation would likely count towards the delivery of the presentation being engaging and original. Additional independent research could mean that the level of detail or breadth of research is regarded as higher quality.

 

However, as your teen moves up through the years and into the senior years, things get more formal with mark schemes and so added extras not on the task sheet or marking criteria won’t make up for problems like a lack of in depth analysis or sophisticated evaluation.

Teachers as well as examiners are looking for academic performance in years 11 and 12 (and year 10 really too). All assessments in the senior years will have been matched with the exam board or curriculum criteria and all submissions need to stand up to being scrutinized by outside moderators, so there’s no opportunity for teachers to give any extra discretionary marks or credit anywhere.

 

As you’ll know if you’ve followed me for a while now, I’m all about sticking to the mark sheme, BUT if your teen really is keen to go over and above in a task, then I’d say that in Years 7 to 9, as long as it’s staying within the realms of the task AND not going off on a tangent AND doesn’t involve spending hours of extra time or effort, then go for it 🙂

It could make a good impression on the teacher which can have positive knock-on and long-term effects, but can also produce a better mark or grade if it’s related to the criteria in some way, and of course will give your teen a confidence boost from the positive comments and teacher recognition.

 

However, in Year 10 onwards, I’d hold back on any added extras not mentioned in the instructions or criteria, and put that time and effort into making the elements specifically required as deep, complete and detailed as possible.

They should spend their time and brain power extending their explanations.

Or, perhaps theycan they make a clearer link to their background research to enhance their analysis.

Can they craft a more sophisticated or engaging opening?

These are the sorts of improvements that are going to move them up through the grade descriptors AND will make a great impression on the teacher or exam marker. 😉

 

Don’t forget to leave me a comment below this video, let me know your thoughts and your teen’s experiences around this 🙂

Until next week, let’s make this a fan-TAS-tic week 🙂

Katie

 

 

 

 

Share Button
Posted in Assignments, Homework, Results
No Comments »

Ignoring Examiners’ Instructions (eek!) ?

So, you’re taking a driving test.

The examiner gives you an instruction – and you ignore it and do something else.

You would expect to fail the test, right?

 

And yet this is what happens in academic exams All . The . Time.

AND it’s why many students end up getting results they’re disappointed in and that don’t reflect their effort or true ability.

 

The difference is, that for most students, it isn’t that they are IGNORING instructions, they just weren’t totally clear on what the examiner was really asking of them.

(Although sometimes the ‘IGNORING instructions’ thing does happen when a student realises they don’t know how to answer what’s actually being asked, so decide to answer a different Q they WISH it was asking instead!).

FYI – that doesn’t work either. Ever.

 

Both of these scenarios will lead to the same result (though perhaps the second will mean the disappointing result is little less unexpected).

This is why it’s SO important for students to not only read the INSTRUCTIONS on exam papers rrreeeeally carefully.  Things like the front cover info, such as the number of questions to answer, the amount of time available and so on.

(Because EVERY year there are students who don’t answer the right selection of Qs, or too many, or not enough).

But moreover, it’s essential that students understand how to dissect and break down each and every exam Q so that they can work out the exact instruction they’re being given.

The problem with this, is that unlike reading the front page of exam info, most students don’t know how to dissect or precisely what to look for in a Q, or exactly how to respond.

That’s why the 6 Elements of Exam Technique are so important, so that your teen isn’t performing a parallel park when the examiner has asked them to do an emergency stop.

But of course, it’s usually more subtle than that – more like the examiner’s asked them to turn left, but they’ve simply moved into the left hand lane (and failed to indicate) 😉

They’ve heard ‘left’ – which might be the topic or a key word in the Q, but they’ve missed the command word in the question. And in an exam, *that* is what determines the level of cognitive skill their response needs to be at and is what the mark scheme is centred around.

 

So, if you’d like to get all the behind-the-scenes info on Command Words, what mark schemes demand aaaaannnnnd get advice on how your teen should prepare for exams, then come join me at my Exam Special – Parent Webinar that I’m running this week, where I’ll be teaching and sharing all this info and (lots!) more.

