Grade Transformation Blog

Grade Transformation Blog

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Posts filed under Goal setting

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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The Sneaky Truth Behind Overwhelm

Overwhelm is NOT having too much to do.

It’s NOT about not having enough time.

That’s what we think it is.

But .(newsflash). it isn’t.

And when I realised this, it made a huge difference to how I tackled that oh-so-common feeling of overwhelm. AND of course how I help students tackle it too.

So, let’s get to it. Overwhelm is ACTUALLY:

Not knowing HOW you’re going to get it all done.

I explain everything, including the 2 step system to combat overwhelm using this new definitionin this week’s blog:

 

I got an email recently from Cassie, a 10 Week Grade Transformation Program Grad and current member of the Grade Transformation Zone.

She said:

“The GTZ video about how to instantly de-stress helped a LOT. I get stressed easily and seeing ways to help de-stress was a lot of help. A lot of people have told me to not stress but that isn’t what I wanted to hear and watching that video was helpful because it provided ways TO de-stress rather than saying ‘don’t stress”.

So I thought that, as we approach the Semester and Half Yearly exams, I’d share a brief overview of one of the strategies that I shared with my GTZ Members.

Because we all have times when we feel overwhelmed, right?

It’s a major stress factor in students’ lives.

And like Cassie said, it’s really not that helpful, just telling someone not to stress.
(We just say that when we don’t know a practical way to help).

What IS helpful is having some actionable strategies to actually DEAL with that stress and OVERCOME the overwhelm.

So let’s start with this:

Overwhelm is NOT having too much to do, or not enough time.

It’s not knowing HOW you’re going to get it done.

Now, that’s not an official definition!

But it’s a description works for me and it can work brilliantly for students – because it gives us a potential solution.

And therefore it’s a much more positive way to look at and tackle overwhelm.

 

Because if overwhelm was simply not having enough time, then this would be an unsolvable problem. Because we can’t create more time

(although – yes please-  if anyone DOES have that magic potion I’d LOVE it if you could pass it onto me) 😉

Anyway, back on topic…

When it really comes down to it, not having enough time, is often not really the case.

More often, the stress of feeling overwhelmed comes from not knowing how you are going to tackle that to-do list, or how to actually complete some of those tasks.

 

And so here’s the first step to overcoming overwhelm:

  1. Getting Organised (so that your teen knows exactly what they need to do to accomplish each task, and PRECISELY how they’re going to do it).

So first, break down each task. For example, simply ‘write English essay’ can be a little daunting, so breaking down each component and planning out the main content of each paragraph will make that more manageable. And if the REAL problem here is that they don’t KNOW what those paragraphs need to be, then actually, the first job on the list needs to be ‘go see teacher or speak to tutor to get help on essay’.

NEXT:

      2. Prioritise and schedule what needs to be done when.

Schedule each and every broken down task into the diary.

This way, there’s no more

“I’ve got so much to do, where do I start?”

OR

doing all the easy things first, so that then right at the deadline, the hardest and least-liked items are all left.

And then, stick to that planned list of items for each and every day .

Just follow it and trust that when you get each item done, each day it needs doing, everything will come together 🙂

 #done

 

I’d love to hear from you – let me know in the comments below, on a scale of 1-10 how overwhelmed is your teen feeling in their study right now? What are they currently doing to deal with it?

And if you’re curious to find out more about my live monthly online student seminars and the treasure trove of resources inside of the GTZ (AKA – the Grade Transformation Zone Member Area), then CLICK HERE to check it out 🙂

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

Katie

 

 

 

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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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Competing with Classmates

I vividly remember being sat in a History class and listening to a classmate read out her response to a question that we’d all just been sat quietly answering.

My overriding thought was:

“How does she *write* like that?”

Accompanied by thoughts of

“I can’t write like that.” and

“Well, that just isn’t me – I *don’t* write like that”.

But, if I’d realised back then that I just needed to know and enact some simple yet effective strategies and I could’ve definitely written as well as or even better than Suzanne – ‘A-Grade’ – Baker! 😉

It’s wierd the things we remember right?

For example, I can vividly remember being sat in a History class and listening to a class mate read out her response to a question that we’d all just been sat quietly writing out answers to.

Now this occurred over 20 years ago now and yet I can still remember where I was sat in class and I can remember the other students’ name even though she wasn’t a particularly close friend of mine.

(It was Suzanne Baker, if you’re wondering) 😉

But what I remember MOST of all were the feelings I felt and what I was thinking .

My overriding thought was:

“How does she *write* like that?”

Accompanied by thoughts of

“I can’t write like that.”

and

“well, that just isn’t me. I *don’t* write like that”.

