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!
