Combat Procrastination

I have to be honest with you… I have been procrastinating on writing this post about procrastination. I find that a bit ironic, but it is true – recently I have been talking with students a lot about procrastination and felt it would be an important topic to address, but taking the time to write up some ideas has taken longer than I had planned.

The reality is that procrastination doesn’t mean you are lazy or incapable, but it does often result in increased stress levels. There are no quick fixes and, as with most things in life, what works for one person will not necessarily work for someone else so it is important to find a strategy that will work effectively for you.

I doubt that any of these suggestions will be ideas that you have never heard of before, but it comes down to deciding that you want to try to make a change. So, reward yourself for progress made because it does take time to improve.

Some ideas to help combat procrastination:

Plan ahead.

Break your big projects, assignments, or responsibilities down into smaller, more manageable tasks.

Commit to spending at least 15 minutes working on something that you have been avoiding.

Remind yourself that there is not going to be a better time – not tomorrow, not next weekend, or next month – something else will always come up that continues to contribute to the procrastination.

Ask for help.

Focus on the desired outcome – rather than your fear or inaction.

Be realistic – most tasks take far longer than you expect.

Minimize Distractions… and take care of whatever is distracting you.

Let go of perfectionism. (And, for those of you who are perfectionists, I know that this is a hard one, but the reality is that many things aren’t worth doing perfectly, so just start and do your best – it will still be better than not doing it at all.)

Recruit a friend to help keep you accountable. (If you tell someone else about your goal or plan to battle your typical procrastination blocks, you are more likely to follow through, but please make sure it is a friend who will help you stay accountable not convince you that it is OK to put off starting your paper for a few more days.)

Do the hard part first… or… do the easy part first. (Whichever is more motivating to you is the one you should choose.)

Keep track of your progress so you don't lose sight of how much you've accomplished.

The bottom line is that if you get it done when you need to instead of procrastinating, you’ll feel better about yourself and have less stress… so get to work. :-)

The following article gives additional ideas for tips to beat procrastination: http://psychcentral.com/lib/2007/tips-to-beat-procrastination/

Spring College Admission Tests

Tomorrow (Tuesday, March 31st) is the (regular) deadline to register for the May SAT. If you plan on waiting to take the June ACT (register by May 8th) or June SAT (register by May 5th) the deadlines are still a month away, but remember, with the spring tests being the primary testing time for current juniors, the testing sites can fill up quickly so it is beneficial to sign up in advance.

You will sign up directly on the ACT and SAT websites – links to the testing websites are on PrepHQ in the testing area and on the right side of my blog in the “links” area.

If you are on the free or reduced lunch program, you can qualify for fee waivers for testing, please stop in and see me and I will get the forms for you.

Week of Admissions Decisions

This is going to be a big week for college admissions decisions. Most of the schools that have yet to announce their decisions will be releasing them over the next several days. This can be a very stressful time for students. Try to take a deep breath and relax – you have done the best job to put yourself in the best situation possible with your applications. If you are stressing out awaiting the news, feel free to stop in and see me so we can talk about it.

The other reminder that I would like to make is intended for all students (in all grades) who are not currently waiting to hear if you have been accepted into a particular school – getting the decision can be hard enough, but often the more difficult aspect is being asked, “Did you get accepted?” by well-meaning friends. Trust me on this one, if they were accepted, the students will be telling everyone – you won’t need to ask. If they don’t offer up the news about if they were accepted or not, then be sensitive to the fact that more than likely they did not get accepted and don’t ask about it as it puts them on the spot to share disappointing news.

(By the way - I'm very happy by the outcome in the MSU vs. U of L game that just ended!) :-)

What a Weekend

I hope that you are enjoying your weekend. Remember, with just four days remaining in the 3rd quarter, there is a good chance that a lot of your classes will have end of the quarter tests, papers, or projects due. Please spend some time preparing so that you can head into spring break on a positive note.

If you know me at all, you are aware that I love to watch sports. I generally prefer watching sports when I know some of the people participating, which is why I like to watch all of you participating in WKHS sports. This weekend I have been watching the basketball games and I have been blown away by what good games they have been - such intense, close games. Even not knowing the athletes it has still been fun to watch. Although, for the record I know one of the players from Findlay (Marcus Parker) who won the Division 2 NCAA Championship in OT today and one of the players at Michigan State (Raymar Morgan) who plays tomorrow against Louisville. (They were both on my step-dad's high school basketball team.) And, for the record, words cannot even begin to tell you how much I hope MSU knocks off Louisville tomorrow! :-)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Prom Fashion Show

Monday, March 30th at 7:30pm is the 2009 Spring and Prom Fashion Show. A fun way to help benefit a special charity (Ronald McDonald House) the Fashion Show features 34 students including Kara Barford, Alexandra Cassens, Emma Ellis, and Katherine Hyatt Hawkins. The students have been working hard to prepare a fun and entertaining night. In addition to the fashion show there will be a raffle. Tickets cost $3.00 and are available during lunch or at the door before the show begins.