Interestingly  I WASN’T thinking – “I wonder how I can write like that?”.

It’s kinda crazy, the limits we put on ourselves isn’t it? 🙁

 

So , there I was, feeling a little in awe, (and a little bit nervous in case the teacher were to pick on me next to read out mine – which didn’t happen, thank goodness!)

but on reflection, what’s most interesting now is that – I was, well,  just… resigned.

Resigned to the fact that, that just wasn’t me.

I simply accepted that I didn’t have the confidence or skills to write in such a sophisticated, high quality way. I figured it was just some sort of natural gift.

Of course, I know NOW (after over a decade of teaching and national and state exam marking, including specifically FOR Y12 state writing tests (which I never would’ve believed I’d be doing if you’d asked me back then!))  with absolute certainty, that it isn’t about who you are or how much of a natural you are at writing.

What it IS about, is essentially putting on a bit of a show or performance for the marker, by putting into action a set of specific techniques, some simple strategies and tricks, so that you can craft amazing responses in whatever genre or style a task demands.

 

For example, in an analytical essay:

Students should be using longer compound and complex sentences, using fully expanded wording and technical vocabulary that gives a formal and official feel and will give the impression of a confident competent student who really knows their subject and how to convey it clearly.

But then for a blog, a feature article or a persuasive speech:

A more casual writing style is needed, which is achieved by using more colloquial language and contracted words (like it’s instead of it is). Plus it’d be good to use a few short, sharp sentences, perhaps sprinkled with a bit of purposeful repetition as well for impact 🙂

 

The point is, students need to write in the way the task and criteria demand and there are simple tips, tricks and techniques to do that. 

They don’t need to be a natural writer or a wizard with words and they certainly don’t need to slave over grammar books or read novels cover to cover to catapult the standard of their writing.

If I’d realised this back then, aaaaaaannnd known these key strategies (and of course, how to enact them and when to use them), I could’ve definitely written as well as or even better than Suzanne Baker 🙂

 

And if you’d love your teen to have aaaaaaalllllll the steps, strategies, tips techniques and tricks to writing like an A-grader, then CLICK HERE to check out my ‘Write Like and A-Grader’ Training.

It’s where I give your teen everything they need – all the tools, explanations, tutoring and examples of how to apply them, so that they become one of those students who can write with confidence and sophistication (and has those skills for.ever.)!

 

 

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4 Reasons Your Teen Gets ‘Stuck’

Here’s one of the statements that really frustrates me as a teacher…

“Miss, I’m stuck”.

My auto-pilot response is “in what way?” or “with what?”.

Now, the worst answer to THAT is – yep, you guessed it:

“Everything”.

Where do you start with that?

And more importantly, it’s NEVER actually the case.

So what’s really going on behind the belief or declaration of being stuck?

Watch this week’s video OR scroll down for the written version to find out 🙂

It could be one of 4 things:

  • Is they haven’t read all of the information carefully. Now, this isn’t necessarily a criticism (sometimes it is if they are just being lazy) but sometimes, it’s more that they haven’t processed that information. Very often, once I have a student just re-read the introductory info or the question to me, they suddenly get it. They process something or notice something they hadn’t before and it all slots into place. Other times, there might be sources or resources they need to be using, and they haven’t done that, for example, using a graph or an extract or a diagram to help them answer a question.

 

  • A second potential hidden situation is that they aren’t savvy in breaking down questions and identifying key words and command words. If that’s the case then they are likely struggling to figure out EXACTLY what they need to do and indeed that CAN be tricky to decipher in some questions, essay titles or assignment instructions. This is why students absolutely need to master their knowledge of command words and Bloom’s Taxonomy.

 

  • Which leads me nicely to the third possible problem lurking here: It could be that they know WHAT they need to do, they just aren’t sure HOW to do it. For example, how to ANALYSE rather than simply describe or explain. Or how to EVALUATE effectively and concisely. Or they don’t have a template to cover all the bases in responding to a COMPARE and CONTRAST question. This comes down to their exam technique (even if they aren’t actually in an exam situation) as well as having a stack of go-to systems and templates so that they can smoothly and confidently answer any question and command they’re faced with.

 

  • Lastly, they might actually know all these things really, but they are perhaps just lacking the confidence to go ahead and execute on them. They don’t trust their own judgement and feel like they need approval or have someone confirm things for them.  This is unfortunately the least common situation I find with students, it’s more often situations 1, 2 or 3, but it most often occurs when students have been used to having scaffolds, structures and high levels of input and need to build their skills in independently putting things into practice.

 

So, if ever your teen is stuck on a homework task or assignment, then consider these 4 potential reasons behind that “I’m stuck” statement, or “I’m not sure what to do” to help them then get on a path to getting clear and confident.

