I’m not talking about crooner Frank Sinatra’s golden oldie. What I mean to say is, “Do you listen to your instructors or try to reinvent the wheel?” While divergent thinking is all the rage these days, there are times when you just need to listen and perform as instructed.

Oftentimes, trailblazing students end up taking far more time to learn something than if they had just listened and followed instructions the first time. I’m all for poking the box. After all, that’s the best way for meaningful learning to ensue. What I’m talking about are rudimentary skills that are a pre-requisites for the course they may be taking.

Teachers may be trying to stuff 60 minutes of content into just 40 minutes. As teachers, we have to assume that the students have the prerequisite skills to be in a particular class.

Having said that, here’s what we’re faced with. Through no fault of their own, students were walloped by a once-in-a-hundred years pandemic. To top it off, some states’ governors refused to allow faculty to assign failing grades even when students did not attend virtually.

Further consider that the scores on their high stakes tests are sometimes used to evaluate the instructor, depending on the subject. You can understand why teachers (who teach subjects) that are assessed can seem a little overbearing at times.

Do yourself and your teacher a favor. Try to do stuff right the first time. Once you’re in college, you can march to any drummer you’d like. In the meantime, do your darndest to catch up if you are indeed behind. If you kept up through the pandemic, do you darndest to keep up. And if you’ve done both, work to level up!

Until next time…

Remember that success is a planned event. Believe in yourself.

Pay attention, do the work, and don’t give up!

And don’t forget to check out my new YouTube channel!

www.youtube.com/@PlanetNumeracy

Remember that success is a planned event. Believe in yourself.

Pay attention, do the work, and don’t give up!

And don’t forget to check out my new YouTube channel!

www.youtube.com/@PlanetNumeracy