Grade Transformation Blog

Grade Transformation Blog

No.1 in Transforming Students’ Grades

Posts filed under Assignments

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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Posted in Assignments, Essays, Homework, Mindset, Results, Revision, Techniques & Strategies
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How to stay focused when studying (and not get distracted every 5 mins!)

Your teen sits down with all the right intentions to study hard, but within 5 minutes ends up:

  • scrolling through Insta (for inspo/motivation/just because)
  • making a pretty title page instead (because it FEELS productive even though we all know an A-grade never got given for a brilliant research project front cover) 
  • watching funny cat videos/makeup tutorials/minecraft demos on YouTube (because it just auto-played after the ‘How to solve quadratic equations’ video)
  • gazing out the window (why IS the sky blue. Like really. Why?).
  • offering to unload the dishwasher (okay… now it’s really getting desperate!) 😉

Familiar??!

Well, if so, they’re not alone, as this week’s video is for Panda Banda – who asked in a recent Youtube Comment:
“Can you please make a video on how to focus? I know some people have to listen to music or have some sort of background noises. Thanks!”

So this week I’m sharing 3 proven and practical suggestions that work for me and work for many of the students I’ve worked with. I’ve even had parents tell me that these strategies have worked for them too!

 

 

Okay, number 1 – let’s address the music thing.

The boring truth is that most people are better off with total silence.
So if you can find a quiet place to study then that’s going to be your best bet.
Zero distractions.

But – if that’s not possible and you need something to drown out the distractions, then multiple studies have shown the most effective type of music for study and focus is baroque music – a particular style of classical music from around 1600-1750. There are hours and hours of playlists you can play for free on Youtube.

Any music with lyrics or faster beats are NOT good for focus or concentration.
So students’ fave playlists on Spotify aren’t the way to go – save those for free time, the gym or in-car sing-a-longs 😉

 

Tip number 2: Get a clear plan of action.

There’s nothing worse for focus and productivity than not really knowing what you’re doing or how you’re going to do it.

So before getting started on any task, make sure you have all the necessary resources or equipment AND make sure you have a clear plan of attack.

So. Many. Students feel that spending time outlining, planning and prepping is taking up time they could be spending actually getting on and writing or studying or researching or whatever the task involves.
However, the exact opposite is true.
It’s counter-intuitive, but not only does having a clear plan make the overall task a lot faster, it also makes it a lot easier and stress-free AND often results in a higher quality piece of work, therefore achieving a higher grade.

This is why I provide templates and structures in so many parts of my training in the 10 Wk Grade Transformation Program and in my monthly member seminars,
and it’s why I have a whole module dedicated to showing students how to create clear and high quality plans for any extended response or essay they write in my Write Like an A-Grader Training (available to Next Level Coaching students).

 

Okay – Tip number 3: Chunk everything down.

Both in terms of tasks and in terms of time.

Here’s what I mean…

Never tackle an essay by sitting down to write an essay.
WHAT?

Yep, don’t tackle an essay, by sitting down to write an essay!

Here’s what to do instead…

a) First of all, sit down for 15 mins to dissect the essay title and PLAN the essay content and structure – just like I said in tip 2.

b) Then get up, have a quick break and then spend 15 mins finding the evidence, examples or quotes for each of the body paragraphs you’ve just planned.

c) Then spend 10-15 mins drafting body paragraph 1, then the same for body paragraph 2 etc etc.

Note that I didn’t start by saying to write the intro first – I have another video about writing the intro last in essays HERE.

And notice that I’ve given everything a time limit.

This really helps focus us and spur us into action.

I genuinely play little mind games with myself when I have a challenging job to get done, whether it’s because I don’t really want to do it, or because it’s tricky.

I set a reasonable time limit and then I get to work and see if I can get it done.
I even do it with things like doing the dishes or ironing a bunch of clothes!

And no – don’t use your phone as the timer (‘hello distracting notifications’!).

Nope. Leave it out of sight while you’re working within that time limit.

You’ll be surprised how much you can get done when you do nothing but focus on that specific little part of a task within a certain time limit.

