Be Your Best Student

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...

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’...

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...

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...

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 ke...