4 Top Tips to Make The Most of Ninth Grade

Ninth Grade

Ninth grade is a very big deal! It’s a transitional year that can set the tone for the rest of high school and beyond.

While parents may be tempted to “back off” in terms of involvement, it’s really the time to step up your engagement. Granted, your engagement may not be as hands-on as helping in the classroom, your assistance with guiding your teen to make the most of high school is important.

Here are 4 key tips to help your teen navigate ninth grade successfully and launch into a wonderful high school experience:

Practice good organizational and study skills. These are foundational skills that your teen will continue to rely upon each and every year.

Although courses may be a bit more challenging in ninth grade, they will get even more challenging for 10th, 11th and 12th Grade. So ninth grade is a great time to start practicing those good organizational and study skills. If your teen’s skills are weak in these areas, then 9th grade is an ideal time to figure out what works. There are any number of books and/or digital tools/apps that your teen can use to develop these skills.

Get involved with only one or two activities at school. During 9th grade, there’ll be so many new things happening. . . new teachers. . . perhaps new friend groups, and more. It will be all too easy to participate in the same activities as friends. Rather than follow the crown, I would suggest that your teen figures out their own you and focus on participating in only one or two clubs (including sports). Getting involved in too many activities at once may add too much undue stress and slow down their adjustment to high school.

Map courses forward. Courses taken in 9th grade play a role in the course selection for the remainder of high school. So, rather than considering 9th grade only, you can determine the core courses for 10th 11th and 12th grade as well (includes foreign language). This can help your teen see where there may be gaps in their course schedule and plan ahead for creative ways to fill any gaps.

Be intentional about summer. Gone are the days of only “hanging out” in the summer. Having fun and going on family vacations are important. However, there are typically many more other weeks for participating in a summer program, interning, reading several books, even focusing on a creative project. Whatever it is your teen does during the summer, be intentional about it, i.e. have a reason for participating!

Check out my 9th-grade roadmap for more timely tips to navigate each month of this year! (Choose “9th Grade” with the blue button here on this page.)

Will this activity help my teen get in college?

extra activities apply to college

When a parent asks me “Should my child do this activity?” I usually cringe. This question is bothersome because it’s a rather loaded question in that what parents really are asking is “If my child does this activity, will it help their college application?”

That’s the wrong question for 3 reasons:

  • There is only so much time that a teen has outside of school. Some of that outside time will be spent sleeping, spending time with family and friends, homework, ____. Given the limited amount of time left for doing the activities that a teen enjoys, then the focus of that extra time would best be spent on what the teen actually enjoys doing.

 

  • Because college is one of several pathways on an educational journey, determining the best colleges for any teen starts with why that teen wants to go to college and what their interests and needs are. The activities that a teen participates in therefore should not be determined based on what the college wants.

 

  • Colleges base their admissions decisions on their own institutional priorities. With 2,500+ colleges and universities across the US of all different shapes and sizes, it’s very hard to create an activities resume that will be right for every college.

 

So then the thing that a student should “do” to get in college is to be their authentic selves. The right activities then will be those that a teen is genuinely interested in doing and wants to do.

So when I get that first question, “Should my child do x?” I respond with “Is your child interested in doing x?”

If the response to my question is yes, then I applaud that child for their effort in participating in that activity, whatever it may be. Here is a range of activities that my students included on their resumes . . without concern for it being solely to get in college:

 

  • Camping
  • Cheer
  • Coding
  • Dancing
  • Fencing
  • Knitting
  • Model UN
  • Painting
  • Student government
  • Tutoring

 

And all of these students were admitted to colleges of all shapes and sizes where they are thriving. A common thread among all these activities is that students had depth, not just breadth. For example, the student who knitted did so through organized groups and summer experiences. The painter showcased his art at schools, attended extra classes and even presented a portfolio to colleges. . . although he’s not an art major.

 

If the response to my question is no, then my answer is “It’s not worth the time.” When a teen wastes time doing an activity just for the sake of doing it, it will be challenging for that student to find the colleges that are the best fit where they can thrive.

 

What activity does your teen enjoy? How does your teen determine their extracurricular activities?

 

“Help! My teen texts way too much”: What parents can do

compass college advisory

Most parents are not pleased with their teen’s overuse of the cell phone. It can be hard to have a decent conversation with a teen when they’re staring at their phone. Just recently, I was meeting with a family for the first time and the son started texting in the middle of the conversation. I paused for a moment and said, “Please put your phone away. . .this meeting is really for YOU.”

