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Simple trick to fit ANY writing to ANY type of task

When it comes to writing, students need to show they can craft their writing to the purpose of the assignment or to the audience they’re writing for.

So it’s essential that your teen’s skilled at adapting their style and vocabulary depending on the type of task.

That’s why I’m gonna share with you a quick and simple trick they can use to do this easily and instantly.
(Yep, really!)

I love this snappy little technique, because it’s super simple, really quick (no genius brain cells required) but also hugely effective.

 

 

I can tell you, from marking hundreds, actually it’s probably thousands, of creative and formal writing exams, that this ‘style’ or ‘appropriate to genre’ element is a critical part of the marking criteria for almost any task.

Now, there are LOTS of different types of formats, genres and forms of written tasks.
Some of the most obvious or common are narratives or short stories, persuasive speeches, inquiries, analytical essays, scientific reports, feature articles… and that’s just a few.

There are heaps more.

So I want to share with you one of the ways to make a clear distinction between these, and then a simple but effective way your teen can adapt their writing to fit it.

Right, STEP ONE:

Your teen needs to determine whether their task requires them to write formally or informally.

Examples of a formal assignment include:
– an analytical essay,
– a research report,
– a scientific investigation,
– a historical enquiry.

Examples requiring a less formal writing style include:
– a monologue,
– a narrative (AKA a short story),
– a blog article
or even
– a movie or book review,
or
– magazine column.

 

Of course these examples are not exhaustive and this is really a continuous scale.
After all, when it comes to a speech, an official speech from the Prime Minister would be quite different in style and formality compared to a speech at a wedding!

So that first step is to consider where the task lies on the scale from formal to casual.

 

Then, once they‘ve determined what level of formality their writing needs to take – they can think about…

STEP TWO:
Identifying the tools and techniques that are most appropriate and getting to work on incorporating them into their writing.

Wow, there are LOTS of different tools.

So I want to give you just one.
Why?

Because it’s one of the simplest and easiest, but super-effective tricks to make their writing instantly stand out as either formal or informal.

 

It’s using CONTRACTIONS – or – NOT using them.

 

Let’s take a quick flash back to English grammar lessons…
*cue floaty flashback music*

Contractions are where we join two words to make one with an apostrophe.
Like:

  • it is – becomes – it’s
  • where has my pen gone – becomes – where’s my pen gone?

And from that last example you can probably already see the effect this little change has.

Contractions make things more casual.
They’re great for using in direct speech for characters in a story.

— Oooh – there’s another one – see how I contracted they are to they’re 😉

Anyway…

Students should use contractions when they want to produce a less formal style of writing.
Perhaps for a script or a blog, or even a feature article.

 

And the opposite is true for formal writing.

Keeping all words complete and separate keeps writing sound a lot more serious and official.
Like this: They are good for science reports, essays and other formal style tasks.
See how that already sounds more official than ‘They’re good’?

Have your teen give it a go.

You’ll be surprised at the difference it makes and how it can boost their achievement in writing appropriately to the task, genre or specified audience.

Then, once you’ve seen what a difference such a tiny tweak can make,
go check out my Write Like an A-Grader online training – 9 short and powerful modules for creating writing that WOW’s the marker!

It’s packed with strategies, tips and techniques like this and much more sophisticated ones too, from coming up with A-Grade ideas and structuring them, to the final edit and proofread.

And if you know anyone else who’d benefit from this tip, then please feel free to forward them a link to this video or blog article and feel free to share it on your social media.

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

Yours,
Katie 🙂

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My personal story and HOW it can help YOU

Flashback time…

I wanna share a moment in my life when I was a student.

There really was nothing stand-out, unusual or particularly special about it at all (which actually shows why it’s an issue for so many teens still today).

But now, looking back, I think it’s very telling why I remember it so clearly (and is the reason I’m sharing it!).

Here, I explain where I was going oh-so wrong!

 

 

Now, I shared this story just once or twice in the early days of Rock Solid Study.

But it’s occurred to me that most of the parents and students in our community NOW have probably never heard it.

There I was, 17 years old, sat in the study area of the library at Sixth Form College (that’s the equivalent stage in England of Year 11 and 12 here in Aus).

I was being the model, diligent student.

I’d heard more than once how good students needed to do ‘extra reading around the subject’ to get great results.

So I did just that.

Sat writing notes from a National Geographic article to add to my Geography work.

I can’t remember exactly what the article was about – something to do with rainforests I think. I can’t even remember exactly what the topic or unit was we were studying in Geography at the time. I think it might’ve been something to do with ecosystems? Or maybe it was sustainable resources, or even sustainable tourism.

