Tuesday, April 24, 2018

May/June Tidings

Academics

As the year winds down, and excitement builds towards graduation, a number of important academic events occur, including final exams, AP exams, and culminating projects.

This will be the last of our bi-monthly blog posts of the 2017-2018 school year.  Counselors are not in their offices over the summer, but we do periodically check email.  We wish everyone a happy and restful summer.  Please check out our website to learn about exciting summer opportunities, and see the link below regarding pre-college programs.

AP Testing
Advanced Placement (AP) testing will occur from May 7 through May 18.  All tests this year will be held in rooms 209/210 in the Physical Education building.  If students are receiving accommodations, they have already received a letter detailing what room to go to on various testing dates.  The full schedule of testing is located at this link.

If a student does well on the AP test (typically a score of a 3-5), they can potentially get credit at various universities throughout the country (this varies considerably, and students should always check with prospective universities to make sure this is possible).

It is important for students to prepare for these exams, given the possibility of receiving college credit should they receive a high enough score.  Students should meet with their teachers in order to prepare.

Students can also check out this link to view various practice questions:
AP practice questions

Early College Credit Program

Earlier this year, the Wisconsin legislature changed two programs that have been utilized in the past by Shorewood High School students.  The Youth Options Program and the Course Options program will no longer exist after this summer; they will be replaced by the "Early College Credit Program" (ECCP) and the "Part-Time Open Enrollment" program.  Students have used Youth Options in the past to attend classes at UW-Milwaukee.  They can still do so with ECCP; however, some important differences exist between Youth Options and ECCP.  Please take a look at the following PPT presentation that was shared with the school board earlier this spring.  Email counselors with any specific questions.

ECCP-Changes in Legislation


                                                                                                                                          

Final Exams

With final exams a mere month away, we wanted to reiterate a few important points regarding studying.

This site from Fastweb has some good advice:
20 Study Strategies for Finals Week

My favorite tips:
1.  Create a study schedule
2.  Create your own study guides
3.  Take breaks
4.  Quiz yourself
5.  Study with others, though not exclusively

In addition, we really encourage students to be meeting with teachers regularly.  The lunch hour is usually a good time to do this, given that teachers are often available to meet.  If students are struggling in a class, it is important to be proactive and address the situation immediately by setting up a consistent meeting schedule with teachers.  If students need further help, they should talk to their counselor about tutoring (either peer or professional).

                                                                                                                                            

Goals

Sometimes students have difficultly recognizing what the problem is regarding their academic performance.  Analyzing the problem first can help students develop goals that are focused and time sensitive.  The form copied below can help students create actionable goals derived from specific problems.

Action Plan

What is keeping me from getting the grades I want? (check all that apply)

c   I am not doing my homework
c   I finish my homework, but I usually lose it or forget to turn it in
c   I don’t finish class work because I’m busy talking to other students
c   I don’t understand the material
c   I have a lot of absences and/or tardies and can’t keep up
c   I don’t care about school or see the point in trying
c   I don’t know how to study for major tests
c   I have personal/interpersonal issues on my mind (friends, family, etc.)
c   Other: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Of the reasons you checked above, which is the most difficult? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Have you tried anything in the past that has helped you overcome this difficulty? How did it help (or not help)?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you haven’t tried anything, or if what you tried didn’t help, state something else you can try:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   

On a scale of 1-10, how motivated are you to make academic changes 3rd trimester?

   1         2         3         4           5           6           7          8          9        10    
Not at all                                                                                  Very much

Think: Why aren’t you a number lower? How can you be a number higher?

Using this information about myself, how will I make changes next trimester?


Goal #1:  _______________________________________    
2 actions I will take to achieve this goal:




Goal #2:  _______________________________________     
2 actions I will take to achieve this goal:
                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                          

College and Career

College Decision Day

May 1st is National College Decision Day, the deadline for high school seniors to choose the college they will attend.  While such a decision is a big one and can be fraught with anxiety, the day is also a day to celebrate!  We encourage all students attending post-secondary education to wear a sweatshirt or T-shirt from their future university.   You can read more about College Decision Day in this link.