If teens don’t have any boundaries when it comes to texting or other screen time, they will use it with little regard to anyone else around them. I didn’t take it personally, although I found his using the phone during our conversation quite disrespectful.teens text alot

What is Screen time?

When I speak with parents about “screen time” use, they often think of cell phones only. However, I include television, computers/internet and game consoles, as well. How students use or misuse the internet is particularly important for college-bound teens as more colleges gain access to an applicant’s social media footprint.

There’s nothing inherently bad with technology. When the use of technology disrupts normal everyday activities, however, that’s when it becomes overuse/abuse. A “normal everyday activity” may be having a conversation with family members, driving safely and responsibly, or socializing with friends.

If your teen’s screen time use interferes with family time, I would suggest that parents immediately set boundaries for use. (Of course, it’s much easier to set those boundaries before high school.) One way to set these boundaries may be in the form of family policy on screen time use.

Your family policy for screen time use can be as restrictive or flexible as needed. It can even extend to screen time use outside the home if that’s a problem area for your teen. For example, during a recent business trip, I went to dinner with a family that I’ve known for many years. Their teen daughter was on her phone throughout the meal, except to eat quickly. I wanted her to feel included but it felt like we were disturbing her.

I talk with hundreds of parents each year and only a small fraction are actually OK with their teen’s screen time use. Are you OK with your teen’s screen time use? If yes, please share what works for your family. If your teen’s screen time use is not OK, what are you doing about it?

Why attend Swiss college prep boarding school

Throughout the year, I tour college prep boarding schools. It’s an opportunity for me to learn about schools that could potentially be a fit for my students, meet new colleagues, and stay current on what’s happening in the boarding school community. I have previously worked with students who attended school in Switzerland, so traveling to visit college prep boarding schools there was particularly intriguing. After an intensive week of touring campuses, hearing new languages and accents, driving through mountains, riding on trains and boats, and eating cheese and chocolate to my heart’s content(!), I understood more about why families around the world choose to have their teen attend school in Switzerland.

The Swiss schools that I visited included:

Aiglon College, Brillantmont, Ecole d’Humanité, Le Rosey, Leysin American School, Rosenberg, TASIS, Zuoz

Each school offered a unique experience. In future posts, I will share more about individual school offerings. Overall, the Swiss college-prep boarding schools have much to offer families who may be seeking a premier education in Europe.

 

Why Swiss schools

In my conversations with students, faculty, administrators, and alumni, there were several common reasons noted for why they chose to attend high school in Switzerland:

Curriculum offers – There were several curriculum options among the Swiss schools. Diploma offerings included International Baccaulaureate, Advanced Placement International Diploma, French Baccalaureate, and British A Level. Depending on a student’s aspirations after high school, these academic programs can meet a range of interests.

Opportunities to travel – Given the proximity of other countries and the cultural freedoms in Europe, students attending Swiss schools had ample opportunities to travel throughout Europe. It was not uncommon to hear students discuss their trips to Italy or France during the weekend or taking service trips to ___ during Spring Break.

Global community – The Swiss schools had incredible diversity among its student body and faculty. (I even met several staff and faculty from Ohio on the campuses . . . O-H!) The students remarked about the advantages for them to live in a community where they interact with and learn about cultures as varied as Russian, Chilean, or Saudi Arabian.

These are global experiences that are not easily matched during high school. I must admit though that I wondered . . . “If students have these kinds of experiences in high school, what does it mean for the types of experiences that will engage them in college?” What are your thoughts about such global experiences during high school?

 

ALERT College-bound Juniors – AP scores are back, Now What?

AP scores

High school sophomores and juniors can access their AP scores this week! While there may have been high anxiety and a few sleep-deprived nights in May, students may have some butterflies as they open their online accounts to see the results.

What do your scores mean

AP scores will range from 1 to 5. An AP score of “1” or “2” may feel like a real downer, given all the late-night studying. A “3” on the AP exam shows proficiency, but may not get any attention from colleges. The scores that colleges may notice are “4” and “5”. When I say notice, it can mean that the college will allow the student to either

  1. Skip an introductory level college course in that area of study
    -or-
  2. Get college credit

One of the things that students must be careful to do is check with the college’s department to determine whether any course upgrade or college credits will be granted. I advise doing so after a student has determined where they will enroll in college. It wouldn’t make sense to determine the college list based on getting college credit, since the colleges may change their policy.

