The Cheat Codes; A Conversation

 

“I can’t ever remember stuff for the test,” my son complained after a particularly poor score on a social studies test in middle school. 

“How many cheat codes do you know in GTA?” I asked, “I’m guessing about 50?”

“But, but….you can’t compare school with video games,” he said with a bit of sneer in his voice.

Continuing, I said, “And you’ve got a bunch of video games.”

“But, but….I know, but that’s not the same thing,” he implored.

“Ahhhhhh, but it is. It shows you can remember things that are important to you. Clearly, social studies is not as important to you as Grand Theft Auto,” I began, “If you can remember all those cheat codes for all those games, you have the ability to learn and retrieve the information.”

Silence…

“I’m not suggesting Social Studies, or Math or English or any class in school is going to be more interesting than using the cheat code to get a tank to roll all over San Andreas causing mayhem, but I am suggesting that you could do better in school.” I finished, “If you really want to. IF you really want to.”

First Quarter Reflection

The first quarter is in the books. I assume you have a pretty good sense of how this school year is going so far. Your parents will get tangible feedback on your work next week in the form of a report card. 

But, you should already know what has gone well and what hasn’t gone so well. If not, take a few minutes to think about it and ask your teachers how you are doing.

Now is a great time to take stock of your work and your work habits and look for ways to improve. Missed too many homework assignments? Reconsider your process for getting work home, getting it done, and getting it back in your teacher’s hands. If you don’t have a process, develop one. Are your quiz grades not what you would like them to be? Examine how you prepare for a quiz. Do you study the night before or 5 minutes before? Develop a pattern of preparation - one that actually helps you get ready for a quiz or test, then do it the same way each time.

If you do things in the same way, again and again, they become habits. 

Habits require less thought - you just kind of automatically do the same things the same way. That’s why I always park in the same place at the mall or pack up my stuff for school each day - no thought, no forgetting, just habit. 

You can literally train your brain to do the right things in the right ways. Of course, you can also train your brain to do the wrong things, and undoing that takes a lot more time and effort. 

So, how’d the first quarter go? What can you do better? What good habits can you reinforce and what bad habits can you retrain yourself out of?