Juniors: Teacher Letters of Recommendation

The process for requesting letters of recommendation begins in mid-May.  Please check out the directions below:

1. Log into your Family Connection page and click on the “About Me” tab on the top of the page.
2.  Under “Interesting Things About Me” click on “Resume.” Complete the Objective with information you would like your letter writer to focus on. Complete all other sections that pertain to you (Summary, Work Experience, Education, etc). The more info you provide, the better.
3. Print your resume and give it to teachers (1 or 2) when you ask them to write your letter.  Do this between May 15th and the end of the school year.  
4.  After teachers agree, you must electronically request them through your Family Connection account. Click on the “Colleges” tab at the top of the page. Next, select “Letters of Recommendation.” Click “Add Request” and then pick the teachers you have requested and select “All current and future colleges I add to my Colleges I'm Applying To list.”
5.  Be sure to follow up with teacher/(s) senior year with your earliest college application deadline as soon as you know. WITHOUT THIS INFORMATION YOUR LETTER MAY NOT BE SUBMITTED ON TIME!

Pre-College Programs

Interested in attending a summer program that helps students prepare for college? Want to learn something new and interesting? Check out all of the various pre-college summer programs below. Pre-college programs offer a great opportunity for students to experience college, learn new ideas, and experience residential life on a college campus. Some programs are free, while others come with considerable cost. Students should see their counselor with any questions.

Here is the link to a general list of various programs throughout the country: Prep Scholar

College and Career Planning

A recap of what students experienced and explored on Family Connection this year:

Freshmen: career clusters survey (read about the 16 career clusters here).
Sophomore: career interest inventory (take another career interest survey here).
Juniors: the resume and the college search (view the results on Family Connection or try a different search here).

This summer, juniors should begin to solidify what universities they will apply to in late summer and early fall.  Many applications, including the Common Application and the UW application open on August 1st (though completed applications cannot be submitted until September 1).  Summer is a great time to set up college tours as well!

For seniors, after you have made the decision about what college to attend, there are still lots of choices to make, as well as some simple tasks that require your attention.

Check out this useful list created by the College Board regarding specific steps to take this summer:

College Board checklist for graduating seniors

Finally, for sophomores and freshmen, College Board includes a great planning tool that can help you begin planning for post secondary studies (it does require that you create an account).  While it may seem early, it is always helpful to begin the exploration process:
College Board's My Plan


Lastly, some great news out of UW-Madison!  For families who have a household income of $56,000 or less, tuition will be free for all four years for admitted students.  See the press release concerning this exciting development: UW-Madison Press Release.

High School Transcripts

The counselors recognize that some juniors are itching to complete applications and send in transcripts this summer.  While many applications officially open on August 1st, most cannot be submitted until September 1.  Moreover, the vast majority of early action deadlines do not occur until November 1.  Given this timeline, the counselors will not accept transcript request forms until September 12, 2018 (this gives us time to focus on schedule changes and other early year adjustments first). 

                                                                                                                                          

Social and Emotional Well Being

Signs of Suicide

The school counselors spent time in physical education classes this fall and winter teaching students about the warning signs of suicidal behavior.  According to the Wisconsin Department of Instruction, "Classroom educational programs have been shown to reduce suicide rates (SOS Program), tendencies, and attempts, and at the same time increase knowledge about risks, warning signs, and coping skills."  Using part of DPI's research based curriculum, Signs of Suicide, the school counselors were able to provide important knowledge concerning this topic, as well as screen students to see if they needed further help.  We will continue with refreshers every year, with the full lesson occurring in freshmen year.    

To read more about the DPI's involvement with this, check out this link.  
To read about the full curriculum, check out this link.  

