10 Back to School Study Tips

By Dr. Stephen Jones

The journey back to school is a time when students meet new friends and get adjusted to a new school environment.  The adjustment is not limited to K12 students there are changes for college bound students too.  Often after the first week students realize that they do not know how to study and they easily get behind on assignments. Going back to school becomes a burden when students realize how much work that they need to complete.  Students don’t realize that learning how to study is one of the best ways to succeed during the new school year.

For most students it is easy to discover how much they do not remember from the prior year. The first test score or quiz can reveal a lot.   It takes devotion to get back into the habit of studying.  Students who want the best grade realize that they need to hit the ground running.  They are ready for the challenge of a new school year and they are organized.  There are ten study tips that they have learned to use: (1) Manage your time with a written schedule, (2) get a tutor right away if you need one, (3) meet with your teacher/professor to get help (4). Start reading your chapters right away, (5) Read the chapter more than once when possible (6). Pick up other books at the library, (7)prepare for tests and quizzes five days before your test (8) research your course topics over the internet, (9) form a study group and (10) sit in the first two rows and ask questions.  Go into each school year prepared to learn.  The studying that you do prior to the beginning of school will help you to achieve better grades.  The best students focus on having a great awareness of all of the requirements for each course.

Take advantage of the technology that is all around you.  There are all types of gadgets that are essential for 21st century students.  Every student should have a laptop that connects to the internet and prints documents.  Some school systems are saving money by using laptop computers. They are reducing their paper consumption.  Consider purchasing an IPOD which can be used to download educational information.  There are programmable calculators that help with complex math problems.   There is also the new IPAD that stores books and provides access to the internet.  All of these technologies are converging to provide a wealth of knowledge for everyone.

The potential for independent learning opportunities is growing each year.  You can be successful when you go back to school by pursuing knowledge with other friends.  Make a commitment to forming a study group.  You can meet in person or over the telephone.  Hand out assignments by way of email.  Each person must answer the assignment questions.  Then set a time to meet in person or over the telephone.   A group that starts out with a strong effort by everyone will have a greater chance of lasting until the end of the course.

Students who want to have success on every test must be prepared.  Too many students who are in high school have a habit of waiting until the last minute to study.  Students need better organization and a time management schedule to plan study time for every test.     If you have a schedule you can study two or three days prior to your examination.  You can surprise your instructor when your grades jump from a “B” to an “A+.”    Improving your grades will give you greater confidence on other tests that you encounter.  It’s time to get ready for an inspiring school year full of outstanding accomplishments.

 Dr. Stephen Jones is an educator and national speaker who has written the Seven Secrets of How to Study, the Parent's Ultimate Education Guide and the Ultimate Scholarship Guide at http://www.DrStephenJones.net/books

Why the New FAFSA APP Revolutionizes Financial Aid

The US Department of Education officially has launched its FAFSA mobile app to help students to complete and send the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form by way of their cellphones. Federal officials believe the app, named myStudentAid, will help to increase the number of families who apply for student financial aid. The FAFSA App is significant since there are still many students who do not have access to a computer in their home. The FAFSA form can be complex for scores of parents, who must answer more than 75 questions to complete the form. One key to success and obtaining financial aid is completing the FAFSA form early. The hope is that the App will decrease the parent’s apprehension about completing the form.

Why should the parent complete the FAFSA form on the App as soon possible? There are times when a parent will need to make corrections to the FAFSA application. Completing the FAFSA application early will provide more time for corrections. If you are a parent don’t give up seeking help from your school counselor. They may have knowledge of a FAFSA representative in your region who can help you. Most colleges rely on the FAFSA information as a resource that helps them to determine a student’s overall financial aid package.

The new FAFSA App gives parents the ability to enter their income information for one or more children. The students have their own section in the FAFSA application. Each student will have a unique way to enter their own information too. This is important since a family with two children may enroll in two different colleges. A family could actually sit down and work on their own information at the same as their student. The goal of the app is to make it easier to apply and to get increased participation. Some additional benefits include:

1.  A much easier application to complete

2.  The ability to register on cell phone that you carry in your pocket every day

2.  The federal tax documentation is already completed when the new FAFSA app is available

3.  The ability to get immediate help from a counselor

4.  An earlier notification of college financial aid packages 

FAFSA wants greater participation of all students regardless of their income.  Students who are first generation or low income seem to have the most difficult challenges completing three FAFSA form. If you fall into one of the two categories that I mentioned don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are school counselors who are focused on getting students prepared to apply for colleges using the common application. Finishing your FAFSA form early is one way to send a message to colleges that you are serious about getting enrolled.

