Reaching My Students Through Real World Experiences
High school teachers face the challenge of preparing their students for the real world. Students need real world preparation, not just acumen. Reaching my students involves building encouraging relationships and a sense of security within the classroom. Sharing my personal experiences, as well as the testimonies of others, can be an effective motivational tool for preparing college-bound students for the real world. My role as a teacher involves communicating the many obstacles college students face. Providing students the psychological preparation they need will alleviate fears and frustrations high school seniors often face while anxiously anticipating the vast college experience.
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The real world exists far beyond the college level, as every day we are learning. John Spayde’s article, Learning in the Key of Life, emphasizes this lifetime learning process as connections to the real world. How will secondary education prepare one for college, or more importantly, for life? Learning is constant, necessary for success beyond economic factors. Success should not be measured by dollars, but to a peaceful state of mind. I have personally found that wisdom does not equal knowledge. Wisdom propels the spirit, builds the character of a person, and enhances one’s view of life. Wisdom is attained through time and experience, not in the classroom. Spayde addresses a richness of life within the knowledge of the humanities. He defines something he calls “slow knowledge,” a knowledge “shaped and calibrated to fit a particular ecological and cultural context.” His aim of slow knowledge is “resilience, harmony, and the preservation of long-standing patterns that give our lives aesthetic, spiritual, and social meaning” (61). I believe this generation has not been exposed enough to learning through slow knowledge. Teachers must incorporate these basic fundamentals in learning that enable students to acknowledge and appreciate the rewards of their endurance. The greater rewards are
“ An Open Letter to Ninth Graders “ offers advice to students on making the transition from high school to college. Many studies and reports have argued that there is an expectations gap between the skills students are typically bringing to college and what college teachers think students should be bringing with them to college. Patrick Sullivan advises the students to set a clear mind and specific long term goals that would be met over a period of time. He clearly provides a guide view that explains how to transfer and adapt to a higher stander.
For first year students coming straight from high school, college life can either be very exciting or overwhelming depending on how well one prepares for it. Some have the notion that college is fun and is all about partying, while some believe that it is an environment in which they can achieve the ultimate freedom thus escape the stringent rules made by their parents at home. Others look forward to experiencing a different learning environment while being exposed to different cultures and sharing different academic knowledge. Successful assimilation into college life is determined by the student’s capability to transform into the new role of a college student. Numerous students face challenges they have never experienced before which can
As an incoming EOF (Educational Opportunity Found) freshmen attending Rutgers University this fall, I had the mindset that if I did well academically, the transition from high school to college would go by smoothly. Unfortunately, college isn 't that simple. The transition to college is much more complex than people perceive it to be, in my case, it’s the most difficult obstacle I’ve ever encountered. Therefore, my aspiration is to conquer this transitional period as quickly and fluently as possible. When I had to changeover from middle school to high school, I was terrified. I didn 't know what awaited me and how much different things were going to be. It turned out high school was exactly the same, with the exception of the grades being ninth through Twelfth. There was nothing to be worried about. On the other hand, that wouldn 't be the case in college.
Many college professors find it very important to have parents, students and current instructors aware of the expectations for the upcoming student. By informing students,
The transition from high school to college is a notoriously daunting experience for students entering, arguably, the most important years in their lives. Everything that a student has come to know about academics, for the most part, are to be radically challenged. Many different factors go into the change, and any particular one can be enough to overwhelm any given student into becoming an emotional wreck. Whether it be living on one's own for the first time, drastic schedule changes, or becoming socially involved, these responsibilities are just three examples, among the seeming hundreds. However, a perfect balance between these responsibilities is a major key in not allowing the stressors to take one captive.
Often students take high school for granted; consequently it shows when they reach college. For example, in high school, teachers may accept late work, tardiness, and continuous inappropriate behavior. The college classes that they will have to face will not tolerate such things as this. Preparing for the work load and lifestyle is the two most important objectives to grasp early.