But whatever it was, there I was sat writing out notes about some ‘case study example’ that had SOMEthing to do with the topic I was currently studying.

Now, that shows self-motivation, right?

No-one had made me do it.
No-one had set it for homework.
I was going over and above.
It shows independence and pro-active, positive steps to improving my results.

Right?
Right?!!….

Well, no.

I’m afraid not.

Well, yes to the self-motivation, to being pro-active, to doing what I thought I had to, what I’d been TOLD I had to, to get my best possible grades.

But taking positive steps to improving my results?

Nope.

Just… no!

And here is the interesting part – or at least it’s interesting to me now.

I genuinely remember feeling even at the time, sat there, blue pen in one hand,  red pen at the ready for key words, feeling like I didn’t really know how this was going to help me.

I figured that maybe I’d be able to mention it in an answer to an exam question.

I just blindly followed the very general advice.

I kinda questioned it in the sense that I wasn’t sure HOW it would help.

But I buried that uncertainty and just did it anyway!

The truth is, that advice of wider reading is one of the very LAST things students should or could do to improve their grades.

They don’t really need extra case studies. They’ll cover the ones they need within the syllabus and term planners – or at least they should be.

And they don’t need extra information beyond what’s in the syllabus dot points because it won’t and can’t be examined anyway. That’s a very strict rule of exam boards in how exams are written.

Plus, I could list a hundred other activities that would have a greater and more direct impact on building skills, knowledge and success academically.

I know them from over a decade in teaching, tutoring, exam marking and extrernal exam board training.

Which is why I’ve made it my mission to train students in the very best and most effective actions and skills in my programs, workshops and personal coaching, especially in my 10 Week Grade Transformation program.

So, my message is this:

If your teen’s doing something to extend themselves, but has no idea how it links to building their skills or performance against the syllabus criteria and exam technique elements,
then either they need to find out HOW it’s really going to help,
or,
if there IS no clear link, then they need to stop doing it and find something a LOT more effective to put their time, energy and effort into.

So they aren’t working hard for little outcome or reward.

So they aren’t wasting time and effort.

But instead:

They study and build their knowledge and skills in a way that gets results.

Or,

even use the time to relax or enjoy some time with friends and family instead.

Just don’t let them work hard without knowing exactly how that work is going to help boost their results.

So if you’d like them to have the exact steps and guidance to do things that’ll actually pay off – that’ll give them the biggest bang for their buck – then go and checkout the 10 Week Grade Transformation Program so they can be led step by step through the most effective ways to make their foundations really solid, and do the things that will really catapult their grades and confidence.

I’d love to hear your take on this.

Are there any examples of work or practise that really has or totally hasn’t paid off for you in the past, or right now for your teen? Drop a comment below this video or send me an email, – katie.price@rocksolidstudy.com.au–  and until next week, let’s make this a fantastic and USEFUL week!

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Asking quality Q’s = Getting quality help!

Ever had this conversation with your son or daughter?

They come to you with “I don’t really get it, I’m just not too sure what I’m meant to do”

And so you say: “Did you ask the teacher?”
They reply with “Yeah, but they weren’t really very helpful”

So how can your teen get better help when they need to ask for it at school?
How can they get *specific and *actionable answers?

Well, they need to… ASK BETTER Q’s.
And here’s exactly (like, word-for-word exact-ness) HOW.

 

 

Ever had this conversation with your son or daughter?

They come to you with “I don’t really get it, I’m just not too sure what I’m meant to do”

And so you say: “Did you ask the teacher?”
And they reply with “Yeah, but they weren’t really very helpful”

And then the confusion and frustration continues with whatever topic or task it is that they’re stuck on.

So how can your teen get better help when they need to ask for it at school?
How can they get *specific and *actionable answers?

Well, they need to… ASK BETTER Q’s!

I’m Katie Price, Grade Transformation Expert and I KNOW there are different types of teachers out there.

Some will happily sit down for ages with students who are stuck and discuss a task or topic until they’re all over it.

Other’s will be less likely to, and perhaps for valid reasons – they want students to be more independent or the task simply requires that,

OR perhaps a student just hasn’t caught them at a moment where they have the time.

So, here’s how your teen can ask QUALITY Q’s to get better QUALITY answers.

The key here is to turn basic, low quality statements into high quality, specific Qs.

Some examples of low use statements would be:

“I just don’t get it”. Or “I have no idea where to start”.

These give the teacher nothing to go on and no foundation to build on.

 

Even if your teen FEELS those statements are true for them, it’s unlikely that they’re true in reality.

They need to find elements (ANY elements) that they DO understand, and then consider the next step and why that’s got them stuck.

Like for a science inquiry:

“I’ve got my data and results, I’ve put them into tables and graphs, but how do I actually analyse them?