Panel Wisdom

Last night was the Junior Student and Parent college information night. It was a long, but informative evening featuring a panel discussion by senior students who have survived their senior year and are nearing the end of their high school career and a senior parents talking about their experiences in navigating the adventures of senior year with their student. The participants did a great job giving honest viewpoints about what to expect in the upcoming year for the juniors and their parents.
A very special thank you to Sachi O., Kayla N., Sam J., Corey M., Anna L., and Becca A. for their participation on the "Senior Survivor" panel. These students represented a variety of different college choices - different sizes of schools in different areas of the country. In addition to the student panel were the parent panel participants - Mike Bassani (dad to Harrison), Karen Meador (mom to Kaitlyn), and Sharon Butler (mom to Alex). Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and insight!

I was also excited to see so many of "my" juniors in the audience tonight along with your parents. Hopefully you were able to gain helpful insight from those who have walked this path and that you feel ready and excited to take on your senior year. Remember that I am always here to help you in any way that I can.

Picking a College

For seniors, the countdown to final decision time for picking the college of your dreams is rapidly approaching. For juniors, you are beginning your search and trying to determine which schools you can imagine in your future.

There are so many resources available to review and consider to aid you in making your decision. Campus visits, reviewing the college websites, PrepHQ, and meetings with admissions representatives when they visit Kilbourne are all great strategies for learning more about the college and finding the school that is the best match for you. I also want to remind you that a wealth of information and resources are available in my office that you are welcome to come in and read to help you in making your choice. There are books that give perspectives of different colleges based upon the responses current college students have provided in surveys about school, others that rank selectivity of schools based upon majors, and others that provide insight about the schools from expert researchers. I know that this process can be stressful and overwhelming, but hopefully you are also finding it fun and exciting. As always, let me know how I can help you sort out your options.

Juniors - Don't forget that tomorrow night at 7:30pm is the college information meeting for you and your parents. This is, by far, my favorite meeting that we host for students and parents. I really hope you will plan to be there!

College Admissions Decisions

As more and more students begin hearing from colleges I thought it might be helpful to know some of the most common terms you will see in response letters from colleges. Everyone hopes they will receive nothing but acceptances, but the reality is that far too often that is not the case. Below are some of the more common college related terms/ phrases for admissions decisions. If you receive a letter and you are uncertain what it means, please feel free to let me know or to contact the college directly. I would also like to remind you that we keep track of the admissions decisions that you receive from your colleges so please stop in and keep me posted on what you are hearing from each of the schools.

- Accepted: Congratulations - they are inviting you to join and be a part of their college/ university

- Declined/ Rejected/ Denied/ Not Accepted: For whatever reason the college did not feel that you would be a good fit. While it is understandably disappointing, please remember that there are lots of colleges and universities out there so don’t give up on finding a good match.

- Decision Deferred: The college is not sure yet… usually they will tell you what additional data/ information they are interested in receiving to help them make their decision. The most common piece of data they will look for are senior year grades at the semester time. Please be sure to follow through on getting this information to them promptly.

- Wait List: The wait list is not a denial, but it is not an acceptance either. Colleges use wait lists as insurance to make sure that their freshman class will be the appropriate size. If enough students decide to attend, the college will not accept anyone off of their wait-list. If you are interested in accepting a spot on a college's wait list, stop in and see me so that we can discuss some of the steps you should take to put yourself in the best situation should the college be able to accept students off of their wait list.

A reminder to Juniors - the Junior Student and Parent College Information Night is this coming Tuesday night at 7:30pm in the WKHS Auditorium! Please plan to attend!

Always...

Once "my" student... always "my" student! I care a great deal about all of my students and that is one fact which simply doesn't change no matter the circumstances. When students graduate - they are still special to me and I love to be able to reconnect with them when they come back to WKHS to visit or by phone or e-mail. Another special group of kids that I have recently had the opportunity to spend some time watching were my former students from Grove City High School. The year prior to coming to WKHS I was a counselor at GCHS and the way their counselors divide the school is by graduating class, so I had the Class of 2009 as freshmen and, had I stayed at Grove City, I would have followed with them until they graduate this spring. Obviously, I left to come to WKHS after just a year, but those students have remained very special to me since they were my first ever group of kids.

The Grove City High School boys basketball team includes quite a few of "my" students. They have had an amazing season this year winning the District Championship on Saturday morning and advancing to tonight's Regional Semifinal game tonight against Northland. Unfortunately, their journey came to an end with a loss tonight, but I am so proud of the entire team and Coach Waits. I am incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to know and work with such a special group of students and even now it is still a true joy and honor to be able to watch them succeed.

