TRANSCRIPT:

You’re listening to The Parents of Hardworking Teens Podcast, episode 110 - how and why these skills, techniques and strategies that I talk about every week and train students in, in my program are universal when it comes to your teen’s subjects, tasks and year groups. So they can use a strategy in different ways for multiple tasks, and therefore get multiple benefits, multiplied opportunities to practise and hone it, and multiple benefits and reward.

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Hey VIP’s! I hope you and your teens are doing great.
I am AMAZING.
I’m back on board from moving house. And I am on FIRE. Ready and raring to go.
Although - If I’d been recording this a week ago, those are NOT words I would’ve been using. So I think it was a good move to pre-record an extra couple of episodes to get us through the past few weeks, because this time last week, I was exhausted.
Packing, cleaning, moving, more cleaning.
And a back and shoulder injury in the process.
But it’s all been worth it.
Although, given that we are going to be totally renovating this place - we’ve done the not great house, but in a great location thing -I have seriously thought about just saving the money, time and hassle and keeping the hand rails, ramps and other elderly assistance things we have in the bathroom and around the place just because I’ve felt like they’ve been quite useful with a dodgy back over the past week. And I feel like I’ve aged about 10 years in the process so I’ve been feeling like it might not be that far off before we’ll need them again. 
But, now I’ve spent the past 5 or 6 days just getting back on top of everything, and into everything that’s coming up.  And my back is much better, my shoulder is getting there, I’ve even gotten back to the gym and poor Bonnie, our dog, who went without a few walks for a few days there, is getting plenty of attention and exercise now to make up for things - and a walk in this beautiful QLD winter sun is always as good as a rest for me.  So my energy is re-fuelled and my brain is ready for action. So, let’s DO this!


I got the idea for this episode in the last couple of day, because I also just delivered a teacher PD - professional development - full day workshop, last week. And I became aware, as we went through the day, that I was mentioning a LOT, the word ‘universal’. And you’ve probably heard me say it here or on a webinar, or in an email too.
So I thought it would be good to properly explain what I mean by it and why it’s such a positive things.
Because at the PD, I had high school teachers from a really diverse range of subjects, year groups and states throughout the country. The workshop was entitled: Boost Your Students Exam Results and Confidence, no matter how close they are to exams. So there were Pastoral leaders who were responsible for delivering study skills sessions, there were Y11 and 12 Heads of Year who were looking for specific ways to support their senior students academically. There were heads of department and subject teachers from all different subjects, from maths to English and - for the first time ever - an Italian teacher. As in a teacher that teaches Italian.
I don’t think I’ve ever had Italian as a language teacher in any PD I’ve run before.
But I say all of this to give you an example of how the skills and concepts and techniques that I deliver, ARE universal.

So here’s what I mean by universal.
I use it to describe the training I deliver to students, and share with teachers, and share with you as parents and carers, as being applicable, across any subject, in any year group from Years 9 to12 or Years 10 to 13 depending on your education system AND throughout any state in Australia, and in fact any westernised education system, including specifically, the International Baccalaureate, GCSE’s and A’Levels in England and Wales, Scottish Highers, the Cambridge international qualifications in international schools, the NCEA in New Zealand. Those are exam boards and syllabuses that I’ve had experience of working with directly or with students following them. There are likely more, that would also be relevant. For example, I know we have listeners here and community members based in the US as well.

The point being that these skills are not subject or syllabus or even task specific.But they are skills, strategies and techniques that students are required to understand and use. To know and apply throughout different subjects, syllabuses and tasks..
But, in my experience, they are rarely explicitly taught.Perhaps BECAUSE, they are universal.Because, they are not subject or year group or syllabus or exam board specific.If they were, then it would be someone’s or some entity’s specific responsibility to train students in them.