CLICK HERE to save your digi-seat 🙂

Can’t wait to see you at one of the webinar sessions!

Katie 

Share Button
Posted in Exams, Results, Techniques & Strategies
No Comments »

Exam Rehearsal is Critical

It’s long been accepted in education that ‘teaching to the test’ is NOT the most effective way to great grades.

Plus it’s also not really possible these days.

Exams and the curriculum are designed so that it just doesn’t work.

And this is a *good* thing as it means students have to be taught in a more holistic way and are required to actually understand the content, rather than learn and rehearse it parrot fashion (like so many of us used to do!).

Memory flashback happening right now – reciting and memorising German verb tables – arrrrgh!!!

But that doesn’t mean that students can’t prep and practice for tests and exams.

There’s a much more useful and transferable skill and process: ‘TRAINING for the Test’.

 

In other words:

  • Getting familiar with the format of the exam to be sat.
  • Being clear on exactly how to tackle it strategically.
  • Having go-to strategies to address different types of questions and a toolbelt of techniques to write top-notch responses.

…So that the ‘unknown’ of an exam is no longer daunting, (partly because those ‘unknown elements’ are minimised).

And the fact that many students still AREN’T being trained in exam technique is a little bit crazy – or at least I think so – and is of course why I’ve made it my mission to help as many students as possible with this.

Because we wouldn’t go to an interview without having rehearsed our answers to possible questions they might ask us , and researching what will likely impress them (AKA – things that I should definitely try to include in my answers!) 😉

No TED Talk presenter would turn up not having practiced their talk or knowing what rules or expectations or guidelines they’ll need to follow.

And if we had our driving test coming up, we’d not only know exactly what manouevers they could ask us to perform, but we’d have practiced those exact procedures many, MANY times and have a clear strategy to follow for each, like lining up the wingmirrors for a reverse park or having specific steps for a three-point-turn.

 

And yet SO many students go into exams having learnt the subject info but not having clear strategies, steps or techniques to perform at their best.

That’s like going into a dance competition having read a ton of books about ballet but never actually having danced. Or going into a boxing match having watched hours of matches but never having been coached and trained in the ring yourself.

Being able to perform brilliantly and knowing exactly what the judges are looking for is a whole other world, right?!

 

So make sure your teen isn’t just relying on their subject knowledge to help them achieve success in their essays, exams and assignments.

They need practical strategies and go to tools, templates and techniques so that they can produce answers and responses that align with the wording of essays, tasks and exam questions AND with the mark schemes and rubrics.

Be sure to check out my upcoming ‘Exam Special’ webinar with loads more practical and in-depth training on this. (Look out in your inbox or on the Facebook news feed for registration info next week!).

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

Katie

 

 

 

Share Button
Posted in Exams, Results, Techniques & Strategies
No Comments »

Environment is everything

The space and environment where students study matters.

(Don’t worry, this isn’t me giving your teen a free pass to start requesting expensive trips to IKEA or Kikki K!
In fact it’s usually a case of cleaning up and clearing out rather than adding more stuff) 🙂

If their environment is well-suited to focused, motivated and effective study, then they are more likely to FEEL motivated and GET and STAY focused.

Here are the specific factors you need to consider.

 

If their space is messy and cluttered, then (apart from taking ages to find anything and then losing focus and ramping up frustration) their thinking and processing will also be messy and inefficient.

Buuuuutttt…. if their environment is well-suited to focused, motivated and effective study, then they are more likely to FEEL motivated and stay focused.

Here are the key factors that it’ll be helpful to consider, because even though everyone is a little different in terms of what helps us stay on task or produce our best work, these will all play a part:

Firstly, the Visual.

It absolutely needs to be a neat and tidy space.

Mess and clutter are never conducive to effective work or study.

