As counselors we often hear students exclaim that they have no homework. Even though no specific assignment needs completing, you still have homework: it’s called study! That’s what makes high school and post-secondary education different from junior high and elementary education.
You should spend a minimum of 20 minutes a day on each of your major subjects. You might spend time doing the following:
· Rewriting lecture notes and lab reports – research shows rewriting materials commits it to memory faster than memorization alone
· Reviewing notes while they are fresh – one hour reviewing material as soon after a lecture is worth several hours or review days later
· Using key words, definitions and new vocabulary in jingles, favorite song melodies, or rhymes to remember them
· Creating visual images like word maps or diagrams aids memory
· Writing explanations of problems and the steps it takes to solve them
· Underlining or highlighting main ideas in your notes then comparing your notes with the text book
· Making index cards to review vocabulary words or key terms and definitions
· Outlining chapters in the text books
· Creating sample test questions to review for tests
Feel free to see your counselor or classroom teachers for additional tips!
As a parent you may need to encourage your student to develop new study routines. Here are some suggestions:
 | Decide on a specific time for adult, supervised, study time each day |
| Set aside mandatory study time at home of 1 ˝ hours every day during which time some sort of school work must be completed (e.g. reading test books, re-writing class notes, outlining text chapters, answering questions at the end of chapters in the text books, studying ahead for tests, etc.) even if the student has finished his homework at school. |
| Check to see that your student has written down assignments in a notebook on a daily basis |
| Contact each of the student’s teachers regularly to check on grades, attendance, and teacher expectations |
| Ask to see assignments before they are turned in and check them for appearance and completeness |
| Make sure your student gets to bed at a respectable hour during the week (before 10:00 pm if possible) |
| Balance work hours, school hours, recreation hours and homework hours especially if the student has a part-time job |
| Encourage your student to read, read, read! Read with them, have them read to you! Read newspapers, magazines, anything of interest to you both. Good readers tend to score better on standardized tests including AIMS and college entrance examinations! |
| Have them explain their assignments to you because we learn best what we can teach to someone else |
You will hear your principal, counselors, teachers, and other people in the field of education use many of the words below in the next four years.
Try and become familiar with these words so you can understand what people are talking about and why these words are important to your future success.
|
Word to Know |
Explanation |
|
Educational Plan |
A 4 year plan showing the required courses and elective courses which will lead to graduation and career and college plans |
|
Post – Secondary |
Anything AFTER high school |
|
Post – Secondary Degrees |
Degrees earned at community college or university |
|
SAT |
Scholastic Aptitude Test – college admission exam to be taken in spring of junior year: may be repeated in fall of senior year for better score |
|
ACT |
American College Test - college admission exam to be taken in spring of junior year: may be repeated in fall of senior year for better score |
|
PSAT/NMSQT |
Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test – Should be taken in fall of junior year. Must take to qualify for many college scholarships |
|
PLAN |
Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test – Should be take in fall of Sophomore year. Good indicator of possible success on the AIMS test |
|
GPA |
Grade Point Average – begins freshman year, changes every semester, honors and weighted classes earn more points |
|
Class Rank |
Determined by GPA – compares students’ academic performance with others in the class |
|
FAFSA |
Federal Financial Aid Form which should be completed senior year by EVERYONE considering college |
|
Technical Schools |
Offer occupationally specific programs of study such as autos, cosmetology, business: tend to be very expensive |
|
Community College |
Financially very affordable and offer many occupationally specific programs as well as a transfer program option to university |
|
University/College |
Four or Five years to complete a bachelors degree, strict entrance requirements |
|
Financial Aid |
Ways of paying for post – secondary education: scholarships, grants, loans, work study |
Use this check list throughout your freshman year to stay on top of post-secondary planning.
_______ Set goals for each school year. Talk to your counselor about what you should be
doing in light of your college/career plans. Remember you high school GPA
begins with the grades you earn at the semester. Even one bad grade has a
HUGE impact.
________ If you are having difficulty in any of your classes, see your counselor for study
tips and suggestions and talk to your teachers.
________ Complete a 4 year plan and complete at least one career interest survey.
________ Set your expectations high; select challenging courses for next year – take
classes recommended for college even if you are not certain you will go to
college.
________ Join extracurricular activities and do volunteer work; see your counselor for
suggestions.
________ Research post – secondary and vocational schools in the Counselor’s office in
the Career section and/or on the Internet.
________ Interview people about what kind of job/career they have; ask why they chose
that career; ask about what they do, what kind of education or special training
they had, etc.
________ Work hard in your classes so you can earn a higher grade point average. GPA’s
are important in college admissions.