That positive start to the sentence shows the teacher they’ve made some progress by themselves (which will also increase that teacher’s willingness to help),

AND importantly, the student is following up with the exact skill they’re stuck on.

This gives the teacher a clear point for them to work from with the student and gives both the student AND teacher a clear success marker – because if your teen at the end of the chat understands how to analyse and has the skills or templates to go away and do so themselves, then they can make progress.

If they don’t have that then the Q hasn’t been answered.

But what if they haven’t made ANY progress?

What if they’re stuck just getting started? Well there’s still a positive progress statement that can be made AND a quality Q that can be asked.

Let’s say it’s an essay and they just don’t know where to start.

Well, if you’ve followed me for a while now, you’ll know I suggest students NEVER start with the intro – go check out my blog video ‘Write the Intro Last’ for that. And so, given that, then here’s what this scenario might sound like…

“I know that I need to find evidence that supports my argument or point for the essay” – it’s a basic requirement that everyone should know from Year 7 onwards (as evidence is one of the E’s of PEEL or TEEL paragraphs), so this is an easy way to give a positive statement. Then they could follow it with “ but I’m not sure what my argument or point IS”.

That tells the teacher that they know the basic structure they need to take to be able to start drafting the essay, but they need help deciphering the essay title or the thesis statement or the requirements of the response.

This is likely what they’re really stuck on if they don’t know where to start. And getting their focus and direction sorted and having a clear argument or point to prove is a key step in this.

A LOT of other elements can slot into place once those are clear.

Or, finally, if it’s more topic based, let’s say they’re stuck on how to solve quadratic equations in Maths, then they can change statements like “I just don’t get it” or “ I have no idea how to do any of this” to…

“I understand that quadratic equations have a squared value in them, but I don’t get why there are two solutions”.

Or

“I’m okay with some basic algebra, like collecting like terms, but how do I actually solve equations?”

Again, we’re finding ANY thing they DO know or they CAN do and then specifying a clear step that they can’t or they’re not sure of.

So, if your teen wants quality help, then they need to stay away from the low quality sweeping statements like “I don’t know where to start” or “I just don’t get it”

and dig a little deeper themselves first, to come up with a positive progress statement followed by a QUALITY question.

If you’re enjoying these videos and tips then, then please give this a like or a thumbs-up, and if you know anyone else who could benefit from this, then please go ahead and share it with them. ….. And if you have a scenario that your teen just can’t find a positive starter statement or quality question for, then drop it in the comments or send me an email and I’ll dive in and help you out! Katie.price@rocksolidstudy.com.au– and until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week!

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Is THIS stopping your teen becoming GREAT?

Being good at something and being comfortable with it is certainly no bad thing.

However, being ‘good’ or being comfortable, can stop us from pushing ourselves and therefore prevents us from becoming GREAT. It means we won’t work harder or do more and we don’t therefore discover how brilliant we could be… How awesome things COULD be.

 

 

Being good at something can actually be the thing that stops us becoming great at something.
What on earth am I talking about? I’ll explain all in this video.

I’m Katie Price – Grade Transformation Expert, and as a student I was in the ‘good’ category pretty much across the board.

I got mostly As and Bs, in my subjects – not without a lot of work though. I was decent at sport – always made it into the B teams for the sports I played (and sometimes got a shot in the A teams – I was the one who’d get bumped up if an A team player was away) and socially, I would be the odd Vice-captain of something on the odd occasion. So generally good, never terrible, but never GREAT.  Mostly ,I blended in and was totally okay with ALL of that.

If this is anything like your teen, OR if they’re kinda cruising or staying happily in their comfort zone right now, then this message is definitely for you.

Being good at something and being comfortable with it is certainly no bad thing.

However, what I’ve noticed – ONLY once I’ve gotten older and experienced moments of growth as well as moments of struggle and major challenges – is that being ‘good’ or being comfortable –  can stop us from pushing ourselves and therefore prevents us from becoming GREAT.

It means we won’t work harder or do more and we don’t therefore discover how brilliant we could be. How awesome things COULD be.

Now – this isn’t any major revelation… it’s really a THING and so many coaches, authors and well, pretty much everyone who studies or teaches human behaviour and psychology in any way have laid this out clearly for years. But it’s something I’ve been hearing about more and more from parents, and like I said earlier, it’s something I can definitely relate to in my own life and decisions and in others around me.

Cruising means we’re not pushing ourselves. And I certainly wouldn’t say I was cruising as a student, but I did realise just how much more I could push myself when I once got a D in an exam…Argh!

It was my first major exam of A-Level Maths – the equivalent of Maths Methods or Advanced Mathematics depending on your state over here. And it was certainly a big jump from the GCSE level Maths I’d gotten an A in previously.