The FAFSA office has come up with an App that will benefit everyone.  If you area college bound student, know is the time to complete all of the requirements of the FAFSA form. Don’t be the last to get the financial aid package from colleges that you’ve selected. Dr. Stephen Jones is the author of the Ultimate Scholarship Guide and the Seven Secrets of How to study at 

http://www.DrStephenJones.net/books.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

How Advanced Placement Courses Successfully Prepare Students for College

If you want your student to be better prepared for college, I highly recommend that they enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. You may be asking why.  Students who enroll in AP courses are better prepared for the challenges and rigor that a college level course can bring.  Preparing students for college takes a lot of preparation and planning.  Too many students go to college with great enthusiasm and with little preparation. During the first few weeks of college some students realize that they are not prepare them. They start to realize that college requires long hours of studying, reading, solving problems and managing a schedule that is full of reading assignments.  If you are sending your first student to college an AP course can give your student confidence that they can handle college level courses.

Completing an AP course in high school can help your student to get over the anxiety that is common during the first six weeks of college classes.  Some students receive their first C grade or less while in their first semester of college and it is a tremendous shock.  This is especially true when the student has not received a grade of less than a B during their entire K12 experience. It’s sad to say that some students want to drop out after their first unusual grade.  Some students realize that they were not taught how to learn independently or to research knowledge on their own.

Students who are the first person in their family to attend college face unique obstacles. They do not know what to expect or how difficult it will be. There are many who have no counselor to turn to when it is time to apply to college. The counselor to student ratio is five hundred to one in some high schools. A student may not be steered toward an advance placement course if the parent is not communicating with their counselor.  It is important for each parent to be actively involved in their student’s high school education.  Always seek out the best courses for your student and get them tutoring when necessary.

I recommend community college courses for students who want to get a taste of college before attending undergraduate school. Community college classes can give your student a similar challenge that an AP course can provide. Also, a community college course can be a way for a student to catch up if they are behind in a certain course. For example, if you want to study engineering in college you will need to take calculus while in high school. If you are behind you can take a pre-calculus course during the summer and calculus during your senior year.  It is far better to take calculus during your junior year and AP calculus during your senior year if possible.

Some student’s classmates scare other students away from AP classes.  They tell them how long they study and the difficulty of the course content.  If you are their parent encourage your student and support them with resources and tutoring. It is worth it.  You are cutting down on the chances that your student will struggle while they are in college.  In fact, there is a prize at the end of every AP course. If your student scores a 4 or a 5 on the standardized AP course during May they are able to reduce the number of courses they take during college.

To succeed a college student must develop good study habits while enrolled in an AP course. It is a great way to prepare for college. Your student must devote their energy to earning the best grades in each class by meeting the expectation of the course. Students who are successful know that they must manage their time. Here are ten additional ways that a student benefit from AP courses:

1.  A reduction in the number of courses required during college

2.  Get in the habit of good time management for tests

3.  You will have some of the best teachers in your school

4.  You will have an early experience regarding the expectations of a college professor

5. You learn how to do advanced research

6.  You will share knowledge with some of the best students in your high school

7.  Get tutoring from some of the best teachers and students.

8.  Get preparation for a community college course.

 One of the best skills that a high school student can learn is how to focus on their goal.  There are always plenty of distractions in high school.  Focus on your goal to be excellent in all AP classes. Identify your distractions such as social activities, day dreaming, peers and sports.  Students who are willing to eliminate distractions while they are in high school have a great habit of doing the same while in college.  One of the biggest distractions in college is the freedom in your schedule when there are no classes.  I encourage all students to write down their goals in each AP class and to work hard to achieve them.

The decision to enroll in an AP course is a serious choice.  It can be life changing and have a positive effect on the rest of a student’s courses.  Acceptance into a college is just the beginning of a student’s career journey.  All the studying that a student is doing in high school lays the foundation for how successful his/her college experience will turn out. Now is the time to enroll your student in an AP class that helps with the transition from high school to college.

