The biggest challenge for students when it comes to exams is NOT:
Trying to revise all the content (that’s important, but it’s not the TOP one).
Finishing the paper in the time given without having to rush and scribble through the last few Qs (common, but, still not the biggest challenge).
And it’s NOT
!
Because, the biggest challenge is likely the thing your son or daughter isn’t even AWARE of.
(That’s what makes it so frustrating. Like wondering why the kettle hasn’t boiled, then realising it was never plugged in at the wall).
The reason so many students fail to get the grades they could in exams is because they aren’t savvy in knowing what level of cognition the Q is operating at and therefore what detail and elements are required in their response.
Watch me explain how this all works for three (well, it’s really gonna be two – you’ll see why) high level exam Qs.
> Here’s a copy of the exam Qs so you can properly follow along (copyright QCAA – not great quality photos, by me)!
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).
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 10Wk 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.
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 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! 🙂
If your teen’s ever uttered the words ‘what’s even the point of exams?’ (or maybe you have too!)
then listen in,
because if we consider exams as just a thing to be passed to get the grades for whatever lies ahead in life, then we’re missing out on some hidden opportunities.
Don’t worry – I’m not gonna try to convert you into some sort of exam board cult,
I just want to give you a positive angle to consider.
Because, yes, exams are partly a tool to judge ability in a subject or a skill,
they do test knowledge of whatever topics are being assessed.
But what if they really were more useful than that?
Because here’s what else exams are:
They’re a test of being able to decipher what people are really asking for.
The information or skills the examiners or teachers want students to show.
In fact I had a savvy parent actually say this to me a few years ago…
Her son was doing the 10Wk Grade Transformation Program and she’d watched some of Catapult 7 with him, which dives deep on one of the 6 elements of exam technique.
And she told me that it really isn’t much different to what she has to do at work.
From what her clients tell her, she has to work out what they want, exactly what they’re asking for and then translate that into what she proposes or provides for them.
So, maybe exams do have some real-world application after all.
Maybe they do actually have some purpose and skills that translate and serve us beyond the exam hall and results day.
Because if students can become masters of working out what people want from the words they use and get brilliant at giving them exactly what they want,
in a clear and efficient way,
then that’s sure to serve them well in life and their career, right?
So, here’s how I choose to see exams:
– Yes, they demand good subject knowledge.
– Yes, they require certain skills, like source analysis skills or numeracy skills for example.
– But beyond that, they require an ability to dissect the wording of questions,
– and be able to understand and act on that information,
– to provide a response that fulfils the needs and wants of each question.
This is why, as you’ll have heard me say before, all the subject knowledge in the world is useless if your teen doesn’t have the tools and strategies to do those things.
And it’s why so many hardworking and intelligent students still don’t get the results they deserve to get,
the grades they could and should be getting in their exams.
So, maybe there is more to exams than just testing subject knowledge.
Maybe they actually are useful for later life.
And maybe they’re about teaching students more than just learning and memorising facts and info.
I’d love your thoughts and feedback on this. And if you know someone else who could benefit from this perspective, then feel free to forward this to them or share the link on social.
There’s a lot of debate in the media and within education about exams and assessment.
What’s the point of it?
How can we make it more effective and less stressful for students?
Is testing and the traditional exam system even relevant for the world today?
Well, I’m not going to get into that debate as such right now, but I do want to share one point of view that I hope will be useful…
The way I see it, whether or not people are happy with it,
exams are here to stay for the foreseeable future.
And whilst there’s development in how we TEACH the subject content and understanding how students – in fact how ANYONE – learns best,
the way we test and structure exams hasn’t changed much.
And there is no realistic discussion right now about scrapping Year 12 exams for those following the academic routes and ATAR.
So, if we accept that,
then we might as well view exams in a productive and positive light.
So I want to offer a way to do that:
First we need to understand that getting great results in exams is about much more than learning and regurgitating information.
Yes, subject knowledge is important,
but what’s equally important is the ability to decipher what a question is really asking and at what cognitive level.
And by cognitive level, I mean what level of detail and depth. For example a question that asks your teen to define, say, food hygiene, is quite different to a question that asks them to explain the importance of food hygiene.
Or a question that asks for a description of a painting or artwork, requires a much lower level response than one which asks your teen to analyse that artwork.
