Improvement Can Result from the Simplest Things

I had a proud father moment earlier this week. My oldest son, who’s in fifth grade, received his second quarter progress report on Monday, and he received an A+ in math. This comes after having earned a grade of C in math on his first quarter progress report in October.

So, in just a span of a few months, he was able to improve his grade in math from mere passing to one of the top in his class.

My wife and I sat down with our son to discuss his improved grade in math and tried to have him reflect on the changes that led to his improved grade.

We knew being able to understand the material wasn’t his problem. Nor was it putting in the work, even for a fifth grader. The grade of C in math was an outlier grade compared to his other grades.

So what changed? Our son said that the math just seemed "easier" for him.

It was hard to determine why math was “easier” or what helped him improve his grade, at least conceptually, but one of the things we encouraged him to do after we received his first quarter progress report was for him to become more organized.

You see, my son has been diagnosed with AD/HD, executive dysfunction, and anxiety disorder. As a result, he has difficulty ignoring distractions and sustaining attention, and he struggles with planning, problem-solving, organization, and time management. Additionally, according to his evaluation, his feelings of perfectionism and fear of making mistakes likely result in a tendency for him to place a high level of pressure on himself, which increase his level of frustration and general feelings of anxiety.”

So when my son received a C in math in October, we separated what he was learning (math) from how and where he was learning.

Sometimes the best results come from the simplest steps.

We made sure he was better organized.

We made sure he wasn’t doing homework right when he returned home from school.

We made sure he had a healthy snack when he came home (since this medication significantly suppresses his appetite).

We made sure he studies in a quiet study environment at home.

We made sure we didn’t over-schedule his days and weekends with extracurricular activities.

We established a regular routine – go to school, come home, eat a snack, play, have dinner, do homework, get ready for bed, repeat daily.

We removed distractions from his study area except for the pile of fidget toys, which seems to get bigger every week.

And we celebrated all of his accomplishments, even if they’re small.

Why I am telling this story? Sure, it’s a proud father moment. But this is also a reminder that improving one’s performance sometimes can result from the simplest things that might be completely unrelated to the content one is studying.

Consider not just what you’re studying for the bar exam, but also consider how, when, and where you’re studying, too. A proper assessment of those areas can lead to an improvement in your learning, understanding, and retention of the vast amounts of information you need to know for the bar exam.