Dr Stephen Jones is a college preparation expert and author. Purchase copies of Dr. Jones’ books “Seven Secrets of How to Study, Ultimate Scholarship Guide or Parents ultimate Education Guide at http://www.DrStephenJones.net or email your school workshop/consulting questions too Learn@DrStephenJones.net

How Principals Reinvent their Schools

One of the critical aspects of transforming a school is innovative leadership.  The expectation that new and innovative ideas will be accepted will result in a successful school.  Why do some schools turn around while others flounder?  It is because some principals and teachers continue to lead the same way they did last year. They expect different results but they keep doing the same things that caused the school to have difficulties. Successful principals and teachers see change as a good aspect of their schools success. An effective leader must have a positive vision and measurable outcomes that inspire students to be successful. There must be a commitment to moving forward with new ideas and actions throughout the school year. Today is the day to get started by making the school a welcoming place where every student can thrive.

     The principal, staff and teachers in a school that’s progressing has very good communication and cooperation among the entire professionals who are running the school. The principal must refuse to let communication breakdown. When there is an expectation that all communication has a purpose it motivates everyone to raise the level of energy that is invested in student instruction. An improved school will come from everyone knowing how to carry out the vision of the principal and his/her team.  Teachers in this school should feel free to talk to each other and to develop some of their own strategies to improve each student’s academic success. This includes discussing the way that each teacher communicates their lessons to students.  The teachers must also feel confident that the principal understands them and takes time to teach students too. A principal who takes time to teach will have a better sense of what students are learning in their classrooms.

     The students must understand that everyone at the school expects them to do well.  There must be a strategy to totally abolish the culture of low expectation.  Students must be applauded and recognized for their accomplishments in the classroom.  A whole school culture can change if the students who maintain a “C” average are challenged and acknowledged for raising their performance to a “B” average or higher. Success is evident in a school when the principal and teachers make learning fun and engaging.  The school not only celebrates the success of its athletes but has a bigger celebration over students who excel in the classroom.  A school atmosphere can change so that athletes want to become a scholar athlete.  Better grades and academic performance will get all students excited about coming to school.

     There must be a level of compassion by the principal, teachers and everyone on staff.  A school must be a welcoming place that is aware of the neighborhoods and cultures that influence the students.  Schools administrators that ignore the child’s problems are ignoring that they are affected by a number of struggles at home.  The challenges that a student can face when there is one parent in the home are tremendous.  Even if the student has two parents it does not guarantee that they will focus their energy on the student’s academic success. The principal and teachers must understand these challenges and work on some solutions that help each student to position themselves to learn when they are in school.  There are some very bright students whose home situation is not good.  It is better to meet the challenge head on than to hope that it will go away.

    It is important to lead from the front and not from the back. What is meant by this statement? It is better to have a plan that the school is following than to constantly respond to conflict and problems that were never fixed.  When the principals, staff and teachers lead from the front schools become better.  The teachers are excited to come to school because they feel supported. The students get the benefit of the teacher’s enthusiasm.  The principals and teachers can be role models of what good leadership looks like.  They also inspire students to become leaders at the school and in their community. 

     Positive changes can come from principals, staff and teachers who know how to get parents involved in the daily life of the school.  Parents often do not know how they play a positive role because their own parents were not involved in their school.  The school staff and several parents should come together to discuss how other parents can be involved.  These meetings can be held in the school, at a community center or at a church.   An effective parent involvement program includes meeting the parents where they live.  It’s great when a principal can find a pre-existing group of parents that meet and find a way to get on their agenda.  This saves the parent’s time but the principal can share important information with them. Persistence and a significant improvement in the students success is the key to improving parent involvement.

    Finally an inspired principal and staff can change a failing school by promoting career awareness to all at all K12 levels. Too many students are drifting in schools where they have no idea what their future could look like.  I firmly believe that career exploration should occur all year.  The K12 students need to explore careers to sustain their enthusiasm for learning. When they hear from visitors they can visualize themselves working in professions such as medicine, engineering, government, business and other professions.  The principals and teachers are the catalyst that motivates students can educate students about some of to pursue the top careers.  It is time to try something different at the all schools. It is time to take action and to fight for successful schools.

Dr. Stephen Jones is an education expert who you should consider for your school.  He is the author of the Seven Secrets of How to Study, the Parent’s Ultimate Education Guide and the Ultimate scholarship guide at http://www.DrStephenJones.net. Contact him right away at 610-842-3843.