Now that doesn’t mean it has to be totally sterile – it can be inspiring for sure, perhaps some motivational quotes or travel photos or precious items around, but not so much that they become a distraction.

 

Secondly, it needs to be QUIET.

Some students need or prefer silence – and that’s me too BTW! If I’m working, I can’t deal with any noise, TV, people talking or music – boring perhaps, but I know what works for me. So I’m not one of those cool people you see working away at their laptop at a coffee shop and ideally, your teen won’t be either!

If they do insist that they work better with music, then it should only be baroque music. They likely won’t like it, but I’ve done a whole other blog post previously on this (which you can watch HERE!) to explain this in more detail.

 

And thirdly is COMFORT.

Now this is a fine balance.

They need to feel comfortable but ALERT. So no lying on their bed, sitting on the couch or slouching in a bean bag. Again, not always a popular fact, but again, this is proven to affect our focus and quality of our work.

For me, I actually do a lot of my work standing. I have a perfect height kitchen bench top for my laptop and it keeps me more focused than sitting at a desk. However, when it comes to marking for exam boards, I have no choice but to sit down, but I take along blankets to prop myself up a bit! I don’t care what I look like (way past that these days!), I just don’t wanna be distracted or less productive because I feel ache-y or uncomfortable or slip into sleep-y mode.

Students often do need motivation and focus and a lot of that has to do with them being in the right environment and setting to do their best work.

So… Neat, tidy and inspiring; quiet or with baroque music; and a desk and chair that has them comfortable but alert will go a long way to helping them be the best they can be 🙂

I’d love to hear about anything your teen has done to make their study space more positive and productive for them. Drop a comment below 🙂

Until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week!

Katie

Share Button
Posted in Homework, Mindset, Results, Techniques & Strategies
No Comments »

Revealed: Missing link between SETTING and *ACHIEVING* goals

We hear all the time about the importance of setting goals and targets.

And it can certainly be a productive and motivating thing to do ?

However, there’s one key, super-important, super-ESSENTIAL step that often gets missed.

And it’s a trap that we can all so easily fall into…

Now, before I reveal all, I’ll give you an example and then you can ‘play along at home’ and see if you can work out what I’m talking about 😉

Let’s say Bob sets a goal to lose 5 kilos. He writes it up, sticks it on his fridge, does some visualizations of himself being 5k lighter, and all the rest of the steps in goal-setting.

He even puts a time-frame on it – to make it a SMART goal of course……..

And then what?

Is Bob going to just lose those 5 kilos?

No, of course not.

So, have you guessed it?

What’s missing?…

Yep, it’s the steps and actions that are needed to achieve those goals.

It’s knowing:

  • what those steps are
  • what we need to do to complete them

and then

  • precisely how and when we’re going to do it.

 

So, for Bob, he needs to figure out what foods or drinks he needs to take out of his diet and what he should eat or drink instead, and how much of them, probably even at what points of the day.

He might also need to find a way to become more physically active and then decide how, where and when he’s going to incorporate it into his life each week.

 

But back to your teen… It’s exactly the same for students, their study and their grades.

For example, if your teen sets a goal to get an A in English, they need to identify exactly HOW they are going to do it.

What precisely do they need to change or improve?

And then, exactly how are they going to develop their knowledge and skills to make those changes or improvements?

Because it’s not just a case of ‘working harder’ in English.

(Proof = I see some of the hardest working students STILL stay STUCK term after term, semester after semester, on the same old grades).

It’s instead knowing the exact steps to take that will create the changes they need to make, in the skills and criteria that the grading system requires.

So first they need to figure out how identify these.

  1. How can they find out what they need to specifically improve? That’s link 1 in bridging that gap between goal and achievement. This might be talking to their teacher, or go through their previous comments and feedback on assessments.

Let’s say they realise that need to focus on giving more detailed analyses.

Great – now they need to figure out link 2.

