20 Underrated skills every student should learn.

 

Sometimes students perform poorly in their exams and class tests or even extra-curricular activities. And most of the time, it may not be their fault for their lacklustre performance.

It is teachers' and parent's duty to first find out the reasons for poor academic performance. Finding out where they are lacking and why they have poor grades is pivotal.

I have presented 20 skills that are very important for students and can create the biggest impact on their grades and personal development.

1. Critical thinking-

One of the most simple and effective ways to critical thinking and problem-solving skills is by asking questions. Be curious and inquisitive to know the answers to various questions and doubts in your mind.

Asking questions helps you to explore different perspectives. The questions require students to explain and justify their answers opinions, and reasoning.

These questions can challenge students to think beyond their usual thinking patterns they can consider multiple possibilities, Asking questions takes them to the root of the problems.

Students should foster these two aspects, critical thinking and problem-solving, authentic tasks.  They increase their interest, curiosity, and motivation.

They will apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways. The students should have the freedom to ask questions and discuss in the classroom to develop their critical thinking.

Teachers can arrange jigsaw puzzles, pair-share, and project-based learning to develop this skill. Students can work in collaboration with one another, share their opinions, and thoughts, and develop listening skills also. 

These brain-storming sessions can help in developing critical thinking.

2. Creativity.

There are many ways students can develop their creativity. Of course, they are not easy but thinking creatively can be developed. 

Trying new things, reading books that are outside of your comfort zone, and seeking out new perspectives are some of the ways to develop this skill.

According to indeed.com- Creativity is the ability to think about a task or a problem in a new or different way, or the ability to use the imagination to generate new ideas. 

Creativity enables you to solve complex problems or find interesting ways to approach tasks. Developing creativity helps you to view and solve problems more openly and with different possibilities.

Students should have the confidence to conduct experiments with new ideas and keep on trying new things. Research, daring, courage, risk-taking, and persistence are necessary for creativity. 

Creativity helps students to communicate and exchange their ideas and work with others smoothly thus adapting in a collaborative setting. Students learn adaptability and flexibility.

3. Effective communication.

Effective communication plays a significant role in a student's life. It helps them to connect with others efficiently, resolve conflicts amicably, and establish a supportive network.

It gives them satisfaction and a feeling of accomplishment. There will not be any misunderstanding or giving or receiving wrong messages.

According to edutopia.org- The simplest and quickest strategy for improving student behaviour is through effective communication. 

Communication is relatively complex and can be used to prevent behavior, and increase performance, and understanding.

A strong communication skill has many advantages. It motivates students to ask questions. Their body language shows that they respect everyone and gain everyone's support and trust.

4. Time management.

One of the most valuable things to any student is time. A student's life is packed with working towards getting good grades, tuition, extra-curricular activities, project work, and social life.

And also for watching TV, and social media browsing. Time management teaches them self-discipline, and prepares them for success.

There are many ways they can manage their time effectively and efficiently. Keeping a timetable for completing work, doing the most important things first, saying no to unnecessary commitments, and taking time off to relax and unwind.

Time management ensures that you are well prepared in advance, to keep you organized, and focused in your studies. It also increases your confidence and self-esteem.  It increases your productivity. 

Actually, time is the greatest teacher of them all. If you learn the time management skill, you will have less stress, and tension, a positive reputation, more energy for free time, and clear your daily school work.

5. Adaptability.

Adaptability helps you make adjustments to your expectations quickly and move forward to the next task easily. They do this without anger resentment, or stress. 

Life is always unpredictable and not in our control. But students with adaptable nature, function better and even excel when faced with any situation.

Adaptability teaches how to overcome obstacles and hurdles. It makes them furious learners and most importantly they become happy people.

Teachers and parents can help the children adapt by encouraging them to be lifelong learners, eliminate fear of failure, and be resilient and patient.

6. Self-motivation.

This is also a skill that helps students to go ahead in life with a positive attitude and optimistic approach. Students will be more energetic and attentive in class. 

Self-motivated students are more likely to set goals and work toward accomplishing these goals. Self-motivated students are inclined to keep on learning and have the ability to face any challenges that crop up during their study time.

Student can develop their self-motivation in many ways. Choosing the subjects they are interested in, creating a distraction-free study environment, and managing study hours effectively and efficiently.

