What Students Do in College is More Important than Where They Go

While the general public believes students who go to universities with lots of status will be more successful and happier than those who go elsewhere, this is not the case. Studies published in the Wall Street Journal recently show engagement while in college is far more significant. Many high school students are overstressed and anxious, believing the false notion that attending a name university is the only way to succeed in life. One of my former students was convinced staying up late to study would improve her grades and chances to go to one such university. It had the opposite effect. After convincing her to get at least nine hours of sleep, her health and grades improved and her anxiety disappeared. She stopped stressing, and was able to attend college after graduation on a scholarship, as she had desired.

One study by Gallup-Purdue showed what does have a positive impact on future success and well-being. Thinking back to my own experiences in college, I realize I benefited from the key experiences listed in this study. I found when I took a course with a professor who made the subject exciting, I did better. I was lucky to have professors who took an interest in me personally. They even placed me with their most successful Master Teacher, when I graduated college. I didn’t have a mentor, which is another of the experiences the study found to be helpful, unless you count the professors who encouraged me.

Another key factor was working on some sort of project across semesters. My major and minors included becoming fluent in German and French, (plus English, which I was already, of course). Language study began for me in high school and continued through college. The internship which the study found to be helpful isn’t called an internship in education. It’s called Student Teaching. It’s the same thing as an internship, but unpaid. I dated while in college, and we did participate in some college activities. The study found doing so helped students, even later in life.

The underlined parts of the sentences above are the tips the Gallup-Purdue study found most significant for future success. Not surprising to me, they are also included in the sixteen defining habits of successful scholarships winners outlined in my book, Free College. What benefits high school students in being accepted to college and winning lots of scholarships, is vital while attending college, and beyond. My book contains ten more researched and proven tips, however. Half are initiated before high school, the others during high school. This means, of course, parents start helping students get ready for college and a lifetime success. They create the foundation. Students take over, for the most part, when they enter high school and college.

When selecting a college, don’t aim for one with a big name. Instead find one where the professors teach the courses, interact with students and show their concern. When visiting campuses, ask students if their classes are interesting, and how they're treated by their professors. See if the university provides or encourages mentorships. Find out about the college clubs and activities. Check them out, to determine if any appeal to you. Inquire into the university's department in the field you hope to study, to see if they have an internship program. These are far more important factors than if the university is considered prestigious.

Also make sure to check out the costs involved in attending. Being saddled with a heavy debt load won’t help you be either successful or happy after graduation. As I’ve suggested before, the best time to start applying for college scholarships is when a child is in elementary school. The second best time is today. Don’t stop until your student is a college graduate, with a Master’s Degree, if that is the ultimate goal.

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE. It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

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How Do You Insure Success?

How Can Teens Have Fun While Aiming for College?

It really isn’t all that difficult to make time for hobbies, friends, and other leisure activities while working towards college scholarships. It just takes a little planning. Organized students set aside twenty to thirty minutes during the weekend to plan the week ahead. It doesn’t have to be a complicated process. You don’t need an electronic device, but if you prefer to use one, then that’s fine too.

I find it simple to use a pocket sized weekly planner or print a blank weekly calendar using an online template. Then I write down all my “have to’s”. For students, these would be mostly homework assignments and time to study. But be sure to include time to work on long term school projects, like book reports or term papers. During the week, you’ll need time for day to day assignments, but also for working on those not due for weeks or months.

The next step is to record appointments or after school activities. This might include a dentist appointment, band practice, your little sister’s concert, or other events that have a set time. After all of the activities over which you have little control are scheduled, make a list of the things you really want to do. Some examples could be hanging out with friends, seeing the latest movie, listening to your favorite music group, or the like.

Fit these plans into your schedule being sure they don't interfere with your more significant activities. Always make room for family time. If everyone agrees, a weekly family game night could be fun and help maintain closeness. Be sure to make time each day to do something physical, if not involved in sports or some other energetic interest at school. This will keep your life in balance. You’ll be working towards your goal of winning major scholarships for college, but you’ll also have friends, stay close with your family and remain in great physical shape.