Scholarships for January 2014

Here are the top 10 scholarships with upcoming deadlines in January 2014:

#1 - The Tom Joyner Foundation "Full Ride" Scholarship awards a full scholarship to one student to attend a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).
Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2013/12/tom-joyner-foundation-full-ride.html

#2 - The Burger King Scholars program is designed to help high-school seniors who are looking to start college next year. Annually, the program awards more than $1.4 million in scholarships to more than 1,000 students.
Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/03/burger-king-scholars-program.html

#3 - The Gates Millennium Scholars Program (also known as the Bill Gates Scholarship) awards scholarships each year to African American students who plan to enroll full-time in a two-year or four-year college or university program.
Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/08/the-gates-millennium-scholars-program.html

#4 - The Ron Brown Scholar Program provides scholarship awards to African-American high school seniors who are excelling in their academics, exhibiting exceptional leadership potential, and actively serving in community service activities.
Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/04/ron-brown-scholar-program.html

#5 - The Discover Card Tribute Award Scholarship Program is sponsored by Discover Financial Services. The program recognizes students in their junior year of high school who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in their communities.
Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/07/discover-card-tribute-award-scholarship.html

#6 - The National Black Law Student Association (NBLSA) provides four scholarships each year to African-American students currently in law school. Each applicant will be required to complete an essay on a topic that is related to the specific scholarship for which they are applying.
Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2013/02/nblsa-national-black-law-student-association-scholarships.html

#7 - Ronald McDonald House Charities Scholarships (RMHC) for African American Future Achievers are awarded to eligible high school students with high academic performance and community service as well as financial need.
Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/07/ronald-mcdonald-house-charities.html

#8 - The Talbots Scholarship Program awards one-time scholarships to women who want to go back to school to earn their undergraduate degree after graduating from high school or receiving their GED at least ten years ago. Applicants must demonstrate financial need.
Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/11/the-talbots-scholarship-program.html

#9 - The Ronald Reagan College Leaders Scholarship Program awards scholarships to college juniors and seniors who demonstrate leadership qualities in support of freedom, American values and constitutional principles.
Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/08/ronald-reagan-college-leaders.html

#10 - The NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program is open to both undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a career in the field of aeronautics. It is a renewable scholarship for U.S. citizens and nationals.
Learn more at www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/09/nasa-aeronautics-scholarship-program.html

From: http://wwwBlackcollege.com

Dr. Stephen Jones is the author of the Ultimate Scholarship Guide available at http://bit.ly/19Vg9ew

Google Helpouts a Fantastic Way to Learn

Google has created another fantastic tool that just may be a wonderful tool for principals, teachers, parents and students.  The Google Helpout will help you to access professionals who are skilled and available to answer your questions.  The fantastic thing about Google Helpouts is that you are live by way of video and in real time.  You can also schedule a meeting where you can get your questions answered or access the coaching that you require.  This tool became available on November 5, 2013. The Helpout is a great way to get the solution that you need or to hear a different perspective on a problem that you are trying to solve.

What is Helpout about?

Google helpout offers live video that will give the user a one on one expert to help and offer advice anytime of the day. The expert can be an educator, businessperson, consultant or electrician.  That fact that this person is live is a relief for the person who needs help right away. This is a service that is not provided by other social media websites.  Google staff believe that people from all walks of life will appreciate the opportunity to get help any time of the day.

The Google Helpout can reach people who are too busy to attend a conference to get a unique perspective on their problem.  A principal or teacher could get advice on how to improve student learning or to discuss a professional development opportunities.  School districts that have a limited number of college counselors could get help for students.  A school could get information about ideas to improve parent participation. 

How can it benefit schools and colleges?

There are several unique ways that schools can benefit from the one-on-one support that a Google Helpout expert can offer. Here are some of the benefits

1.  Superintendents can get advice on how to manage multiple problems at a school district

2.  Principals will benefit from an adviser who can help with teacher training ideas

3.  Teachers can learn how to help students to learn students with

4.  Parents can learn how to help their student to earn better grades

5.  Students will learn how to get better grades and to prepare for college/trade school.

If you think Google Helpouts could help your school, Dr. Stephen Jones is honored to be one of the experts who were selected. You can get the help you need.  If you are interested in giving it a try go to http://bit.ly/16ZISPe. Don’t miss out on this great chance to get your critical questions answered.