No Cost College Prep Gifts for Teens & Adults Alike

 

by Katherine O'Brien ThD Candidate, Certified College Planning Specialist, Founder of Celtic College Consultants (KOB@CelticCollegeConsultants.com)

Improving our use of time, our memory, and our ability to learn new things, these appeal to everyone. These strategies might have odd names but they are easy to learn and will create cascading gifts in the lives of teens and adults alike. Both have been researched and shown to improve human abilities. The new field of neuroscience bears rich fruit yet again!

 

Chunking

 

Chunking is a tool useful both for time management and for organizing and recalling information. Basically, it involves chunking your day into periods of time and giving each of them a focus. Having a single focus for a given half hour, for example, makes it easier to complete the task assigned to that time. Chunking can also be used to organize information, in fact, many of us use some sort of chunking already. Learning more about it can increase our ability to retain new information.

More info and tips on chunking as information organization: https://www.talentcards.com/blog/chunking-memory/

and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29698045/  

 

 

 

Info and tips on time chunking (also called batching):

https://sites.rhodes.edu/academic-and-learning-resources/news/productivity-time-chunking-method

 

Interleaving

 

Per the University of Arizona, "Interleaving is a process where students mix, or interleave, multiple subjects or topics while they study in order to improve their learning. Blocked practice, on the other hand, involves studying one topic very thoroughly before moving to another topic. Interleaving has been shown to be more effective than blocked practice for developing the skills of categorization and problem solving; interleaving also leads to better long-term retention and improved ability to transfer learned knowledge. This strategy forces the brain to continually retrieve because each practice attempt is different from the last, so rote responses pulled from short-term memory won’t work. Cognitive psychologists believe that interleaving improves the brain’s ability to differentiate, or discriminate, between concepts and strengthens memory associations. Because interleaving involves retrieval practice, it is more difficult than blocked practice. It is important to remember that effortful studying feels worse but produces better long-term results."

 

More info and tips on interleaving: https://academicaffairs.arizona.edu/l2l-strategy-interleaving

and https://www.coursera.org/articles/interleaving  

and https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-interleaving-effect-mixing-it-up-boosts-learning/

 

Here's to your success!

 

For more information on Katherine's College Success Program, with its three pillars: Premier Student Preparation, Savvy College Selection, and Abundant College Funding, please visit her website here: https://www.celticcollegeconsultants.com/college-prep-services Her 2024 students were offered, on average, over $300,000 each in scholarships.

 

 

The Key to Helping Your Teen Stop Procrastinating and Wasting Time

by Katherine O'Brien, Certified College Planning Specialist, Founder of Celtic College Consultants

 

Time management…

 

Do you struggle to work on your tasks before the last minute?

Do you get lost in your day and find your online class taking forever?

Do you play games rather than do your work?

 

Lots of us struggle with these sorts of things. Most of us, actually, do not have type A, internally motivated to run on hyper-drive personalities (and that is a GOOD thing!)

 

What to do?

 

There are many strategies to organize your work and your time. Simple ones. Color-coded ones. Paper based. App based. Free ones. Expensive programs. However, the best tool in the world is NO help if it is not used. No tool will be used without someone being motivated to use it. So, let’s talk about motivation for a minute.

 

In order to change what we do, we need to have identified what we want to change. We need to want to change it. Being honest with ourselves and identifying weaknesses is hard. Desiring to change something is hard. Change is hard. Change requires taking uncomfortable, unfamiliar actions.  To do something new, something different, we need courage. Support helps, too. Courage is being afraid and acting anyway. It takes energy. It takes the strength of will to choose the new in favor of the familiar.

 

Why?

 

Underneath all of that is motivation. Motivation is essential. It gives us a reason to change, provides purpose, drive, focus, and helps us sustain ourselves through the discomfort of doing something new, stepping out of our comfort zone and into a new way of living.

 

Motivation focuses on the goal, what will be gained in the long term by this short term action, by making this change, by doing something hard, taking an action or refraining from taking one, speaking, or not speaking. Motivation drives us toward certain outcomes and away from others. Sometimes our goal is to move toward something; other times our goal is to move away from something. For example, I want to learn to dance or I don’t want to be uncoordinated on the dance floor when I go to my friend’s wedding.