And that D freaked me out!

I started going to all the extra lunch time tutorials, did extra practise Qs for homework and basically levelled up my study. Because I was a little concerned that that could happen in my other subjects too. I pushed myself harder than I ever had before because I was suddenly uncomfortable.

And you may well have seen this happen in aspects of your own or your teen’s life. It takes something that makes us UNcomfortable to make us change or take action.

I bet you’ve had that situation in the car, where we experience a hairy moment or a near-miss when we’re driving, and suddenly we’re paying super-close attention to EVERY car, pedestrian and road sign for the rest of the journey. That dodgy moment made us uncomfortable and made us focus and concentrate harder straight afterwards.

My mum used to be a smoker and had tried giving up heaps of times, until her best friend – also a smoker – was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. One week later, my mum had given up smoking and hasn’t smoked a cigarette since.

If a situation isn’t GOOD – it FORCES us to take action, to work harder or to seek help or do something about it. To become great at whatever will help us overcome or avoid that situation.

Which is why many parents come to me or enrol their teen in my 10Wk Program, when they’re struggling in some way or with some aspect of their study and need to take action to get good or become great at the things that are holding them back.

AND it’s why I get especially excited for those students and parents who get on board when they’re NOT uncomfortable and they’re already doing pretty well – BUT they’re either keen to see how much better they could be. They know that they COULD be GREAT rather than GOOD if they just had some of the skills, techniques and know-how that I teach.

So if your teen’s currently a little uncomfortable or facing challenges in any aspect of their study – assignments, essay-writing, exams, note-taking, researching or just being organised, motivated and efficient….

OR if they’re doing ok but kinda cruising,

OR perhaps they’re going good but you wanna see if they can turn good into great – then drop me an email or check out my 10 Week Grade Transformation Program which is open for enrolment right now.

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

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Posted in Assignments, Essays, Exams, Goal setting, Homework, Mindset, Results, Techniques & Strategies
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The truth about these ‘fun and modern’ assignments

Do you remember the days when an essay was an essay, and a presentation was a presentation?
We knew where we stood with those (even if we didn’t necessarily like them).

But now it’s all ‘create a video movie review’,
or ‘record a podcast episode about a historic figure’,
or ‘write a blog about a character in such-and-such a novel’
or… (and this is probably the most common right now)…

‘perform a TED talk about a current issue in society’

Well, I’m here to tell you that really – not a lot has changed.
Stick with me and I’ll explain why really, it’s still just essay-writing in disguise.

 

Tell me if your teen has been set anything like this lately…

– Create a VLOG movie review, or record a podcast episode about a historic figure,

or write a blog about a character in such-and-such a novel OR…

this is probably the most common right now… perform a TED talk about a current issue in society.

Do you remember the days when an essay was an essay, and a presentation was a presentation? Back when there wasn’t even powerpoint to take the pressure off YOU  and onto the slides alongside us?

Well, I’m here to tell you that really – not a lot has changed. Stick with me and I’ll explain all…

Because oh-boy – it’s something I’m seeing crop up more and more for students and the tasks they’re being set.

I want to share with EVERYONE out there the key point that so many are missing when it comes to
these new, fun, and funky style assignments I see cropping up a TON these days.

Or at least they’re TRYING to SOUND fun and funky…

Like, perform a TED Talk, create a VLOG, or record a podcast episode.

These new-fangled assignments are supposed to:

(a) be more up-to-date and relevant to life today and

(b) be more FUN.

So that students see the point of them and enjoy doing them more.

And there is nothing wrong with that – except that actually these are all just pretty much the same thing, wrapped up in different coloured bows.

And those fancy bows are causing quite a few students a bit of confusion.

They don’t know HOW to write a blog. They’ve no idea where to start with planning a podcast.

And so I have some good news and bad news. And a very clear message to take away – so stick with me to the end here.

Okay – the good news is this:

There are no fancy or brand new structures, templates or scaffolds needed here. No new-fangled techniques, features or skills required that your teen doesn’t already know about or haven’t been shown before (or at least HOPEfully knows about if they’ve ever written a PEEL or TEEL paragraph, or a standard 5 paragraph essay).

Because the marking criteria for a TED talk will still demand an introduction, body and conclusion – but maybe just with a fancy hook thrown in as the very first sentence of the intro.

The teacher is still going to be looking for a VLOG or a podcast or a blog article to have a clear intro to the topic, discussion – in other words – a body – and a summary or – yep, you guessed it – a conclusion.

So here’s the bad news:

These cool and funky tasks really aren’t all that new and exciting when it comes down to it.

