It’s been said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Many poor students prove this when they are given back an assessment. As the teacher is going through it, explaining answers, the poor student (and, truth be told, many good ones) are busy whispering to one another, “What did you get?” Thus they often doom themselves to repeat the same mistakes.
Why does a successful sports team review film of the game? Why do the armed forces conduct extensive “After Action Reports”? Why do directors assemble the cast after a dress rehearsal? To go through mistakes and learn from them. It’s not rocket science; it’s common sense. Yet most students ignore this elementary lesson in doing better.
It’s one of the most frustrating things I find about teaching. I can almost tell which students will fail the next assessment by seeing which students have kept their tests and quizzes and which have thrown them away. The poor student somehow thinks that “next time” he’ll do better. “Next time,” he’ll “study.” “Next time,” he’ll “know what he’s supposed to know.” How can he when he doesn’t know what he did wrong in the first place?
A student should do two things when he gets back any assessment. The first is to pay attention as the teacher explains the answers. (If the teacher doesn’t, the student should find the teacher later and go through the test with him.) As the teacher is doing so, the student should note on his test what mistakes he made, why he made them, and write the correct answers. He should do this regardless of whether he will get any credit for making corrections. I say this because most students see things backwards. They focus on the grade and not learning the material. Here’s a tid-bit: learn the material, and the grade will take care of itself.
The second thing he should do is ask himself three questions:
- What did I do right?
- What did I do wrong?
- How can I do better next time?
He should ask these questions regarding not only the material on the assessment but also regarding his preparation for it. It may also help if a parent, teacher, or mentor does this with him. Let’s take these questions one at a time.
What did I do right?
If the student bombed the test, this may not take long; but there should be some areas which could help. The answer may be simple. “I studied for that part because I paid attention and knew that would be on the test.” “I used study aids such as flash cards or an outline of the material.” “I took good notes on that.” “I started studying a few days before the test instead of waiting until ten o’clock the night before.” “I asked other students or the teacher for help on it.” These may seem “no brainer” answers, but they point to ways of doing better. Make note of them.
What Did I Do Wrong?
Then, what did I do wrong? This will be as helpful as you are honest and humble. For the moment, do not go down the rabbit hole of “this class is impossible” or “the teacher is no good” or “he didn’t tell us it would be on the test.” If someone in the class got the answer right, then that someone was doing something you weren’t. Find out what it is.
It usually comes down to two areas: material or preparation; often both. By material I mean such things as terms, definitions, concepts, formulas, or paradigms. Most subjects are cumulative, and a failure to understand these things from the start will only make matters worse as the year progresses. I’ll take my own subject of Latin as an example. If, in March, a student is still confused about what a noun or pronoun is, what a verb is, what declensions and conjugations are, how to recognize them and the paradigms for them, then it’s as though he’s trying to play baseball and still confused about balls and strikes.
Even in subjects which may not appear cumulative, there are usually basic things the teacher is trying to get across. In literature it may be foreshadowing or character analysis. In history it may be economic trends, leadership, or the rise of ideas such as democracy and Marxism. Contrary to what many students think, teachers are not out to trick them. If the teacher talks about something in class, it’s because he thinks it’s important. Do you know why?
And, especially in classes which are definitely cumulative, such as languages and math, when I say “know” I mean know. The actress Julie Andrews had a saying, “Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until it can’t go wrong.” You say you “know” the Third Conjugation? If I gave you a verb right now, could you conjugate it perfectly, all or nothing, a 100% or a zero? No? Then you don’t know it.
If I seem to be belaboring this point, it’s because this is the primary reason in my experience why students continue to do poorly on assessments. They are still confused about things they should have mastered long before, and they are confused because they thought the problem would go away. Here’s another tid-bit: problems don’t go away.
Then, what did I do wrong regarding preparation? Am I paying attention in class? What would the teacher say? Am I prepared for class? Doing the reading and homework? Making corrections on my homework so I could learn what I need to learn? Am I taking good notes, and by “good” I mean neat, legible, organized notes? Could someone look at my notebook and a) be able to read them, b) follow the course through it? Do I have a system for tracking assignments, tests, quizzes, papers, and handouts? Did I use any study guides the teacher gave? Did I use my time wisely, making use of study halls, commute time, and so forth? (This is especially crucial for students involved in extracurricular activities.)
Here’s a tip for college bound students. When I was in college, after I took class notes, I would later that day type them out. That gave me two advantages. The first was that, having gone through the lecture twice, I knew the material well enough that later study time was reduced to a minimum. The second was that my typed notes gave a ready-made study guide. Side-note: do not use a laptop for notes in class. Studies show that writing the notes by hand greatly enhances recall as compared to doing it on a laptop; it’s one of the great advantages to writing by hand.
How Can I Do Better Next Time?
Then, the third question: How can I do better next time? The answers to the first two questions should point the direction. If you did things well, then keep up those practices. For the things you did not do well, find solutions. Most of the answers will be simple things such as using a study guide, making corrections in homework, or seeing the teacher before the test if you were confused about terms. If you’re still confused about basic things, you may have to do extra work to catch up, but that’s better than going further downhill. Especially if the subject is one that will continue next year in some way (such as math or languages), you will need the knowledge sooner or later.
And speaking of next year, this idea of an “After Action Review” applies not only to individual assessments but can be used for the school year as a whole. It would be very helpful for parents to sit down with their sons sometime in mid-June after they get the final report card and go subject by subject with this. Do this not as a finger pointing exercise but as an objective search to learn how to improve. What classes went well? Which did not? Why? Are there things I need to learn before I can go on to the next level? Write them down and make a plan.
It may be that some extra academic work is needed during the summer, but even if it’s not there may be some other habits that would make next year go more smoothly. I’m thinking of things such as being more aware of the use of time, of better order at school or at home. The summer can be a great time for introducing slowly habits of getting to bed on time, eating better, getting exercise, keeping order in the room. This way, you’re not hit with a “culture shock” next September when all of a sudden you need to get up at six a.m. after you’ve spent the summer sleeping in till ten, or you need to overhaul the room after three months of letting the garbage dump grow.
One of the best teachers I ever had was also a great football coach. His philosophy was simple: eliminate mistakes so you don’t beat yourself. Most poor students beat themselves by not learning from their mistakes. Using this tool can eliminate that mistake.