                                                                                                                                          

Shorewood High School Recess


With the long stretch between spring break and summer break, along with Aspire and AP testing and the general stress of school, we thought everyone could use a break. The school counselors and the REDgen student group have done the research to find that taking a mental break, literally unplugging from academics, from electronics, and from the stress of the daily grind can have a positive effect. Enter in RECESS...

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that young people participate in about 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per day, and suggested that recess be part of that. Recess is a necessary break in the day for optimizing a student’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development.”

Because of this, the SHS student REDgen group is hosting a school-wide Recess to take place on Wednesday, May 2nd. Instead of going to homeroom, we invite all students and staff to participate in a meaningful activity for 40 minutes that will allow a mental break. Students and staff can play basketball in the gym, practice yoga in the dance studio, do art in the art room, work out on the outdoor fitness equipment, have quiet time in the library or play frisbee, other lawn games or lounge on the the front lawn.

This short break can provide an opportunity to decompress and recharge. It also allows an opportunity to connect with one another and teachers in a new way, and as a result, students will feel more productive and more connected to the school community.

                                                                                                                                           

Happiness and Purpose

A couple of relatively recent New York Times articles comment on important topics that certainly impact our students: happiness and purpose.  Research on both continues to get more sophisticated as the knowledge base continues to expand.

The first article, "How To Be Happy," has numerous recommendations.  Some of the suggestions are certainly more focused on adults rather than students.  Nonetheless, the article provides some concrete steps students can take immediately, like:

  • Conquering negative thoughts
  • Controlled breathing
  • Simple exercise
  • Volunteering
  • and giving yourself a break
Check out the article at this link.  

This article talks a lot about purpose, particularly the purpose attached to helping others, and in doing so, grappling with what it means to live a meaningful life.  Again, a significant amount of research supports engaging in conversations, activities, and planning that focuses on helping people find purpose and meaning.  


Check out the article at this link.
                                                                                                                                          

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Finally, with finals nearly upon us, it is vital that students find ways to relieve stress.  One method, progressive muscle relaxation, has worked for some students by helping them relieve tension found in their bodies.  

The description below, from WebMD, provides a brief synopsis of how it works:

Have you ever had an aching back or pain in your neck when you were anxious or stressed? When you have anxiety or stress in your life, one of the ways your body responds is with muscle tension. Progressive muscle relaxation is a method that helps relieve that tension.
  • In progressive muscle relaxation, you tense a group of muscles as you breathe in, and you relax them as you breathe out. You work on your muscle groups in a certain order.
  • When your body is physically relaxed, you cannot feel anxious. Practicing progressive muscle relaxation for a few weeks will help you get better at this skill, and in time you will be able to use this method to relieve stress.
  • When you first start, it may help to use an audio recording until you learn all the muscle groups in order. Check your local library or a bookstore for progressive muscle relaxation audio recordings.
  • If you have trouble falling asleep, this method may also help with your sleep problems.
To learn more, read the full description at this link.  

                                                                                                                                          

Meet Your Counselor


Mr. Brown is one of three school counselors at Shorewood High School.  He works with students with last names H-O.  Mr. Brown has been a counselor at Shorewood High School for two years.  Prior to that, he taught English at various high schools in the Milwaukee area and Colorado.  He also spent time studying social and cultural foundations of education at the University of Washington in Seattle, though he still isn't quite sure what exactly social and cultural foundations are;).  After that foray into academia, Mr. Brown moved back to the Milwaukee area where he began studying counseling.  He settled down in Wauwatosa with his wife and two children, Harper (5) and Elinor (1).  Mr. Brown loves his job at SHS, and enjoys helping students realize their potential and work through obstacles.  When not counseling, Mr. Brown can be found reminiscing about the '90s grunge music scene, watching soccer, reading, writing, and enjoying the outdoors.  Stop in his office anytime for help, to discuss the future, or simply to chat!

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