If your student is struggling in their classes, one hidden reason might be causing it. 

Over the last 16 years, I have learned that most students who want to achieve good grades end up failing because they fail to practice their work from memory. They think just doing the problems or answer the questions is enough, and never realize that practicing the work from memory is what's actually holding them back. To be honest, it took me quite a while to learn this lesson too.

Here are some ways you can help your student be a better learner and practice

• Tactic #1: Stop using your notes to do your work. If your notes are open while doing your homework or studying for a test, you aren't actually learning anything. Try to do the work without help, then use your notes to check your answer or prompt you to the next step.

• Tactic #2 Slow down to speed up. Many times students rush through their work thinking that if they just 'get it done' then they've learned it. Often time taking your time to make sure that you understand the skill or idea early helps you speed up later and make fewer mistakes. The first student ends up taking much longer to complete their work because they keep getting lost and confused. The slow starter ends up taking less time and learning more effectively.

• Tactic #3 Practice each problem without using any previous work. Students also try to short circuit their work by using previous problems to answer related problems. This is the main difference between A students and C students. A students treat each problem like it's a new puzzle to solve. C students use the work or answer from a previous problem to get the answer to the next. In set of 10 problems, this means the A students practiced the idea 10 times while the C student only practiced the idea 1 or 2 times.

Overcoming failure is a crucial part of succeeding. Moving forward, encourage your student to try out these tips and making actionable progress.

And remind them - we've all failed - the key is to pick ourselves up and to go do better!  ❤️