For more information, you’ll want my new book, Free College Awareness, coming soon from Griffin Publishing. How to avoid needing college loans; available soon to families of Pre-K through High School students.

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The Secret to Happiness after College

Find a college that offers the course of study you need for the occupation of your choice which will also give you a full ride scholarship, (excluding loans of any sort). If they don't require you to take a job, that’s even better. Under no circumstances should you go somewhere requiring you to take out student loans, even if that university has a fabulous reputation. No one cares where you went, just what you learned.

If you can't find a full scholarship, attend the least expensive accredited college that will teach you what you need to know for your career choice. Start applying for scholarships while still in diapers (not really, but do start early). Live uber-frugally, even if that means living in your childhood bedroom (as I did). Get a part time job to pay any bills your parents are not willing or able to cover (dentist, shoes, etc.). Don't get married, no matter how cute he/she is. Don't have children either, no matter how adorable they may end up being.

I worked a full time job, lived at home and took a full load of classes the first two years of college. Then I foolishly married, making everything more difficult. We saw each other more while dating. Study hard, work hard. You can hold your breath for four years. Time will pass. The only two things that last forever are what you learn and student loan debt. Avoid the second while acquiring the first. Yes, of course there are other factors that contribute to or detract from happiness. But all things being equal, people with no debt are less stressed and happier than those with debt, especially student loan debt. This is the secret to happiness after college.


For more information, you'll want my new book, Free College Awareness, coming soon from Griffin Publishing and Watering Seeds. How to avoid needing college loans; available soon to families of Pre-K through High School students.

You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com

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Will Technology Steal your Child’s Future?

It just might. Studies have been conducted. Facts were collected, and the results published. Politicians have made several speeches sounding warnings. They all reveal the same thing, 40% to 80% of current jobs (depending upon the country in which you live) will be lost to artificial intelligence and robotics in the next twenty years. But is anyone paying attention?

The disappearing jobs are in certain fields. Of course, manufacturing and any job performed using patterns or manipulation of objects are already gone or nearly so. Retail sales personnel, secretaries, office workers and truck drivers are in the process of seeing their jobs automated too. Overall, any occupation that does not involve critical thinking is in danger. More specifically, if a job currently pays less than $20.00 an hour, you can expect to see a machine doing it in the near future.

Are there any jobs that are safe? Sure, those which require critical thinking, creativity or inter-personal skills will still be needed twenty years from now. Anyone who is a performer, works in theater, social work, education or health care will be able to find employment. STEAM type careers may seem safe at the moment, but some could be replaced by future advances in artificial intelligence. Even software development could be outsourced to another computer someday soon.

So what is the solution? Flexibility. Once when chatting with an international businessman friend, I asked what he thought my child should study in college. His reply was a surprise. He said she should major in a foreign language and minor in business. After all, if you cannot communicate with someone, it’s pretty tough to do business with him. Not everyone is interested in business. But the method is sound. All students (in my opinion) should major in a STEAM type subject and minor in a Liberal Art, or visa versa.

Liberal Arts provides the flexibility people need to move between jobs, as doing so seems to be a trend. Even teachers need to be able to adapt. I taught at the secondary level in public schools. When in college, I realized I would be more “employable” if I didn’t just have one subject on my degree and teaching credential (like most teachers). So I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in German, French and English. This opened many doors.

My simple suggestion is for parents to encourage their children to exercise both sides of their brains. The left is analytical and is most often used in math, science and languages. The right is more creative, and active in the arts. When in high school, urge students to pursue courses which would allow them to pursue a double major in college or CTE (career and technical education), one related to each hemisphere of the brain. This will protect them from radical changes expected in the world of work.



For more information, you'll want my new book, Free College Awareness, coming soon from Griffin Publishing and Watering Seeds. How to avoid needing college loans; available soon to families of Pre-K through High School students.

