Back to School 23-24 🚌 📝 📚

Isabel's top tips for students, teachers, and parents

Aug 23, 2023

Here in Boston, the final countdown to the 23-24 school year has begun…teachers are headed back for faculty meetings, high-school athletes are hitting the fields for try-outs, elementary-school students are venturing in to meet their teachers, and everyone—school-affiliated or otherwise—is trying to soak up the August sunshine 😎.

As “BTS” approaches, I’m excited to share my top tips for students, teachers, and parents.

Teachers and parents: Make sure to read the student tips before heading to your own sections—the students in your lives could use your support in implementing these strategies!

I hope these tips resonate with readers at all stages of the educational journey. If you know a student, teacher, or parent who you think would also enjoy these tips, please share!

To find out more about IOC Writing & Learning or to enroll a student in tutoring, head to iocwriting.com. Fall tutoring slots are filling up fast! 🍂📝🧑‍💻

BTS Tips for Students

These student tips are geared toward middle- and high-school students, though they certainly apply to college students, too.

Set up a to-do list & calendar system ASAP, ideally during or even before the first week of school
Take responsibility for your OWN interest and engagement in your classes

More about to-do lists & calendars… ✅ 🗓️

I guarantee that every student or former student remembers someone telling them to use a planner to track their assignments. And I’m sure a significant proportion of you have or had no interest in doing so. HOWEVER, I am here to tell you that your wise parent or teacher was correct.

The MOST essential strategy for academic success is to find, develop, and use a to-do list & calendar system for keeping track of your assignments.

Rather than type out my tips, which would be quite boring and cumbersome, I’ve created two videos in which I walk you through both digital and physical/paper approaches to keeping track of schoolwork.

PRO TIP: Don’t bore yourself silly watching my videos on 1x speed…try 1.5x or more to get the essentials efficiently!

Isabel’s Guide to Digital Academic Organization (also on YouTube)

Isabel’s Guide to Physical/Paper Academic Organization (also on YouTube)

More about “Taking Responsibility” for your own interest and engagement 💪

I often ask students, “What is your favorite part of school?” Of course, friends, sports, activities, and lunch almost always come first. When I press on to classes, I also get predictable responses. Usually, a student will tell you that they like XYZ class best because they really like the teacher.

Now for all the teachers out there—go you!—teachers make all the difference in getting students excited about learning.

However, I have a back-to-school challenge for students:

How about, this year, you make it YOUR responsibility to get excited about learning in each of your classes?

You can’t go through life letting other people’s enthusiasm—or lack thereof—dictate your engagement in your own life. You are going to spend hours and hours on each subject this year; why not enjoy what you are learning as best you can?

Here are some examples of how to do so:

Let’s say that as the year starts, you decide that Algebra 1 is “useless” (sorry, math teachers, kids do tend to get the wrong idea about the relevance of the subject 😞). Well, as the student, don’t stay stuck in that mindset. You can ask the teacher when you might use these strategies OR you can Google their relevance. I guarantee that ALL middle- & high-school math is useful, and if you can figure out why, then I know you will find that class a bit more enjoyable.
Let’s say you are just not that into learning about military strategy during the Civil War (sorry, military buffs, history teacher that I am, even I find this topic a HUGE 😴). Well, as the student, look out for OTHER topics that are coming up in your reading/lessons that you can get excited about. For example, you could get excited about the fact that photography was a brand new technology during the Civil War, meaning the photographs of the battles provided outsiders with never-before-seen insights into the horrors of war.

And note to teachers: This is why student choice is so powerful! That student who is snoozing through battle plans might light up when you let them choose their own topic for a presentation project at the end of the unit.

BTS Tips for Teachers

Lean into IN-CLASS project work time paired with 1:1 coaching
Take your students seriously as intellectuals

More about the Wonders of In-Class Work Time

As with student to-do list/calendar strategies, I thought this tip would be best explained through a video. But here’s the main idea:

I challenge teachers to LET GO of fear that “in-class work periods” are a waste of time because they crowd out “learning new content.” Why?
Skill building is just as important as content mastery, and, during class, students have the time, structure, and guidance necessary to develop new skills.
While your students are building their skills independently, you can conference 1:1 with them. If you don’t often do so, you will be AMAZED at the learning growth that happens in these targetted 1:1 interactions.

PRO TIP: Don’t bore yourself silly watching my videos on 1x speed…try 1.5x or more to get the essentials efficiently!

The Magic of In-Class Work Time (also on YouTube)

PS: Here is the actual example unit plan that is featured in the video for anyone who would like to take a closer look.

