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1.Know Yourself as a Learner
Knowing and understanding your learner intelligence is an important factor in being a good student. To figure this out, we will look into 8 different learner types and the 4 tendencies. First, let's look into learner intelligence.What are the learner types?
Learner types, discovered by Dr.Howard Gardner, are how you best learn and take notes. Do you learn verbally? Do you use your body to learn? Do you see the world through math and logic? I got most of my source information from this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2EdujrM0vA
Here are the learning types:
The Learner Intelligence:
- Mathematical and Logic: people who fall into this intelligence will likely see the world through math and logic. They will also be adept at taking tests. They can best take notes through equations.
- Verbal-Linguistic: In this intelligence, people take notes through actually writing them down, or writing them as little stories they can remember. If you are in this intelligence, you might learn languages quicker than others.
- Interpersonal: This means you understand other people's feelings and you also understand social norms.
- Body-Kinesthetic: If you happen to fall into this intelligence, it means you are exceptional at controlling your own body.
- Musical: If you're in this intelligence, it means you have a higher understanding of music than most other people do. People in this intelligence are also good at playing music.
- Visual-spatial: If you are in this area, you are will most likely learn through pictures. People int his intelligence can easily visualize situations in their heads.
- Intrapersonal: One question describes this intelligence: How well do you know/understand yourself?
- Naturalistic: If you are in this intelligence, you most likely learn through nature.
Now that you have a short description of what each of the learning intelligence is, figure out which one YOU are. Take the quiz below!
Next thing, let's learn what's the significance of the 4 tendencies and how they can help to get to know yourself better
What are the four tendencies?
Watch this video to get a better description:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4rhSvqPM3s
Discovered by Gretchen Ruben in her book(I haven't read it yet), the four tendencies comply with what type of personality you have. Each of the four tendencies responds differently do outer expectations(expectations set by other people), and inner expectations(expectations set by yourself) the four tendencies are as follow
- Upholder: Upholders follow both inner and outer expectations
- Questioners: Question all expectations, and mostly only follow inner expectations
- Obligers: Struggle with inner expectations, but will easily follow outer expectations.
- Rebels: Don't follow any expectations.
Obligers are most common. These people generally follow what the teacher says, but has problems setting and accomplishing goals for themselves.
Questioners don't follow other people's goals or expectations, unless that they question that's useful. From my experience, most kids at school aren't questioners. Questioners will only set the inner goals if they decide it's useful.
Upholders are among the most successful people. They are obligers in the sense they can accomplish tests and deadlines, but go that extra mile in the fact they can set the most ambitious inner goals and still be able to complete them.
Rebels are the least common. Rebels are also not necessarily seen in a school environment. Rebels don't like deadlines, and they also don't set their own goals.
Which of the four tendencies are you? Take the test here:https://quiz.gretchenrubin.com/.
Now that you now know what type of learner you might be, let's dive into more skills that can help you in school.
2.Know Your Priorities
We all have priorities. What some don't know how to do is how to arrange them efficiently. For example, binge-watching Netflix or Disney+ is NOT a priority. Priorities are things like schoolwork, college, family time, and other tasks or assignments that could have big consequences if you don't do them. As a starter exercise, make a table and add three labels at the top like this:
Fill it out like in the example below:
Continue filling it out. Put it how long you sleep, eat, shower, study, and watch TV per day. Then multiply that by 7 and put it in for how long you do that item per week. Add in how long all those hours took at the bottom.
Once you do that, look at how long each of those things takes. Make sure the numbers add up and organize them. First organize them by tasks you likely do in the morning, like showering, eating, and getting dressed. Then after that, take the assignments or tasks that are most important, then arrange them. Finally, take your TV and game time, and add it after your work, and Voila! You have yourself a schedule. You can adjust it as needed. The things that you have to do for school should be at the VERY tippy-top of the schedule, after the tasks you do in the morning. Of course, it is also important that you make eating, sleeping, and showering a top priority also.