 

 

Positive motivations

 

Positive motivations are things we desire in life. These are things we want to acquire in life. Here are a few examples:

 

o   Accomplishing a desired goal or a step toward a desired goal, like being able to drive a car.

o   Creating or sustaining an opportunity, like starting and growing a friendship with someone you meet whom you like.

o   Being praised by others – getting a good grade, performance review, high five, etc., like winning a medal at the Olympics/Paralympics

o   Sense of self-worth/ pride/ ability/ confidence

o   Making someone proud or honouring someone, like parents, friends, mentors, etc.

o   Being ready for whatever comes next in life, like being fit, well educated, etc.

 

Negative motivations

 

Negative motivations are things we don’t want in life. These are things we want to rid ourselves of or want to avoid. Here are a few examples:

 

·      Losing something – a privilege, an opportunity, a job

·      Failing and feeling bad about yourself, less capable, etc.

·      Being embarrassed – losing the esteem of others

·      Being punished

·      Being unable to take advantage of the opportunities in life, by, for example, being unhealthy, physically unfit, uneducated, etc.

 

Want to get organized or manage your time better? Find your why! Really focus on what motivates you. Then do the work to take the step(s) forward that you need. Learn how to do, be, or think whatever you need to in order to accomplish your goal. Get an accountability partner to coax you through the learning process and celebrate your growth with you, and take another step toward becoming the best you can be!

 

So, time management –

 

Discover your reason for wanting to organize your time more effectively. Take the time to identify your goal(s) as well as the reason(s) that goal is important to you.

 

Over and over and over in my college consulting work, I have the privilege of helping teens sort themselves out, come to know their gifts, talents, interests, desires, and start to create a vision of what they could do in the future. Because it is based in themselves and their values (helping other people, for example), it is theirs, deeply theirs. It’s completely different from the imposed from the outside goals often foisted upon them. Once they know they want to do this sort of thing in their life, then taking challenging classes, learning the material taught to them, earning good grades, scoring well on the ACT, CLT, or SAT, all these chores, these tasks that take time and effort and require diligent effort, all of these tasks are worth doing. No longer are they impositions from the adult world; they are now stepping stones towards a life I want to live, work I want to do. Motivation makes all the difference!

 

For more information about my College Success Program, please visit my website, CelticCollegeConsultants.com. To schedule a consultation for you and your teen to meet with me, please email me: KOB@CelticCollegeConsultants.com

 

Top Study Tips: The Secrets of Straight A students!

 by Katherine O'Brien, ThD Candidate

The school year is about to begin again (or has begun, for year round schools). Another year, another opportunity to learn and grow and become more fully alive.... or to get discouraged, fall behind, and grow in self-loathing. That might seem harsh but, it's the reality for many of our kids. Here are a few tips that will help the year be one of growth and joy, rather than stagnation and sadness.

1. Be honest with yourself.

If a certain isn't your strength, you probably dread having to take another class in it. This is particularly true for those who struggle with math or with reading. (Spoiler alert - I know successful, happy adults who share your struggles - one lovely friend in her 80s has always struggled with reading - what a blessing audio books and podcasts are to her!)

In order to do well in a subject that's hard for you, do what all the professionals do (whether they are Olympic athletes, your parents, or anyone else...) - GET HELP! Nowhere is it written that each of us must be wonderful at everything. We need to develop our natural skills and abilities, absolutely. So, in whatever area you are lacking strength, get help - tutors, homework groups, peer mentors, accountability partners, a strict study schedule (to force yourself to put in the time, even when it's not pleasant), etc. Do whatever it takes. This is what everyone does. I am not good at car maintenance. So, I have a tire place and a mechanic, and an oil change place... I'm also only able to handle very, very basic plumbing issues. I have an expert I call for that, too. 

Use your strengths to offset your weaknesses. One young man I know was not very good at book work/typical high school subjects. He has phenomenal people skills. He has gotten himself into a career and built a network of colleagues and friends with those people skills. He is a wonderful networker. He is someone to know - if you need any kind of help, he knows someone... and can tell which personality you'll mesh with the best. In high school, this might look like partnering with someone with opposite strengths. Here are a couple of examples: I'll help you with your French and you'll help me with my math. I'll drive you to school and you'll help me improve my reading or writing.

