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No need to get squeamish- this is just a metaphor (comparing two dissimilar things without using the words like, as, or than). In this metaphor, the "elephant" is a big project, and "eating" it is accomplishing that large project or reaching the goal.
For me, my "elephant" is currently finding a new job. If I tried to eat that large elephant in one day, not only would I get a stomachache but I'd also get pretty frustrated because it's just not possible to do all at once. So, to "eat the elephant," I'm just going to take bites: I will break up the huge project into small tasks that I can accomplish one by one. It is like cutting up a large piece of (elephant) meat, and eating each piece one at a time. Eventually you'll have eaten the whole thing, right? Examples of manageable bite-sized tasks I can make from my whole elephant include:
In terms of how we can apply this same strategy to schoolwork or the life of a child or teenager, it might be pretty clear already: take a large project or assignment (ex. an assigned summer reading book, cleaning your room) and instead of trying to tackle it all at once, break it up into pieces. For example:
These elephant tasks can seem overwhelming if you look at them as a whole. Like, how am I supposed to eat that whole huge mammal?! But, if you break it up into bite-sized pieces and chew carefully, the elephant will be a whole lot easier to swallow. Then, you can sit back, relax, and digest! *Note: the elephant metaphor was borrowed from a great video from WellCast that I've used with my own students. The video can be found here.
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As you near the end of the school year, this is a great time to take a close look at your habits and systems, to see which have served you well this year and which could use a little revamping for the next school year.
You've made it this far in the year, so you should have a lot figured out about how to be successful in your classes. If, however, you've had some difficulty completing homework, remembering necessary materials for class, or seem to be lacking free time, it may be wise to look at how you're organizing your materials and using your time. Some things to consider: 1. What kind of system do you have for recording homework? Is it working well? If not, what seems to be the problem? Is there a system that could work better? See previous posts about different systems for keeping track of work. If it is, and you're not missing or forgetting homework and you're successfully preparing for assessments, then keep on doing what you're doing. Having an efficient, thorough, and consistent way to record and track what you need to do is the first essential step to managing your time. 2. Are you able to find what you need, when you need it? This includes your personal belongings and all of the materials you need for school (including what's on your laptop). Can you easily find what you have saved on your laptop or in Google Drive? Do you know exactly where to go in a binder or in your locker or backpack to find something specific? If you can't find what you need, or if it's taking longer than you'd like, try to develop a system for what goes where. A friend, family member, or adult at school will likely have some suggestions about how you might do this, based on what works for them. 3. How much free time do you have? Do you seem to have enough time to spend on the things you enjoy? Are you getting enough sleep? Do you feel rushed from one activity to another each day? If you feel you don't have enough time to do what you'd like, take a good look at how you're using the time you do have. For example, during school, how are you using your free periods and study halls? Are you using them to chat with friends, or to get work done? Are you enjoying your electives, or do you think one period would be better spent in a study hall? Is your bus ride to school in the morning the best place to try to catch a few more minutes of sleep, or could that be used to do some Membean training? Where might you be able to find a few extra minutes here and there to devote to what you enjoy? Maybe your bus ride can be the time to check Instagram and go on Snapchat, but the time period between school sports and your hockey practice is when you should get some reading done... Make a schedule of how to use your time, and stick to it. Then, assess how it went and what might need to be tweaked. Routines can save us time and energy, but they should be routines that are effective for our purposes. Oftentimes, getting organized with materials and routines can save you time and effort, even if it takes small investment of time up front. Use this time to reflect and note down ideas, then use some time over the summer and at the start of next school year to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Please feel free to write in with questions or comments! 2 ways an adult at home can help a student who is preparing for final exams:
1. Help your student keep these tests in perspective.
2. Help your student with time management
Exam prep tips for students will be posted soon, so check back!  Checklists can be used for so many things, from daily routines to math problems, to writing. Checklists are helpful because they can take the load off of our working memory, which does have a limited capacity.