More about Taking Your Students Seriously as Intellectuals

First, I know that we ALL want to take our students seriously. Nevertheless, I want to illustrate two different approaches for responding to student ideas, one of which better supports students’ growth in intellectual confidence.

Scenario A student is working on an analytical essay in response to this prompt:

Based on viewing an animated recreation of the pyramid complex at Giza and reading about life in Ancient Egypt, develop an evidence-based argument to answer this question: Why does it appear that the pharaohs chose to build tombs of this size and shape in this particular location?

The student gets really energized about the assignment and comes up with many ideas, including:

The pharaohs put the pyramids near the river for easy access to materials
The pharaohs put the pyramids near the river to connect with their river god
The pharaohs built the pyramids in that shape because a pyramid is a sturdy structure
The pharaohs built the pyramids in that shape because a pyramid symbolizes that the pharaoh is at the top of the social hierarchy

Response One One teacher could look at this list and say that the first three make perfect sense but that the fourth is a stretch and the student can’t prove it so, therefore, the student should drop the fourth point.

Response Two Another teacher could say enthusiastically that these are all fantastic ideas and affirm that the student has sufficient evidence to prove the first three. About the fourth point, the teacher could say, “Wow, that is such an interesting idea. Can you point me to any evidence that the Egyptians thought of their social structure in that way?” When the student cannot do so, the teacher could then say, “Well, it’s still a really interesting idea. If we had more time you could do more research to look for more evidence to support it. How about you include it as a final point in your essay using a word like “perhaps” to introduce this idea, which will ensure your reader knows that you are posing a potential rather than a definite reason for the shape of the pyramids.

Either teacher response emphasizes the importance of backing up claims with evidence; however, the first teacher response leaves the student thinking that they need to keep their inferences narrow for fear of “being wrong,” whereas the second teacher response leaves the student excited that, even if they can’t prove all their inferences now, more research could allow them to back up their bolder insights. The student is then left feeling confident and excited about continuing to take intellectual risks in the classroom (and beyond).

BTS Tips for Parents

Carve out intentional time & space for your children to do their homework
When academic difficulties arise, don’t assume your child “isn’t trying”

More about Time & Space for Homework

To keep this tip simple, here’s a list of best practices for ensuring your child can find success on their homework:

First (and of course this tip is about much more than homework), set reasonable sleep and wake times, and stick to them as best you can. Here’s what the CDC has to say on this matter:

If your child cannot get their homework done while maintaining this sleep schedule, observe their HW habits to determine if they are being reasonably efficient. If they are being reasonably efficient, consider reducing their activity schedule. (See the next section for what to do if there seems to be an underlying issue with their academic approach.)
Insist that homework be done at a table or desk (not a couch or bed). We all know we work better sitting up at a hard surface, even if those softer spaces are comfy…
Think hard about whether your child will be more productive in their bedroom or in a public space in the home, such as the dining table or a desk in a public room. Different students will thrive in each setting.
Ideally, have your child store all their essential supplies in their backpack so that they do not forget them at school or at home.
Don’t let your child use their cell phone while doing HW!!!

More about how to approach academic difficulties

It is so easy to react to a child’s academic challenges by thinking, “Why aren’t they trying harder?” However, just telling your child to try harder probably won’t do anything…and lack of effort is virtually never the whole story with academic challenges. Instead, use this three-tiered system for approaching academic challenges:

Tier One: Is my child’s academic challenge structural?

Basically, you first want to review the tips in the section above to ensure that your child really has the time and space they need to successfully complete their assignments. Structural challenges include: distractions, lack of time, an unproductive homework setting, or a frequent lack of necessary academic tools.

If computer- or phone-based distractions are proving the main culprit, consider setting your child up with an app to restrict their use of certain other apps/websites while doing homework. Google’s new AI search-summary tool (!!) brings these options up:

Tier Two: Might my child have an undiagnosed learning difference?

There is no way to know if your child has a learning difference unless you ask for a professional evaluation. And, here’s the great news: in Massachusetts, ANY child can be evaluated for FREE by their town’s public schools, including students enrolled in private schools.

To find out more, check out this article from Mass General Hospital’s Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds (a very useful resource for teachers and parents).

Tier Three: Might social-emotional challenges be interfering with my child’s ability to excel academically?

Consider what your child is (or isn’t) saying about their friendships and day-to-day emotional life. Again, the Clay Center offers a helpful resource list entitled “When to Worry,” which can help parents decide whether it’s time to ask for professional advice.

The Bottom Line: There are many potential reasons for a child’s academic challenges, and lack of effort is usually not the only one.