 

> Recap of those 3 quick but super-practical tips…

1 – Silence is best for focus – but if you need something to listen to – then baroque music all the way.

2 – Plan exactly what you’re going to do and exactly how you’re going to be doing it. So there’s no fluffing around, no excuse to get up and go do or find something.

And

3 – Chunk down larger tasks into sections. Give them time limits and then challenge yourself to get them done. Check out the video I made on this topic 🙂

And captain-obvious bonus tip – none of those should involve your phone!
If you need it for accessing an email or photos or whatever, get those things up in the planning or getting organised time and then switch off the data or wifi.
Simple. #noexcuses

 

Leave me a comment on this page to let me know how you go, and until next week, let’s make this a brilliantly productive week! 🙂

Katie

 

 

 

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Small actions – BIG results

When it comes down to it, there’s one mark difference between grade boundaries.

Just one mark can make the difference between a D and C grade, one mark between a B and an A grade. Therefore one word can make the difference between a grade, as one word in an answer can mean getting or losing a mark. I’ve talked about this when tackling compare and contrast Qs before.

And this is why I’m a big believer in ‘every little helps’.

Because one little tip, one strategy, one minute of revision of one fact that’s asked in an exam, can make a whole grade’s difference.

 

 

I’ve been making a point lately to recommend to my personal coaching students that they do just one or two questions for practise and revision each day because many of them have Term 3 exam blocks in a few weeks.

We’ve been coming up with some specific plans for them based on their personal priority points and your teen can do this for themselves too.

For example in Maths, putting in place a daily bare minimum over the school holidays, to do just one or two Maths practise Qs on top of any other study (or on top of their relaxation!).

That’s perhaps 14 questions over two weeks of a school holiday.

Which would be approximately two or three questions per topic for a term’s worth of content.

Two questions on every topic is just about enough to keep everything fresh in their mind and not let anything become totally buried so that it has to be dug out from the depths come revision for exams.

Or… how about we make this REALLY easy and a long term plan.

How about in Y11 and 12, making one revision card per week, and doing one practise exam Q per week?

Not a whole practise paper, just one practise question. That’s maybe 15mins for the revision card, and 10 mins for the practise Q. That’s just 25 mins once a week. If they’re a morning person, that’s getting up at 6am instead of 6.30 on just one day, or that’s one less episode of a TV program just once a week.

That’s going to give them 46 revision cards if we don’t count the summer holidays, over the course of one year and 46 practise Qs completed.

And that’s a LOT of revision resources at the ready, a lot of exam practise and familiarity with exam Qs and that equals a lot of potential extra marks in an exam 🙂
#winning

 

I’d love for you to have a think about what one little thing could be done once per day, or once per week.

It won’t feel like a lot on it’s own, but add it up and it can make a big difference.

And then let me know in the comments below – what is the one small thing and what big result would it give?

I’ll see you next week, let’s  go make this a fantastic week.

Katie

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The Two Words I’ll Never Say Again (and why)

There’s been a TON of awesome stuff happening in the Exam Pop-Up Group I’ve been running over the past couple of months, but there’s also been something missing.

Two words that are super-common around exam time, but you won’t find me saying or writing anywhere.
It’s something I’ve found myself consciously avoiding saying or writing or typing more and more over the past year or so.
(You know, when something hits you and then kinda becomes a bit of a ‘thing’).

Here’s what it is, and most importantly WHY.

I’ve come to believe over the years, through both my work with students and in life in general, that we create our own luck.

So much so, that you won’t ever hear me say or see me write anywhere any more, the words:

“Good Luck!”.

It’s the most natural thing to say to someone as they go into an exam.
But I actively and consciously find alternative ways to send good wishes and positivity to students, and let them and their parents know that I’m thinking of them and sending them awesome vibes through the airwaves.

(Sometimes, that ain’t that easy! For someone like me who definitely isn’t a natural writer and doesn’t  just have a way with words!)

Here’s why…

Unless something comes down to the flip of a coin or roll of a die, then it’s never about ‘luck’.
It’s about the choices and decisions we make.

It’s about the actions we take.