Above is a picture of the team preparing to cut "down" the net after winning in the District Finals game. Below is one of "my" favorite GCHS students, Alex Fraley, cutting his piece of the net.So, to all of my "current" students, please know that you mean a lot to me... and I'm sure that I will have to take a lot of slack for recognizing some of my "former" students, but it is worth it because they deserve to be recognized. And, for the record, I am quite confident that their new counselor would call the kids "his" students and not "my" students, but I will always think of them as mine. :-)

Junior Student and Parent Meeting

Next Tuesday (March 24th) is the Junior Student and Parent Information Night. I truly hope that all of my juniors attend and bring your parents with you. Over the last two years, this program has received the best feedback regarding any of the information nights that we host. The students and parents who attended last year's meeting expressed how much this helped them get started and move forward with the college search process and what to expect along the way. My portion of the presentation are two panels - one of current seniors (our "Senior Survivors") and one of parents of current seniors. I am excited to hear all that they have to share with us during this great evening. The meeting is from 7:30 - 9:30pm in the auditorium. Please, try to attend! You won't regret it!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you had a happy St. Patrick's Day!

March Students of the Month

This past Friday morning, 18 WKHS students were honored as March Students of the Month. Students are nominated as students of the month by Kilbourne faculty and staff for their academic achievement, good citizenship, and/or service to the school or community. Students can only earn this recognition once in their high school career. A special congratulations to "my" five students who were among those honored this month - Brandon Best, Harrison Bassani, Ryann Chambers, Sam Johnson, and Brandon Armstrong. I'm proud of you!

Test Anxiety

It’s normal to feel a little bit nervous before and during a test. However, it is important to learn how to deal with those anxieties so that they do not overwhelm you. Below are a few keystrategies for managing test anxiety. If this is something that you struggle with, please stop in and see me so that we can discuss additional ways to help manage your test anxieties.

- Study. Being prepared is the single most effective way to help manage test anxiety. If you are confident that you know the material and have put forth your best effort to be prepared for the test, then you can relax and do the best you can. There are lots of study strategies available that can help students and I have a variety of ideas – if you are interested, stop by and see me and we can talk about different techniques you can try to implement for various classes. Learn from past quizzes and tests. Ask the teacher for suggestions on how to best prepare for the upcoming test. Don’t cram – that only adds to the stress and pressure of trying to “squeeze” everything in.

- Stay Positive. Being confident and entering the test with a positive attitude will help you to achieve success. There are lots of strategies people use to help maintain a positive outlook – visualization (imaging yourself doing well on the test) and positive self-talk (we all talk to ourselves so instead of thinking that you are going to fail the test replace that self-talk with positive comments such as “I am prepared” or “this test will allow me to show how much I have learned”). Sometimes it is important to stay away from other people who tend to express their negative outlooks and opinions going into a test… those people who will just stress you out more with their panic about the test.

- Take care of yourself. I *know* that you hate hearing things like this (and yes, I acknowledge that at times this can be a hypocritical statement for me to make), but it is important to take care of yourself. Get plenty of sleep so that you are well rested and mentally alert for the test. Eat a healthy meal (breakfast/ lunch) because you don’t want to be sitting in class focusing on food or listening to your stomach growl and you also don’t want to be coming down off a sugar or caffeine high and be dragging the rest of the testing period. Allowing yourself time to exercise is also important as it is a physical release of stress and can reinvigorate you for studying as you prepare for the test.

- Be a “smart” test taker. Don’t panic! Read the directions carefully. Take a deep breath to relax. Answer the questions to the best of your ability and if you don’t know an answer, skip the question to return to it later and continue on to other questions that you are more confident in answering. Budget your time, but don’t rush to be the first finished – this is not a race. Stay focused. (Focus on answering the question – don’t allow yourself to get off track and worry about your grade or how others are doing – just continue to refocus on answering the next question.) If you start to become overwhelmed with anxiety during the test, take a few slow deep breaths, relax your muscles and remember that you are in control of dealing with these feelings so just take it one step at a time.

- After you are finished, give yourself a short break from thinking about the test, but also don’t forget to consider what worked well and what could have gone better and then make changes accordingly for the future. If you were able to manage your anxiety effectively then you can continue practicing these skills for future tests. If some of the strategies were not effective, then you can try to adjust and adopt new strategies to help manage the anxiety.

Remember, it is also important to keep the test in perspective. It is actually quite rare that a single test will make or break you. (And yes, this includes the OGT/ SAT/ ACT tests because you can always repeat these tests again in the future.) Good luck on your next test!

It's OGT Week!