Because – shock-horror – It’s basically still an essay, with a bit of a tweak of language or an extra little bit of word-based glitter thrown on top, like a fun and engaging opening or ending.

And I’m not here to pooh-pooh the idea of making things more relevant to today or trying to make them a little more fun.

But I DO want to reveal these tasks for what they really ARE so that students aren’t left feeling confused about what they have to do or how to tackle them.

I want students to realise that really, they just have to write an essay and then perform it.

They still need an intro with a thesis statement or hypothesis or key argument, 3 body paragraphs that support and discuss their key point or theme or message, and a conclusion that reinforces it.

So, the message I want you take away from this, is no matter what the task is called, it’s very likely that it’s still an essay format behind the scenes. So don’t let any fun disguises lead to confusion or overwhelm. Just write an essay.

Intro – body – conclusion.

And tweak that essay a little to fit with the genre and final format.

 

 

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What we need to ACTUALLY get a task DONE.

Is your teen procrastinating over something?
Getting started on a task, finishing something they started, something small, something big?

It might be because they’re missing one of the essential resources that we ALL need to get ANY task done.

 

What do we need to get any task done?

There are four essential resources – key ingredients if you like –
and without any one of them, we’re likely to fall short of our goal or the required outcome.

 

So what are they?
Let’s see if you can work it out from this recent not-so-academic example for me…

My husband and I needed to put up a fence a couple of months ago.
Because #Bonnie #NewDogParents ??

So, we put aside a couple of days to do it and roped in a couple of DIY savvy friends of ours too,
because although I’d love to be,
we are NOT the most practical or knowledgeable when it comes to DIY beyond hammering a picture hook into a wall!
We needed their skills and we needed their tools. (Big time).

(Honestly, it more ended up like us helping and them doing the fence.
And my main skills were mainly in the tea, coffee and snacks department – but those are kind of essential too, right?!)…

So, anyway – did you pick them out?
The 4 key resources?

Well, they are:

– TIME (to do the job and any prep)
– PEOPLE (who know what they’re doing!)
– SKILLS (the knowledge and the ‘how’ to do it)
and
– TOOLS. (what practical things you need to be able to do it)

 

Let’s use a different example that’s a bit more academic:

For any webinar I host, I need:
– time to plan the content,
– time to deliver the webinar
and I need
– people: Me to plan and deliver it, my glamorous assistant Alistair to monitor it, and sometimes the brilliant tech support people.
On that tech note, I need
– tools: I need the webinar software, plus the powerpoint software for the slides, and the laptop to do it on.

Plus I need
– skills: Skills in putting the powerpoint together and skills in running the webinar software, plus speaking and presentation skills too.

 

And, for your teen and their study, it’s the same.

For them, their 4 essential resources will look like this:

Time – time to get that essay written, to complete that exam, or to revise the subject matter, or simply to get those questions done for homework.

People – this includes themselves to do the work, but of course also their teachers, any tutors and perhaps their friends or you as parents for help or a practice audience maybe.

Tools – including their laptop, their stationery, and of course any other practical or subject specific gear, a graphics calculator perhaps or art equipment for example.

And finally,
Skills – which I’ll come back to in a moment 😉

Because first consider the fact that really, students need to minimise the first two if they’re to study successfully, efficiently and independently.

And when it comes to official assessments and exams, then this is critical.

When it comes to the ‘people’ resource,
they won’t be able to get help from friends, parents or teachers when they’re sat in the exam hall.
And they don’t want to be wasting time seeking out that help or waiting on it during their revision.
And in general, they don’t want to be spending more time than is necessary on each and every task.
They’ll almost always feel like there’s more content to be covered than there is time available when it comes to revision, so they want to make that as efficient and effective as possible.
They want to still have time for friends, family and hobbies and so want to minimise time spent on homework whilst also ensuring it’s still of a high quality.

 

And this is where that fourth resource comes in: SKILLS.

Students need to know and master the techniques and strategies that’ll make them effective as well as efficient in their study.

So they don’t waste time using revision strategies that aren’t effective.
So that they don’t waste time on false start after false start on that inquiry or assignment they’ve been set.
So that they don’t have to edit and re-draft their essays more times than is necessary.

And instead, craft and construct writing that is high quality and focused on the elements that’ll gain them marks in a rubric or mark scheme.

They need a proven system that’ll get them on the right track from the very start and then have the techniques and skills to complete any task to a high level.

And they need the six elements of exam technique that enable them to tackle questions and essays with clarity and confidence, because they know exactly what the question’s really asking, and they have the knowledge and ability to get the required info from brain to paper in the way that the marking guide requires.

 

These skills of:
– exam technique,
– high quality written communication
and
– extended response structure and planning
are critical for students to operate independently with confidence in their study.

