engaging students series: juniors (11 th ) grade part 1 or: finding sanity in the midst of chaos
TRANSCRIPT
Engaging Students Series:Juniors (11 th) Grade Part 1
Or: Finding Sanity in the Midst of Chaos
Your Hostess
Cyndy McDonald- Middle school and high school counselor- Experience working in college access program
AVID- Founder of HECA, MyCCA.net and co-founder
of GuidedPath- Launching AVEST- American Veterans non-
profit organization- Passion for education- First generation college student
Sophomore Recap
Recommendation: Start early• Update student and parent accounts
• Offer Find My Spark, College Affordability Shaper and other online surveys
• Assign students to research using college style
• Set up testing schedule
• Have students record college visits online or using available forms
• Prepare for ramping up in Junior Year
Review Engaging Sophomores (and 8-9th Graders) recordings/slides at http://guidedpath.net/category/kims-blog/
Webinar Agenda
5 Management tips to help you
Surveys to use in the junior year
Kaetlyn's Tips- from a student perspective
Testing Momentum
Ways to use the Guided Search to
find best matches in colleges
Data management: reports
Questions/Answers
Finding Sanity
How can you keep your
sanity amidst the chaos?
5 Tips to Help You Stay Sane
1. Organize all students Prospects
ACTIVE
Archived
• Save time by assigning students in groups at once as ACTIVE
• ACTIVE students have most access
• You only pay for ACTIVE students
• PROSPECTS and ARCHIVED are free
Stay connected to all students – - communicate by email - add advisor notes & track information
2. Activate Student Accounts
Student Accounts = Sanity• Assign students and
parents online accounts in GuidedPath
• Let them do more for themselves using online account in GuidedPath
• What they do for themselves = less you need to do for them
Mantra – “Use your account””
3. Communication is key
1. Organize
• Organize messages
and themes for students
2. Calendar
• Schedule on calendar
• Use word document to
organize message
templates
3. Record
• Track messages in one
place
4. Calendar it!
Set appointments and assignments in calendars
Doesn’t happen if not on calendar!
5. Make it crowd friendly
Use group mode to • View• Organize• Plan
Tips for group mode:• Include student name at beginning of
appointments/assignments
• Create protocol for
appointments/assignments
• Generates automatic
reminders/notifications
Engage through more surveys
Juniors should:
1. Update Activity record
2. Do College Match
3. Update Course Plan
4. Do Design a College
5. Do Getting 2 Know U if not done
before
6. And other surveys as needed
(custom, Athletic, Find My Spark)
Students LOVE to do surveys and learn about themselves
Kaetlyn Tells It Like it Is
Getting 2 Know U. Coming up with something to write about for the Common Application was
particularly challenging for me, as the prompts are very broad. The Getting 2 Know U survey gets your brain rolling and ideas flowing. Any question within this survey is a great place to start when trying to write your Common Application essay.
Design A College. I find the Design a College survey most useful in organizing my thoughts.
For me, after visiting ten colleges I became unsure as to why I liked a college. I simply had a general feeling for each school. This survey helped me to focus on the specifics of a college, and gave me a general idea of my ideal college. This survey can be used both as a starting point when creating a college list, as well as a reminder when all of your potential schools begin to blur together. Read all of Kaetlyn’s blogs at www.guidedpath.net
Recommended Test Schedule- Juniors
Test Dates Comment
Diagnostic test Ongoing Help students identify which test to concentrate on in next 2 years: ACT or SAT?
PSAT Oct. NOT a practice test
SAT/ Int’l SAT Fall, Spring Take at least 2 x, no more than 3 x, finish by June
ACT Fall, Spring Take at least 2 x, no more than 3 x, finish by June
AP/IB May Schedule as appropriate
SAT Subject Test May or June Strong subjects, if not doing higher level. Example: World History, Biology.
See 4 year Testing schedule at http://guidedpath.net/engaging-students-series-sophomores-a-guidedpath-best-practices-webinar/
Testing: Sanity Tip
Students self-enter scores• Saves time• Empowers students• Improves communication• Enhance counseling• Generates automatic
reminders for : regular & late registration: and prior to test date.
Remember your mantra: Put it in your account!
College Search & Lists
GuidedPath uses 4 search categories:
• General Information• Academic• Financial Aid• Social Experience
Also includes:• Organized tagged lists• Comparison columns• Filters
ACT did a search and found GuidedPath to be the most comprehensive on the market.
Search Tips
Teach student search tips
• Start broad• Use COMPARE for
multiple columns • Select only 1-2
filters
Infinite Search Combinations Possible
Professional – Precise – Piece of cake!
Waited for 5 years for technology to catch up with imagination
Reports
Individual & Group Reports
Coming Next: Engaging Juniors: Part 2
Agenda• Using Advisor notes• Using notifications & reminders effectively• Finalizing lists• Activities for essay brainstorming• Understanding My Chances • Group mode- more ways to keep your sanity!• Special features for International Students
Register now! Feb. 12 10 am PST Details at www.guidedpath.net/training
Check it out
Let’s log into www.guidedpath.net
Sample student: Andy Awesome
I am using Audry Apple
Support?
Knowledge Base
• View articles
• Watch videos
• Do a search
• Submit a request
• Call us!
• 720.465.8555
Counseling? [email protected]