 

If you think this could help someone else you know, please share or like this post 🙂

Oh, and leave me a comment or drop me an email to let me know which of these situations is the case for your teen 🙂

 

 

 

 

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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 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Efficient editing ( = more time for fun and relaxation)

Does your teen sometimes end up spending waaaayyyyy too much time on their assignments and essays?

This week, after an email from a dad concerned about the amount of time his daughter spends editing, re-drafting and sometimes re-writing whole chunks of her assignments, I’m sharing with you the 3 pillars that underpin the whole reviewing and editing process.

*NEW!*
If you prefer to read rather than watch, scroll down for the written version 🙂

 

 

I recently had an email from a dad, concerned about the amount of time his daughter spends on her assignments, in particular, going back over, changing, editing and re-editing her assignments after receiving feedback and in the final days before submission.

 

And I totally get it. For many dedicated students there is an element of perfectionism at play here, as well as of course, wanting the achieve the best result they can.

This is why my official taglines are to help students get happy, smart and successful and to have them achieve their best possible success AND enjoy the journey along the way. With a lot of emphasis on that AND 😉

That’s what these blog videos are all about and why my 10 Week Program and other Write Like and A-Grader training are centred around making study as EFFICIENT and STREAMLINED as possible for teens today.

So that they do actually have time for other interests and hobbies, to just sit and relax at home, to hang out friends and even do things just for fun.

Now, being efficient in reviewing and improving any piece of work is so much easier when students have a system to follow. Otherwise any changes or edits end up being haphazard and yet more re-reads are needed after each round of edits.

And while I could do a whole video on just each step of the system it’s really more than I can cover in this blog video, so what I’d love to share with you are the 3 pillars that really underpin or rather hold up that whole reviewing and re-drafting process.

Because if your teen can at least be aware of and start to address each of these, then they will not only be producing a higher quality finished product, but they’ll also be on their way to doing it more systematically too.

  1. The first pillar is matching up a piece of work with the success criteria or the marking rubric. Students should be provided with this for most longer or larger tasks completed outside of exam conditions.

Your teen needs to go through and carefully compare their work with the demands of the grade they are targeting and also the grade above – in a shoot for the moon and land among the stars kinda way. Because if they slightly miss something in their target grade, but DO have some elements of the grade above, then that should be enough to have them achieve their target.

They need to check – are they addressing all the criteria and giving enough EVIDENCE in their work that they are meeting them at the required level?

For example – if it says ‘gives a variety of sources or uses a wide range of references’ then they need to consider:

> How many they have (the amount required will increase as students move up year groups and will depend on the subject and task).

> Where did they come from – they need to show a range of different types. Again this will vary depending on the subject and task, but they certainly need to be academically credible and reliable sources,.

> How have they integrated them into their writing and USED them within their assignment. Are they discussed, compared and analysed, or are they just shoe-horned in?

 

2. The second pillar is making improvements to improve their overall communication and writing quality. This might be adjusting the structure, for example re-ordering paragraphs so that the points flow more and have closer linkages.

It might be using more technical vocabulary going to the thesaurus to look for more interesting words. It might be extending an explanation to improve the level of analysis. Or it might be combining or re-writing sentences to make more complex points more coherent in an investigation, or to provide more impact through shorted sentences in a speech or narrative.

 

 

3. The THIRD pillar is making corrections – ensuring there aren’t any simple errors.

Because sloppy mistakes can not only cost students in any marks specifically allocated to their writing quality, or the spelling, punctuation and grammar, but even if there aren’t any criteria specific to this, it is important in terms of the impression it makes on the marker about the type of student they are. That can be the difference as to which side of the fence the marker comes down on in any other decisions about ANY and ALL of the other criteria. So, yes – impressions from spelling, punctuation and grammar are important and so solid proofreading is essential.

 

OK – so quick review :0)

The first pillar of reviewing and editing is matching up their work with the marking criteria.

The second is improving their communication and the quality of their writing,

The third pillar is correcting any slips, errors or mistakes, by proofreading their spelling, punctuation and grammar.

 

Thanks so much for reading!

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

Katie

P.S. I’d love to know whether or not this text version is rocking people’s socks. I’d love it if you’d drop me a quick email or FB message and let me know 🙂

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Faking it!

We are all told so often these days: “Just be yourself, do things how YOU want to do them”.

But for students, when it comes to their writing style in assessments, they need to do the exact OPPOSITE if they want to achieve their best possible marks.

Discover why I struggled with this myself as a student and why students need to be okay with feeling like a ‘fake’!

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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 😉

 

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