The best thing to do is to emphasize the investment risks of a college education. Make sure to remind parents 55% of students do not graduate college in 4 years, and 65% graduate with a debt of over $24,000. Presenting the risks is necessary because the only thing parents hear from academic institutions at all levels is that higher education provides countless opportunities. Even though opportunity only comes to those who take responsibility, parents and students are as vulnerable to the hype generated by the college industry as they are to the automobile industry. Most parents also personally know many high school graduates who returned home as college dropouts. Too many parents have seen the movie “Failure to Launch” and don’t want their kids living in their basements because they couldn’t get a job. In this economy especially, parents should recognize the importance of their children taking the college application process very seriously.

Guidance counselors need to point out to students and parents that the college application process is a window into their children’s future college and career performance. Like everything in life, success is about how you play the game. Even if students don’t get into their top college choice, a high quality application and a systematic approach to making a choice will tell parents their children are headed for college graduation and a desirable career. If their kids don’t pay much attention to the college application process and finish their application too close to the deadlines, they better prepare themselves for having their children living with them well into their late 20’s. Who better to deliver that message than guidance counselors?

I also suggested an initial task for 9th and 10th graders, and I would like to follow up on that. For every service that guidance counselors perform, they could require prerequisite work on the part of the student. This will help students develop the skill sets “Taking Responsibility” and “Gathering Information.” For example, if their students want help finding an internship or job shadowing experience, students must prepare a resume and do an initial search BEFORE they see the guidance counselor. Students who want help choosing a college must provide a list of criteria they will use in making a decision, and a preliminary list of at least three colleges they wish to explore with a discussion on how their choices fit or do not fit their criteria.

The last suggestion raises an interesting point. What if the student doesn’t even know what the phrase “criteria in selecting a college” means? The obvious and most brutal answer is somebody should educate the students on the use of the term “criteria” and how criteria can be used to reach a decision. If this is not possible for one reason or another, the question is whether or not students should (1) graduate high school and (2) go to college.

So when I write that guidance counselors need to become skills trainers for careers, college and citizenship, they might shudder. In the next few blogs, I will show how guidance counselors becoming skills trainers will not only be a great gift to students but will also reduce the guidance counselor’s workload.

Let’s start with the most important of the 10 Skill Sets, “Taking Responsibility” which includes motivation, ethical behavior, time management and money management.

The following focuses on motivation and time management. The life of a guidance counselor would be much better if students started thinking about and researching career and college options on their own in the 9th or 10th grade. A student who sees the importance of systematic information gathering and analysis (two more skill sets) would not be panicking in the beginning of their senior year showing up and asking “what college do you think I should go to?”

Guidance counselors with a skills trainer outlook would plan to lay the groundwork in the 9th grade through workshops and other materials. Doing this would emphasize to students that choosing a career and applying to post-secondary educational programs requires hard work and meeting deadlines.

Guidance counselors could require a questionnaire to be completed in the 9th or 10th grade to stimulate students about what careers they might want to pursue and what they might want to do after high school. If the student blew off the assignment, the guidance counselor could send a letter to the parent or read the riot act to the student. The message would be, “We can help you if you act responsibly and take the initiative in planning for your life after high school. If you do not, you are going to end up nowhere.”

These suggestions may sound naïve, especially coming from a college professor, but they are based on my experience with college students. I have had students come to me for suggestions on where to find a summer internship without doing their research. When they admit that they are ill prepared and imply that I am to be their “Intern Agent,” I tell them to come back to see me when they learn to take responsibility.

I know, I know—I have tenure and guidance counselors don’t. It takes guts and persistence, but if you don’t lose your job over it, it will pay off. Students will treat you in a more professional way and that alone will help guarantee their success in college, careers and as citizens.

Many regular Kenyans are lacking serious life skills that Americans take for granted. In general: they are not good at planning ahead for or even visualizing the future, they are poor at doing basic math, they are not good at weighing pros and cons and making decisions, they are not good problem solvers, they cannot “think outside the box,” they can’t communicate concisely, they can’t keep time, they can’t read a map, and have many other deficits as well. Of course these are sweeping generalizations, and I know that Kenya is a young, developing country and there must be a couple million exceptions to what I’m saying anyway. But, it is true of a lot of people here and the reason is because their education system does nothing to foster or nurture or teach or acknowledge the importance of these skills. So there are a lot of adults walking around with a high school education who get their pay check at the end of the month, spend all or most of it immediately, and then suffer until their next pay check comes because they couldn’t save, couldn’t plan, couldn’t count. They just don’t have the skills.

And, the reason I wanted to blog about this now – my last “Teacher’s Corner” blog for the time being- is because I think American teachers need to realize what an incredible opportunity they have to prepare American students for life by teaching them skills. I know that the students here in Kenya would be ready, willing and able to learn those skills, but nobody here is teaching them.

It is a huge advantage to be both a teacher and a student in America. Don’t blow it!

Lisa M. Welsien (M.Ed. Harvard University) is a former teacher, university instructor, curriculum writer and trainer. She is currently raising two small children in Nairobi, Kenya. Learn More

However, these competitions have some negative effects. First, they make students think that the UN itself is more than what it actually is: a side show that generates media attention, and a tool for national leaders to gain support back home to rationalize or protest some unilateral act. Second, it enables students to think that they know a great deal about specific international issues when, in fact, they can’t possibly do any more than touch the surface. The more intelligent students may understand the limits of their knowledge but the majority of students do not. Third, participation in Model UN competitions encourages these impressionable high school students to seek a career at the UN or in international relations and lose site of the very important principle, “it’s the skills stupid.”

