End of Quarter - Start of New

Report Cards are out in mail and should have arrived or will arrive today. The second quarter is into its third week already and students have this opportunity to do better if they were not happy with their first quarter grades.

Let me give you some perspectives on how to think about report cards as indicators of how a student is doing. The number on the report card does not give any clues as to effort, study connections, test stress, memory problems, or a myriad of other factors. All it indicates is that the student could not get the information or other grading components of a class high enough to “get a good grade.” It does not tell you “why.” That is the hard work that parents are primarily responsible for—but also that which ICS teachers and I are constantly questioning.

So let me help you explore some of those possibilities of low grades. How does your student study? Do they think that repeating information over enough times is going to help them get it stuck in their heads? (That may work for telephone numbers, but is not helpful in getting information to stick long term.) What they need to do is connect information to something that they already know. It can be non- sense, like HOMES as a device to help them remember the names of the Great Lakes. Or it can be something that connects to a previous step, such as, knowing the biological classification system (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family Genus, Species) helps a student to see where a specific plant or animal differs from others that may appear similar at first glance. (The apple’s blossom and certain roses are similar and belong to the same Family: Rosaceae, but not the same Genus.)

Another possibility to pursue is whether they are let- ting things go until the last moment. This is a bad habit because it produces “crammers.” Instead of taking small bites in a subject (seven items on a study sheet per night) they try to cram as much into their head at the last moment.

Do they reproduce the same methods as the test is given? For example, if you are orally giving your child their spelling test and they know the words, but they must write them in school, perhaps there is a disconnect in the act of writing. Do other situations in life indicate that your child has difficulty remembering multiple steps? It will show up on tests as well.

In pursuing the answer to the “why” question, it will require your time. You may need to keep trying answers before you find out what makes your child “tick.” But sitting down with them each night is probably THE most significant thing you can do.