As Veterans' Day approaches, I need to start off with a heartfelt thank you to all of our veterans out there. Nothing we do would be possible without the sacrifices of those who have served. You have my admiration and gratitude.
Now to the heart of the matter: Our students have a LONG four-day weekend coming up! While many of them will use the time to catch up on sleep, Snapchat and gaming, I sincerely hope that many will use the time to invest in their future by shoring up their academics. Believe it or not, we only have about six weeks left before the end of the first semester! That makes this long weekend a great chance for students to catch up, or maybe even work ahead. Moments like this can be a vital step towards your student working towards becoming a two- or four- year college graduate with minimal debt, which should be our long-range goal!
Parents, here's where you can help:
Now to the heart of the matter: Our students have a LONG four-day weekend coming up! While many of them will use the time to catch up on sleep, Snapchat and gaming, I sincerely hope that many will use the time to invest in their future by shoring up their academics. Believe it or not, we only have about six weeks left before the end of the first semester! That makes this long weekend a great chance for students to catch up, or maybe even work ahead. Moments like this can be a vital step towards your student working towards becoming a two- or four- year college graduate with minimal debt, which should be our long-range goal!
Parents, here's where you can help:
- Remind your child to bring home assignments to work on this weekend. Go ahead, shoot her a text. Let her know you will be asking about her schoolwork. When you ask her about it tonight, she may shrug her shoulders and lament "Oops, I left it at school!". Remind her that staff is in the building on Thursday - she will be able to get to her locker!
- Log in to PowerSchool and look at the grades and assignment information for each of your student's classes. Is there anything marked "Missing"? "NHI" (Not Handed In)? If so, talk to him about it. If he claims to have the assignments, ask to see them. He may claim "That teacher won't accept late assignments!". Insist that he complete the assignments anyway. Why? I see this same thing all the time in my study hall. When I contact that teacher, guess what? Most of them WILL accept late assignments! And even if it's not for credit, most teachers will record that they are complete, and the assignments will give him valuable practice in the content!
- Can't get into PowerSchool? Don't know how? Call Bellevue East (402-293-4150). Someone can help you set up or get access to your account. Or ask your student to log in with their information. All students should have their own login credentials.
- Work with your student to set up a reasonable schoolwork schedule over the weekend. My personal recommendation: 1-2 hours each day (depending on what your student needs to accomplish), preferably in half-hour chunks. This will help him develop vital study and time-management skills that he will need in college. In between he can do whatever he likes...within reason, of course...AND pitch in with chores around the house, right?!
- During her work time, limit access to phones and computers, unless they are needed for the assignment. This is something else I see all the time in study hall and in class. During work time, that phone, tablet or laptop contains too many distractions for him to stay focused on work! "But I can multi-task!" he proclaims. Multi-tasking is a myth. "I need my music to help me focus!". Another myth. He can get his InstaSnapFaceChat time between work periods.
- Determine some sort of reward system. Work with your student to determine appropriate benchmarks for progress and meaningful rewards. Again, this will depend on your student's status in her classes. Does she have a lot of assignments marked "Missing" or "NHI"? Perhaps you agree that for every X number of assignments they complete, they get one movie on Netflix. Or an hour on X-box. Or two hours of quality time with mom and/or dad (just what every teenager wants, right? OK, maybe not that one...). You get the idea.
- Don't let the conversation end on Sunday night! Check in with your him every few days, again depending on that student's situation. You may have to start with more frequent check-ins, then, as you gain confidence in his ability to maintain, less frequently. Ideally, you should get to a point where you are touching base approximately once a week, maybe less. The goal is for them to earn and learn independence from you.