AtlanteanTec

Hey gamerDude, I cant seem to find your email information in your profile either. Is there another way that we could connect? What you are describing is something I have been very passionate about but havent know where to start. I would love to help and be a part of this endeavor.

Agreed! If you pay attention in class and do your homework, you shouldnt have trouble with tests because tests are just a measure of how much you pay attention to the work you've been doing. At least thats the way I saw it.

> Fairly anti-climatic. For someone that it comes easy too there is no real emotion or sense of accomplishment.

I completely agree with this statement. Personally, I felt like I didnt put in as much effort into my highschool work because I knew that I could easily pick up whatever I missed in class or homework and if I knew I could do it there was no real drive for me to try harder. And this goes back to the original article.

Thanks for bringing this up. I cant speak for everyone else but I can tell you that I didnt always use to be good at test taking. In fact, whenever I get on this topic, I always talk about the story about a time when I moved to a different country in the middle of a school year and I moved there just it time for the comprehensive mid-year test in which I got the lowest test scores of any test in my life. And I mention that because after that, I had a bit of a revelation as far as how to prepare for tests.

I picked up the knack for listening to what teachers emphasized while teaching and correlated that to the home work, drew parallels and 9 times out of 10, most of what they had in common was on the test - so no extra studying needed. It was easier for things like Maths, Physics and Chemistry because you have a formula to use - and all the questions that revolved around these forumlae had keywords as far as what facts you have to use and what you need to find. Once you see the pattern, you can apply the forumula (which you've probably seen at least a dozen times in class and/or homework) at this point and its just applying it.

As far as things like vocabulary or other word definitions go, I've learned how to photographically remember things so I could breeze through a textbook and remember key words and/or key dates and look for those in questions on the test.

I dont mean to say that it is either hard or only gifted people can do it, I think everyone has their own unique learning style and once they figure out what works for them, tests can be easy.

I think this article is trying to say "Dont just read books". Not that the soft skills and book smarts need to be mutually exclusive. It just that with the current traditional way of teaching, there is a lot more emphasis on book smarts, good grades and other academia than there is about teaching "street smarts".

I completely agree that good soft skills or "street smarts" are no substitute for actual knowledge but sharp soft skills tend to land more interviews than being smart (Natural networking and all).

Ultimately though, I agree with you. Soft skills and "book smarts" shouldnt be mutually exclusive.

Thank you for this post. This actually resonated with me personally, because I felt like you were describing me in high school. I knew I was smart, I could ace tests easily without studying - and I didnt see the point in trying. And like you have said, I did not know anything about soft skills. No one ever talks about things like this.

I feel like there is a disparity between the curriculum in schools and the skills necessary to be prepared for "the real world" and by-in-large a lot of this knowledge is just assumed. Everything from learning HOW to study (and not just what you need to study to pass tests) to real world "skills" like balancing a budget. But hey, if you've taken the mandatory economics class, you know what bear and bull markets are so you should be set for life. Ah, but I digress.

Anyway, I for one, would love to read this your book. However, I cant see very many teenagers looking in the self-help section to pick up a book that will help them. While I completely agree that teenagers need to be made aware of, what I would call, "life lessons", a self help book might not be the best approach to getting the material out there.