It’s about the skills we choose to build, the ways we decide to work, and the strategies we choose to enact.

 

Let’s apply this to exams…

The questions on the exam paper will be pre-determined many weeks or even months previously to exam day.

They’ve been strategically written and selected and scrutinised.

It’s not about the ‘luck of the draw’ as to what Qs are on that exam paper as students open up that front page.

How well each student answers and responds to each question is dependent on their skills and abilities in:

  • dissecting the different elements of the question to understand what is required
  • how actively they revised and to what extent they prioritised the content the question’s covering
  • how skilled they are in constructing an effective and efficient response.

And each of those is a result of a series of conscious actions taken over the years, months, weeks and days leading up to that point.

In case you hadn’t already realised, I’m a big fan of being pro-active.

Of taking control of life’s situations (or doing my best to!) and not leaving things to chance.

Chance is ‘luck’ and ‘hoping’ and ‘wishing’.

I believe we can all take steps and actions to tip the odds (massively) in our favour.

 

Katie

P.S. I’d love to get your take on this! Let me know whether you ‘believe’ in luck or not in the comments!
And until next week, let’s MAKE this a fantastic week!
(See what I did there) 😉 

 

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Sketch it in crayons

Practicing exam responses and testing knowledge using past or sample exam papers is an EXCELLENT way for students to prepare for exams.

And if they don’t know where to find these, my GTZ Members can find quick links to all the state exam boards, their past papers, mark schemes or chief examiner reports in the Grade Transformation Zone Member Area 🙂

However, it can be a pretty intense exam prep activity, and when your teen’s feeling exhausted, perhaps mid-exam-block, BUT they still *need* to be doing some productive work to prepare, then here’s an alternative, slightly ‘lighter’ way to tackle this.

And just quickly – I can’t take credit for this. I got the idea from Steve Collis who, at the time was the Director of Innovation at SCIL – the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning, and he once said ‘if you can’t sketch it in crayons, you don’t understand it’.

It wasn’t meant to be a profound statement,  but it struck a chord with me and so here’s one of the ways I took this and made it into a practical strategy….

 

Instead of writing a formal full answer to each question on the practice exam paper, have your teen try to draw a response. This can be fun, but also pretty challenging (in a more light-hearted way)!

But it’s that extra challenge that makes it really effective 😉

 

Because the fact that your teen is having to convert their knowledge from text format into a visual form, means that their brain is doing an extra step of processing of that information. And more processing means more retention AND easier, faster retrieval when it comes to getting that info back out, from brain to paper in the exam hall.

Plus, it  highlights any knowledge gaps. Because you can’t sketch something you don’t know or understand.

 

Now, a quick ‘Captain Obvious’ note here – obviously this is not something to do IN the REAL exam – this is just a suggestion for revision and exam prep, when they need a bit of a break from the really hard core revision, but still want to or need to be productive.

Ok, that’s the disclaimer done 😉

Scroll down and leave me a comment to let me know if your teen fancies giving this a go!

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

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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

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If it’s not PROCESSING info, it’s not PRODUCTIVE

Many students right now will be in revision mode for Semester or half-yearly exams, or soon to be.

And most of these students will be revising in some of the least effective, in fact often totally useless  ways.

Here’s the bottom line:

Revision has to be ACTIVE rather than PASSIVE.

And that means that they have to be doing something with the information they’re revising –  processing it in some way. Here’s why, as well as some practical suggestions on how 🙂

Many students right now will be in revision mode for semester of half-yearly exams,

(or at least they should be), so I thought this would be a good time to share one of

THE . biggest . mistakes

I see students making in their revision.

(I know my personal coaching students will be so bored of hearing me say this, but I realised I actually haven’t hammered on about this publicly that much, so it’s time I did!)

Here’s the bottom line:

Revision has to be ACTIVE rather than PASSIVE.

I have a whole Catapult module dedicated to the specific strategies and techniques to make revision ACTIVE in my 10 Week Grade Transformation Program, but just getting to grips with this concept will be a huge step in the right direction for many students and parents for now.

By active I mean that they have to be DOING something with the information, processing it in some way.

