Make sure your students continue to read this summer. Reading leads to greater success in both college and career, and greater engagement in community events and civic issues that are important to us all. Reading truly is the road to success.
Here are 6 tips and 5 apps to make it easier to hop on the road to summer reading:
Coaches Corner:
Ahhh, Summer. To students, it means freedom and fun and lazy days with friends. With so much free time, this could also mean the perfect opportunity for your teen to try out volunteering at a local non-profit.
Often, teens need community service for a high school requirement. Others want to volunteer as part of their preparations for applying to colleges and universities. But that isn’t what summertime is all about. Summer is about the unknown, trying new things, and finding new paths. That’s why trying on a new role as a volunteer is the perfect way to help others and have some fun in the sun! Endless opportunities exist for teens to get their feet wet and find an authentic way to get involved. Some teens will love the fast pace of organizing a soccer match at a youth camp, while others will love the serenity of restoring a park trail.
One simple suggestion–I am a big fan of libraries, and summer reading programs. These programs often use kids as young as 13 as volunteers to sign up participants, and help run events. It gives your child a chance to start small. Typically, a teen volunteers for a one-two hour shift just once a week. These programs couldn’t run without the help of the teens who show up each summer.
Check out what is going on locally this summer in your area and you just might find you have a teen that wants to get involved. A quick and easy web search will help you find an organization in need. One great resource is VolunteerMatch.org. They’ve connected over 7.9 million volunteers with opportunities to help in their communities.
Community service isn’t just a buzz word for a college application. It’s about all the good we do, and the good we feel, when we help others in need.
Whether you like the great outdoors, or prefer the great American novel, there’s an Opp for That! An opportunity to volunteer, that is. Here are more organizations that are in need of teens to volunteer in their programs:
United Way Be a reading mentor to a child who needs a little extra support
National Parks Help maintain and preserve the great outdoors
Volunteer.gov America’s Natural and Cultural Resources Volunteer Portal
Major League Baseball Action Teams: Goups of high school students who plan volunteer events. They receive support from Major League baseball players & inspire others to volunteer.
Let’s face it–all the best quotes come from Dr. Seuss! I think I could comfortably say that everything I ever needed to learn, I learned from him. Kindness. Respect for the Earth. Tolerance for people who are different than yourself. Treating the smallest among us as equals. Loving yourself.
I thought I’d share this collection of inspirational quotes now, since it is commencement time and young people are graduating, from Kindergarten to college. You can’t beat the timeless advice of good ole’ Dr. Seuss. There’s something here for EVERYONE. He’s the original guru!
My favorite little tidbit…the one I hold near and dear to my heart? “A person’s a person…no matter how small.” What about you? Do you have a favorite quote from Dr. Seuss? Let us know in the comments.
You can order this print via Momo Prints on Etsy.
Try something new during these last few weeks of the school year. It can be like a dress rehearsal to see if you want to blend it into your “teacherly bag ‘o tricks” for next year. I like this education infographic from the amazing Mia Mac Meeken.
This article from the Greater Good Science Center discusses the impact of academic mentoring, engagement and community building on first-generation college students. Research now shows that it’s the social emotional aspects of college life that can be challenging for these students, who don’t have a model of academic success to draw on once they are away at school.
How to Help First-Generation College Students Succeed.
image from greatergood.berkeley.edu/
Exploring the Idea of Happiness as Part of School Work
I’ve been exploring the science of Happy and happiness research for the past two years in my college composition classrooms. We look at the work of various psychologists and psychiatrists, (like Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar and Professor Dan Gilbert, both of Harvard) who are writing and teaching on the science of happiness.
This article from PBS Mind/Shift, “Exploring the Idea of Happiness as Part of School Work,” discusses what that looks like in the classroom, and why “happy matters.” I agree wholeheartedly. After all, the brain on positive is 31% more productive than at negative, neutral, or stressed.
Writing, at its best, is a lonely life.~~Ernest Hemingway.
What do you think–does writing have to be a solitary pursuit?
As we get to the end of the semester and school year, we are expecting our students to demonstrate higher order thinking skills, or Critical Thinking. I like this infographic from Learning Commons at the University of British Columbia.
Thanks to its simple flow chart style, students can use it to clearly reflect on their own thinking. Students need to constantly question their own process, and those of others. They need to ask questions about the text they read, test possibilities, and allow for new discoveries.
Higher order thinking skills (HOTS) push our students beyond simple responses and elevate them to scholars and critics in their own right. Part of what’s vital in education is for students to learn to trust their own voice, while still questioning their thinking. What strategies do you use in your classroom to encourage critical thinking?
Getting to the “heart” of writing. Here’s why outsiders, rebels and mavericks make the best characters. Some advice from writer Isabel Allende, who knows a thing or two about good writing:
Students Need the Power of Belief to Soar to Their Potential
Teachers. It’s hard. We ask a lot of you. We ask you to keep getting up in the morning and showing up in that classroom and bringing your A Game.
We ask you to notice the students who need the extra help and notice the students who need the extra challenge. And to do it with a smile and a magical “Mary Poppins” like presence in a classroom. Do all that but do it with fairly little community support and for not that much financial compensation, either. But do it all the same
because
Every
Student
Needs a Hero.
Keep helping our students realize that their potential is unlimited. They can soar and achieve any dream as long as they have someone in their lives that supports them. Our goal at College Ready is simply to let all students know, regardless of socio-economic background, there’s no net around their future.
They can soar to unlimited heights.
College Ready 