This week we're delighted to share an article written by Professor Ellen Bremen. In this article she shares her experiences as a parent as well as a professor with us on how to encourage great study. Ellen is a tenured professor of Communication Studies at Highline Community College. She is dedicated to helping students develop better relationships with their teachers and professors with the aim of prospering better student-professor relations, higher grades, and improved skills. You can … [Read more...]
Why Your Teen Is Lying To Themselves (And To You)
Most students are really good liars. Actually, so are we! And so are you. Humans are all so good at lying in fact, that we’re capable of convincing even ourselves of our lies to the extent that we outright believe them! The most common lies include: I don’t need to exercise more; Having that piece of cake won’t matter tomorrow; I don’t need to talk to my husband/wife about how stressed I really am; I couldn’t possibly change career directions at this stage in my life; I don’t have time to … [Read more...]
7 Must Do’s For Speeches and Presentations
For 99.9% of students the thought of giving a speech or presentation in front of their teacher and 30 judgmental peers conjures up all sorts of nasty feelings. You may be aware that statistically some people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of death! And it’s no wonder. High school is a pressure cooker of social acceptance at the best of times! Embarrassing oneself in front of their classmates is something to be avoided at all costs. What makes it worse is that presentations … [Read more...]
Ways to Keep Your Teen’s Brain Working Over the Summer Break
Hopefully your teen is thoroughly enjoying their summer break right now. Exams are behind them, and the new school year isn’t even on the radar yet. But we hope that they haven’t switched their brain off completely. Three months is a really long time for your teen to not be focused at all on learning. This article is all about the things that you can do for your teen that will make their eventual return to the classroom not seem like a complete shock to the system. Plus they may even return … [Read more...]
Why The Classroom Doesn’t Cut It For Your Teen
You may be familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000 Hour Rule”. In his book Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell claims that the common denominator of those who are ‘successful’ is that they’ve spent at least 10,000 hours developing/practicing/polishing their skill. 10,000 hours equates to approximately five years full time work at 40 hours a week. That’s a lot of hours. But are we really surprised by this claim? It’s not rocket science. People who spend a lot of time doing something … [Read more...]
How To Help Your Teen With Their Science Subjects
We realised this week that we’ve failed to talk much about the topic we’re most qualified to talk about – the sciences. This is perhaps because it’s quite difficult to cover a science-related topic that’s relevant to most students. But today we’re gonna try. We don’t envy the job of high school science teachers. It must be truly difficult to cover what their curriculum requires them to teach in a school year. This post is not about blame, it’s just about fact. The fact of the … [Read more...]
You’re Not Alone – The most common high school struggles
Last week we asked you what your teen struggles with most when it comes to school and studying. We want to say a big thank you to everyone who wrote in. We were thrilled by the number of you who got in touch and shared your story with us. Perhaps not so surprisingly, the vast majority of questions had something to do with motivation. Well... really lack thereof... Other common questions brought up the topics of stress and time management. We hope that our responses shed new light on … [Read more...]
How to Write Incredibly Bad Study Notes
Studying IS making study notes. At least that’s what students tell us when we ask them what studying involves. We agree that, in most cases, making study notes should be what your teen spends most of their time doing while preparing for exams. It’s our belief that it doesn’t matter what your teen’s predominant Learning Style is, study notes are a must for everyone sitting written exams. Because study notes are such an integral part of studying for exams, we think all teens should know the … [Read more...]
Making The Word Count Count
The word limits on essays and assignments can be annoying and, at times, even a little intimidating. Meeting any word count requirements are built into the assessment criteria of a particular assignment. This alone should be enough reason for your teen to obey them. But in addition to that, they also give valuable information on how to plan the work. 1. Start with the research Obviously, a longer word count requires more information than a shorter piece. So it is reasonable to assume … [Read more...]
Good Grades Are Only Part Of The Equation For Life Success
Today we’re going to talk about something a bit different to our normal study skills-based articles. We want to take a look at the bigger picture. Perspective is important. In a way it’s not ‘news’ to us, but we’ve come across a really interesting article on the findings of Christy Lleras, a professor of human and community development at the University of Illinois. Her findings highlight the pivotal importance of ‘soft skills’ in determining a high school student’s higher academic … [Read more...]