One is dissecting the question and responding to the command of the question: This goes for questions in any subject. At one point of a discussion,I used the example of a Maths exam question I was marking for back in the first AQA QCS paper I ever marked for - which would be back in - I think 2015? And there was one question that asked students to - using the graph provided - estimate the total number of downloads of a video in a given week between the dates specified. I remember this so vividly because SO many students calculated rather than estimated. In fact, it was one of those cases where it was generally actually the more able students that calculated, because they had the skills and knowledge to be able to do so. They were calculating areas of trapeziums to work it out from the shape under the graph that the line made. Some were even using Calculus to work it out.
And many did get the right answer, BUT they took up SO much time doing so- and likely ran out of time or didn’t have as much time for other questions.

Another example of a universal skill is: essay writing. We did some work on this in the workshop around mark schemes and the more generalised descriptors that apply to essays and extended responses.
But whether that is a History essay, English essay or Scientific research essay, your teen needs to be able to write about not just the the topic of the essay, but directly respond to the focus of the essay.
They need to identify and use the MOST relevant examples or evidence or quotes to support that response and they need to be able to do that in a sophisticated yet succinct way.
I know of SO many students either missing the focus of the question, and so losing marks, or going way over the word count, so losing what should be their free time - or even - eek - their sleep time while they cut and edit is all back. Or even, the worst situation… both.

Then there’s the overall skill of exam technique. There are 6 elements of exam technique, but we often talk about exam technique overall as a skill. Of course this applies to all subjects where exams or tests are sat. And across all year groups, but obviously especially in those external examination years because those are where the wording of the questions and the demands of the mark schemes are so stringent. There is no wiggle room, no discretionary marks and no knowledge of your teen and their ability. And I am a big fan of students really becoming excellent in their exam technique, not because I totally believe in exams as an assessment tool, but because these are the types of assessment that for most students, bring up the most stress and anxiety, AND because, I always say ‘if they can do it in exams’ they can do it in everything else - class work, homework, assignments.
And tied to that - is the universal skill of revision.
Like, reverse-engineered revision planning, strategically prioritising topics and content when there just isn’t time to cover everything (which - is the case for almost every exam, especially in exam blocks). And Active Revision - so your teen is actually processing the information, so they can easily retrieve it from their brain in the exam hall or during any task or lesson.
And then some that we didn’t cover in the PD, but are worth mentioning here are:
the universal skill of note-taking. There are multiple systems and methods, but the skill is selecting the most appropriate one relevant to the topic or task,and then being ableto execute it in a way that summarises, without losing important details, and laying it all out in a logical way. There’s also the universal skill of online research. google-ing, researching in ways that gets your teen the info they need, from high quality sources, and doing it in a way that doesn’t take up hours upon hours of ending up down rabbit holes or going around in superficial - surface-level circles.
Also time management and organisation. I use a system I call the ‘throw out the to-do list’ system - because , we all know the to-do list is never ending and never actually done. And mainly because it orients around specific tasks, sub tasks and outcomes, with specific times they will get done. Not just arbitrary or mammoth tasks, with no time frame except a deadline.
These are all universal skills that can be applied (I will say NEED to be applied) in any subject in years 9 - 12 or 10 -13, whatever syllabus or exam board they follow..

And this isn’t an exhaustive list. But I hope it gives you an idea of what I mean and what I’m talking about when I use the term universal.


And I hope it also gives a better idea of why learning even just one or two of these makes such a BIG difference to students who have them. Because they can use them in multiple ways, across multiple subjects and build and hone them over time, to up-level WITH the demands of each new year group or with each different scenario or task they’re faced with.


So I’d invite you to consider - what universal skills your teen has, and any they might not yet have that might be holding them back across their subjects, throughout their tasks and study. Where could they perhaps be applying a skill they have in one area or subject to another in a strategic rather than subject-specific way? And of course, if you’d love to have your teen trained in all of these skills - and more -and they’re in Yr 9 to 12 or Yr 10 to 13, then I’d love to have them join me in the 10 Week Grade Transformation Program. The link is in the show notes, or you can go to: www.rocksolidstudy.com and click on Program. 
Have a brilliant rest of your week, and I’ll see you back here next week. 
Take care, bye!