TRANSCRIPT:

You’re listening to The Parents of Hardworking Teens Podcast, episode 103: Where we’ll get into what impresses teachers and gets marks in Y7 and 8 - and how this changes as your teen moves up through the year groups. Because what got gold stars and great feedback in the early years of high school evolves significantly in terms of performance as they move through years 9 and 10 and then into those senior years. Stay tuned to find out what changes and in what ways, so your teen can evolve their focus, effort and time spent on different aspects of their study to match what gets rewarded. 

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So, let’s dive in. I’m going to start with… a bit of a good ole-compare and contrast.

I’m going to compare and contrast the earlier years of high school with the upper or senior years in high school or college. So depending on where you are, I’m talking Y7 and 8 or Years 8 and 9, compared with Years 11 and 12 or 12 and 13.

So, to be clear, that’s ages approximately 11 to 13, and 16 to 18 so you can apply this to whatever year groupings your school system uses wherever you’re listening.
 

Now, I focus most of my work and training on students in Years 9 -12 or 10 -13 and this issue is actually, indirectly, one reason for that.

Because, by the time students are in Y9 onwards, we are having to basically UNDO a lot of the ways they’ve been ‘trained’ - in inverted commas - to study and perform in assessments.

That’s because, at a very basic level, they’ve been commended and acknowledged and rewarded in those early years for things like:

- Researching LOADS of facts and information for inquiry investigations and research projects.

- For going over and above - doing more than is asked for in assignments.

And

- For putting in lots of time and effort into the presentation of their work, a fancy front cover, singing and dancing graphics on their powerpoint.

I very clearly remember feeling extremely sophisticated and accomplished for giving in a coursework project when I was in high school that had a laminated front cover!
 

Back then, a laminated page was the height of professionalism. You couldn’t just buy a laminator as a lay person. And we didn’t have Officeworks or other stationery services that just anyone could use. But, my best friend at the time, Lorraine - her mum was a teaching assistant and I think also did some office work at the local primary school - and so we would give her our front covers, and she would sneakily laminate them for us as work.

Of course, these were Front covers that we had hand drawn - with bubble writing for the title and goodness knows what image of visuals - on pastel coloured paper - which was probably also supplied by Lorraine’s mum now I think about it. It’s okay - she’s retired, I don’t think this will get her the sack.
 

Now, it’s great to encourage a good work ethic, and yes, first impressions do count when it’s just the class teacher marking a project, and yes, it can be important to instill the character trait of taking pride in our presentation…

But…

when students do these things in the senior years, they not only won’t get any extra marks or credit for them, they could even count AGAINST them.

More on that in a minute.

Yet, we’ve subconsciously trained students that these things are rewarded and are ways to succeed in their study. So it’s no wonder I still see students spending time on making pretty notes, fancy looking front covers and extra unnecessary research.

If they’ve been asked to investigate the effects of volcanoes as a natural hazard, and in Year 7 they also included the causes of volcanoes, put in lots of spectacular pictures of volcanoes, dressed up as a volcano ;) they will probably have gotten a great result. Lots of praise from the teacher. An email home.
 

Maybe they’ll have even discovered that they have a passion for the natural world and geography.

But, if they do that in Y12, then aside from having spent a ton of time and effort - that wouldn’t be called a ‘waste’ if they love it, but certainly won’t be rewarded in the mark scheme which will most certainly be focused ONLY on the effects, then they’ll likely be in for a much lower grade, and possibly with that, some disappointment and even confusion.

Now that’s a very basic example, but hopefully you and your teen can start to see how this might be creeping in, in different ways or more discrete ways. 

Because these things take up time and make students feel productive or like they’ve been studying, but in those higher year groups, will actually earn them very little to no credit or marks. And so what students are subconsciously trained to DO in those lower year groups, we need to actively UNDO and re-train them in the skills and actions and ways to produce quality assessments or even just study in the day to day - So they’re putting their time and effort and hopes into things and ways of working that will get marks, rewards and credit in the senior years.

Because spoiler alert - a fancy front cover won’t help them get an A in their Personal Research Project and bonus facts  - correct but not-asked-for info won’t get them more marks in their Science exams.

 

So, while the content is indeed getting harder and the expectations of what needs to be produced are higher, these often aren’t the only reason that your teen’s hard work is no longer paying off as well as it used to in the lower year groups.

It’s ALSO or perhaps, to some extent instead - because the things that used to work, are no longer working, aren’t needed, or just don’t really count anymore.

The things that used to get them gold stars and smiley faces and ‘Great Effort’ comments in their feedback are now not important and not credited because there is less room for discretionary marks in the more stringent and official mark schemes. And so the effort of going over and above is replaced by a need to be focused and succinct - which, ironically, is almost the opposite of going over and above.
This where I mentioned earlier that sometimes, the act of going over and above can even count against your teen.

Instead of being counted as additional related information, it would now be considered as irrelevant information, simply in the sense that it is off-focus from what was asked for and therefore is detracting from the inquiry or analysis or a distraction from the key message or theme. 

And if you look at marking guides and success criteria in the higher year groups and from exam boards, then you’ll see descriptors like: Clear and focused. Or Discerning.At the higher levels and grades.
This means that staying on track and in line with exactly what’s being asked is part of what’s being assessed.

And bringing in other arguments or perspectives when they weren’t asked for, or related but not relevant, in terms of ‘not required’, topics or points will bring that response down from discerning and focused.

Information hasn’t been included ‘just in case’. Or because I found it and it looks good or sounds smart.

 

It might be worth your teen having a think about what they used to get special mention for or positive comments for, or great feedback on in their homework or classwork or assignments in the past and whether those are the things that will still meet the success criteria and mark schemes in the senior years.
 

Of course, it’s important to reward a good work ethic, I’m not saying students shouldn’t be rewarded for going over and above in those early years of high school, but we want to avoid it leading to overworking and spending time and effort on things that aren’t going to count for much or be very effective in the later years and potentially the confusion and disappointment that come with that.

Instead, a great question to consider is: ‘How can that work ethic be gradually transferred to things that will pay off, that are required for top results?’ And how can your teen build awareness of how these things change - very gradually and subtly throughout their high school years?

 

Something to look out for and just be conscious of. 

Have a great day and I’ll see you back here on the next episode. 

Bye!