2. They need to find out HOW to do that. (Insider info: This is often the trickiest part! Because if they knew THAT then they’d likely already be getting those A’s, right? )

Well let’s take the example of needing to give more detailed analyses:

They’d need to work on extending explanations (which BTW is where my 3 magic words –  so, therefore and because come in!).

They’d need to use more technical vocab, and…

They’d need to select suitable examples or evidence and develop detailed links to back up their explanations.

 

So, let’s wrap this up:

The key message here is to make sure, whatever targets or goals your teen sets for themselves in their study, that they have a clear and specific path to get there. That they know precisely what they need to do and HOW to do it to achieve them.

 

I’d love your feedback or questions around this – Scroll down and leave me a comment 🙂

Until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week!

Katie

Share Button
Posted in Goal setting, Mindset, Results
No Comments »

Prioritise tasks and skills that’ll ‘move the needle’

It’s easy to stay busy doing things that make us feel productive.

Often, students get good at disguising these ‘distraction activities’ as something that still feels study-related.

Making a beautiful-gorgeous cover page perhaps 😉

But the key to higher grades with less stress is your teen figuring out the specific tasks and places to put their effort, that will really move the needle in terms of results, rankings and grades.

Here’s what these tasks are likely to be (and what they aren’t!).

 

It’s easy to stay busy doing things that make us feel productive.

In the good old days it used to be things like putting your CD or video collection in alphabetical order.

As a teenager it was (and I’m guessing still is today), cleaning up your bedroom.

[I know, I know! ‘Not such a bad thing Katie’ you might be saying – but not so great if it ‘s just as a distraction activity for something they really should be doing. Like that English essay or Maths investigation] 😉

We also get good at disguising these distraction activities as something that still feels study-related.

Making a lovely cover page for that Maths investigation perhaps!

 

But the key to higher grades with less stress is your teen figuring out the specific tasks and places to put their effort that’ll really ‘move the needle’ for them in terms of results, rankings, confidence and grades.

So this could be:

  • Practicing some past paper Qs, rather than writing out notes from the text book.
  • Working on extending their analyses in their English essay rather than finding another reference for it.

OR, thinking…

  • How many sources do they really need for that History inquiry? Would they be better off adding more depth and detail to evaluating the sources they already have?

 

In other words, they need to identify the tasks that’ll boost their results, not just give them some more the ticks on their to-do list.

They should also consider training and learning that’ll really help across the board – which will be universal to all subjects and serve them across different subjects.

For example:

  • honing their paragraphing skills, their range of vocabulary and the sentence structures in their writing,
  • developing exam technique skills,
  • studying past paper mark schemes and chief examiner reports and retrospectives.

 

The trouble is that these are jobs or activities that rarely appear on any to-do list, but are SO important to boosting grades and confidence for students.

 

I’d love to know… Scroll down and leave me a comment – what are the things that would move the needle most for your teen AND what are the activities that are keeping them feeling ‘busy’ but aren’t necessarily giving them the biggest pay off?

 

Until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week 🙂

Katie

Share Button
Posted in Goal setting, Homework, Mindset, Results, Revision, Techniques & Strategies, Uncategorized
No Comments »

2 Things to Focus on

How can your teen best level-up to meet the demands of their current year?

I’ve had a few emails come in since my video where I pulled back the curtain on Term 1 results and shared the fact that it’s not uncommon for students to drop back a little in terms of results and grades from where they were at the end of last year – Parents asking for advice about how students can best level-up to meet the demands of their current year.

So I want to share with you 2 key focus points for your teen to level-up their study and meet the greater demands of their current year level.

 

Here are 2 key focus points for your teen to level-up their study and meet the greater demands of their current year level

Because – ‘What got them here, won’t get them there’.

Meaning, what got your teen a C grade in Year 9 for example, WON’T get them a C grade in Year 10.

Likewise, working the same hours and putting in the same effort as they did in Year 10, won’t get your teen the same results in Year 11. And so on.

Here goes!…

Focus Point One:  Producing work of a higher QUALITY.