There are five sequential steps in the typical pipeline to college (Choy, Horn, Nunez, & Chen, 2000). Students need to aspire to attain a bachelor’s degree early; prepare educationally to ensure qualification; undertake admission examinations; submit applications to a four year college; and receive response confirming acceptance. Students need current, realistic information about the array of postsecondary options and their individual likelihood for success in particular fields (Valadez, 1998). The readiness of students academically, socially, and emotionally in high school increases the chance for a successful transition to college (Conley, 2008).
Although many students feel that they are not being taught practical life skills, they have actually been learning them all of their life. For example, one of the main things a student is taught how to do is how to learn; how to manage information, how apply that information being taught, critical thinking, and if they don’t know something, how to seek out that information. Students also receive
The purpose of this memo is to explain why a new educational/support program should be started for students at Wake Tech Community College. This program will help students to be more successful in college, as they learn coping mechanisms to deal with situations and stressors often faced by new college students. Such a program will cause an increase in students’ grades and a decrease in the drop-out and dismissal rates.
Transitioning from high school to college is a very important stage in a young adults life. It is an exciting, nerve racking, and sometimes frightening experience leaving home for the first time and essentially living on your own. Not having your immediate family around you for months at a time definitely affects students differently. Some students embrace the opportunity and strive while others do not make it past the first semester. However, research shows there are factors that increase the likelihood of becoming the student that strives rather than the student that does poorly. Factors
College campuses are swarming with “new adults”, most of whom are still in their teens and are often living on their own for the very first time. They are learning how to make decisions for themselves and are figuring out who they want to become. College is designed to help them in this process. It allows them to mature and grow through experiences and trial and error. High stress, threat to one’s previous identity through failures, and
College preparations have been instilled into the minds of young teenagers at the start of ninth grade. Parents, teachers, and state officials aim for students to get accepted into a large public or private schools after proving themselves in their academic progress. The one thing faculty neglects is their students do not feel prepared to enter the real world because they have not been exposed to endure the grueling work process required by universities. Schools teach students the basic core classes and group each into a box leaving little room to explore and enjoy the classes they are enrolled in. The real world is more open to change and new ideas which help people thrive on their own. Gerald Graff the author of, “Hidden
The transition from high school to college is not only an exciting and challenging time, but also a great milestone in one’s life. There are several differences between the lives of high school and college students. Some individuals will be able to jump right in and adjust to this change seamlessly, while others may take years to adapt, or never even grab hold of the whole college experience at all. High school and College are both educational grounds for a student to grow and enrich their lives with knowledge. Both are like puzzle pieces: on one side they fit together, but on the other side they are something completely
Graduating from high school is what every student is looking forward to. However, going to college is a big accomplishment for all students. The first day of freshman high school and college feels the same, the excitement and pressured. As many students experienced, both high school and college could be compared their similarities. First, both students in college and high school are expected to behave in well mannered, attend to every class on time, and respect the teachers or professors. Second, being prepared in class is needed for the success whether the students are in high school or college. Third, high school and college allow the students to figure out and pursue their career. In contrary, high school and college have a lot of differences to each other. Unlike high school, students in college can choose a college they would prefer, they can manage their own time, and students be able to learn how to balance their responsibilities and priorities.
With an increased demand for skilled labors, many students nowadays find themselves needing to complete some form of higher education at college to ensure their success in the workplace and their future career goals. Although freshmen students often enter college with high expectations and ambitions, many eventually drop out of college. Why does that happen? In an ever-changing and more competitive environment, the demanding expectations on college students now soar at unprecedented heights, creating stressful and unpleasant experiences for many of them as they try to keep up with all the burdens inflicted upon them. In their writings, Dr. Christine B. Whelan, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Alan Schwartz, and Nisha Ramachandran explore and illustrate some of the stress-creating challenges that freshmen struggle with today. Even though many factors contribute to the huge list of problems for first-year students, many of the problems that create stress for college freshmen fall under the categories of academic factors, (what adverb to add) teachers, and personal-life conflicts.