A College State-of-Mind

As a kid, I used to live right across the street from my elementary school and I would go over there after school and jump out of trees and swing as a high as possible on the swing set. On one of those occasions, an older, retired teacher made friendly banter about my fifth-grade teacher and said to me: "you know, Mrs. W has a degree in physics." I was simply astonished. How could this possibly be that my teacher went to college, graduated and has a degree in an otherwise male-dominated field? At the time, I had no idea that sciences were mostly male-dominated. But, I knew deep-down they were (I could just feel it, but this is a subject for another post).

It didn't occur to me that my teachers could have gone to college. And at that time, I simply knew no one who had graduated from college.

My dad always asked me what university I wanted to attend and I would tell him "YALE!!" without knowing the implications of the admission process. For him, college wasn't a possibility, it was a requirement. It wasn't if I go, but where I go.

Over the course of my education, I heard this whole college thing over-and-over. But, it wasn't made real until my high school teachers talked about their time at a university.

And that's why it's important to have a college-minded atmosphere at school. We sport our college pennants at our desk, decorate with our mascot and talk openly about our university experience. We even have friendly rivalry between teachers and their schools.

Check out the lovely anteater mascot decorating my student of the month on the Student of the Month wall!

I may be the only person my student knows who went to college. Or I may be one of a hundred that my student knows. But, little things like setting a college state-of-mind may just pay off in the long run.

What do you think about setting a college state-of-mind for your students? What would you do at your school? Share your advice in the comments below!

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Collaboration in Independent Study???

Yes, it's entirely possible to have student work together in a group setting while still doing independent studies.

I've been hosting workshops for English Learners. They are weekly and students can sit in class and get one-on-one help with me while they get through their packet of work. This has been really great for a lot of reasons:

1.  They learn time management: students learn that if they utilize the entire workshop time, they get as much of my undivided attention as possible.
2. I teach them study skills: I had a student read a short story and I said I would check on her in five minutes. Imagine my surprise when she read the entire short story ALREADY!! This story wasn't short enough for it to be read in its entirety in just five minutes (believe me, I've tried). So, I asked her key questions about what happened at certain parts of the story. She had no clue. This was a teachable moment and we sat together and read the story. I showed her how to skim and scan and take annotative notes. 
3. They work at a pace that works for their skills: just like they're promised in independent studies, students set a reasonable goal for finishing their work and I help them set that goal, as well.
4. They can collaborate with their peers: students started off together on the same credit packets. Because of that, I was able to group them during workshops. This has been very helpful because students can make friends and they can bounce ideas off of each other.

 What do you think? Think you may want to try workshops for your students? What would you try? Let me know in the comments section!

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You Earn a Gold Star!

Ever since I started working in Independent Studies, I have wanted to implement a spirit of competition for my students. Every student needs to be a little competitive. Competition is what keeps kids on their toes, motivated and goal-oriented.

One way I've wanted to do this is to have students see how they relate to their fellow peers when it comes to credit completion. Unfortunately, I was often told it wasn't a good idea to--essentially--keep a scoreboard. I was told students might end up feeling bad about themselves, they might have major medical or psychological issues that keep them from coming in and therefore keeps them from turning in credits. Lastly, I was told that I can't really have a lot of stuff on or around my desk.

But, I think times are a' changin' at my school because I've implemented a Credit Tracker scoreboard!

I've displayed it for all my students to see. I even got some gold stars for them to use! Here's how it works and how it has worked for my students so far:

• When a student completes a credit, I let them know their grade and then keep all gold stars visible. They put the gold star by their names themselves. 
• It doesn't have to be gold stars, it could be My Little Pony stickers, too.
• Students ask: "where's my gold star?" and have even set goals to beat other students' credits, too.

The Credit Tracker scoreboard

 What do you think? Would you want to try this with your students? 

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Why Reaffirming Goals Works!