Studying in a group and discussing the answers with your peers, friends, and classmates can increase your self-motivation.

7. Discipline.

Self-discipline is the cornerstone of a student's personal growth and achievements. It empowers and encourages them in their studies well. 

Self-discipline is a crucial aspect of a student's life. Without discipline, he/she will never achieve good grades. 

Inculcating the habit of being disciplined, has many benefits in their life. It improves their focus and productivity, helps them overcome the fear of exams or failures and their self-control. 

Being self-disciplined makes them use their time effectively, build good habits, and improve their studies. 

As Plato said, "The first and best victory is to conquer self".

In one of the greatest books ever written on discipline, Brian Tracy, motivational speaker and author of "No Excuse: The Power of Self-discipline", details the need for self-discipline and how it is linked to success in different aspects of one's life. 

8. Resilience.

Truth be told, you will never really know just how strong and adamant you are, unless adversity trikes. Then only you will learn.

Resilience is a skill that helps students to adapt and bounce back quickly from stress, failures, setbacks, and hardships. 

Resilience is being able to work through emotional pain and suffering. With resilience, students cope better with burnout and exhaustion, anxiety, and depressed feelings about exams and difficult subjects.

Resilience building is crucial for many reasons. It gives students the strength to face any challenges in their lives. It increases their chances of success.

To build resilience, be open and discuss your problems with your family or friends, be ready to accept changes, focus on positive thoughts, and be strong.

9. Determination.

To be determined is to believe that nothing will stop you. Determination is one of the greatest character traits to possess.

Determination will allow you to doggedly stick to the learning until you understand the concepts well. It's a quality that indicates that you are serious about accomplishing or achieving something despite facing hurdles or obstacles.

Students are tasked with with doing many things in school and to complete these assignments, they need determined focus and effort.

Grit or determination helps students stay committed to their studies even when faced with obstacles, demanding schedules, or academic challenges.

It allows them to maintain their motivation and push through difficult times, ultimately leading to the successful completion of educational goals.

10. Patience-

According to adhelp.myallendigital.com- Patience allows students to make better choices and await the results with patience, boosting their self-esteem, morale and readiness to face new challenges.

Self-confidence is a vital aspect of student's life, enabling them to navigate the competitive outside with resilience. 

Patience helps students to be focused on their studies and persevere throughout their life. It can improve their academic grades.

Patience helps students to stay calm and composed even in stressful situations. Students should realize the importance of being patient in all situations. 

Patience also plays a vital role in developing relationships and bonding between students and teachers. The skill of patience is the ability to wait for the right time to act or respond in a given situation. 

11. Curiosity/inquisitiveness.

"You can teach students a lesson for a day, but if you can teach him/her to learn by creating curiosity he/she will continue the learning process as long as he/she lives". - Clay P. Bedford.

Curiosity or inquisitiveness is a skill that shows how eager you are to learn things. It focuses on the "never give up" or never say die" attitude.

According to ca,bridge.org- curiosity is an important condition for language learning and plays a significant role in learner engagement.

People are better at learning information they are curious about, as curiosity prepares the brain for learning and subsequently learning more enjoyable and rewarding.

Curiosity helps students to remember lessons that might otherwise, go in one ear and out from the other ear because of a lack of concentration.

12. Orgnisational skill.

Being organized helps children/students to use their time more effectively and efficiently. It also helps them to study without stress or tension.

They learn to finish their work within the time limit set. It helps them to be more efficient in their work, manage their time better, and improve their performance in exams.

According to jobscan.com,- Organisational skills are your abilities to manage time effectively, prioritize tasks, set goals, and develop systems for achieving those goals.

13 Stress management-

Stress is an inevitable part of everyone's life. In the modern-day competitive world, students are more stressed out. 

Today's students are stressed because they have more responsibilities, lack proper time management, have wrong eating habits, and do not take time for relaxation and unwinding.

Stress is a natural feeling in a student's life. Sometimes little bit can actually, motivate them to study well and get good grades. 

Stress may help them cope with challenging situations. But most of the time, students feel overwhelmed and may get demotivated to complete their school work.

According to a recent survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, more than 60% of students report feeling stressed daily. 

