Category Archives: Executive Function

Essays, Exams, Executive Function, Learning Skills, Procrastination, Students, Studying Skills, Time Management

Time Travel pt 2: Navigating the Now & the Later

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Procrastination is a disconnect between the NOW and the LATER. Overcoming the urge to procrastinate requires reconnecting with our own future. “Time Travel” can help bridge the NOW and the LATER.

In Time Travel part 1: Ben Franklin & Managing the Now old Ben gave us some great advice on the consequences of delay.  Ben was an incredibly productive man whose pursuits and accomplishments spanned science, literature, politics, and business.  Good for him.

But how can we mortals get a little piece of Ben in our lives? Continue reading →

Executive Function, Parenting Teens, Parents, Procrastination, Students, Studying Skills, Time Management

Time management is Time Travel, pt 1: Ben Franklin & Managing the Now

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You may delay, but time will not.

– Ben Franklin

By “time management” we usually mean prioritizing, using time effectively, getting things done instead of putting them off.  Except that we all “manage” time — it’s a matter of how well. If done properly, the rewards are large — and costly if not.

Ben Franklin put it more succinctly:

Remember that time is money.

So let’s get a new, good start on this “time management” job of ours and break into its essential parts to see how well it can pay. Continue reading →

Executive Function, Grades, High School, Homework, Mentoring, Parents, Students, Studying Skills

A student discovers that she actually can learn the quadratic formula! (with a little help from the A+ Club)

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Cartoon1_Panel2_bA student’s mom is upset about her grades and that she’s not doing her homework. But the student thinks her mom is being too pushy. Like high school teens & parents everywhere, they’re both a little right — and also a little wrong.

The student’s mom is right to be concerned. And the student is naturally feeling stressed over doing something she is genuinely having trouble accomplishing. And that’s where the emotions get in the way.

This scenario plays out every day with high school teens and their parents.  Sometimes students just don’t know how to do their school work. Worse, sometimes they don’t know how to go about studying. That’s where we can help.

Quadratic Formulas & Other Troubles

Our student is stuck on the Quadratic formula. She gets it when her teacher shows it in class, but when she has to do it on her own, she gets stuck. And then everything else becomes a problem, too. Continue reading →

Exams, Executive Function, High School, Learning Skills, Parents, Students, Studying Skills

A Successful Assessment pt 1: how to know what will be on the test (or identifying teacher expectations)

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Successful Testing from the A+ ClubFor successful testing, students need to know what will be on the test. Sounds obvious, but parents don’t want to hear from their teens that there were “surprises” on a test or that they studied for the wrong thing.

This edition of the Successful Assessment will review how to help your teenage student identify what will be on a test.

As outlined in the introductory post, How to approach a test (or why doesn’t my child test well?), at the A+ Club, we help middle, high school and college students succeed on formal assessments, what we usually call “quizzes” and “tests.”  Our quick measure of a successful assessment means:

  1. No Surprises (identified teacher expectations)
  2. Student Prepared (successful learning)
  3. Student had time to finish (successful test execution)

No surprises!

“No Surprises” on a test means the student knew what to expect, knew what to study, and was familiar with every part or aspect of the test. Continue reading →

Executive Function, Featured, Grades, High School, Homework, Parents, Students, Studying Skills, Tutoring

A Student & Her Mom Don’t See Eye-to-Eye on Her School Work

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Brenda & Her MomMeet a student & her mom.

They both know that parenting a teen through middle and high school isn’t always easy. And being a teen isn’t always easy, either.

At the A+ Club, we provide academic coaching, mentoring & tutoring in order to help parents of middle & high school and college students track their work, get tutoring and homework help when needed, and engage in the positive processes of goal setting, problem solving, and academic self-advocacy. Continue reading →

Executive Function, Grades, Learning Skills, Parents, Students, Studying Skills

What do grades measure, anyway? How to make sense of grades and student learning

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Student-Performance_Process-flow-chart_noheaderParents! If schools were meant for learning, why do we have grades?

In other words, if learning were the goal, wouldn’t every student have to get an A+ before moving on to the next level?

If, when a student gets a D, and it indicates the student met 64% of expectations, is there learning going on at that school? Wouldn’t a 100% grade represent true learning?

As long as there are grades less than an A, the point of schools, then, is not learning.

Worse, not all grades are equal. Does an A in PE represent learning as much as an A in math? They both count the same towards your GPA and both are required. Clearly, learning is not the only thing being measured here. Continue reading →

Executive Function, Procrastination, Students

Don’t procrastinate, Prioritize! Prioritization v. Procrastination

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The difference between prioritizing and procrastination is the difference between a backbone and a wishbone.

One is in control, the other is just hoping.

I cannot emphasize enough that not all delay is procrastination. Just because you put it off doesn’t mean that you are harming yourself. Indeed, successful prioritization means putting things off — only with planning and organization.

The Rule

Here’s the rule: if there is any harm in the delay, it’s procrastination. If not, it’s prioritization, and a job well done. Continue reading →