And it’s this resource of SKILLS that I believe to be most important.
Because with the necessary skills, your teen can reduce or make the others more efficient.

It means they’re less reliant on other people
(like you, their friends, tutor or teachers),
they can use any necessary tools more efficiently and smoothly,
and it takes less time to complete homework exam Qs or essays (AND they can do so to a higher standard).

 

I’d love to know, which of the four essential resources – time, people, tools or skills – does your teen have and which do you feel they are lacking?
Let me know in the comments, or send me an email 🙂

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

Katie 🙂

 

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How to answer high level essays and exam Qs (Part 2)

I explained in my previous blog the exact reasons why students struggle so much with the highest cognitive performance ‘Evaluation’ level essay titles and exam questions.

(And the fact that these are the Qs that every student should be perfecting because:
1 >> they’re worth the most marks, and 2 >> they give students access to the highest marking criteria in rubrics).

So that’s why this week, I’m giving you a very specific strategy to help your teen deal with those high level ‘Evaluation’ essays and exam Qs.

I’m letting you in on the EXACT words that’ll help ANY student:
– make sense of these Qs,
– know exactly what they’re really asking
AND
– be able to clearly and easily structure a response accordingly.

> Looking for Part I to this blog?… It’s HERE! <

Which exam questions and essay titles do students dread the most?

The ones that are also (unfortunately for those students) almost always worth the most marks?

Yep, it’s those Qs right at the top of the pyramid of Bloom’s Taxonomy and Marzano’s Taxonomy – the evaluation level Qs.

 

And I explained in my previous blog the exact reasons why students struggle so much with these types of essay titles and exam questions.

 

So, if you haven’t already watched that, then I’d recommend you check that out HERE,
because this week I’m going to give you a specific strategy to help your teen deal with those high level ‘Evaluation’ essays and exam Qs.

So stick around because I’m letting you in on the EXACT words that’ll help ANY student:
– make sense of these Qs,
– know exactly what they’re really asking
AND
– be able to structure a response accordingly.

 

So, if you watched my last video, you’ll know how evaluation Qs are worded and that they require students to make a JUDGEMENT.

 

Here’s the strategy for how to do that in words, on paper:

They need to consider or turn the wording of the Q into
–  TO WHAT EXTENT –
and craft their essay or answer around that.

Examples:

So, instead of “evaluate the experiment” – turn it into:

To what extent was the experiment accurate and reliable?

Instead of  “Y leader was influential in X event. Discuss” – turn it into:

To what extent did Y leader influence X event?

Or change “assess the success of the director in persuading the audience to agree with their point of view “– change it to:

To what extent was the director successful in persuading the viewer to agree with their message, or understand their point of view?

“And how do you answer THAT?” I hear you ask.

Well, given that wording, now their thesis statement or key point to focus on will be one of 3 responses of:

  1. Yes / totally / very successfully.

(Depending on the wording or topic of the Q)
– and then here are the reasons why and supporting evidence …

OR

2.  No / not at all / or was not successful  – and here’s why… (reasons and supporting evidence)

OR

3.  To some extent – and here are the two sides of the argument.

 

So in summary, responding successfully to these types of questions involves 2 key things:

>>> Changing the wording or considering the Q to be a ‘to what extent’ question,

and then

>>> Responding in one of those 3 ways – yes, totally, and here’s why –  no, not at all, and here’s why, or to some extent and here are the two sides

I know this is a very practical and actionable specific strategy, (probably one of the best that I’ve given away for free!) so if you know others who might also find this tip useful, please feel free to share this video – forward the email, share the video link, post it on social media…  and until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week!

**** If your teen would LOVE all the quick and practical, immediately actionable strategies to get them writing quality essays and exam answers, smoothly, confidently and successfully, then you definitely need to check out my 10 Week Grade Transformation Program!

 

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High level essay and exam Qs (Part I) – What they are and why they’re so TOUGH!

What do you get if you cross the most dreaded type of exam Q with the one type of Q that’s almost always worth the most marks?

Nope, that was not the start of a joke – I’m useless at telling jokes.
And that would be a pretty dull joke, right?

I’m talking about a real combo that crops up in exams way too often for many students.

Here’s what it is and why these Qs are so dang tough!

(Just a heads up: There’s a lot I want to cover on this, so this is part one of two videos I’m going to do on this – so be sure to look out for the second one next week!)

For most students – or at least those who haven’t been through my exam technique training 😉
– this isn’t a good combo.

Because, who wants a situation where the one type of Q you don’t feel confident in,
the one type of Q you DON’T want to come up,
not only does actually crop up (pretty commonly) but also is worth a BIG chunk of marks on the paper.

