Teaching high school seniors how to be college freshmen
A few days ago, I read a thoughtful article written by one of my grad school professors and mentors, Dr. Emily Isaacs. In the article (www.chronicle.com) Isaacs posits that many students are showing up to college campuses without the “skills, habits and behaviors” they need to be successful in college. She makes a potent argument that college professors need to carve out time in their courses to teach what she terms “studenting” skills. She maintains that not only is this an effective way to help smart, creative students be more successful in college but also a way to help level the playing field for all students and to create more equity in the college classroom.
I can’t say I was surprised by anything in the article, but it did give me a lot to think about and it definitely underscored my core belief about what I should be doing with my 12th grade English students before they get to college. Isaacs’ article confirmed what I have long suspected: Students might be intellectually prepared for college through solid programming in high school, but they actually need to be taught the kinds of study skills and habits that will best serve them when they get to college.
Thinking about the article prompted me to reflect on some of the specific activities that I currently do to help my students prepare for college and also to think about some of the things I might do better. What I realize is that I need to take my practices out of the realm of casual (and sometimes unstructured) sidebars to my academic units and actually center them in a way that is both formal and structured. My thought is to create a separate curriculum unit—college skills—to add to my school’s ELA 12 curriculum, possibly as a final unit in the spring of senior year. Rather than having the lofty, but vague intention to help my students prepare for college, my goal is to improve and formalize specific lessons and activities in which I use explicit instruction to teach my students these skills and behaviors, help them to practice them regularly, and ultimately, internalize them enough to take them to college.
Following are some of the cornerstones lessons that I might include. Almost all activities can be utilized in conjunction with state learning standards for ELA.
Annotation. Students often take lots of notes, but not necessarily the kinds of notes that help them to understand and remember what they’ve learned. Recently, I’ve been using explicit instruction to teach my 12th grade students how to use and adapt the Cornell Note Taking Strategy, which emphasizes first writing down “notes” (facts, statistics, specific ideas) and then organizing those notes using “cues” (questions, quotes, vocabulary) and then later articulating a “summary” of what they learned (the main idea and how it fits into the larger picture.)
What I love about the Cornell strategy is that it can be utilized in a myriad of disciplines and contexts and that it helps students to move between detailed information and big ideas, giving context and continuity to what they’re learning. Because it can be used in conjunction with state learning standards, I have used it to help students annotate chapters in challenging literary works and in informational articles, as well as during class presentations and lectures. As with many academic skills, repetition is crucial and after using this strategy regularly for a few months, I can see that most students in my classes have begun to internalize the practice and embrace its usefulness as an effective and adaptable model for note-taking. (https://canvas.cornell.edu/courses/1451/pages/view-cornell-note-taking?module_item_id=28437)
Attention/Engagement. It’s not surprising that college students are having a difficult time ignoring their phones during class. In the absence of the explicit banning of cell phones during class, as in many high schools, students either don’t know better or just can’t resist looking at their phones. As part of my own mindful pedagogy, I preach engagement and attention. First, we start every class with a meditation to help students relax and focus. (www.edutopia.org/article/how-introduce-meditation-high-school-classroom) Our class meditation is a powerful way to cultivate attention, cue students that their phones are now off limits and let them know that they are expected to be 100% engaged in what is going on in the class.
In addition to meditation and a number of other mindfulness activities, I also use explicit instruction to teach what I call active listening skills. During all class presentations, lectures and seminars, I insist that my students look the speaker directly in the eye and practice the kinds of behaviors (subtle nodding affirmations, questions) that signal that they are paying close attention. In formal seminars, I use this as a graded element and throughout the year, I repeatedly emphasize its importance in almost all settings.
Time Management. In my senior English class, we talk a lot about the freedom many students will experience in college—usually for the first time—and how they will manage it. Time is at the center of this conversation. To help students think about this beforehand and articulate personal strategies for effective time management, I have students use journal-style (low-stakes) writing assignments to reflect on their own time style. Are they typically on time? Or, do they often run late? Do they tend to work on papers and projects last minute or are they good at pacing themselves? How much time do they need to complete reading assignments with integrity? How much time does it take them to write an essay? Do they need to factor time in for revision and reflection? By expliciting teaching that time management is a significant challenge for most students in college and asking my students to reflect on what their own habits are, and develop personal plans, I am giving them a jump start on figuring out how to manage their time when it really is all up to them.
Finally, I teach them that if they are late, (as we all are at one point or another) enter the room apologizing. Whether it’s class, a practice, a job or a social engagement, if you show up late, begin with the simple sentence: Sorry, I’m late. Not only does this signal that you are taking responsibility for your own behavior, but it tends to instantly diffuse the situation.
Communication. I try to give my 12th grade students specific scenarios that they are likely to encounter in college and will probably feel uncomfortable about and then help them to understand the universality of discomfort and the reasons they should actively work through it. Some examples include:
Walking into the dorms the first day, especially if you don’t know your roommate. Be the person who introduces yourself first; if you make friends easily, be the person who includes others. Every single person starting college feels nervous and uneasy, being friendly and kind (even when you feel shy and uncomfortable) will always have a positive outcome.
You are struggling in a class or aren’t sure about expectations: Go and see your professor. Make yourself known. Ask questions, explain what you’re worried about, ask what you can do to be successful—even if it feels uncomfortable.
Something truly urgent prevented or will prevent you from meeting an academic deadline. Email the professor before the deadline and ask for an extension, with some sort of explanation.
Use your communication skills to advocate for yourself and to ask for help. If you are not well, struggling in some other way or need an accommodation to be successful, speak up. Unlike high school, where teachers often know their students well and can be responsive to their needs, college can be less personal and more alienating. Nonetheless, there are always people to assist students, but it is the job of the student to communicate about what they need.
Expert Testimony. For the past few years, I’ve invited former students to come back to our high school and to participate in a panel discussion on life after high school. I set this up in my classroom, usually on the Thursday or Friday before Memorial Day Weekend, and invite my current students to come through during their normal class time. I call this informal panel discussion The Senior Experience and its central goal is to make time and space to let my former students share their experiences with my current students. The question at the center of it all: What do they wish they knew when they were seniors in high school that would have helped them be better prepared for where they are now? This modest informal program in my high school has become very popular among my students—past and present—and will serve, I think, as a great culminating activity for my proposed college skills unit.