One example where students fall into this trap is with novel or movie analyses.
They often end up simply describing the storyline or the characters, rather than analysing the techniques that have gone into these and how they relate to a certain theme or purpose.
So how does this make exams useful?
Well, it could be argued that knowing the symbolism an author has used to portray a theme in a novel isn’t going to be that relevant in later life,
it’s not going to serve students particularly well in writing a job application or carrying out there job (whatever tasks that could involve)
being able to serve clients,
or write a funding grant,
or following a set of instructions.
The actual subject content and knowledge and understanding required may not be that useful.
It can be interesting, and it can show an ability to think and operate at a certain level,
but useful in a practical sense – not really.
But the skill of being able to work out what is wanted and needed is going to be super useful.
Knowing how to figure out what people want and then how to give it to them in the most effective and efficient way is extremely useful and can serve your teen in so many ways.
Whether they work for a boss and need to fulfil their demands,
whether they are serving clients and customers,
whether they run their own business or projects and need to create products and services,
or if they’re applying for funding and grants for a charity or not-for-profit organisation.
So, I hope this waves a little sprinkle of positivity over exams.
If we’re accepting that they’re a part of most students’ lives, then we might as well consider them as positively as possible and focus on the ways they can serve and help students today.
This way, the exam technique skills they learn and hone to tackle them,
like identifying command words,
knowing exactly how to respond to them
and properly understanding mark schemes and rubrics, well, these will not only serve them amazingly well for their exams
but will also be in place for whatever lies ahead beyond those exams too.
Leave me a comment below – I’d love to know what plans or dreams has your teen got for their future
and how could the skills of getting to grips with what’s wanted and knowing how to provide it – help them succeed in that as well as their exams?
“Where do I start?” Or “I don’t know where to start.”
Ever heard anything like that from your teen?
And have you or one of their teachers ever, in a totally well-meaning way, ever replied with “Just start somewhere.”
Or, maybe been tempted to say “Try anything just to get started.” “Start with the bit you do know.”
Unfortunately, that’s not good advice.
It’s coming from a place of encouragement and action, but it can just lead to many hours of wasted time and energy. And plenty of frustration and disheartenment to boot.
So what to do instead?
Plan.
Make a clear plan of what needs to be done and what’s going into each element.
So for an essay, just having a plan that says intro, body paragraph 1, body paragraph 2, and 3 and conclusion isn’t good enough. It’s a fraction better than having zero structure, but it’s definitely not enough.
Now, I’m not going to go into all the details of what should exactly go into a plan, and HOW to do it.
I do that in my Write Like an A-Grader Training.
Instead I want to focus simply on why that plan is so essential
and why it’s such an amazing indicator of whether a student is going to complete a task smoothly and successfully,
or whether they’re heading into the dreaded waffle zone,
(or not even that far – staying stuck and frustrated with a blank screen or blank page in front of them).
Because if your teen isn’t able to make a clear and detailed plan,
then they aren’t going to be able to write a clear and cohesive, high quality response.
In other words, if they don’t know what to put in their plan,
then it’s no wonder they are feeling stuck and finding it hard to get started or make progress.
They’re likely confused or simply feeling kinda empty about what they need to do and how to do it.
To make a plan, they need two things:
They need to learn how to identify what a task or question or essay title is REALLY asking and what they need to do to respond appropriately.
And
They need to be clear on the subject content and how it links to the demands of the task.
Only THEN will they be able to devise a thesis statement or have a clear focus.
And only with THAT will they be able to pick out the evidence and examples that need to go in their body paragraphs.
These are the things that need to go into their plan.
The direction or focus or thesis
and then
the content to support that.
If they aren’t able to create a clear plan, then they have little hope of creating even a satisfactory response.
So many students want to bypass the planning stage because they feel it’s time-consuming and they want to just dive straight in.
The total.opposite. is true.
The planning stage is not only an essential part of crafting a high quality response,
but it’s a very clear indicator of whether your teen’s clear on the task, the demands of the command word (or words!) and the focus of every paragraph.
So if your teen’s feeling stuck, confused or finds themselves in the waffle zone part way through an extended response, assignment or essay task,
then they need to go back to the planning stage.
Figure that out first, use the gaps in it to guide them on getting the help and clarity they need
and the rest will become a LOT quicker, smoother and more successful.
