TRANSCRIPT:

You’re listening to The Parents of Hardworking Teens Podcast, episode 109 - stemming from a recent quote from a parent who said:

he’s smart in terms of subject knowledge, but I think he could improve in working smarter and being smart about his study. 

I see this situation a lot so if this also feels true for you and your teen, then stay tuned because I have a couple of suggestions of ways your teen can get a little bit smarter about how they study.

Hey VIP’s! I hope you and your teens are fantastic.

I’m doing great AND I have a question for you: 
What does smart mean to you? What does it mean to your teen? To their teachers? To examiners?

There’s smart and then there’s SMART. 

Today on the podcast, I thought it might be interesting and hopefully helpful to talk a bit about the word smart. Being smart, feeling smart.

Because - what does ‘smart’ really mean?

Does it mean clever in a knowledge type way - knowing lots of facts? Like, ‘wow’ they’re so smart. As in so knowledgeable about a subject or topic. Or does it mean smart in terms of being very practical? Or smart with people and dealing with situations. Or able to problem solve or be strategic - being able to see the most efficient or effective way to do something? Like ‘Oh, now that’s smart/ like that’s cool, or I like how they did that. Or the way we might sometimes hear or say it as - ‘they’ll go far.’ 

Or maybe there’s a better word for all of this than smart. Feel free to let me know your thoughts.

For me, I’m smart with some things, I’m pretty good with numbers for example, I love a spreadsheet. I consider myself to be pretty good with money and Maths in general. 

But there are other things I’m terrible at. 

I don’t think I’m a great visual learner. Those distinctions weren’t around when I was a student, but I’m not great with faces. And I’m terrible with movies - as in ask me a month later and I won’t even remember if I’ve seen a particular movie, won’t be able to name any of the actors - mainly because if it’s not Julia Roberts or Tom Cruise I won’t even know who they are.

And don’t ever rely on me for directions - I have a terrible sense of direction and am one of those people who will aimlessly follow a GPS route with no idea if I’m actually going in the right direction. I have to go to a place at least eight times before I know the route by heart - whereas my husband can literally go to a place once, and will know the way.

Personally, I believe we’re naturally born with some stronger things we’re smart with but I also believe we can become smartER in ways or things that we want to.

So what are the different types of smart that will best serve your teen in their study? And where are they already strong and where would it potentially serve them to become SmartER if they want to?

As a student I thought that being smart meant knowing more about a topic or subject. And in one way I was right, and in another, I was WRONG. 
 

Today, I see being smart as a student as also about being strategic, doing things in the right or best way. Now, of course, this could be considered knowledge. Knowledge about the most effective ways to study. Knowledge of how exams work. But to me I personally think there are two different ways to BE smart when it comes to study. And I started thinking about this recently after a conversation with a mum who said about her son: He’s smart in terms of subject knowledge, but I think he could work smarter. 

And I can totally see this mum’s point. 

We could see this as there’s Smart in terms of subject knowledge - and smart in terms of skills HOW they perform with that subject knowledge.
To me, it makes most sense to describe this as smart in terms of what we KNOW and smart in terms of how we DO.

And of course we’ve all heard the phrase work smarter not harder. 
The idea that there are various ways to achieve an outcome, and some are more efficient or effective than others. 

I find that phrase frustrating on behalf of students. Because it has no substance. It’s wishful thinking. ‘Oh problem solved - I just need to work smarter - why didn’t you say?!’ 

What I want is to help students know HOW to do that and be ABLE to do it. Have the skills, techniques and strategies to actually DO it.

So one way to help your teen advance in their studies whilst also keeping a healthy life balance and enjoying their study as much as possible, or wherever possible, might be to consider out of the the two types of smart - which one are they strongest in and which are they weaker in - and then taking steps to build that one up. Because when we build up the weakest area, usually all others will also rise further too. Like fixing the weakest link in the chain. 

We all have natural talents and strengths - and places where that isn’t our thing. Nothing wrong with any of that. BUT if we want a different outcome, or we’d like to change something in some way - then there are things we can do to make that happen.

Let’s say we have a student who is extremely knowledgable about Modern History. They are really interested in it, have excellent knowledge of the key leaders, events, places. But, they aren’t skilled in writing essays. 

Now, if they get set an essay, they may write and include a ton of information, showing that they are indeed really smart in terms of their knowledge, but they end up with a grade or result that is nowhere near an indication of their knowledge.

Are they smart? 

Yes, when it comes to History, perhaps not when it comes to showing their knowledge of History in that type of assessment.

Now let’s take a student who is great at figuring out how to kinda ‘game the system’. Who is smart at knowing how assessment works, how tasks are worded and marked. And so they know that the essay is asking them to evaluate, make a judgement, and so they immediately make that clear in their clear but fairly basic intro or thesis statement. 

They support that with 3 decent reasons or supporting points and give some relevant but basic evidence. They don’t have much detailed knowledge of the topic, BUT they have given the most important or key info. 

Who’s getting the better mark?

Fortunately or unfortunately, in my experience, I would say it will be the second student.

Because they’ve actually answered the question.
They’ve met the mark scheme criteria. 

Because the task wasn’t ‘tell me all you know about this topic’.
Of course, this is particularly frustrating for the subject expert teen. 

But if we accept that today, especially given that we have Google and AI at our fingertips, that the purpose of education is to do more than learn facts and recite information, then maybe this is exactly how it should be - even if it’s not how we - and I include myself as a student  - sometimes default to seeing things or approaching things when it comes to education and assessment.

If this is resonating, then you might like to also go and listen to Episode 63 - The Game. Where I explain how succeeding in high school when it comes to the academic and assessment side of things - then your teen needs to understand what the game is AND how to play it.

I think that many of us, me included, to some extent believe that education is mainly about learning about topics, subjects, becoming knowledgeable. And I think to some extent it is. Having a deep knowledge of a subject CAN still be valuable in the world today, it can be interesting, it can just be enjoyable and fun. 
AND I personally think that this side of things, exposing us to lots of different subjects and topics can help us find out where our passions lie in life. 

But when I really think about it, being smart WITH that knowledge, being able to USE it and APPLY it in effective ways, that create outcomes we want is possibly an even more valuable skill - both in the wider world, and for SURE in education and assessment.

These are things like, to write the intro last when it comes to essays and assignments. So many students start out by trying to write their introduction and then struggle to write it. One way to solve that issue is to write the actual essay or report first and then write the intro last.

It’s hard to introduce something you haven’t written yet.
It’s a LOT easier to introduce something when you know WHAT you’re introducing. 

Another smart way to study is by choosing a topic strategically for an open choice assignment. Don’t try to choose something unique. Don’t even necessarily go with the topic that you find interesting. Unless you’re just doing it for fun rather than for marks that is. Ideally we can do both, but you’ll be amazed how quickly something becomes not fun and not even interesting when we realise that it was not the best choice when it comes to perhaps finding relevant research or being able to access the top criteria on the mark sheet.

So, really I’m inviting you here to consider, what are the different types of smart when it comes to high school, college and academics? 

From what I’ve seen throughout my years in education, there are two types of smart required for your teen to achieve their best possible results in the smoothest way. Smart in terms of subject knowledge. And smart in terms of how we do things.

If your teen is in Years 9 to 12 or 10 to 13, and you’d like them to have effective ways to build and revise their subject knowledge AND have the systems, skills and strategies to convey it in the way the question asks and mark scheme requires, then I’d love to have them join me in the 10 Week Grade Transformation Program.
You can find out more at www.gradetransformation.com/join 

I’ll see you back here next week, and until then, I hope you have a brilliant week. Take care, bye