Methodology

The LifeWorks Methodology

At LifeWorks Learning Center we start each session by inviting students to write down and prioritize their assignments. This helps them get organized and transition into work mode. We also check in with students on a more personal level, both to build relationship and to help them let go of the stress of the day so they can focus more fully on their schoolwork.

During the course of our sessions, we pay careful attention to the needs of each student so as to offer specific, individualized support. We work hard to pinpoint and clarify conceptual misunderstandings, express difficult ideas in accessible language, guide students to trust their own natural intelligence, help to manage test anxiety and school related stress, and encourage students to always give their best. Because of this wide variety of issues, we work just as hard learning about our students as we do helping them learn.

Motivation

One common issues we see students struggle with is their own lack of motivation. Most students genuinely want to do well in school, but for various reason also try to keep school at an arm’s length. These contradictory impulses lead to wasted energy. By helping students resolve this inner conflict, we help to free this energy and then channel it in new, more positive directions.

Managing Stress

One of the best ways to help someone reduce stress is to listen deeply to them – to their concerns, to their fears, to their worries. By creating a safe, supportive environment where students know they can talk about what is really going on with them, we support the healthy processing of stress and anxiety. Sometimes just talking about it is enough. Other times, we help students work more directly with the source of their stress to formulate an intelligent, balanced response that will help them take care of their responsibilities and feel better in the process.

Organization

At Lifeworks, we find it more helpful to think of organization as a practice than a set of techniques or skills. This is because the basics of staying organized (writing assignments down in one’s planner, filing papers in the proper binder, etc.) are easy to learn, but, for those who struggle with organization, hard to implement. The challenge, as with the adoption of any new habit, is finding the drive to stick with it. The promise of “doing better in school” is generally not enough because students already want to do better. Instead, we work with students to shift how they view school to make it mean more to them, which in turn makes it more worth it to stay organized. This is an involved process, but the first step is to stop viewing school merely as a way of “keeping one’s options open” and instead realize that it is really a golden opportunity to prepare for the adventure called Life.