March Newsletter- Freshmen and Sophomores

Here is this month's counseling newsletter for Freshmen, Sophomores, and their parents.  The big push for this month is to begin thinking about summer opportunities.  I scoured the internet and created two whole pages on summer opportunities in (mostly) the North Carolina area.  Slowly, but surely, my newsletter "readership" is picking up steam.  At first, I felt as if no one was reading them.  Now, I have students stopping by to ask me questions related to the newsletter.  I guess the work is paying off.  Also, in March I discussed college admission requirements for high school foreign language, reminders about the end of the quarter, spring/summer timeline from Peterson's,  and an article from NPR about the cost of not going to college.
Click the photo below to see the full version of my newsletter:

  

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByGF4omWKhV8cFp3RU01MGJaZGc/edit

January Counseling Newsletter for Freshmen and Sophomores

At the end of last week I sent out my January Newsletter for Freshmen and Sophomores.  Since I recently went over PSAT results with my students, I focused a portion of the newsletter on student questions about high school testing.  The other major portion of the newsletter was dedicated to the many opportunities in North Carolina available to my students with upcoming deadlines.  Here is a copy of my newsletter for those of you who are looking for ideas:

January Newsletter Pg. 1

January Newsletter Pg 2

Where Did December Go?

Yikes!  With the rush of the Holidays, I somehow forgot to post about all my December happenings.  For starters, I put out my December Newsletter- this time focusing on Internet Resources for Career/College planning, ideas for those who hope to apply to Ivy League schools, and Q & A on Transcripts.  Again, feel free to share you ideas for making Career/College Prep newsletters easier!

Also this month, we received our Sophomores' Act PLAN results.  I was encouraged by a colleague to teach a brief class to the students on how to read those reports.  After some hesitation due to time constraints, I decided to give it a try and I am SOOOO glad that I did.  While it took most of an entire day, I was able to meet with ALL of my 10th grade students and answer their questions.  I love having the opportunity to put a name with a face, talk about career interests, and help them plan for the future.  It is a reward to see the "light bulb" go on over their heads.  Here is the presentation I used to present my lesson on the ACT Plan score report (adapted from http://www.act.org/plan/downloads.html):

As for December Advisory time, here are my favorite lessons that I either created, found, or adapted.  Hope these help someone else there!

December 12:  Lesson on Learning Styles and Studying for Mid-terms:  

December 5:  Who Gets Accepted (a great lesson on college admissions from college board):

December 6:  Story Corps (a lesson with a video that: 1) teaches that everyone has a story, 2) teaches the importance of listening, 3) teaches how to conduct an interview and/or how to be interviewed, and builds relationships within the Advisory group.)  The Story Corp website is filled with a variety of short interviews and animations on a variety of topics.  

November Newsletter

Here is this month's parent/student newsletter for Freshman and Sophomore parents.  I have struggled with deciding "what" to put in each newsletter.  For those of you who are also starting monthly newsletters, I thought I would elaborate on what I hope will be my "regular" sections.
One idea came from my student meetings.  At my Freshman and Sophomore meetings I made students fill out an "exit ticket" where they wrote down questions they had regarding graduation, GPA, testing, college, etc.  I now use those exit tickets to create a column in each newsletter titled:  Student Questions and Answers. Each month I try to focus on a different category of questions.  This month I focused on GPA questions.
In addition, I almost always include some sort of college prep time line.  I often use www.collegemapper.com as a resource for this section.  They always have unique ideas and suggestions as well as the usual, "keep your grade up; visit colleges."  What resources do you use for keeping your students and parent informed?  Leave your suggestions in the comments section.
Another section I have begun to include came to me after talking to a recent high school graduate.  As a current college athlete, he stated that he wished someone had told him in high school to begin taping his games.  I included that tip in last month's newsletter, but have started to include a section on what to do NOW if you have specific college goals.  This month's section is on planning to go to Art School.
As always, I am looking for new and unique additions, so feel free to share your newsletters, ideas, and resources.  Working together, we can help our students, and perhaps make that job a bit easier!

 

Advisory Lessons for College Application Week

This week the Counseling Office is buzzing with the details of College Application Week.  While some Seniors are frantically filling out applications, editing essays, and hunting down letters of recommendation, others completed the process weeks ago.
In an effort to prepare the current Freshmen and Sophomores for the future hustle of College Applications, I created this Advisory lesson to give them exposure to what all is involved in the College Application process:

9^th-10^th grade:  Lesson: What Does it Take to Apply to College

Goals:

• ·        All students will become familiar with the college application process before SENIOR year.
• ·        Students will become aware of the importance of maintaining the highest possible GPA and class rank, performing well on the ACT/SAT, and getting involved in extracurricular activities.

Click here for the link to the Prezi on What is on the Common Application: