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.
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!
It is so much easier to use the efforts and the experience of others, to help us get where we want to go. As a result , we can often get further and do so faster than we might’ve done by making our own way or trying to figure it all out for ourselves.
Have you had to put on ‘that’ excited face at any point recently?
When a gift wasn’t quite what you wanted.
But you don’t want to look ungrateful.
Hopefully not, but chances are many of us have at some point.
But, what’s this got to do your studying and your teen?
Well, it’s about figuring out how to give people what they *reeeallllyy* want.
For students, it’s all about what examiners want and NEED to see to award top grades…. and sussing out exactly how to give it to them EVERY time (gift-wrapped and tied in a bow)!
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.
Many students prefer to TYPE rather than write when it comes to taking and making notes. And of course, There are a number of reasons and advantages of this.
However, there many scientific studies that prove that we remember more of what we write than what we type.
Here’s my take on things and how I explain this phenomenon to myself and students.
Back to Basics!
**Warning!… Some may not like this post.
But my purpose is to ensure that students attain every mark and grade they are capable of.
And these elements are essential to that.
So here goes…
I’ve seen many students drop one (or more!) grades in an extended response because they’ve done great in one section/part, but in the second part they’ve given little to no response.
This can have a huge (and what feel a little unfair) impact when it comes to the mark scheme and gaining credit. But it’s how many mark schemes are structured and therefore better to accept it and have the awareness to combat this nuance!
Allocating time or space in the exam to each part of a response within a question as equally as possible will mean the hard work in one part is not wasted in terms of hitting the mark scheme criteria.
I explain what I mean in this Day 4 Video Diary.
To get the top grades/highest marks in a response, students need to go over and above including the key points.
They need to be able to link them together to show interrelationships and develop references.
I give you some pointers and examples in this Video Diary entry on Day 3 of the 2016 QCS Marking Operation 🙂