And I can tell you, I was pretty clueless on how exactly to respond to these Qs when I was a student too.

You might’ve guessed what I’m talking about, because I’ve talked about these Qs before.
They’re right at the top of the pyramid of Bloom’s Taxonomy and Marzano’s Taxonomy.
They are the evaluation level Qs.

Go and check out my Blog entitled ‘Look out – these Qs are super common’ if you’d like to hear more about where and just how much they’re cropping up across all subjects right now.

 

But today, I want to explain WHY these Qs are so tough.

 

It’s not just because this is a command at the top end of cognitive processing.
Although that is the case and does in itself make these common high end exam Qs a challenge.

 

But, in the eyes of students, it’s because the wording of them just sounds so open or vague.

Or at least they do on first appearances OR if you don’t have a specific strategy and proven structure to tackle them.

These are the questions that just give a statement and then say –  ‘discuss’.
Just that word, ‘discuss’, sends students into waffle mode, or worse, total mind-blank.

 

These are also the Qs that start with the words: ‘To what extent’… or ‘Assess’…

They may even have the word evaluate in them, like ‘Evaluate the success of’….

 

So students struggle for two main reasons – and over this and my next blog, I’m going to give you the reasons AND solutions to these struggles, so stick with me 🙂

 

Firstly:
Students aren’t clear on how to identify an evaluate level command in the first place.

They need the training in identifying and making sense of commands and cognitive verbs and the different ways they can be expressed.
One way they can do this is to research Bloom’s taxonomy and then find heaps of example Qs and fit them to each level.
Or, an easier way is to go through Catapults 6 and 7 in my 10 Week Grade Transformation Program 😉

 

And secondly, even when they figure out that they’re looking at an evaluation level Q, they don’t have a clear strategy to tackle it or a structure to follow in their response.

So, the first thing they need to know is that any evaluation Q or task requires them to make a judgement.

Think about it, look at plenty of examples, and you’ll see this is true for any type of evaluation.

EXAMPLES:

A science evaluation means your teen’s judging how well the experiment went – was their data read or measured accurately, was the methodology correctly carried out, are their results reliable?

Or if they’re evaluating a product in Design Tech– they’re judging how well that product meets the needs and demands of the target audience, how well it meets the specifications.

And to evaluate in the arts subjects, they are judging how well an author  or message to the reader for a novel, or artist conveys a certain mood.
Or they’re judging how important a particular leader was in shaping events in History, or judging how effective a particular film technique is in making a documentary appealing or striking to an audience.

 

Be sure to catch Part 2 of this info in how to deal with those high level Evaluation essays and exam Qs in my next video next week where I’ll give you the EXACT words that’ll help ANY student make sense of these Qs, know exactly what they’re really asking AND be able to structure a response accordingly.

In the mean time, I explain ALL of this and give even more examples and full response templates for all subjects in Catapult 10 of my 10 Week Grade Transformation Program which builds on the Command Words training in the earlier modules and goes into this particular command in detail.
Plus we’ll be diving deep into evaluation level Qs in the  Exam Mastery Workshop.

Can’t wait to see your teen in one of those trainings very soon!

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

Katie 🙂

 

 

 

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Stop making overwhelming to-do lists (do THIS instead!)

Does your teen get overwhelmed by all the things they have to do?

Do they sometimes have a never ending to-do list that gets them down or stresses them out?

In fact, re-write that… Don’t we all have that and feel that, most of the time?!!

I’ve always got a long to-do list and am sometimes (Okay, often) guilty
of adding way too much to that list,
as I have a tendency be a bit over-ambitious or with predicting how much I can do in a day or a week.
(I prefer to call it being ‘optimistic’) 😉

But I’ve gradually developed and honed a ‘not-a-list’ to-do system/blueprint/regime/whatever-you-wanna-call-it that I now swear by and teach all my personal coaching students to do.

And I’m gonna share it with you 🙂

(Note to self – think of a cool name for this system… ideas in an email please!)

 

 

This ‘system’ is a simple (no tech-y project management software needed, nor crazy-weird special diaries you can only get online from Sweden or wherever).
way to getting everything that needs to be done, done.
On time.
And without any added stress or feeling guilty when you’re not slaving away.

(Because yes, I used to be guilty of feeling guilty if I wasn’t working when there was oh-so much on that looooong to-do list. Until I got this sussed).

 

Now, It’s no secret to anyone who knows me or has been a part of this grade transformation community for some time, that I’m a person who likes to keep busy. I’m a do-er and a planner and I love a project.

And therefore I’ve always got a long to-do list and can often be guilty of adding way too much to that to do list as I can be a bit over ambitious with predicting how much I can do in a day or a week.