So, here's the deal about those goal letters: I was kind of --maybe just maybe --was a goal voyeur. Yup, I peeked at their goal letters before I sealed them and now I know my students' goals. Now, I have the task of reminding them constantly.

Of course, I have to remind them in ways that are sneaky. So, every first week of the learning period, I casually write on their academic plan (a paper defining their monthly progress) goals they can achieve for the month or reminders and words of encouragement. 

We will see how it goes, but so far, students have taken as much liking to it as any student would: with a very meh attitude. Of course, this is on the outside, so maybe on this inside they're happy someone reminds and encourages them of their progress.

In the meantime, I'm thinking about establishing other progress activities. For example, I can make a very large board with my students' names. Each time they earn a credit, they can a put a gold star by their name. It may just instill the spirit of competition. They may also see they're not alone in the progress they're making. 

What do you think? Do you think reaffirming goals works? Let me know in the comments section below!

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Why Emailing Your Student Works!

For those of you in Independent Studies, you're probably very familiar with the concept of a "Learning Period." For those of you who don't know, a "Learning Period" is a period of time with about 18 to 20 school days. In this time frame, students are responsible for turning in a certain amount of credits. If they fail to do so, they can be dropped or be considered truant, depending on the school's policies. 

Well, there's always that one tricky Learning Period. There's either a winter break involved or it's just so short because it's at the end of the school year. 

When there are tricky Learning Periods, that's when we see a drop off in students turning in credits. This is a problem for one very obvious reason: they're slowing themselves down on their path towards graduation.

To fix this problem and to enhance communication, I decided to create an email list of my students and their parents' emails. I sent out emails to those students who didn't have anything turned in for the Learning Period and were on the verge of being dropped. 

Lo and behold, all except one student came in to school and completed credits. That's why emailing works. It's just one more to get the word out and let your students know you're watching out for them and care for their best interest. 

You can check out more reasons why communication and emailing are important here and here!

Have you had success with emailing your students? Let me know in the comments section!

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Top 3 Reasons to Snack!

Snacks: sometimes they're so delicious, we can't stop. I know when I get my hands on some Trader Joe's Baconesque popcorn, I will eat the whole bag. Yes, some snacks have earned a bad rep for being unhealthy, full of calories or full of unnecessary fats. But, sometimes, you need them. Here's why:

1. Your students probably haven't had anything to eat today. Whether we want to believe it or not, sometimes our students haven't eaten by the time they see us. I know of a handful of students whose sole food source is our school. So, healthier snacks like: granola bars, lower-calorie crackers, etc., may be helpful for them.

2. If your student is crabby, it might be because they're hungry. I have lost count of the amount of students who are cranky and spout off an attitude purely because they're hungry. While some are polite enough to ask for a snack, some unfortunately are not. But, if there's ever a cranky kid in your midst, a snack might just deter their attitude.

3.  Snacks are like a gold star. If you spontaneously provide a snack, students feel like you care for their best interests. Of course, they'll never tell you. But, one of the things I strive for is to make school feel safe. This might just be the only safe place your students attend for the day. So, providing a snack is an extra special way to make them feel safe and cared about.

Can you think of any more reasons to snack? Let me know in the comments section below!

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Starting my Goal Letters Project

The idea of having students write goal letters was completely foreign to me. But, I happened to stumble upon the idea somewhere on the interwebs and thought it was a good idea for three reasons:

1. It forces students to think about goals. The population I work with unfortunately have never set goals for themselves. It's as if they think their goals can't even happen so why try.
2. At the end of the year, they can reassess their goals. Students can see if they've met any of their goals throughout the year and plan accordingly for the next year.
3. If I haven't seen a student in about three weeks, I can assume the worst, which is they have decided to drop out. But perhaps, by sending them the letter they wrote, they will remember they do have a lot of goals in life and will decide to come back in. 

So far, students have thought it was "odd" that they were addressing a letter to themselves. However, I showed them a sample of real-life goals I want to achieve by the end of this school year, too! And they realized we're all in this together. 

I'll keep you updated on the goals letter process!

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