Summer Vacation

This is the penultimate (Look it up!) post until Wednesday, September 21. In this post, I will propose a new twist to an old topic. The September "Back to School" theme of "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" will become "How You Should Spend Your Summer Vacation". I'd like to suggest a few things that you should do this summer to help you reach your goals.

1. Define Your Goals
Students in middle school and beyond can use the sites I've written about this past year to help achieve this end. My post of December 14, 2010 lists some good ones where you can find career and interest inventories to help you pinpoint career interests.

2. Investigate Possible Careers
Hopefully, you've used some of the information I've posted to enroll in a summer program that will assist you in this endeavor. www.bls.gov and www.careercornerstone.org are two excellent websites.

3. Investigate Training for Specific Careers
The websites above will help you find out what kind of educational background a specific career requires. You can find out more about these programs and schools at www.collegeboard.com and www.unigo.com.

4. Visit Specific Schools
Actually travel to places where you might enroll after high school. At the very least, use the sites mentioned to find out more about a school. In addition to these and individual college websites, www.campustour.com provides virtual tours of many campuses. www.neighborhoodscout.com gives a wealth of information about the region and city in which a school is located. www.thefire.org gives information as to the school's protection of the individual's Constitutional free speech rights.

5. Determine Entrance Requirements and Prepare for Entrance Exams
Students should be sure they have the proper courses to fulfill entrance requirements. These can be found on the school's website or by looking up the school on www.collegeboard.com. If you need to take a class/classes that you haven't scheduled, you'll have to notify your counselor as soon as possible. Students entering junior year in the fall should spend some time preparing for SAT's. Those entering senior year who haven't taken the SAT should be sure to apply to take the first one to be given on October 1, 2011. Register by September 9, 2011. Go to the College Board site for more information.

6. Begin Your College Application
Hopefully, those students who are entering senior year have done all of the previous things on the list and should spend some time this summer to prepare as much of their college applications as possible, specifically THE DREADED ESSAY! More on that next time!

PSAT/NMSQT

As mentioned previously, I will break the sequence of topics as more timely issues arise. Most High school juniors interested in college will have taken the PSAT/NMSQT today or will take it this Saturday, October 13. Test takers can expect to receive their individual results and actual test booklets in mid-December. While this "gift" may not have been on any holiday wish lists, it is an invaluable tool in helping a student prepare for its successor, the SAT. The student receives a report that shows which specific questions were answered correctly or incorrectly, the content area each question was meant to assess and its difficulty level. The student can also use the access code on the score report to register to use the MyRoad program on the collegeboard.com site. There are many features on this site that can be used without registering but, with it, one can customize an individual program and gain access to:
-take a personality assessment
-explore a list of suggested careers and majors that fit the student's personality, and
-explore colleges and majors and more.
This service is free for those who took the PSAT. As mentioned in a previous blog, paid subscriptions area also available for those who did not take the test.

I'm not going to post on Wednesday, October 20 but will return on October 27 with the next blog, "Sophomoric Year".

Eighth Grade - The End of Middle School Madness Part II

     I began my career by teaching middle school students.  The fact that I stayed in education for more than three decades after that first year is still a source of pride - like having made it as a Navy Seal!
     Middle schoolers are the most odious of creatures.  Seventh and eighth graders are in a larval state and, having no certainty of self-worth, they can be just plain MEAN!   I think it's because they are really afraid and they feel they're too old/cool to ask just to be held and read a comforting story.  They are the oldest kids in the building.  They know its ins and outs, the personailities of its personnel and on which days it's better to buy lunch.  They also have a nascent knowledge that it's all about to end and they'll soon be thrust into the high school like released hatchery fish on stocking day.
     I find it's very helpful for them to have an idea as to why they need to subject themselves to making the passage.  They need a goal.  They need to see going to high school as a means to an end - a way of getting to that  state of independence they both fear and crave.  Did you ever notice how kids at that age seem to stop telling you what they want to be when they grow up?  It's as if they know that sitting on the bench for much of their Pop Warner days rules out the NFL.  There's not so much verbaliztion of dreams anymore.  The realization has hit that talent and training must come into play at some point.  This seems to occur at the very same time that their estimation of their talents, abilities and even beauty is at its nadir.
     For these reasons I felt it a good idea to expose my eighth grade students to career interest inventories.  I would start by asking them to visualize where they wanted to be at that very moment in ten years time.  Were they teaching a class, preparing lunch for the family, manning a fire truck, etc.?  I would hand out paper and ask them to design their business card.  What would their title be?  Where would they be located?  What type of business was it?  These would be preliminary activities before taking the actual inventory. 
     An inventory I used and found very effective was available for free through the My Road program operated by the College Board.  I found http://www.college.board.com/ to be an invaluable website for students, professionals and parents.  Students who take the PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) are given free access to the My Road program (http://www.myroad.com/) which includes the ORA Personality Profiler inventory.  Most students take the PSAT/NMSQT as high school sophomores but a one year individual subsription to My Road is available for $19.95.  Many schools subscribe to College Board services or provide free career inventories to their students as part of the school guidance curriculum, so check with your child's/your counselor. 
     I prefer inventories that not only assess a student's interests but take their abilities into account.  Next week I'll discuss one I particularly liked.