Guidance Topics
Guidance Topics: Guidance Topic- "Dealing With Academic Struggles." As a counselor, I am often one of the first ones to find out when a student is struggling academically. Often, I find out as part of the reaction or over-reaction. That may be a request to get the student out of the class which they are struggling in without trying to work through the struggles at all. I strongly feel that it is actually healthy to go through academic struggles. It creates a sense of urgency that should set problem solving in motion. Students need to realize that if they are struggling in class that there are many steps to take before they should even consider dropping from honors to regular or going down a level in Mathematics, etc. Struggling should be dealt with directly with the teacher. Meet with the teacher and explain the difficulties you are having. Find out if it is possible to get some extra help. If it is then take advantage of the re-take policy in the class after you have re-learned the material. Many times, testing struggles are a result of how you prepare for the test in a specific subject. You may find a productive way to study for English that will not work for preparing for an Algbebra II test. Tell your teacher how you are preparing for his/her exams and ask if they have any advice. Right now, Rising Sun High School is offering more after-school assistance and help then I have seen in my five years here. The retake policies are set up for students to be able to bounce back after a poor grade but you have to be sure to take advantage of it. The help is there there, you have to ask for it. Sometimes I hear that students have the belief that if they have to work extra to be successful in a honors class then they should not be in an honors class. I don't know where that mindset has come from, but I feel the exact opposite. If you do not reach a point at times where you have to work harder, you are in a class that is too easy. Struggling is good at times. It teaches us how to ask questions, problem solve, try out different solutions and figure out which ones are appropriate for each situation. It is much easier to go through these struggles in high school where there is a ton of support set up compared to college where after-school help does not exist. Make use of your resources and work through your problems. You will feel more pride about the success when you have had to dig down to achieve it. Good luck and keep working hard. Handling Teacher/Student Conflict As a parent there is a good chance at some point you may hear "my teacher doesn't like me, that is why I am not doing well." Now your first reaction may be protective and you may call and request that your child be moved out of that teachers class immediately. However, class sizes are high and this is high school which means we must first try to work to solve the problems to help the students become successful where they are. Communication with teachers is essential to help your child throughout their education. The best way to go about it is to keep an open mind until you receive both sides of the story. Despite what you may hear, teachers are rarely "out to get your children." The recommended first step to resolving anything you feel is a conflict is going to be communication directly with the teacher rather then to assume that your child will never be successful in that teacher's class. My recommendation is direct contact through a conference or phone call instead of an email. It can be much easier to sound more negative in an email then direct conversation. For general questions and concern, I feel email is great but during a conflict, I feel strongly that direct conversation is much more productive. If a conference is necessary after direct contact, please contact your guidance counselor to set that up. We do want to work together on providing your child with an education. MAKING UP WORK AFTER ABSENCES- After spending time discussing interim grades with students, it is clear that one of the biggest issues overall is students missing school and not making up the work they missed, including tests. This can be one of the more difficult things about transitioning to high school. In high school to get the makeup work, students are asked to take the responsibility to go to their teacher and ask for what they missed. If a student misses a test, they should usually know they missed the test but need to make arrangements with the teacher to make it up after school or when it is best for both teacher and student. Don't sit back and wait for the teacher to come to you with the work. This is high school, it is not going to happen. Also, don't wait two weeks to make up a test. Chances are the class has moved on and that information is no longer that fresh in your memory. The longer you wait, the more you may struggle with the content. Also don't forget to hand in all work that was due the day you missed school. This is also a big factor, showing once again that attendance is the biggest predictor of school success. INTERNET BULLYING AND CONFLICTS- There has been a good deal of conflicts coming into the school that have started and developed either through the internet on Facebook or through text messaging. Bullying online is something that schools deal with more and more as students frequently bring those conflicts into the building. Facebook issues have been popular lately. I understand it is nearly impossible to monitor everything a student does on the internet, but there are some pretty easy ways to keep an eye on your students facebook communications. For one, although you may have no interest in Facebook, you can join and request your son or daughter to "friend," you. The thing is don't give them the choice. As a parent, you can tell them, "either add me on facebook or you lose your account." Having a facebook account can help you keep an eye on who your child is friends, what is being posted on their account and what they may be posting. There is also software that can be purchased to monitor your childs internet usage. There are also several websites that can help give information about cyber bullying. One of those is http://www.ncpc.org/cyberbullying. This site can also give some other resources for assistance with internet security. Text messaging has also been a pretty popular form of rumor spreading and bullying. The person who pays the bills for the cell phones has the right to contact the company about the information being texted. Often when we are looking into instances of texting threats we find these are done during the school day which is a violation of our cell phone policy. I also notice that when a student is willing to show us what has been texted to them, they often conveniently have deleted their own messages. Study Skills- Developing proper Study Skill Techniques can easily take all four years of high school but there are a couple of quick tips that can be put to use to help immediately. 1. When you are about to study, ditch the cell phone. Cell phones are great at interrupting a nice pattern of thought or study. Put it somewhere else, turn it off and realize there is nothing that cannot wait til later. Parents, you usually pay the bill so it helps to step in and lay this down as a study guideline. 2. Students tell me that to study they, "look over" their notes. Unless you have a photographic memory, the "look over" technique is not going to be real successful. To take a test you need to write so it helps to write to prepare. Students should be re-writing notes, re-writing review questions and answers and using at least 75% of their study time by writing what they feel they need to study to for that class. In math, if you are not working out multiple problems, it will be very difficult to be prepared to study. I constantly am told by students, "I don't do well on tests." It usually only takes me asking one question to find out that student does not do well preparing for tests. 3. Do not wait until the night before to study for any test or quiz. Get an idea when the tests are quizzes are going to be and work yourself up by studying each night. If you are in class and you take down two pages of notes, rewrite them again that day. Your comprehension for that material will increase. 4. Use a parent, sibling or friend to quiz you on your studying. Tips on Having Success in High School 1. Attend School. Attendance is the number one factor for success in school. 2. Come to school on time. 3. Always get your make-up work if you miss school. 4. DO YOUR WORK. Work is assigned as practice. Practice is needed to peform better on tests, quizzes and other projects. 5. STUDY. Tests and quizzes are usually summative grades and can affect your overall grade a lot. Do not wait until the night before the test to prepare. 6. Use Grades to GO to keep track of grades. You may have your parents register in guidance to have access. 7. Take Advantage of "RETAKE and RE-DO" Policies.
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RSHS CLASS OF 2014
Steve Gray
Rising Sun High School
410-658-9117
sgray@ccps.org
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