If you know anyone else who’d benefit from this tip, then feel free to forward it or share it online,
and until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week!
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.
If your teen’s ever had an exam Q that’s involved a graph, chart, diagram or stats of some sort,
reading from it, or drawing it, then THIS is for you.
It’s probably THE most specific bit of exam advice ever.
And it’s important I share it because:
it’s part of the marking criteria for these types of Qs,
and yet
so many students are unaware of it, or are simply overlooking it.
I shared this tip (more like vital instruction!) at a school workshop with a Year 12 cohort and on the drive home decided I had to share it more widely.
Here’s ‘exactly’ what it is…
It’s a two steps forward, one step back affair at the moment (literally!).
And we realised (after a ‘help!’ email to our dog trainer!) that we’re just trying to do too much ‘fun stuff’ without having the basics TOTALLY nailed.
Makes sense. (We’ll put the Australia’s Got Talent application away for now then) 😉
And it might be the same for your teen.
Check out the ‘basics’ they might be leaving behind in pursuit of the higher grades (and of course, how they can get any missing parts of their foundations filled in)!
Did the construction workers go about building the Sydney harbour bridge without a proven framework, a clear strategy and a set of step-by-step instructions and stages?
Of course not.
And even if they did AND managed to produce a functioning bridge by making it up and figuring it out as they went,
it VERY likely wouldn’t have been completed in the most efficient, smooth or stress-free way.
So it’s no wonder students struggle to write an essay or assignment or even just answer a few topic questions, when they don’t have a clear strategy or step-by-step breakdown of how to tackle the task.
And it’s no wonder they don’t get the best result when they don’t have a clear vision of what the successful outcome will include or look like, how it will address all the criteria and how to make it happen.
A “problem” is simply a gap,
an open space between point A and point B.
And almost always, it’s an open space you can bridge.
For example, a problem a student might be given in Maths is the gap between the scenario presented and the solution or answer.
Or a more general study problem your teen may face in English might be
‘how do I write an essay on that?’
And the gap is the structure and content that makes up that essay.
Either way,
they need to build a bridge to cross that gap and arrive at the solution or a successful end result.
So the focus on achieving better results with less stress, is really about the bridge.
Did the construction workers go about building the Sydney harbour bridge without a proven framework, a clear strategy and a set of step-by-step instructions and stages?
Of course not.
And even if they did AND managed to produce a functioning bridge by making it up and figuring it out as they went,
then even though it might be a successful outcome,
it VERY likely wouldn’t have been completed in the most efficient, smooth or stress-free way.
So why would your teen do the same?
It’s no wonder that we struggle to get ourselves from start to finish with a task or assignment if we don’t have a clear strategy, step-by-step breakdown or a clear vision of where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.
As I tell everyone,
it’s not just a case of working harder.
If a team of engineers and builders just kept laying more and more bricks,
or working longer hours every day,
or putting more and more bolts between the steel parts,
does that guarantee a better bridge?
Nope.
A clear template, a set of steps, an order of tasks and even an example of a successful bridge built in the same way somewhere else,
that’s what’s going to make the job a lot faster, easier and produce a more successful outcome.
That’s why I’m all about providing students with these tools and strategies.
Giving them the simple yet super-effective tools, checklists and tricks to make their writing sound amazing in my Write Like an A-Grader training
from note-taking to what to do in the final minutes of an exam. From Motivation and organisation to the template for an analytical essay at the highest cognitive level of evaluation.
And dissecting model responses and mark schemes in my annual live Exam Mastery Workshop.
I really want to get across one thing…
That a problem or a challenge,
simply shows that there is a gap.
And there is a solution,
a strategy,
a template
or a skill
that will bridge that gap, no matter how big or small.
If you’d like to talk to me about any of the gaps or problems that are stopping your teen from being Happy, Smart and Successful,
then I’m making some time available in my diary these next couple of weeks to chat to parents so that I can see what students are most struggling with at the moment and tailor my upcoming content to be as helpful as possible.
In return I’ll give you my feedback and tips on how your teen can bridge those gaps.
Just drop me an email (katie.price@rocksolidstudy.com.au) referencing this blog and I’ll send you a link to book in a time for a free and casual chat 🙂