________ Meet with your counselor to review credit totals, graduation requirements, need
for summer school, correspondence, etc. You should meet with your counselor
at least 2 times a year!
Use this check list throughout your sophomore year to stay on top of post-secondary planning.
_______ Meet with your counselor to review credit totals, graduation requirements, etc. at
least once a semester.
_______ Set your expectations high; select challenging classes for next year.
_______ Join/continue extracurricular activities and clubs.
_______ Do volunteer work and document your time with an official letter from the
sponsoring organization.
_______ Sign up to take the PLAN test in October or November.
_______ If you are in the top 25% of the sophomore class, you should sign up to take the
PSAT test in October. (You can take both tests)
_______ Work on improving your grade point average.
_______ Start working on your resume.
_______ Continue researching careers and post-secondary schools.
_______ Use the summer between sophomore and junior year to visit colleges; see you
counselor for help setting this up.
_______ See your counselor before school is out for the summer to see if you should
attend summer school or purse correspondence courses.
It’s your junior year and you’ll find you really have to be busy getting ready for your future! Use this check list though out your Junior year.
_______ Meet with your counselor at least 2 times a year to go over credits, graduation
requirements, etc.
_______ Check your AIMS Test results – you must meet all areas to graduate; you must
exceed in all areas to receive the state’s tuition waiver.
_______ Take the PSAT test in the fall – see your counselor for details.
_______ Start deciding about your post-secondary plans such as schools to attend,
college majors, career paths.
_______ Attend college fairs hosted by AUHS in the fall.
_______ Use a post-secondary schools comparison worksheet to record info about
schools; see your counselor for the worksheet.
_______ Start compiling a “personal portfolio” with a resume and special
accomplishments. See your counselors for forms to make it easier on you.
_______ Register to take the SAT and/or ACT exams in the spring of your junior year.
_______ Work on sample essay questions for college and scholarship applications. See
your counselor for help on these.
Your counselor should be your new “best” friend this year!!
This is your busiest and most challenging year; you have deadlines to meet, pressure to get the best grades ever, and decisions, and deadlines to make.
August
_______ Register to re-take the ACT or SAT if you want to improve your scores.
_______ Keep a family calendar with important deadlines clearly marked; make it a
family project to stay on top of college applications deadlines, scholarship
deadlines, ordering cap and gown deadlines, buying a yearbook deadline, etc.
September – December
_______ Visit with your counselor to make sure you are on track for graduation.
(Before Labor Day)
_______ Update your student portfolio to use on applications. (Before Labor Day)
_______ Get your college applications in the mail before October 1st. Any later and you
maybe refused admission and/or lose scholarship money.
_______ Apply to at least 5 colleges. (This includes Universities, Colleges and Community
Colleges as well as Technical/Trade Schools)
_______ Start researching scholarships and stick with it. You need to be persistent. Check
out www.fastweb.com and the counselor’s office.
January – May
_______ Attend Financial Aid night at the High School.
_______ Begin completing the FAFSA financial aid form. Get it in the mail or completed
on-line on/or before February 14th.
_______ Continue the scholarship search process.
_______ Watch for your Student Aid Report (SAR) – it should arrive four weeks after
your FAFSA is filed.
_______ Find out from the post-secondary schools that have accepted you, what
scholarships are available to you. Talk to the financial officers at the
university/college or technical/trade schools.
_______ Compare financial aid packages from the schools
_______ Decide on the school you are going to attend and notify them; send a thank you
note and notify the other schools who accepted you that you will not be attending
them.
_______ Keep track of and observe deadlines for sending in all required fees and
paperwork for the school you will be attending.
_______ Contact the scholarship committees thanking them for helping you achieve your
goals. Make sure you have filed all the required paper work with them to receive
the scholarship money.
_______ Thank everyone for their help, especially your parents!
In order to make informed choices regarding your after school plans, you need to know what options are available to you, and you should realize that for a successful future you need additional education regardless of what career you want to pursue.
|
Success |
University
Specific admission requirements,
Costly, 4-5 years to complete a degree
Community Colleges
Offer occupationally specific programs as well as
University transfer programs: financially very affordable:
Certificate of completion or associate’s degrees awarded
Technical, Trade, and Specialized Training
Offer occupationally specific programs of study in a career field
(e.g. automotive, culinary arts, cosmetology, etc.) Often very costly
certificate of completion is given; courses do not transfer to other post-
secondary schools: additional training for career advancement
Military
Look at the chart below and compare the numbers: you’ll see right away why additional education really does make a difference. Remember, your education really can determine your future. Also, check out the links at www.antelopeunion.org on the counselor page for more information.
