Did you know that what your teachers don’t tell you can be even more important than what they do say?
Now that you’ve read my introductory post and seen my goal for this site, it’s time to get more specific, because, as a famous saying goes, “the devil is in the details.” Though teachers realize that their students are all unique and develop different study skills at different rates, they sometimes think they have said everything they need to say to help every student succeed, or delivered the same message enough times and in enough different ways that they can safely assume that all their students have understood what they meant and will be able to apply it consistently. Without meaning to, they begin to make assumptions and have expectations of what their students should already know or be able to figure out for themselves, and in truth, this is not a completely incorrect assumption. They have a lot to do to help a lot of students, and time is not on their side. My hope is that my website will provide students who need it the chance to receive the help they need, not just in even more different ways than teachers have provided it, but also as many times as it takes for the lessons to stick.
In addition to providing students the chance to continually review different study skills, I will also provide more specific academic skill lessons, all taught in a way that continually emphasizes the application of strategies meant to increase success. Students will be encouraged to access information in different ways, ways meant to increase both memory and comprehension, which will in turn allow them to show what they have learned in their work. The push toward higher levels of thinking is important and necessary in today’s world, but it should not come at the expense of the simpler skills that some students need more practice in than others. These basic skills, however, should also not be taught in isolation – students should have the opportunity to work to improve them while also learning more challenging information. It is my hope, therefore, that students will be able to use the lessons on my website to arm themselves with the strategies they need to face challenging classes with the confidence that they will succeed.