Nothing is perfect so I can live with the widespread use of Model UN in high schools. I would just like students to understand that the program is primarily a way to improve skills and not a career path.

The way I have done this is to set up stations, and at each station there is one specific “task” or element of writing/grammar that students have to look for and edit in someone else’s work. For example, one station might be all about commas. At that station, there will be index cards with simple rules about commas for students to use as a guide. Teachers can also provide a sample paper that has been edited with comma corrections or insertions.

When sitting at that station, students have to edit a classmate’s work ONLY for correct use of commas: removing them when not needed or adding them as needed. Students shouldn’t focus on anything other than the topic of that station. Each time a teacher does stations, students should rotate among 4-6 different ones, swapping papers and only focusing on the selected writing element at each station: commas, correct capitalization and punctuation, subject-verb agreement, spelling, paragraph transitions, run-on sentences, etc.

Telling students, “Here is so-and-so’s paper. Edit it,” can be very overwhelming and students often completely tune out. They also get really stressed about knowing what the correct “rules” are when it comes to grammar and writing. But giving students a checklist or a “scavenger hunt” of what to look for makes the editing manageable and also improves their understanding of writing/grammar.

Additionally, sometimes when I gave writing assignments, the rubric would specifically highlight what grammar/writing skills I was looking to assess. So of course students should have done their best to write well overall, but they would also know that I was grading them on their correct use of commas, correct tenses, and paragraph transitions (for example).

Stations can really help breakdown the task of editing for students, whether the writing is a math problem, a science lab report, a literary essay, or a historical summary. They are also easy ways for all teachers to help students improve their writing.

Lisa M. Welsien (M.Ed. Harvard University) is a former teacher, university instructor, curriculum writer and trainer. She is currently raising two small children in Nairobi, Kenya. Learn More

When I was teaching, I used my grading system to help reinforce good time management skills. It was pretty simple and was very similar to the way Professor Coplin grades as well: everything was worth points and a student either earned them or he didn’t; at the end of the grading period I added up all of the points he earned and divided them by all of the points he could have earned. Multiply by 100 and there was his grade on a 100-point scale.

Being on time to class counted for 30% of students’ class participation points: if students could earn 10 points each day in class, they got 3 of those points just for coming on time and late students could not earn more than 7 points. I did not accept late homework, which was a significant percent of their points overall. For large papers or projects, I deducted 10% of their possible points for every day it was late, so if someone turned in a paper two days late the best grade she could possibly get was an 80 instead of a 100.

At the beginning of the school year, I often had students or parents complaining about this policy. I usually reminded them that when you work in the real world you get paid in money, and when you work in school you get paid in grades. If I was late for my job and left my students just sitting in class without a teacher, my pay could get docked or I could get a formal letter in my professional file or I could eventually get fired. Teachers are not allowed to “fire” students, but we can “dock their pay” by letting their grades reflect their time management skills. Grades are a great behavioral modification tool.

I would regularly print out grade reports for my students and their parents, who could see very clearly the breakdown of points and what role time management was playing in their achievement (or lack thereof). Usually by the second month of school, most kids were running to be on time to my class and working really hard to produce their work on time. And, four years out of the classroom, I still get emails and Facebook messages from my former students thanking me for helping them learn to manage their time.

Lisa M. Welsien (M.Ed. Harvard University) is a former teacher, university instructor, curriculum writer and trainer. She is currently raising two small children in Nairobi, Kenya. Learn More

Rather than “critical thinking,” I would prefer to use the terms in two of the 10 Skill Sets—”Asking and Answering the Right Questions” and “Solving Problems.” Under the first skill set is “detect nonsense, pay attention to detail, apply knowledge and evaluate actions and policies.” The “Solving Problems” skill set includes “identify problems, develop solutions and launch solutions.” The increased precision that comes from developing these two skill sets in the place of “critical thinking” will help students improve what people outside of academia usually mean by “critical thinking.”

The reality is, paying attention to detail means always being on time if not early; never forgetting to capitalize a proper noun; using consistent font size and spacing throughout a paper; and knowing the names of everyone you meet in a professional (or academic) setting. It also means not paying late fees on your bills or having your bank account overdrawn or having your electricity turned off! It is a skill that lets other people know you are on top of your game and, while it might not fit neatly into every teacher’s comfort zone, it is a critical skill to model for students.

As a teacher:
§ If you are late to class, then why should students be on time?
§ If you don’t grade work and return it quickly, then why should students rush to meet the deadline?
§ If you produce handouts that have spelling and grammar errors, as well as formatting mistakes, then how will students get the message that proofreading and editing are important to do?

So, if you’re not good at paying attention to detail: you better “get good!”

Otherwise you will send your students the dreaded mixed message of “Do as I say, not as I do.” When they “get good” at paying attention to detail, they will be more successful in their personal, educational, and professional futures.

Lisa M. Welsien (M.Ed. Harvard University) is a former teacher, university instructor, curriculum writer and trainer. She is currently raising two small children in Nairobi, Kenya. Learn More