|
Item |
Per Mo or Per Yr |
Yr Total |
Work after HS |
With 2 yrs of Education |
Four Yr Degree |
|
|
|
|
18,000 |
29,000 |
35,000 |
|
Taxes & Medical |
|
|
-4,000 |
-4,000 |
-4,000 |
|
Take home pay |
|
|
14,000 |
25,000 |
31,000
|
|
Rent |
600 x 12 |
7,200 |
-7,200 |
-7,200 |
-7,200 |
|
APS Electric |
100 x 12 |
1,200 |
-1,200 |
-1,200 |
-1,200 |
|
SW Gas |
25 x 12 |
310 |
-310 |
-310 |
-310 |
|
Telephone |
55 x 12 |
660 |
-660 |
-660 |
-660 |
|
Food |
100 x 12 |
1,200 |
-1,200 |
-1,200 |
-1,200 |
|
Car Insurance |
140 x 12 |
1,680 |
-1,680 |
-1,680 |
-1,680 |
|
License Plates |
60 x 12 |
720 |
-720 |
-720 |
-720 |
|
Clothing |
50 x 12 |
600 |
-600 |
-600 |
-600 |
|
Recreation |
25 x 52 |
1,300 |
-1,300 |
-1,300 |
-1,300 |
|
Cable |
50 x 12 |
600 |
-600 |
-600 |
-600 |
|
Care Payment |
200 x 12 |
2,400 |
-2,400 |
-2,400 |
-2,400 |
|
Gasoline & Maintenance |
30 x 52 |
1,560 |
-1,560 |
-1,560 |
-1,560 |
|
|
|
Total 23,430 |
In Debt 9,430 |
Left Over 1,570 |
Left Over 7,570 |
Even though these are approximate figures, they are representative of what costs you may encounter. Ask you’re self, where do you what to be? Living on your own or with your Parents!!! Having a nice lifestyle or doing without!!! THINK ABOUT IT!!!
After graduation high school students may choose to enter one of the military branches. All branches of the military require a candidate to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVB) which identifies a student’s strengths and interests
The ASVB is not offered at the high school: a student should check with his/her military recruiter for specific dates. ANYONE can take the ASVB even if a military career is not part of their future. It is a great way to learn more about you and to open a variety of career options.
A student may also enter the work force and earn a reduced salary while learning the skills need for the job from master craftsmen. These opportunities are limited and require the student to study materials after working an 8 to 10 hr day. There can be a fee charge for the required written test at the end of the apprenticeship.
Learning about career can be fun and valuable. Selecting a career is so important that it deserves attention. Here are some questions to ask workers about their career to help you make the best decision about your future career.
1. What knowledge and skills are required to be successful in your career? Where does one get training for this career?
2. What continued training or education is required to remain successful?
3. What were the most useful subjects you took in school?
4. How do you use mathematics and computers in your career?
5. What other careers could you pursue with your experience and training?
1. Describe a typical day on the job.
2. What is your salary range? What is the range of salaries for people in this career? Is there overtime pay for extra hours?
3. How does one get promoted in this career? How easy or difficult is it?
4. What kind of job security do you have? Is there a high turnover or stability in this career? Why?
5. What are the fringe benefits for this job?
6. What is the job availability and outlook in the future for this career?
1. What motivated you to enter this career area?
2. What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?
3. What aspects of your job do you dislike the most?
4. Have you experienced any discrimination or bias (sex or ethnic background) in your job?
Fastest growing occupations and occupations projected to have the largest numerical increase in employment between 1998 and 2008 by level of education
|
Fast Growing |
Education/Training |
Largest Numerical Increase in Employment |
|
Veterinarians, Chiropractors, Physicians, Lawyers, Clergy |
First Professional Degree |
Physicians, Lawyers, Clergy, Veterinarians, Pharmacists |
|
Biological scientists, medical researchers, college faculty, astronomers |
Doctoral Degree |
College faculty, biological scientists, medical researchers, astronomers |
|
Speech-Language pathologists, physical therapists, counselors, urban & regional planners, curators |
Masters Degree |
Counselors, Physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, psychologists, librarians |
|
Engineering, science and computer system managers, Medical & health services managers, management analysts, artists, public relations |
Work experience plus a bachelor’s or high degree |
General managers, engineering, science & computer systems managers, Public relations, Management analysts, financial managers |
|
Computer engineers, computer system analysts, database administrators, physician assistance, residential counselors |
Bachelor Degree |
Computer system analysts, computer engineers, teachers, social workers |
|
Computer support specialists, paralegals, health information technicians, physical therapy assistance, respiratory therapists |
Associate Degree |
Registered nurses, computer support specialists, paralegals, dental hygienists, electrical and electronic technicians |