The Number ONE Shortcut to Exam Success
03/17/25 • 20 min
Ep. 126
→ Get the Free Parent Guide: 3 Huge Mistakes (Even Smart!) Students Make in Exams and Assignments - and how to fix them immediately so your teen confidently achieves their best ever grades.___
→ Get the 'Evidence for the Exam Success Shortcut' resource and full episode transcript here: https://www.rocksolidstudy.com/126
___
There are explicit teaching / direct instruction ways to teach subject content, and discovery / inquiry-based ways to teach subject content.
This also goes for the skills students need in order to effectively apply this subject knowledge, in the way the question demands and mark scheme requires.
However, I very rarely see any of this...
- how exams actually WORK - how they’re written and marked,
- HOW to actually analyse in an essay, in the right amount of detail,
- HOW to hit the top criteria, in the most succinct and effective way,
- HOW to actually dissect and then respond to the exact wording of any exam question,
- HOW to achieve more of the success descriptors,
... being explicitly or directly taught and trained.
And so students are left to 'discovery-learn' it all for themselves.
They’re guessing, trial and error-ing their way there, which, far from building confidence or resilience, for most, is denting and depleting it.
If we’re assessing students using these methods, then then getting direct teaching and explicit training in the skills, strategies and concepts is the number one shortcut to tackling them and performing in them confidently and successfully.
FEATURED ON THE SHOW:
- One page resource download: Evidence for the Exam Success Shortcut
- Follow Rock Solid Study on Facebook
- Follow Rock Solid Study on Instagram
- Get your teen trained by Katie to excel in exams and assessment, using the most effective study strategies in the 10 Week Grade Transformation Program
- Have Katie speak at your school: Parent-Student 'Exam Mastery' Information Evenings for Schools
Ep. 126
→ Get the Free Parent Guide: 3 Huge Mistakes (Even Smart!) Students Make in Exams and Assignments - and how to fix them immediately so your teen confidently achieves their best ever grades.___
→ Get the 'Evidence for the Exam Success Shortcut' resource and full episode transcript here: https://www.rocksolidstudy.com/126
___
There are explicit teaching / direct instruction ways to teach subject content, and discovery / inquiry-based ways to teach subject content.
This also goes for the skills students need in order to effectively apply this subject knowledge, in the way the question demands and mark scheme requires.
However, I very rarely see any of this...
- how exams actually WORK - how they’re written and marked,
- HOW to actually analyse in an essay, in the right amount of detail,
- HOW to hit the top criteria, in the most succinct and effective way,
- HOW to actually dissect and then respond to the exact wording of any exam question,
- HOW to achieve more of the success descriptors,
... being explicitly or directly taught and trained.
And so students are left to 'discovery-learn' it all for themselves.
They’re guessing, trial and error-ing their way there, which, far from building confidence or resilience, for most, is denting and depleting it.
If we’re assessing students using these methods, then then getting direct teaching and explicit training in the skills, strategies and concepts is the number one shortcut to tackling them and performing in them confidently and successfully.
FEATURED ON THE SHOW:
- One page resource download: Evidence for the Exam Success Shortcut
- Follow Rock Solid Study on Facebook
- Follow Rock Solid Study on Instagram
- Get your teen trained by Katie to excel in exams and assessment, using the most effective study strategies in the 10 Week Grade Transformation Program
- Have Katie speak at your school: Parent-Student 'Exam Mastery' Information Evenings for Schools
Previous Episode
'Effort Risk' (And how to minimise it)
Ep. 125
Get the Free Parent Guide: 3 Huge Mistakes (Even Smart!) Students Make in Exams and Assignments - and how to fix them immediately so your teen confidently achieves their best ever grades.___
If your teen is constantly doing their best, and sometimes you’re concerned about them burning out
OR
if your teen is NOT putting in their best and you’re concerned about that - then this episode is for you.
I believe your teen is taking a 'risk' when they put their best effort (and a ton of time) into a task.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- The 3 things they're risking
- What happens when that risk pays off AND what happens when it doesn’t
- and
- How to reduce the level of effort-risk, so that they’re INVESTING their time and effort, rather than gambling with it.
FEATURED ON THE SHOW:
- Ep. 9: 'Just Do Your Best' - And other things they don't want to hear
- Follow Rock Solid Study on Facebook
- Follow Rock Solid Study on Instagram
- Get your teen trained by Katie to excel in exams and assessment, using the most effective study strategies in the 10 Week Grade Transformation Program
- Have Katie speak at your school: Parent-Student 'Exam Mastery' Information Evenings for Schools
Next Episode
Brutal Study Truth #1:More is NOT More
Ep. 127
→ Get the Free Parent Guide: 3 Huge Mistakes (Even Smart!) Students Make in Exams and Assignments - and how to fix them immediately so your teen confidently achieves their best ever grades.___
→ Get the full episode transcript and 'Return on Effort' Graph here: https://www.rocksolidstudy.com/127It's no good letting students carry on thinking or studying in certain ways if it means they
- end up working harder than they need to,
- missing out on marks they could be getting
or
- just find study, exams and assessment more stressful, uncertain or frustrating than it needs to be.
Even if it requires some harsh reality checks!
So let’s dive into Brutal Study Truth Number 1: More is NOT More.
FEATURED ON THE SHOW:
- Follow Rock Solid Study on Facebook
- Follow Rock Solid Study on Instagram
- Get your teen trained by Katie to excel in exams and assessment, using the most effective study strategies in the 10 Week Grade Transformation Program
- Have Katie speak at your school: Parent-Student 'Exam Mastery' Information Evenings for Schools
Parents of Hardworking Teens - The Number ONE Shortcut to Exam Success
Transcript
You’re listening to The Parents of Hardworking Teens Podcast, episode 126 - How direct instruction and explicit teaching can provide a shorter, straighter route to developing sustainable, successful exam performance.
If you’re tired of your teen having to guess at exactly how marks are allocated, what sustained or discerning actually looks like on the success criteria and what ‘discuss’ really means in an essay question, then listen in to discover The Number ONE Shortcut to
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/parents-of-hardworking-teens-326745/the-number-one-shortcut-to-exam-success-87538439"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to the number one shortcut to exam success on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy