Toni Radcliffe ’14
Study Skills, a class taught by Upper School faculty members Anna McDermott and Max Kelly, has been offered to the III Form for the first time this academic year. Meeting every other C Block, Study Skills “is a course to help students navigate the Upper School,” said McDermott, a member of the History Department.
Study Skills was created to address the transfer to Upper School. Cheryl McLauchlan, III Form Dean, said, “We felt like we needed to have something to help kids make an adjustment to Upper School. The difference between Middle School and Upper School is immense because of the time you spend committed to sports. Your day no longer ends as early as it did, whether you came from our Middle School or any other Middle School. It is easier to fix a problem before it is a problem than it is to correct a problem after it already happens.”
Study Skills provides students with fundamental, beneficial guidelines tailored to improve academic behavior. “For example, we teach skills such as taking notes during lectures and out of lectures, going through the repetition of mathematics and languages, looking for key words to work efficiently, analyzing literature passages, and giving concrete examples,” said Kelly.
After the Upper School administration made the decision to start Study Skills, McDermott and Kelly were selected to be the teachers. McDermott said, “When I was on maternity leave, I was meeting with kids that Form Deans recommended to me. At the end of last year, I went to Mr. Wagg and asked him if there was a need for this [in the Upper School]. I heard from Mr. Wagg in the first week of July [about Study Skills]; he knew to call me because I had interest in it.”
The process for selecting students for Study Skills varies from selection processes for standard mandatory classes. “This was the pilot year, so we took recommendations from the Middle School, looked at some of the placements tests of new kids, and, frankly, we looked at whose schedule it fit into best. If you take music, you are not eligible because the class is only offered during C Block. It was really not something we invested a tremendous amount of time determining,” said McLauchlan.
Julianne Longen ’15, a student currently taking Study Skills, said, “I have found [Study Skills] really helpful. The class has taught me how to take really good history notes and how to keep my agenda organized…If I were to change anything about the course for next year, I would have the teachers ask the students for their preferences on what to learn rather than having the day already planned without student feedback.”