In my Hootsuite account I have a permanent seach set up on study skills. Thoughout the day I check my twitter account and see the opinions of the rest of the twitter universe on this topic I am passionate about.
Comments from our students.
Below is a summary of tweets from students:
urgh in PDP reading some thing on “study skills” as if im gunna use it
I am in Study skills with nothin to do… DANG it! haha
in study skills…. ugh I wanna go home!!
lol best day today, study skills = sleep, chats and fun times class is easy and hyde was amusing
There are two interesting points that I take away from these comments (which were just a short example from today)
- Most tweets occurred during classes and tweeted from a mobile devise
- There is a lot of negativity about these lessons.
How does your school teach study skills?
There are two common ways to teach students how to study. The first is the Separate Approach and the second is the Infusion Approach.
Separate Approach
This type of approach is a specific subject or course just about study techniques, time management and organization techniques. In Australia it usually occurs during Form Time or Pastoral Care lessons. Some schools even bring in outside professional to teach the subject over a couple of days.
It is a common approach and I am a teacher of this type of subject. This type of lesson is great for students just starting middle school or high school. And also useful as a refresher style course. I know the content is boring, but it is important.
But if it a subject that lasts for a term, semester or year then most of the time is given for students to complete homework and assignments with no instruction at all.
But is this the only approach your school is using? If so, then your instruction is ineffective and will cause negativity amongst students.
Infusion Approach
In this approach teachers incorporate lessons on homework approaches, assignments and exam revision into their own subject area.
If this approach was combined with the seperate approach then students would have understanding and real life practice of these skills.
The magic formula
There is definately a place for study skills instruction in our schools. No doubt about it. But we need a better solution. Here is a snap shot of mine:
- Consistent guidelines on what skills should be taught to what year grades (a specific curriculum)
- A seperate study skills course for each year level (short course, not subject)
- Infusion approach in every subject
Are you ready to find out more?
Over the past couple of months I have been developing some curriculum guidelines and lesson plan ideas on study skills. Whilst not complete, I am ready for some feedback.
So if you want some free advice on how to teach study skills, lesson plans and worksheets then I sugest you sign up to my teacher newsletter today and learn the study skills that you need to teach.
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