Learning how to Learn by Jonah

Learning how to Learn by Jonah - August 2015 Scholarship Essay

“Study for your tests, keep your binders organized, take efficient notes, get good grades.” As a student, the instructions listed above are a few of the most important to follow in order to get the most out of your education. However, there is an astonishing disconnect within the educational system: applying these skills. Students are told all that is mentioned above and more, but are not taught how to study, or how to stay organized, or how to take notes, or why they should get good grades.

Therefore, many students don’t do these things and they do not do well in school. Some students drop out with a lack of skill, motivation, and knowledge. Even those who complete high school struggle to find work due to a lack of higher education.

The clear solution is an introductory course to teach students the most important skill to succeed in high school: how to learn.

Of course, one may say that this skill is taught to students in elementary and middle school, that the years leading up to high school is all the preparation that is necessary. This is simply untrue due to the distinct difference in difficulty between high school and middle school. Younger students often have easily laid out tests, guided notes, and organizational aid. They are too young to contemplate whether or not school is valuable and have no choice in whether or not they attend. The jump from this much easier style of learning can be quite a shock for some students and leaves many behind.

This struggle to adapt to a more rigorous education leaves a clear, yet often ignored, gap in the traditional educational system. This gap first becomes glaringly obvious to me last November.

My sister and I attend different high schools. Her school uses the trimester system and mine uses semesters. Although she’s a sophomore and had already experienced three sets of exams, she still struggles to prepare for her first trimester exams. Noticing this, I helped her in preparation. I taught her all of the skills I have acquired over the years that have helped me prepare for exams. It astounds me how much of a disadvantage she has because of her unpreparedness.
With my help and a lot of hard work, she does very well on her exams. Seeing her struggle made me realize how many students likely need help with these exact skills. So I set out to do something about it.

I spent the next few weeks developing a comprehensive exam preparation overview course. It encompasses everything from what to do for each subject, to proper time management, to distraction aversion, and more. I advertised this course around my school for students to attend after classes. Twenty percent of the freshman class attended, and they all loved it. Over the next few weeks, parents, teachers, and administrators share their admiration of both the content and effect of the course. Following exams, the school’s social worker contacts me to integrate it into the freshman introductory curriculum. At the next school dance a student tells me specific skills he applied that he would have been lost without.

So I decide to scale up my operation. If these skills helped students at my school, they would likely be able to help students worldwide. With this knowledge I become much more invested in teaching these skills, and High School 101 is born.

High School 101 (hs101online.com) is an online and in-class educational movement, dedicated to helping students learn how to learn. The High School 101 curriculum focuses on studying, organization, finding motivation, note taking, and exam preparation. High School 101 is entirely student-led organization. This allows all the content to be created by students who are currently using the skills they are teaching.

Student Ambassadors lead High School 101’s in-class seminars. Qualified students from any school worldwide can be Ambassadors. These Ambassadors are responsible for customizing the High School 101 curriculum to their school and their personal experience. Since these seminars are student-taught they are much more relatable. A freshman student will be much more likely to accept the teaching of study skills from an older student as those older students are still using the skills they teach. This is where school-curated preparation classes fail. Students can’t relate to or accept the study skills of a teacher or administrator who hasn’t been in high school for five to fifty years.

It is clear that a class teaching students how to learn is necessary for the high school curriculum. Its implementation has been flawed and ineffective. I’m dedicated to changing that.