Be Your Best Student

A common query from students is about the retention of information: how can a student best retain information they are learning in class? The number one way to increase retention is quite simply to pay attention. Paying attention doesn’t just mean staying awake in class, it means being actively engaged in the classroom. The amount of information you will retain is directly correlated (in my opinion) to the amount of energy you put into the following: ·          Taking notes . There is evidence that writing information is key to long-term retention. There is a brain-to-pencil connection that just cannot be duplicated, so taking meaningful notes in class is key to retaining information. ·          Asking and answering questions. If you are actively engaged in the classroom, you will also be active in the classroom discussion. The more involved you are in the discussion, the more personally invested you will be and thus that information is retained for the longer term. ·

I mean. Really. Could the semester be any longer? Has time slowed down? Someone call an astrophysicist because I think something’s wrong with the axial rotation of the earth as well as the earth’s orbit around the sun. If you find that mid-semester is the part of the marathon-that-is-college that completely drags you down, you’re not alone. Every semester, right around this time, I have the most student absences, unsubmitted papers, and dropouts. Seeing as every semester has a mid-semester slump, you can’t just quit after eight weeks every semester – time to make some plans and get some perspective! The next two or three weeks are typically the hardest to make a success, so it’s critical that you focus – right this very minute – on what you need to do to be successful for the rest of the semester. Let’s take a look at a few highlights you will want to remember: ·          Repeat after me: you’re already past the halfway mark and it’s all downhill from here.

As this huge scandal breaks in the news about wealthy people involved in cheating scandals to get their children into the best schools, it occurs to me that there is an overarching discussion here that is being overlooked: you don’t want to cheat to get into college because if you don’t meet the entrance requirements, it is highly unlikely that you will be successful at that school. If you are a mediocre student, no matter how wealthy your parents are, you will want to go to a school where you and your peers are on somewhat equal footing. Remember that professors have to teach to their audience: if the audience consists of members of MENSA and one mediocre student, that one mediocre student is going to get left behind and will likely not be successful at that school. If a professor’s audience is made up of decent students and a handful of mediocre students, the mediocre student is much more likely to be successful at that school. I’m not completely blind to the social press

I went to a Nature Journaling class last week and I discovered the most interesting contraption: the Traveler’s Notebook. To clarify, Traveler’s Notebook is both a name brand as well as a thing. Basically, it’s a medium to small sized folder into which you can strap small notebooks for planning, writing, drawing, and so much more! While a Traveler’s Notebook would not be ideal for note-taking in the classroom (they’re just not large enough), it would be ideal for planning, keeping track of upcoming tasks, and tracking any habits you are working to develop. And once the semester is over and you want to start a new notebook, you don’t have to purchase a whole new notebook – you simply switch out the notebook insert (these are about $1.50 each) and you get a clean slate! Within the notebook itself, you can have as many inserts as you want with each of them serving a different purpose! You may have one for your daily to-do list, one for assignment planning, and maybe another fo

I was asked this question recently and all I could think was – where would I start? If I could time travel back to my college years or even my early twenties, I would need months to sit down with my young stubborn self to have enough time to really talk sense into myself. One of the reasons I LOVE student coaching is that I get to help students really change their thinking when it comes to dealing with problems and dealing with people – skills I wish I had had when I was in school. Here are a few of the topics I would be sure to address with my college-age self. Keep in mind this is me talking to myself – think of it as an abbreviated diary entry. You often don’t know enough to have an opinion. You’re not dumb, you’re not stupid, and you’re not irrelevant. However, your limited life experiences give you a limited perspective. Before opening your mouth and committing yourself to a stance or opinion, education yourself. (To be fair, my college aged self didn’t have the internet

So you’re convinced that giving back to your community is the right thing for you – you either have time during the semester or you’re making plans for the break between classes, you have a mode of transportation to get yourself somewhere, and you have the drive to help others by working with people in your community. The part that comes next is the hardest part: finding a volunteer opportunity that suits your personality, values, and interests. Here are a few that come to mind: ·          Your local animal shelter. Animal shelters are often the first suggestion for new volunteers for a few reasons: the animals desperately need attention (playing with animals and walking dogs) and shelters typically have a protocol for volunteers so coming on-board is an easy and well-known process. You typically must complete an orientation and work with someone else your first few times in, but after you get familiar with the system you can come and go as you have time. Shelters rarely allow o

If you’re looking closely, you will find an underlying theme of almost all motivational, inspirational self-help guides is giving back – to other people, to neglected animals, and to the environment in general. What is it about giving back that inspires people to propel themselves forward in their own lives? Why does one instance of giving back seem to have such a profound effect when students work tirelessly day in and day out to be their best student? This article from Psychology Today gives some very good reasons to volunteer: ·          Volunteers live longer and are healthier. That sounds good, right? And while this may not hook you if you’re in your late teens or twenties, it will definitely spark your interest by the time you’re forty or fifty and a little creakier in the joints and grayer in the hair! ·          Volunteers build strong relationships amongst themselves and, therefore, volunteering is good for your career. You and I both know that it’s not alway

The Huffington Post published an article a few years back giving college students some ideas about things they might want to ask their professors and also topics from which they probably want to steer clear. Today’s question that you might want to ask your instructor: what can I do to improve my writing? When students ask me about improving their writing, it typically comes after receiving a poor grade or review on a paper or assignment (some clear indicator that improvement is required). There are so many ways to improve writing. Here are some of my favorite tips: ·          Give yourself time to write. Lack of planning when it comes to writing a paper typically means a lot of last-minute work that is not your best work (no matter how much students try to convince themselves that they “work best under pressure”). You simply don’t have the time required to write drafts, edit, and revise if you’re writing your paper the night before it’s due. ·          Put your work th