2. Be prepared

This is the Boy Scout motto but this wisdom is not reserved to them! Be prepared. Do the reading ahead of time. Take good notes. Prepare your own study guides (then compare them with the ones your teachers provide... and use those comparisons, along with your test experiences and results, to hone your study guide preparation skills. Some classes have chapter tests. Some have pop quizzes. Some have comprehensive exams (typically called AP tests!) covering the entire year's material. 

The syllabus is your friend. Most students don't bother to read them. That's a MISTAKE! A syllabus is a treasure map.... here's the path to learning a lot and getting a great grade in this class. The syllabus lets you know what the teacher's goals are for your learning. It provides a week by week outline of the flow of the course. It describes the testing plan (tests/papers/projects, etc.) and the grading scheme. Knowing when these will happen or are due, along with how they will be graded is invaluable information.

3. Control your Thoughts

All sorts of things happen every day that we have no control over. Wonderful surprises and tragic accidents happen. Sunny days and stormy days. Finding a new friend and losing a special person in your life. We can't do anything about these things, can we? Or can we?

Certainly, we can't control everything that happens in life. We do, however, have the freedom to choose how we will respond. THIS IS IMPORTANT! Choosing to find the good, the joy in life IS possible. Learn to take time to consider how you respond. Watch those who are cheerful and friendly and joyful.... listen to them respond to things. If possible, ask them to break down their thoughts as they handle challenges and difficulties. Then copy them. 

When you respond positively, your mood will be better and you'll have more energy for living your life, for your studies, for building strong relationships.

Katherine works with high school students, developing their leadership, sense of self, study skills, life and college goals, and the rest of the journey to college. To explore her services, please visit her website: Celtic College Consultants or email her: kob@CelticCollegeConsultants.com

Motivation for Students

Today I'm sharing a column written by a colleague who does wonders helping people work through anxiety - be it the math test or the difficult boss.

Dear Dr. Nikki,

My daughter has begun to lose her motivation for school.  Aside from her lack of interest, she finds it difficult to concentrate. Do you have any suggestions for both of these problems?

Motivated Mom

Dear Motivated,

What motivates one person will not necessarily motivate another. One may fear the consequences of not doing well while another may look forward to the rewards they get when they shine. The external prize, such as money or a gift for good grades may light a fire under your daughter or she may seek the internal satisfaction instead. The trick is in finding the key that starts her engine.

There’s a famous radio station with the call letters, WII-FM. These letters stand for ‘what’s in it for me’. There is always something of value in everything we do or we wouldn’t do it. What is the value for her in getting her work done? If there’s no pleasure in the actual work, perhaps she can tell herself the sooner she gets it done, the sooner she can get on to fun things. Help her explore past times when motivation came naturally. If she was swept up in the excitement of the newness, she’ll need to find something she can count on more consistently.

Habits go a long way to helping accomplish things. Chances are she doesn’t need motivation to brush her teeth each day. (Teens' discovery of their attraction to the
opposite sex does have its merits!) The habit puts her on automatic pilot. She does it
without thinking about it and without conscious effort. Try this with homework. Set
aside a particular time of day and teach her to habituate to it.  We all have things in life we wish we didn’t have to do. Why are some able to get through the unpleasantness easily while others procrastinate and sink into apathy and become ineffective? Research shows that successful people project into the future and imagine what it will be like when the task is finished. This keeps their enthusiasm going until they can get on to more joyful times. Explain this to your daughter and ask her to try it.

To improve concentration, try this simple trick. Have her play Baroque music softly in the background while she studies. Research shows these compositions create a unique and interesting physiological response in people. It slows the heartbeat to 60 beats per minute and slows the brain waves down too. More of the whole brain is engaged. The result…less distraction and a stronger focus of attention.

Nikki Goldman Ph.D. welcome comments 858-335-9867. Or email DrNikki@DrNikkiGoldman.com She uses hypnotherapy on children and adults to improve self-esteem, study habits, test anxiety and more. 
www.DrNikkiGoldman.com