One way to do this is to improve their QWC – quality of written communication. This is a large focus of my Write Like an A-Grader training, with elements such as creating more sophisticated sentence structures, using more technical and a wider range of vocabulary, and strategic proofreading and editing.

 

Focus Point Two:  Producing work at a higher COGNITIVE SKILL level.

And if you want more info on what I mean by that, then be sure to come to one of my future webinars, where I explain command words, Blooms Taxonomy and how it all relates to assignments, exams and marking criteria, in detail – because this is such a crucial element to students’ achievement – but one that very few students or parents are fully aware of.

But for now, I can tell you that to produce work that engages and displays higher cognitive skills, your teen needs to not only respond accordingly to any high level commands, but they also need to create opportunities to work at that level.

That might be when they choose a topic for an investigation, when writing their own thesis statement, or when selecting a genre for a piece of extended writing. They should be looking for ways to operate at the analysis, synthesis and evaluation levels rather than keep themselves stuck in description and basic explanation mode.

 

If your teen can put into practice just a few of the many techniques and strategies that go into these 2 focus areas then they’ll be making progress towards meeting the demands of their target grades of their current year level 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share Button
Posted in Assignments, Essays, Goal setting, Homework, Mindset, Results, Techniques & Strategies
No Comments »

Pulling back the curtain on Term 1

As we round out Term 1 your teen has likely had back some assessment results to think about, or noticed along the way that the expectations on them and their work have ramped up a little.

This week I’m digging deeper into what’s going on behind those results and experiences at this specific time of year.

 

As we closed out Term 1 your teen has likely had back some assessment results to think about, or noticed along the way that the expectations on them and their work have ramped up a little.

I’ve had a couple of parents write in to me trying to either figure out why their son or daughter got a certain result that was a little below their expectations or commenting on the fact that their teen has struggled to get to grips with some of the tasks they’ve been faced with, despite going ok with things the year before.

 

Well, this situation is very closely linked to a blog video I made a while ago called ‘what got you here, won’t get you there’ and you can CLICK HERE to check it out 🙂

 

So, let’s say that at the end of last year, a student was performing at a particular level in a particular subject. That was after a year of teaching and learning at that year level’s requirements and standards.

And right now they’re working at the criteria and standards a year above that and with only having had one term of being taught and of learning at that level.

So they have another 2 thirds or 3 quarters of the year to still master these standards and climb up the criteria levels. Of course, the faster they can do that, by working on their exam technique, the quality of their written communication, and developing the learning techniques that are most effective for them personally, the better.

 

So, if your teen has been disappointed by any early results so far, or a little taken aback by new expectations, then hopefully these reasons will help them understand why this might be.

And of course, if they’re doing great, (that’s awesome!) they can still use this video to help them continue to level up throughout the year.

 

See you back here next week, and until then, let’s make this a fantastic week 🙂

Katie

 

P.S.  If you know anyone who might find this blog useful, please feel free to share or forward it 🙂
#sharingiscaring 😉

Share Button
Posted in Goal setting, Mindset, Results
No Comments »

Director Role!… What to improve and HOW to do it

A movie director will tell the actor the exact thing they want them to do differently in the next take.

It’s then top of mind for the actor and they can make the necessary adjustments or additions to make that next take even better.

Your teen needs to do the same with their study.

There are specific ways to determine their ‘Director’ focus points and my freebie download (HERE!) will help them keep these top of mind so they give a better ‘performance’ each and every take -oops! – I mean TASK 😉

 

Share Button
Posted in Goal setting, Results, Techniques & Strategies
No Comments »

How to get really, REALLY good

To become *really* good at something, what should you do?

Maximise your strengths?

Or work on building your weaknesses?

Well, when it comes to students and their study success,
you’ll be glad to know that I DO have a definitive answer for you
and I share it in this week’s video 🙂

Share Button
Posted in Goal setting, Mindset, Results, Techniques & Strategies, Uncategorized
No Comments »