Communication today is all about precision and concision on one hand, and persuasive detailed expression on the other. Whether you are writing an email to your instructor, asking your coach for advice, developing a persuasive argument to win a good grade, or just texting your mom to ask for a few more hours at a friend’s house, good communication is a learned skill that takes time and attention to develop. If you are a student, here are a few suggestions for developing yourself in this area.
Students (not parents) should email their instructors
Sure, educators can seem scary, plus mom (or dad) are already old pros at sending emails. What’s wrong with getting your parents to fire off a fast request to the instructor? Learning how to ask questions artfully, requesting extensions persuasively, imploring a second look at a score politely, or asking for clarifications humbly, all build the basic building blocks of good communication. The failure to either provide enough precise information or to politely self-advocate may end in undesirable results. There's excellent motivation for learning how to write your instructor with skill.Being precise, concise, and persuasive are qualities that never magically pop up on their own. They don’t just suddenly blossom when you hit a certain age. The only way you can grow comfortable with effective communication is to start with small tasks then build to bigger ones. Trial, error, and experience are key.
Students should embrace writing challenges instead of avoiding them
Ask a college professor. He or she will tell you there are two kinds of students: those who can write, and those who can’t. College professors hope you know how to write a good research paper when you walk into their classrooms. Students who come to college with these skills well in hand will find they are 75% less stressed than their classmates who arrived in class without a clue. Unequipped students will need to camp out at the writing lab in all their spare time. Well-prepared students get to focus their energies on their actual classes.Several of our semester classes require research papers because such assignments develop critical thinking, project management, time management, plus clear, persuasive, organized, and analytical writing. Students should build their skills with emails early on but then be quite conscientious about continuing to building them (Skillful Scribbler and Muse Series) so that a student is ready to take the classes that require persuasive writing (Rhetoric) as well as research papers (Classical History or mythology)--by 10th grade or--at the very latest--11th grade. After students have been through a couple research papers, they are ready for classes like College Composition, College Research Writing, as well as our AP classes that require subject mastery plus excellent analytical writing.
Students should learn to express their ideas fully
Many of the exams that you will take at The Lukeion Project will require assigned essays. Students lose points by failing to express their answers to the prompt fully. There is no virtue in a short or vague answer. A single rambling paragraph wins few points.Educators assign essay prompts to see if a student fully understands elements of the course such as an assigned reading passage, an epic plot, a historical event, or any of dozens of things that should be synthesized from things they read and heard. Those who answer an essay prompt vaguely or with few specific details have failed to grasp the basic expectation of an essay.
Always write as detailed and as complete a response that your exam time will allow you to write. Don’t quit early. Demonstrate your mastery and comprehension fully. Impress your readers.
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