Whether a college allows a student to skip an introductory level course or grant college credit is specific to each college. If the college does neither, then students shouldn’t feel as if they wasted their time. In the admissions process, colleges will consider the rigor of the high school curriculum. Taking an AP course is still a good way to show that students challenged themselves during high school.

What do you think about AP? Is it worth it?

What 9th graders can do now to get into Best College

Attention 9th graders, the college may feel like a long way away. In some ways, it is. But, in more ways than one, it’s really not. College-bound 9th graders are part of the college admissions process, whether they know it or not. In fact, our firm starts working with many teens in their freshman year of high school.

Long before students start receiving college mailings, they can get prepared. 9th graders can take these three steps to get into the best college for them:

  • Get to know yourself – At the same time that 9th grade may be an exciting time socially with making new friends at school, it’s also a great time for freshmen to explore and find new things that they like and enjoy doing. This may mean checking out a new club at school, starting a hobby, or trying out a summer program in a new subject area. Self-awareness is key in knowing what you want for college!
  • Plan your courses for all four years of high school – Setting your schedule ahead of high school graduation is a great way to build a strong foundation of coursework. It will also help you see where there may be courses missing. In those cases, perhaps you could consider an online or summer course. If your high school offers an Honors graduation, the four-year planning will help with determining if that’s a path you want to pursue.
  • Develop good study and organization skills – It’s not too early to find ways to improve your study and organization skills. The coursework in 9th grade is typically more rigorous than 8th grade, so consider how you manage your time after school or how you take notes during class. There are note-taking systems, time management tools, and organizing techniques to try that can help you develop habits that will serve you well throughout high school and beyond.

Ninth grade can be a great year to jumpstart success in high school and getting into the best college. The journey begins with the student!

What other suggestions do you have for 9th grade? Please post comments and questions below

5 tips for cleaning your Facebook profile for college-bound teens

compass college advisory

More colleges are checking applicants’ social media profiles as a way to learn more about what kind of person you are. All students who plan to apply to college in the upcoming years should assume that their Facebook and/or Twitter profiles will be reviewed. Social media profiles are archived so please don’t assume that it’s too soon to get started on managing your online profiles.

socialnetwork website
This scene from the movie, Social Network, is hilarious!

Here are 5 quick tips for cleaning your profiles:

1. Google yourself! Whatever information is discovered about you shouldn’t be a surprise.

2. Monitor your account regularly to maintain appropriate postings from yourself and friends.

3. Monitor what your friends are posting on their own pages to make sure that they’re not posting inappropriate words or videos (this can be especially tricky if you’re “liking” or sharing any inappropriate posts from friends).

4. Adjust your privacy settings to restrict others from seeing your posts.

5. Review older (archived) posts as well to clean those, if necessary.

Students and/or parents should monitor these profiles on a regular basis, i.e. every week or two. Given the increased viewing of social media profiles by colleges, college-bound students must beware. A good rule of thumb . . . if you wouldn’t want your grandparent to see your post, then don’t post it.

Buxton School: For the outdoorsy, curious student who wants a community

buxton_school

The Buxton School, located a stones-throw away from Williams College, is truly a unique high school. Across grades 9-12 there are about 85 students. That alone doesn’t tell you much about all the opportunities that this school provides to its student body.

Bali-Buxton Program and School-wide Trip

I was particularly impressed by the Bali-Buxton program. Do you know of another high school exchange program with Indonesia? Well, Buxton offers this opportunity for their students. An instructor from Indonesia spends time at Buxton in the spring. Students then spend three weeks in the summer learning the language, arts, and culture in Indonesia. Throughout the school year, students learn traditional Balinese dance on their home campus. When the students visit Indonesia in the summer, they perform the traditional dance there, as well.

Every year, the entire school takes a trip together. Recent trips have been taken to El Paso, Nicaragua, and even Cuba. Generally, the trips are domestic with an abroad trip taken every four years. Parents . . . don’t worry . . . the trips integrate an academic component along with taking advantage of local culture.

Nature all around campus

The outdoorsy student will appreciate the rugged, hilly setting of Buxton. The view from the main hall is breathtaking and nature is all around. In the winter, students can participate in ski and snowboard trips three times a week. Year-round outdoor activities are plentiful, like gardening and chopping wood (that’s more like work than a fun activity, huh?). The campus is on the site of a farm, so the buildings are somewhat spread apart. Students spend time outdoors every day by walking to class, going to their dorm, walking up the hill to the music or art studio. By the end of my tour, I felt like I had a real workout.