So, no, reading or highlighting notes is NOT active 😉

Processing means transferring the info from one format to another and here’s why it’s so important:

Digesting the information and then making a decision about how to recreate it in a different format means that our brains have to have understood that information, not only proving to themselves that they ‘get’ the content, but also – this is much more likely to make it stick.

At the most basic level – this could be condensing full notes or text book info into colour-coded revision notes.

To do this effectively, students have to process and make decisions about which words and info are most important and decide which colour to use depending on the type of info it is.

For example is it a key word, a case study example, or is it a definition or is it a process?

But even better are techniques like converting text and notes into a mindmap, categorizing examples into a table, or turning a flowchart process into notes.

And I would advise, when time is getting tight, as it often does during revision

(unless of course, they use my reverse-engineered revision planning system!, also in the 10 Week program 🙂 )

that students are better off revising less information actively, than more information passively.

Because what’s the point of reading through 3 whole text book chapters if none or very little of it sticks or can be retrieved in the exam?

It’s waaaayyyyy more beneficial to get through just the key points of the 3 chapters, but know those really well and have them easily flow from brain to paper in the exam hall.

 

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Does your teen REALLY understand the subject content?

When revising for an exam or prepping for an oral presentation or speech

(because – yes it is VERY easy to tell when a student doesn’t really understand what they’re presenting in an oral assessment)

there’s a very simple ‘test’ to see if your teen really understands a concept or really knows about a topic. (Plus a sneaky little sub-test too!).

Find out what they are and how your teen can use them!

When revising for an exam, or even prepping for an oral presentation or speech (because – yes it is VERY easy to tell when a student doesn’t really understand what they are presenting in an oral assessment) there’s a very simple test to see if your teen really understands a concept or really knows about a topic.

Here’s the test:

Can your teen teach you about the topic by teaching you or telling you all about it?

(Or if they’re not up for that, and I get that they might not be – then the alternative is that they could record their explanation – like a podcast to teach others about it – and the added #bonus of this is that they then have this recording as a revision resource to listen to later).

But the key thing is, can they talk about it without their notes or their script or the textbook?

If so, great!

(Hold out for my little sneaky sub-test coming up in a second) 😉

But if not, then they don’t really know it yet and need to go back to learning and processing.

Because it’s very easy to think that we’re taking in information and understanding it when we’re reading about it, even if we’re answering Qs about it from a textbook.

But often, when the content stimulus or resources are removed, it can become difficult to vocalise or convey that information when we’re relying only on the knowledge and understanding we’ve retained and digested in those whirring brain cells.

To be able to process it into a different format and in a way that others can understand is a TRUE test of OUR understanding.

 

And here’s that sneaky little sub-test I mentioned earlier…

If your teen passed the first test of being able to fluently talk about and teach you the subject content, then just to ‘double-triple’ check, ask them a few tightly related questions about it.

For example, if they just explained how circulatory system works, ready for their Biology exam, then ask them something like – “OK, so the de-oxygenated blood, how does that become oxygenated again?”

Something that isn’t just a pure repeat, but makes them re-explain something in a slightly different way or with a different focus.

So that’s the test – the test before the test if you like! – to check whether your teen really knows their stuff.

Leave me a comment below and tell me how you could use this with your teen  🙂 and until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week!

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Do this *now* to ensure no nasty surprises on exam day

Keen students often want to get ahead early on in the year, because they know things are going to get ‘full-on’ later down the line.

Yup! They will!

 

Here’s one simple, practical and important action your teen can take *now* to ensure there are NO nasty surprises on exam day and  put themselves in the best position for when things start getting crazy busy!

(TIP: It’s ESPECIALLY good for students in Year 10-12!)

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The ‘one window’ rule to overcome overwhelm

Overwhelm is a constant challenge for students, especially in the senior years. That feeling of too much to do and not enough time.

Or not knowing precisely how to tackle or approach certain tasks. The feeling that everything is getting on top of them.

And although students can’t always do anything about the number of tasks they need to do or the deadlines for them, there definitely ARE things they can do to minimise the feelings of overwhelm.

Enter… ‘The One Window Rule’

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