Another new school year, full of fantastic possibilities. This is my 30th as a teacher (insert "old age" joke here). Over the last three decades, I've worked with a lot of successful students, and some who just couldn't quite catch on. From these students, I've observed what I believe are three behaviours that lead to success.
- Attendance - This one's pretty straight forward. You can't learn that course content if you're not physically here. You can try learning by yourself from the textbook, or your friends, or the numerous resources online. However, none of that compares to actually being in class, and the evidence is proof of that.
- Attention - Now that you're in class, you need to actually engage in the lesson. You need to focus. I know, it's math and it's kinda boring sometimes...and there are so many more interesting things on your phone...STOP! Put that phone away! That's called a distraction, and nothing good ever came from distractions. They cause car accidents, and worse. Pay attention, it won't drone on forever. Focus!
- Practice - It was hard, but you made it through the lesson. No one said it would be easy. Hardship builds character! Now the most important part, practice! You need to try the math. Not just look at it, not just think about it, but take out a pencil and TRY it. Write some things down. Do some calculations. Make some mistakes. Mistakes are awesome, because that lead to LEARNING, as long as you identify your mistakes and correct them (be sure to seek help with anything you don't fully understand).
That's it. Attend class regularly, focus in class (avoid distractions), and put real effort into doing the practice. Do these three things and you are almost guaranteed to succeed in this course. Not only that, these three behaviours will probably get you pretty far in your other courses too.
I hope you have a successful school year.