 Just a quick post about a simple strategy you can use when completing homework or practicing a new concept you're not totally familiar or comfortable with yet:
On the top of the sheet of paper on which you're working, write down the things you most need to remember for the procedure or the steps you need to take to complete whatever sort of problem you're working on. For example, I was working with a student on her math homework today, and she's forgetting how to start the procedure of simplifying. After talking through what she noticed about the steps we were taking to simplify expressions, she wrote on the top of her homework page 1. Distribute 2. Combine like terms 3. Continue until you don't have any more like terms She was also having some trouble remembering how to combine positive and negative integers, so I suggested she also write Same signs, keep and add; different signs, subtract and keep the sign of the larger number. (You may have memorized this to the tune of "Row Row Row your Boat," which is another great memory strategy!) Writing these notes out in a place you can see them as you work can do at least two things for you:
What are some steps or procedures you might write out as a visual for other classes? If you have ideas, please leave them in the comment box below!  It's that time of year when many of us like to set a goal or two for ourselves, related (or not) to our (school)work, personal health, or social relationships. While goal setting is a great habit to get into, we shouldn't just set any old goal- we should be setting SMART goals! SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time-bound Below is an example, to clarify these elements of a SMART goal: not-so-smart goal: I will do more Membean so I have 50 minutes done each week. SMART goal: I will complete 10 minutes of Membean at 7:30pm each day, Monday-Friday, so I have 50 minutes done by Sunday. This SMART goal is specific- the outcome is 50 minutes of Membean per week, and it also tells when and how you will work to meet the goal. If you know you'll need a reminder to do this, set one on your phone to pop up at a specific time, ask a parent or peer to remind you, or, better yet- write in in your planner! This goal is also measurable. "More" can't necessarily be measured, but 10 minutes is 10 minutes, and you know it's 10 minutes because the program times it for you. This goal is attainable, because it's something you're likely to be able to achieve. Completing 3 hours of Membean each week would probably be a less attainable goal because you have a lot of other things to do, but most of us can find 10 minutes per day, 5 days per week, to do something. This goal is realistic, because it's something you could actually do. The only thing that may not be realistic for some people is scheduling the Membean training for the same time each night. This goal is time-bound, because you'll be able to assess whether or not you met it each week, and even each day if you did the training or not. By Friday, you'll know if you succeeded and met your goal, and if so, great! If not, you still have a couple of days to make some changes to get to the ultimate goal of 50 minutes of training per week. After the time period for which you set your goal is up, it's always a good idea to reflect on how it went. If the plan you laid out as part of your goal worked, and you were able to meet the goal, awesome! Keep doing that! If that plan you had for meeting the goal wasn't so successful, perhaps you should look more closely to see if it really is a SMART goal; you may need to be more specific and realistic about the goal and your plan for meeting it. A few other tips for sticking to the goals once you've made some SMART ones:
  TIME MANAGEMENT IS ESSENTIAL!
KEEP A BALANCED PERSPECTIVE
CREATE STUDY MATERIALS Using pre-made Quizlet sets or materials given to you is okay, but you will likely retain more when you’re creating the study materials yourself, instead of just reviewing what someone else has done. Types of study materials you could create include:
USE ACTIVE STUDY STRATEGIES “Reading over” textbooks and notes is NOT efficient studying!
HAVE ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR PREPARING FOR AND ACHIEVING ON EXAMS? SHARE IN THE COMMENTS BELOW! 
 Many students only skim through, or skip over altogether, the directions for an assignment. This can obviously cause you some problems: you may do the work incorrectly and need to re-do it or lose points; you may do too much work and be wasting your time; or, you may not do all of the work that is required. There are a few strategies, however, that you can use to make sure you're paying close attention to all parts of directions, and following them correctly. Those strategies include: 1. Read the directions twice before starting. Then, read the directions a third time when you think you're done, to make sure you followed them correctly. 2. Ask yourself, "How would I explain these directions to someone else, using my own words?" If you're not able to do that, it may mean you don't truly understand the directions. So, ask for help or try another strategy to figure out what you're being asked to do. 3. Highlight or underline key words in the directions.
4. Highlight, underlining, or circling signs and symbols (x, -, +, =, ÷) in math problems. If you treat something like an addition problem when it's really a multiplication problem, you're obviously not going to get the correct answer. Color-coding signs for addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division, can be another visual cue to pay close attention to the signs. 5. If there is more than one step to the directions, separate out each step. For example, in the following directions, you're being asked to do three things: Identify three inventions of the industrial revolution, explain how each invention changed the way people lived, and summarize what life would be like today if these inventions did not exist. By highlighting or numbering each step, you're going to be more likely to follow each of the three sub-directions and produce a more complete answer. 1. Identify three inventions of the industrial revolution, 2. explain how each invention changed the way people lived, and 3. summarize what life would be like today if these inventions did not exist. Try out one or more of these strategies if you often hear from teachers that you need to pay closer attention to the directions, or if you see that your errors are not really reflective of what you actually understand. If you have other ideas or strategies for following directions, please leave a comment to share! |
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