Replacing Frustration With Motivation
“Our son Cody actually graduated last fall! We were so worried he was going to give up his dream of being a lawyer after the trials and tribulations he encountered with his schoolwork. He’s such a bright teen, and we know he wanted to do well, he just got so frustrated. We were afraid to believe that his best effort may only yield a C average. It was hard to determine if the classes were the cause or if he was just a poor learner.”
Many parents share this desperate fear: that their son or daughter is unable to excel in school. A variety of factors can exist when pondering a child’s dissatisfaction with school, but many overlook one crucial question: have they been taught how to learn? The answer seems like an obvious one, and a majority of parents would respond immediately with, “Of course my teen possesses adequate learning skills. How else would they make it to high school?” Those same parents may be shocked to discover that many teens have never been formally taught how to study or prepare for an exam. Teenagers lacking those skills become easily frustrated and never understand how easy learning can be with the proper encouragement.
Just because a teenager lacks learning skills, it does not mean that they lack academic ability. A chess player can only excel at chess when they have a defined set of rules and move list. Similarly, teenagers need to learn the ins and outs of studying. After repeated disappointment, it is possible to lose hope and focus, and develop self-defeating attitudes. They begin to convince themselves that school is just not important anymore. As many parents know, this sort of apathy endangers a teen’s academic future as well as the potential direction of their lives.
Why do teens feel so disconnected from their schoolwork? Motivation may be the key. When a student is unable to relate to what they are learning, a barrier forms between them and comprehension. Teenagers will bore of learning information that they do not see merit in. Unless they find ways to reconnect themselves to the content, they will continue to feel negatively toward learning.
It is a teacher’s goal to impart information clearly, but how a student organizes and retrieves that information for personal use depends on what set of strategies they use for their cache of data. Students process information in a variety of different ways. Realistically, teachers are unable to cater to each individual student’s unique learning style. This complicates matters when considering that some students have a more auditory style of learning, while others may be more visual. Ultimately, it may be up to the student to find ways to transform the information they learn into a usable format.
Many students suffer from the same strange phenomenon: learning ceases to be entertaining and their enthusiasm for it dies. They view school as something merely holding them back from doing what they enjoy. What happened to the bright child who skipped with excitement on their way to the library? Where is that talented artist who illustrated stick figure masterpieces with several crayons and a fierce imagination? Those children aren’t gone, but merely hidden in a shell of indifference and hormones. The creative spark is still hovering in the back of their minds; it needs only to be encouraged to show itself.
One thing that will coax the creative spark from any teenager is changing their view of school. If it is viewed as a forced institution or mandatory responsibility, they will never understand what a place of learning can offer. Rather, school should be depicted as a gateway of opportunity. It is a place that will broaden their horizons and actualize their personal goals and dreams. Academic summer camps help exemplify this image by providing learning and teen life skills in a setting where teenagers feel comfortable. Here, they will gain important traits that will help them in their academic and personal lives, like confidence, self-esteem, and motivation.
Teenagers will learn a wide range of skills at academic summer camps like SuperCamp that will give them a head start on future success. Communication skills, leadership skills, building positive relationships, conflict resolution, creative thinking, setting goals, and problem solving are just some of the things they will develop and master. Conflicts in school and at home will be significantly eased as a result.
The moment a teenager takes ownership for their own learning, is the moment that they uncover an infinitely deep well of potential. Frustration over memorizing, studying, and testing will become a thing of the past.