You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com

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Most of My Students Did More Homework than Assigned

I know this seems unlikely, but it was true for my entire teaching career. I can’t take credit, however. My master teacher taught me this simple, genius plan. I taught a few years in middle school, but most of the time, I taught in a public high school. I used this plan when teaching French, German or English.

I assigned homework Mondays through Thursdays. I never gave students homework on Fridays, weekends or over holidays. They had a semester project to complete. They completed them during these non-homework days.

Homework for the week was posted on my website each Thursday. I uploaded the assignments during my conference period, after designing the lesson plans for the next week (which I also did during my conference period each Thursday). The assignments for each day were also posted on the whiteboard in front of the room. Students were used to seeing their assignments in this location.

Students could complete as much or as little of each assignment as they wished. They were rewarded for doing more than assigned. The grading went this way: 

Zero=Did not attempt the assignment, Check Minus=Completed part of the assignment, or it was late, Check=Completed the assignment as assigned, Check Plus=Completed extra work, in addition to what was assigned, Plus=Completed double what was assigned.

Homework recorded this way was not graded for quality or accuracy. It was practice on vocabulary or grammar. The work was checked to see how much was completed, this was recorded, and the work remained in the students' notebooks. There, it was often used as a resource. We went over it while students had their notebooks open to their completed homework. Then they put their notebooks away. We often had quizzes on these assignments. It was pointed out to students that those who did extra always did well on quizzes.

This was part of the incentive to do more than assigned, but there was more motivation. At the end of each grading period, I balanced the check marks, pluses and zeroes. If the student balanced into the positive, I raised his grade to the next level (usually just a plus mark). If, however, the student’s work ended up a minus, then I lowered the letter grade one notch (usually a minus sign).

Keeping track was easy. I used pieces of graph paper, CLICK HERE (ad), one for each row. I put the students’ names on the left, and an abbreviation of the assignment at the top of each vertical column. Where they intersected, I placed the symbol earned. It was very visual. Students and I could see clearly when someone had a positive or negative pattern going.

At times, when going through the papers, I showed a student his pattern. It was hard to deny when zeroes or minus signs appeared. At other times, students encouraged each other. This was especially true of other students seated in the same row. They acted as a team and cheered each other on to improve. Competition can sometimes be a good thing.

Once students are used to this routine, they catch on to the “tricks”. Since they know their homework in advance, busy and clever students work ahead. They’re prepared with their completed work on the day it’s due. Often they do so with double the assignment finished. This makes up for a day when they’re swamped in another class and perhaps can’t finish everything in my class.

I can truthfully say most of my students did more homework than I assigned most of the time. It made all the difference in the scores on their routine quizzes, their chapter tests and their final grades. I’m sure those grades made a significant difference when they applied to college and for scholarships. All this from doing as much or as little homework as they liked.

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE . It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

 

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you.

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Stress Free Testing

A professor in one of my college French classes was on loan from the Sorbonne. He was great, but caused so much fear during testing, I didn’t do as well as I could. I remembered him when I began teaching. I knew I didn’t want to recreate the testing experience I had endured. There’s a mountain of vocabulary words and grammar to learn and test in a foreign language class. But nowhere is it written it has to be done in one sitting.

Several times each week, I gave my students a little quiz. They were little physically on purpose, (we used old printer paper ripped into four pieces) and short (only five questions, with a bonus at times). Since they were small, frequent and only worth five points (a chapter test was 100 points), they were low stress. Students prepared for them daily because they knew they were coming.

If they blew a quiz, it wasn’t devastating to their grade because it wasn’t weighted heavily. Again, this lowered stress. If a student was absent the day before, I required him to take the quiz anyway. This way, when someone was out, he looked online or called a classmate and found out the homework. Students were usually prepared for the quiz despite being absent.

By giving these vocabulary and grammar quizzes frequently, students studied throughout the chapter, instead of waiting until the day before a test. This meant they were better prepared and only needed to review the night before in order to do well. Stress was reduced, and they were better able to perform during a test.

It’s easier for a teacher to record lots of little quizzes than it is to remediate when students do poorly on big tests.

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE . It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

 

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you.

Image Credit: Google Images