(And then moaning to my husband, Alistair, that I’m way too busy and I’ve got too much to do! He, of course, then reminds me that I was the one that gave myself those jobs in the first place, and then I sheep-ishly agree with him and go back to what I was doing, minus any sympathy I was hoping for).

 

The point is, there are a lot of positives to this – getting lots done, being efficient with my time, but it can also lead to feeling overloaded and overwhelmed if I’m not careful.

So, I’ve gradually developed a system that prevents these negatives and helps me stay calm and on top of life – (most of the time!!… Hey, no-one and no system is totally perfect!) 😉

And I thought I’d share it with you as it’s pretty simple and could be enacted by your teen too if they feel it might work for them.

 

First up: I DON’T make a to-do list.

I’ll say that again.

I NEVER write out a full to-do list.

I used to – and it was simply… overwhelming.

Plus of course I never got to the end of it, because as I’d cross things off over a few days, naturally, more things would just get added.
Know the feeling??!
So I never felt like I could just relax or watch some TV or chill out, without feeling guilty or twitchy that I should be doing something more productive, something to tick off that list.

 

Here’s what I do instead.

There are three parts to it:

1) I break down every task into specific actions

And

2) I then write each action into a specific day in my diary.

So in my diary I have specific things on specific days.
Things like anyone has in their diary – dentist appointments, coffee dates etc.
But I also have my tasks and work to do.

Then…
3) Once I’ve completed a task, I highlight it.
And yes, I even highlight the fun stuff like the coffee dates (because, everyone loves to cross things off a list right?!)

This system means I still have a visible record of what’s been done when,
because it’s not just a piece of paper or a post-it note that’s gonna get thrown away.
I can still see any outstanding tasks AND I get the glory; that sense of satisfaction, by highlighting as a way of crossing off, the item.
(Note: pretty highlighter colours can help boost that enjoyment factor just a tad more too) 🙂

 

So the rules are:
– No general list.
AND
– No big projects that are going to take more than an hour or two to complete. If they are bigger than that, they need to be broken down more.

 

EXAMPLES:

  • If it’s something small, or stand alone, like a phone call I need to make, then rather than just writing it on a piece of paper or as part of a random list, I note it down on the day I plan to do it with the time and any other details.

Then, once it’s done, I highlight it.

 

  • What about a task that requires more than a short one-off action? Or, more than an hour or two of work?

 

I’ll give an example of my coaching sessions I do with my Gold and Platinum students.

Of course I put the actual coaching session with the timing in my diary – with a buffer either side.

But there are also other tasks associated with a coaching session, and they get broken down and written in on specific days too.
I’ll put in my diary three days before to email the student and confirm the session date and time. Plus, if we haven’t already arranged what we’ll cover, I’ll ask what they want us to work on in their session.

I also put in prep time.
That goes in my diary for the day before the session.
I don’t like to do this too far in advance as I want everything to be fresh in my mind and as up to date as possible.

And then finally, I put in a note the day after our session to write it up and send through the summary document I produce, along with any resources or other help I’ve planned to pass on to the student.

So, this keeps it clear exactly how much work is involved and doesn’t leave me struggling to fit in all those other elements beyond the coaching session itself.

 

ROUND-UP:

The beauty of this system is that it not only helps me stay on top of absolutely everything;
even the small things that are associated with a task that could otherwise slip through the net or be rushed, or just add to my overwhelm if they aren’t planned for and written down.
But, it also:

++  encourages the act of breaking down any project into manageable pieces,
++  helps me track my progress
++  stay motivated and positive by seeing all the tasks I’ve accomplished
++  keeps those to-do lists much smaller and more manageable each day.

Instead of seeing 20 things to do, I might have 4 or 5.

 

ONE MORE IMPORTANT THING!…

I’ve had to train myself to only look at one day on any particular day.
That’s a really important part of it.
I have to tell myself to “just get those things done and trust that if I do, and I do that each day, then everything will be taken care of.”

THE OTHER BIG POSITIVE:

Finally, those smaller daily lists mean I can actually relax at the end, guilt-free.
If I’ve gotten everything done for the day, I can rest easy knowing that life is under control and can take some time to chill out and do whatever else I want, without worrying about the other things left to do, because I know they are programmed in for another day. Not for today.

Ahhhhh- guilt-free relaxation!

But of course, this is just what works for me and has worked for many other students I’ve shared this with and have enacted it.
Feel free to tweak and adjust.
And of course, there might be something that works even better!
Plus, hey, everyone’s different. What works for one, may not for another, and vice-versa.
So leave me a comment and let me know what systems work for you and your teen,
and until next week, let’s make this a fantastic week!

Katie 🙂

 

 

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