3. Know How To Set and Achieve Your Goals(Also A Continuation on Priorities)
There is a simple fact to this one: if you can achieve this, you will be one of the most successful people on earth. Remember the 4 tendencies we talked about earlier? This is the one thing Upholders are so good at, for both outer and inner goals. So how can we achieve these goals? Well, the first thing you should do is actually RECOGNIZE your goals. I learned there are three types of goals you can set:
Rock-Rock goals are the ones that are really important, like school goals, or improvement goals. List a rock priority that YOU have
Pebble Goals-Goals that aren't extremely necessary, but goals that can still hurt your life if you don't do them, like for example, making sure you have good friends or spending time with your parents. List a pebble goal that YOU have.
Rock or Pebble goals-Basically a goal that you don't know that would belong to pebbles or rocks. Like a certain test. List a goal that YOU have.
Sand goals-I made this one up. However, having this goal may push you to do better at your rock and pebble goals. A sand goal is a goal that will not hurt you at all if you don't do it, but a goal that will make your life more fun. Think of this goal as a reward, once you finish 5 or 10 rock or pebble goals, you get to complete this goal, which should be easy. Sand goals, in my opinion, include things like a trip to Disneyland, or movie night, or binge-watching a Netflix or Disney+ show. List a sand goal you might have AFTER you complete your rock and pebble goals.
There's an entire story behind it the rocks, pebbles, and sand! I will retell in my own way.
A mother was walking with her kid, who watched Disney+ and Netflix all day. Because of his TV addiction, he stopped completing all his goals and stopped paying attention in school. His mom took him down to the beach, which was mostly sand but had some big rocks and pebbles lining the shore. The mom took a jar with her and held it out for her kid to see.
"This jar," she said "represents your life." She then took him down to the beach towards the shore. She picked up handfuls of sand and put them in the jar until sand filled up half the jar. She then explained how the sand represented the things people did that didn't really matter in life, like TV, and video games(Basically what the kid was doing with all his time). These were the things that were supposed to be a reward. She then picked up some pebbles and filled the jar 3/4 of the way. She told her kid that the pebbles represented the things that mattered, but wouldn't have too big consequences if you don't do them. Things like vacations. Then finally, his mom picked up a few large rocks. "These represent the really important things in life that can have big consequences." She attempted to put them in the jar but only two could fit. she then explained to her kid that the rocks represented the incredibly important things in your life. if you put all the sand and Pebbles things in first you will have no room for the incredibly important assignments like the school assignments. You won't have time for school, you won't have time for work and you won't be successful. However, she emptied out the jar and refilled it this time rocks first. She then added the pebbles, which slid into the spaces between the rocks, and then finally added the sand in the end. everything fits perfectly. she finally explained to her kid that if you do the important tasks first and then the second important task you'll have plenty of time for your fun but you would have also felt good with yourself because you have completed everything in your life.
The next thing I want to talk about is the impossible list. Your impossible list is basically going to be a possibly 20 long page document with all your life's long term goals in it. Your long term goals can belong to any category you can think if, from health goals to school goals, to work goals, to insanely fun goals, everything! People often get bucket lists and impossible lists confused, but there 2 main big differences.
1. Bucket lists are only for fun and extreme things, versus impossible lists, are for more everything, including work goals.
2. Once you complete something on your bucket list, you cross it out, and you are done with it. On the impossible list, you have a bunch of goals, that when you complete it, you cross it out, and then add a more ambitious goal. For example, if one of my health goals was to jump rope 50 times in a row, and I completed that, I would cross it out, and rewrite my goal to be 100 jumps in a row.
So what are some tips for making your Impossible Lists?
1. Organize your goals in order of importance. Some goals are just more important than others. In your life, you want to do your most exciting, most ambitious, and most change-making goals first. For example in the Academic section, the goal, "graduate with all A's" is a very long term, but it is very important so it may be higher than "get over 80% on reading quiz next week".
2. Try to have mostly long term goals. For example, in the above, the goal was "get over 80% on the reading quiz next week" wouldn't really be the best thing to put on your list because of its short term. Impossible lists are mainly for long term goals.
You have learned a lot about becoming a better student and a better person in general. Use these tips to help organize your life.
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