TRANSCRIPT:

You’re listening to The Parents of Hardworking Teens Podcast, episode 102: If your teen has had the experience of doing great one minute - or maybe one term, but then not so great the next, and it’s not because they just didn’t study, or put in any effort, then join me to figure out what might well be going on to cause those inconsistent results AND what to do about it.

Hey VIP’s! 
How are you? 

Now, if you are listening to this episode on it’s release day - that’s 11th June 2024, then be sure to come to the Exam Success Secrets webinar tonight! Register at www.gradetransformation.com/exams. 

I’m going to record it, so if you’re a couple of days beyond that, still go to that webpage and you’ll be able to access the recording. I’m going to keep the recording available for 6 days afterwards - until the 17th June.

Now, following on from exam technique that we discussed in last week’s episode and in line with the secrets to exam success which is what I’ll be sharing in the webinar, let’s talk about RESULTS. 

Results in exams, yes, but also results in assignments, reports, presentations, essays, tests.

If your teen has had the experience of doing great one minute - or maybe one term, but then not so great the next, then a) they are not alone, and b) I want to shed some light on why this happens, even when your teen is still putting in effort.

Because of course, if they just didn’t really try on that essay, or they didn’t do any revision for that exam, then it’s obvious why they might’ve gotten a lower mark.
I’m not talking about that. 

I’m talking about the times when they worked hard, put in the time and effort, were confident with the subject content, they understood the topic, had done the required work, but THEN didn’t have that translate into a result that matched that effort or knowledge, or match their usual or expected level of achievement. 

I’ve had it happen for me when I was a student and I’ve had multiple examples and stories of this happening for students.

I’ve had students totally ace an assignment one term, then bomb the next. 
I had a student tell me that he’d just gotten an A for his Physics assignment, but when I asked ‘do you know how you got the A?’ he was very honest and admitted he didn’t. He was pleased of course with the result, but didn’t know what he’d done differently or especially well to get it. 

And then I remember one parent a while back telling me her daughter had spent hours on this research project for humanities. Gotten really into the topic, had well over a page of sources listed, and submitted a hugely comprehensive research project on the topic. I really wish I could remember what the topic was, but I can’t. And they came out with a D grade. Massively disappointing, super-confusing and obviously hugely demoralising. Not least because this was one of her daughter’s favourite subjects and one that she usually did well in. 

So… what went wrong?

You might be able to guess: She didn’t answer the question. 

Exactly the same issue as happened to me… guess when… during my teacher training!

I did a post-graduate certificate of secondary education a few years after my bachelor’s degree. No- I hadn’t always wanted to be a teacher. 

Now, this is a bit of a vulnerable admission here.  But, one of our major assignments was a research project based on a more pastoral rather than subject specific issue. I can’t remember the exact title but mine was something to do with extra-curricular opportunities and dual use facilities of schools. I actually got to pick the topic from a list - and knowing what I know now, no way would I pick that topic again. 

It was because the school my teaching practise placement I was in at the time had a lot of dual use facilities and so I thought it would be a good primary source of info and show I had excellent knowledge of my placement school or something. Not the worst reason to pick a topic - but in hindsight now, not the best. 

And - at first hand in - I got a D! I was, even in my 20’s of course upset, disappointed, a bit confused. I was a classic B+ student. So I got to re-do and re-submit, and so I had to figure out what went wrong. And of course, the feedback was - can you guess?... You haven’t answered the Q. 

I’d just kinda described and gave examples of the extra-curricular enrichment and of dual use community activities within the school. The exact same thing I warn students about doing now. Even as a trainee teacher I fell into the trap. 

Like I said, I can’t remember what the exact question was, but I know it would have been at an analysis or evaluation level. Not just describe and give examples.

And I say this just to show that this can happen to anyone. Even someone who should’ve known better by then!  I do like to think that I wouldn’t now. But that’s because I’ve had this imprinted on my brain about a thousand times in all different ways and it’s exactly what I work on students to avoid, so I’m hyper-focused and alert to it.

So here’s what I see as the most likely reason that your teen might experience inconsistent results, no matter how consistent their effort and knowledge is.

It’s because they are giving information, but they aren’t USING that information to actually answer the question or they’re not responding to the question at the level required. 

This is what I call a topic trap.
The exact trap I fell into. 

We get consumed by the topic, just like the humanities student did in their research inquiry, and just like I did in my investigation. And that means that they end up with an extremely comprehensive project, but it’s lacking a focus or direction. They’ve got lots of information, but they’re not doing the right thing WITH the information and are likely stuck writing at the describe and explain levels of response. 

And therefore their work is lacking any application or analysis or other higher level commands and therefore isn’t accessing any of the higher level criteria. 

Another reason might be that there are actually inconsistencies within their assignment or response. This is a less likely reason, but I do see it sometimes. 

For example an essay is focused on discussing how a particular character in a novel is portrayed as a villain, but your teen tangents off and ends up discussing how they also have a generous or kind side to them. That would be okay if it was an evaluation level task, but not if it is simply analysis. This would even potentially count against them, showing an inconsistent response and using inappropriate evidence or examples.

I also sometimes see it where a student creates a thesis, say in Science or in History, and along the way, they end up arguing the case against their thesis. Again, okay to acknowledge this sort of thing in their errors or evaluation, but it would make the discussion confused and inconsistent if it happened in the main part of the report.

The best way to avoid this happening is to have your teen follow a detailed and proven planning process. 

Any student who has gone through my 10 Week Grade Transformation Program or coaches with me will tell you I’m always banging on about spending more time and effort on dissecting the question and then planning IN DETAIL essays, large tasks and extended responses - - whether it’s an assignment or actually in an exam.

It’s why I’ve developed and teach very specific and strategic planning steps, like the detailed Topic and Focus system so that students simply cannot fall into a topic trap. Or the 3 steps of  analysis so they don’t end up with an inconsistent or unclear discussion.

So if your teen’s idea of planning is simply - okay, I have my thesis and I’m going to write about these three topics in my 3 body paragraph. If they aren’t SO clear on exactly what the question or assignment task is asking that they can re-word it so an 8 year old can understand it - then these are likely reasons that they are getting inconsistent results. 
Because sometimes, they’ll be hitting it on the head. And other times, they won’t.

And of course, this goes for individual questions if it’s in an exam. 
They might get full marks for one question on the paper and then bomb the next.

I hope this sheds some light on what might’ve previously been a confusing or depressing situation for your teen. 

If you’d like a couple of practical steps and systems for doing this in exams and with exam questions,  then definitely register for the Exam Success Secrets Webinar  - live on the 11th June 2024. 

Or you can get the recording until the 17th June.

I’ll also be sharing more at the end of the webinar about the 10 Week Grade Transformation Program and how your teen can be trained by me in all of this and much more to make them confident, efficient and successful in their study. 

And this program is available all of the time, so go check that out no matter when you’re listening to this episode.  

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you back here next week! Bye!

-  If you have a situation or an issue that you’d like me to discuss on the podcast, please send it in - you can email support@rocksolidstudy.com and let me know. I always want to provide more of what will most help you and your teens.