Students must learn to take it easy otherwise, they may suffer from health issues like fatigue, tiredness, anxiety, and fall into depression.

A little bit of stress is okay but when that worry lingers long, immediate action should be taken. Try to calm your mind and relax.

14 Efficiency-

According to sciencedirect.com- Learning efficiency is a measure of academic progress that takes into account, both performance improvement and the student's learning time.The higher the learning efficiency, the less time it takes for learners to achieve competence.

Remember, family, teachers, peers, and the environment come together to make a student efficient. Students need proper guidance to be efficient. Being a highly efficient student is a process to love and focus on their studies.

Once they start loving their school, their studies, sports, teachers, parents, and family, ultimately start gaining interest in being an efficient student.

15. Dedication-

Dedication is the willingness to give a lot of time and energy to something because it is important. Dedication to your work or studies shows how committed you are towards achieving your goals. 

According to collegemarker.com- Dedication leads to success in the long run. It encourages students to persevere in the face of obstacles and hardships.

Dedication to your work or studies shows how committed you are towards achieving your goals. Some of the dedicated qualities are never missing class, attending extra-curricular classes without skipping and putting in hours of learning and studying to improve their academic results.

16. Networking Skill-

Networking skill provides a way to extend student's horizons beyond the classroom. It's an interaction with peers, teachers, and classmates. They gain insight into their studies and knowledge.

Networking helps students in many ways. they build solid connections and that can help in the classroom as well as outside the classroom.

By networking, students get fresh ideas, improve social skills, find better opportunities, and make new friends. putting themselves in a place where they know people of similar interests and gradually, a recipe for the perfect friendships.

17. Emotional intelligence-

Emotional intelligence is your ability to understand and interact with your own emotions as well as those of others. Emotional intelligence influences your academic grades.

Research has revealed that when it comes to academic performance, emotional intelligence is almost as important as cognitive intelligence and having a conscientious attitude. 

Emotionally intelligent students are better equipped to deal with negative emotions that might hinder their studies. 

Students with high levels of emotional intelligence overcome exam stress faster and overcome boredom. Focus and enthusiastically concentrate on their studies.

"It is not enough to be smart and hardworking. To have the added edge for success, students must also be able to understand and manage emotions". -Unknown.

It proves helpful in subjects like English, History and drama. It helps them build strong relationships.

18. Technology.

According to explovance.com- technology provides students with instant access to a vast amount of information and resources. 

The internet and digital tools allow students to explore various subjects, conduct research and access educational materials that may not be available in traditional textbooks.

Technology helps them by giving positive emphasis to the development of the latest methods for effective education. 

It's also very useful for teachers because it makes teaching not only faster and interesting but also it makes the teaching process scientifically effective, clear, simple, easy and effective.

For students, tech-savvy is the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of life. The positive use of technology is, that it enhances and executes the learning process if used wisely and correctly.

19. Financial literacy.

This skill no school teaches. it's very important to know this skill, especially for college students. It includes an understanding of investment and other plans in life.

School students from 8th std onwards should learn about saving, budgeting, and how to never overspend on unnecessary things. 

This builds strong fundamentals for their financial well-being. By developing this skill students learn healthy financial habits that will create a long-lasting impact on their life.

Financial literacy means knowing how to make smart decisions about your money. Patents can instil this skill by giving them monthly pocket money, asking them to keep track of their expenses, opening a bank account and teaching them the importance of saving and investing.

20. Discipline.

Discipline helps students in many ways. It helps to maintain punctuality, peace, and organised school work and life. It helps focus on your studies and goals. 

Discipline teaches students to be concentrated, motivated, and inspired to accomplish many things. Discipline can bring stability to their life.

Students who are disciplined from an early age, are organised which can help them to complete all their school work without stress.

Making a study schedule, avoiding distractions while studying, participating in discussions, and writing exams with integrity are some of the ways to be disciplined.

Conclusion-

Practicing and honing these skills as best as you can, will result in marked improvement in your grades and other school interactions. 

You will become an all-rounded student not only in your class but also in society. You do not need to learn all the skills in one go. Slowly and gradually learn these skills and try to apply them in your life.

Learning these skills will be a super and surefire way to enhance your personality, gain self-confidence and boost self-esteem. 

(What other underrated skills would you add to this list? Let me know in the comment section).