Getting ready for Parent-Teacher Conferences

As parent-teacher conferences are around the corner, here are some quick tips to ensure a meaningful and productive time with your child’s teacher. .even in high school. If the conference can be student-led, please make sure that your son/daughter takes advantage of the opportunity to take ownership of their learning experience.

I like the ideas that this author offers to teachers. Parents, however, may find this list insightful as they consider their role in the parent-teacher conference. As with any communication . . . it goes both ways:

 Some ideas:#1 The point of a conference is not to display the student’s current averaged grade, point out missing assignments or contrive ways to achieve/maintain a particular grade. There are better ways to keep track of grades–which should largely be the student’s responsibility by middle school, anyway. If the only reason we hold conferences is to talk about grades, then teachers are complicit in elevating grades over learning. If a parent leaves a conference with a list of grades and nothing else, it’s wasted time.

#2 Conferences are an opportunity for two-way communication. They’re not merely a stage for teachers to give parents information on classroom performance, although many teachers do just that. Conferences are also a place for parents to tell teachers things about their child: How he likes to learn. What she says about the class at home. How he enjoys spending free time. What she says about other students in the class. After a good conference, both the parent and teacher know more about how things could be better.

#3 A conference with parties sitting on either side of a table or desk reinforces hierarchies. Figure out comfortable seating with no barriers. Making parents queue up outside your door–or sit in little tiny chairs–is neither efficient nor courteous. If Disneyland can figure out how to expedite lines and take turns, so can schools.

#4 If a parent seems to be exaggerating, there’s an underlying message. My child sits at the table every night for three hours, doing homework! If a teacher seems to be testy, or resistant I only give 15 minutes of homework per night!–a different message. Somewhere between the two claims is truth–but finding it will take some clarifying questions. Is the student unwilling to admit he doesn’t understand something? Is the teacher tied to unnecessary homework? It’s hard to ask uncomfortable questions. Do it anyway.

#5 Teachers should share stories about what each student does in class. This might involve an artifact as evidence of learning an essay, project, lab report or even a test, but sharing narratives of kids’ behavior as learners is essential. Invite parents to tell stories about the child’s use of math, language, logic, or music at home.One of the most heart-warming observations I heard as a parent was when my son’s 8th grade English teacher showed us sketches of cars Alex drew in his journal during free-writing. “Aren’t these cool?” he said. “Someday that boy’s going to work in the automotive industry.” What that told us: He’s paying attention to Alex. He knows Alex, and values Alex’s interests.

#6 Ask parents how they want to stay in touch about important things not reporting a weekly running grade. Open that channel by sending a quick initial e-mail or calling. The conference should merely be the first contact, the open door. Even if you never use the channel, it’s there.

#7 Most parents come to conferences to get a deeper sense of who’s spending time with their kids. Tell them the truth.

via Seven Ideas for Meaningful Parent-Teacher Conferences – Teacher in a Strange Land – Education Week Teacher.

 

Teens’ concussion risk higher among girls and not just football

One of my students recently returned home from school due to a concussion that occurred during wrestling practice. I was somewhat surprised to hear a) that a tall guy like him was wrestling and b) that he suffered a concussion in this sport, rather than football (his Fall sport)!

We often associate concussions with football, but a recent study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found that students in other contact sports, such as girls’ soccer or basketball, ice hockey, and lacrosse are also at risk. As lacrosse season is about to begin, let’s take note…

Estimates of the number of Americans suffering sports-related concussions have been climbing in recent years. That’s partly because more people are playing contact sports, young athletes are training more aggressively at an earlier age, and doctors are more aggressive about diagnosing concussions. A recent study found that in 2008, there were five concussions for every 10,000 U.S. high school athletes who hit the playing field. That was up from just about one per 10,000 a decade earlier.  . . . .

The other interesting finding is that girls had a higher concussion risk than boys.

In “gender-comparable” sports, girls had a 70 percent higher concussion rate than boys.

via Teens’ concussion risk not limited to football | Reuters.

As a side note, a number of colleges are adding girls’ lacrosse, such as the University of Southern California and Furman.

As teens continue to participate in sports throughout their high school and college years, it’s incumbent on parents, coaches, school administrators, and the broader community to be aware of the symptoms of concussion. Those symptoms, which may occur many hours after a blow to the head, include:

  • Ringing in the ears
  • Fatigue
  • Confusion
  • Dizziness
  • Headache

Let’s keep our teens safe!