The Huffington Post published an article a few years back giving college students some ideas about things they might want to ask their professors and also topics from which they probably want to steer clear. Today’s question that you might want to ask your instructor: can I count on you to write me a good reference letter? I’ve had many students ask me to write a letter of reference over the years and this can make for a very awkward discussion in some cases. A letter of reference means that this instructor is putting their reputation on the line and vouching for you as a good, hard-working student and human. So before you even ask for a letter of reference, here are some things to consider: ·          Do you know the instructor well enough to ask for a letter of reference? If you don’t have a solid professional/academic relationship with your instructor, you shouldn’t be asking for a letter of reference. ·          Are you involved with research conducted by your instru

The Huffington Post published an article a few years back giving college students some ideas about things they might want to ask their professors and also topics from which they probably want to steer clear. Today’s question that you might want to ask your instructor: how can I get an A in your class? There are so many things to talk about when answering this question, so I’ll be as brief as possible while trying to hit all the highlights! ·          Show up! Coming to class is the first step in success, and if you’re in an online class, this means logging in at least 4-5 times per week and participating in the discussion forums. There is so much to be gained by simply showing up! ·          Be prepared! You must have the essentials: paper, pencil, computer, internet, textbook. None of these is optional. If aren’t going to have the required course materials, don’t bother signing up for classes. ·          Participate! Showing up to class is the first step, but if you

The Huffington Post published an article a few years back giving college students some ideas about things they might want to ask their professors and also topics from which they probably want to steer clear. This week, I’ll be answering a few of these questions in the blog – even if I’m not your professor, it will probably enlighten you about what’s going on on the other side of the teacher’s desk! I hope you’ll join me! Kelley

As a college instructor, I meet a wide variety of students – some are freshmen just starting out and some are graduating and ready to move into their career. In both cases, there is often a lot of apprehension about their future career: ·          Did I make the right choice? ·          Will I make the right choice? ·          What if I got a degree and never find a job? ·          What if I can’t ever pay off my school loans? There is so much uncertainty at this point in life, especially if you’re young and looking for your first career, but let’s examine why it’s so difficult to choose a career path in the first place. The possibilities are limitless. While we can all agree that having someone else choose your career for you wouldn’t be fun and probably wouldn’t end up with you finding your true calling, it sure would make things easier! But in a day and time when absolutely anyone can go to college and get vocational training, the sky’s the limit! Choosing from

My son has taken up the fine art of yo-yoing, and I’ll be honest – it’s downright amazing at what one can do with a yo-yo given YouTube tutorials and a lot of practice (and a parent that helps him figure things out like different types of yo-yo string and different bearings – who knew yo-yos could be so complicated!). As he throws the yo-yo around at speeds which I’m quite certain would break a wrist or a finger if it accidentally collided with his person, all I can see is the life of an inconsistent student. One of the problems students who come to me often face is inconsistency. Yes, it’s a self-inflicted problem, but being inconsistent isn’t always obvious to students (it’s always harder to see faults or problems in ourselves than it is in others). One of the key excuses/reasons I get for inconsistency is: I have to take time where I can get it and while that may be inconsistent it’s all I have. So you study hard for a weekend, and then no studying throughout the week. During

I have often said before that the fine art of taking notes seemed to start its slow death right around the time PowerPoint came into being. Suddenly, students had a visual aid that their brains translated into: notes already taken. Pens and pencils were set down, paper was put away, and students were freed to lazily doze and/or passively listen to whatever the instructor was droning on about. This kind of passive action is the absolute best scenario if you want a future of performing poorly on quizzes and tests, not knowing your classmates and instructors, and earning an overall grade in the course that will make you terribly unhappy at the end of the semester. So let’s take a look at some tips that may help you to take better notes in the classroom and thus perform better overall in your college classes: ·           Stay organized. I can’t say this often (or loudly) enough. One of the golden keys to a successful college experience is keeping all your classwork organized so y

We’ve spent the week discussing ways in which we sabotage parts of our lives, but what’s probably most important is how this daily dirty work affects our overall well-being. It’s hard to keep tabs on our brain running amok all day long and we have things to focus on (school, work, relationships) other than what our brain is chattering about. How in the world are we supposed to take care of our own well-being with all this going on in our minds and around us? Each of us really has to find our own way to keep ourselves on a positive, healthy track. I can share some ideas that I have found helpful: ·          Take time for yourself. I have a student who works full time and takes four college courses, but she still takes time in the bathroom each morning to stop, read the news, listen to music, or even play a quick game on her phone. Doing a little bit of nothing or a little bit of something fun by yourself is important to let your mind relax and unwind. If you have more than a

As a student, the last thing you’re probably thinking about on a daily basis is your future career – but maybe it’s time to give your future career a little room in your brain (not just a drawer in your dresser or even a closet, but a whole room). Because as you’re navigating your daily grind as a student, making decisions that will affect your grades and your quality of education, the one thing you should be thinking about (especially in tough times) is: why in the name of all that is holy am I doing this? Having an idea about what you want your future career to look like is just as good as a dream board when it comes to making goals. Knowing what you want and why you want it will give you extra motivation to do your best work in school and be as successful as you possibly can be. Some things you can daydream about during your free time (you know, while you’re in the shower or on the toilet): ·          Do you want to work indoors or outdoors (or a combination)? ·