Pointers from the CLAW
The Center for Learning and Writing, also known as CLAW, formed a panel for our October 2024 General PTA meeting, speaking on best practice for success at Bard. Here’s what we learned.
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Get help.
• Office hours. Get over feeling ashamed or vulnerable. Many Bard kids are perfectionists, but actually asking for help is the smartest thing you can do. Professors will appreciate your effort. Your frees don’t have to match, either. Bard faculty will always find a time to meet. You can bring unfinished work, essays to read, or just chat for some feedback or reassurance.
• CLAW. Peer tutors are available most periods of the school day, in the library. Students may be referred by teachers. The Director provides training for all tutors on educational psychology and effective tutoring practices.
• Peer study groups. Find people you can work with, even outside of your regular friend group.
Time management.
• Reminders are key to time management. Whether your style is GCal, sticky notes, a whiteboard, or a good old-fashioned planner, successful Bard students have a system for staying on task and on deadline.
• Set your phone's lock screen as reminders.
• Stolen moments. Use frees and lunch periods at school, and particularly time in transit to sports or home to chip away at your workload. It adds up.
Studying.
• Schedule daily practice in subjects with heavy memorization like math or science or language so you don't try to cram everything last minute for exams. Take notes in class, then review and add to the notes for homework, and quiz yourself on the content the next night, for a minimum of three sessions with the material. The more you go back and review, the more you’ll learn. And these become your study guides.
• Study guides are your secret weapon for midterms and finals.
• Keep an ongoing list of questions for each class and make a plan for getting answers so you can incorporate them into your study plan. Resources include office hours with professors (because spending additional time with your teachers is key), study groups, and CLAW tutors.
• Remember: study techniques vary by subject. Humanities require ongoing engagement via reading and writing, STEM and language will benefit from consistent review.
Locking in. Eliminate distractions, set time limits, find study spaces.
• Phone stacks. Sit down with your study partners, actually turn off your phone, and stack it in the middle of the table for accountability.
• Study spaces. If you’re too comfortable to stay on task at home, post up at a library or cafe. Bard’s school day begins at 9am so you can plan to arrive by 8:00 or 8:30 and benefit from your association with the school as a place to work.
• Make a deal. Phones again. Use positive reinforcement with 45 minutes of focus rewarded by 15 minutes of phone access. Or a snack. Or a body break.
• Self care. Manage your time so that your eating and sleep does not become disordered. Better to ask a professor for more time than to try and work all night and risk the next day's productivity.
Finally...
Advice to parents.
Understand the workload and pressure your kids are facing at school. Bard excels at teaching students to advocate for themselves, so you don't need to be checking Jupiter grades every night. Instead, make sure they eat and sleep adequately, and remind them that they got into Bard because they're capable of doing the work. Allow for mental health days if needed, and try to help your kids decompress after school. Be willing to check in with teachers on your student's behalf if you see they're struggling. It takes a village!
