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 🙂