This week the Sophomores will be taking the Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT's). Each day will feature a different test -Monday is Reading, Tuesday is Math, Wednesday is Writing, Thursday is Science, and Friday is Social Studies. I cannot stress the importance of EVERY sophomore student attending school all five days to complete the tests. If you are too sick to make it to school you will have to take the test during the following week which is not as ideal of a testing environment.

Freshman, Juniors, and Seniors are probably looking forward to OGT week because they have the special added treat of a few extra hours of sleep. :-)

The busses are running twice next week in order to make sure that the Sophomores are able to arrive at school in time for their tests and also for everyone else to come to school after the extra time sleeping in each morning. Classes for the week will only be 35 minutes long so the week should go past pretty quickly for you.

For your information below is the daily bell schedule for this coming week:

OGT Tests: 7:45 - 9:35
1st Period: 9:50 - 10:25
2nd Period: 10:30 - 11:05
3rd Period: 11:10 - 11:45
4th Period: 11:50 - 12:25
5th Period: 12:30 - 1:05
6th Period: 1:10 - 1:45
7th Period: 1:50 - 2:25
8th Period: 2:30 - 3:05

Good luck on the OGT's!

Sports Career Day

Are you interested in a career that is connected to sports? Do you like hockey? If your answer to these two questions is "yes" then the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Columbus Dispatch have a great opportunity coming up this Sunday, March 15th. The Sports Career Day will be held from 12 - 4pm at Nationwide Arena and will allow high school students and parents to learn about careers in sports and sports journalism. You will hear from Blue Jackets and Dispatch front office executives, plus a special panel of sports journalists as they discuss their careers and backgrounds. There will also be college representatives from OSU, BGSU, and Kent State University in attendance.

After the educational session participants will be able to see the 5pm game against the Detroit Red Wings.

This unique oppportunity costs $50 which covers the Career Day admission for one student and one parent, 2 game tickets and 2 Blue Jackets premium hats. Additional tickets for the game are available for $31.

Orders must be received by Friday, March 13th. If you are interested in participating, download an order form and fax it to the Columbus Blue Jackets at 614-246-4301.

Information for Parents

This post is actually intended for your parents... and since I know that there are a decent number of "my" parents who read the blog I figured this would be helpful information to pass along...

Nationwide Children’s Hospital is offering parent educational sessions for parents of teens with mental health challenges. The “Teen Academy” is designed to provide parents with objective insights from experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Behavioral Health Services.

The classes are held from 7pm – 9pm at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Close to Home Centers. (East: 6435 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43213; Westerville: 433 N. Cleveland Ave., Westerville, OH 43082; Dublin: 5665 Venture Dr., Dublin, OH 43017)

Registration is $10 per person and parking is free. Advanced registration is necessary and you can register online at www.NationwideChildrens.org/Edu

Please note that the programs do not replace counseling and speakers cannot comment on individual care plans, but it will provide information on specific adolescent mental health issues and identify common strategies for helping your teen.

Course Offerings: (Additional descriptions of each course is available on their website)

Adolescent Behaviors and Emotions: What is Typical vs. Not?
March 24th – Dublin

Beyond Moody: Adolescent Clinical Depression
April 21st – East

Hopeless: The Suicidal and Self-Injurious Teen
May 12 – Westerville

The Anxious Teen
June 18 – East

Adolescent Bipolar Disorder
July 14 – Dublin

The Oppositional, Defiant & Conduct Disordered Teen
August 12 – Westerville

Medicines for Adolescent Mental Health
September 15 – East

Adolescent Mental Health Treatment Options
October 14 – Westerville

Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Use/ Abuse
November 5 – Westerville

Teen School Truancy
December 8 - East

Local Scholarships

All of the seniors should have received a green information packet in the mail highlighting the local scholarship opportunities. These are a great opportunity for students to earn some additional financial help for college. And, with the scholarships being local, it means that there would be less people applying for the scholarships (compared to national scholarships) which gives you a better chance of receiving one of the scholarships.

Please take the time to carefully read through the criteria for the scholarships to see which ones would be appropriate for you to apply for and then start working. After you have determined the scholarships that you would like to apply for, please stop in the counseling center and pick up the actual scholarship application from the tables in the main area of the counseling center.

The deadline for all completed applications is the end of the school day on April 14th and no late applications can be accepted. I cannot stress enough the importance of planning ahead and starting to work on these scholarships now!

Also, please pay attention to see if the applications require a written recommendation letter and ask your teacher(s) for a letter as soon as possible - especially if they have not already written a rec letter that they can use for the scholarships.

Also, don't forget that a complete list of all the other scholarships that we are aware of are featured on PrepHQ in the scholarship area.

College Admissions

I know that this is a stressful time for all of the seniors still waiting to hear back from the schools where they applied. Interestingly, college admissions officers are also nervous. They are trying to figure out which students to accept and how to guess with today's economic times which students will actually attend if offered the opportunity. It is highlighted in this article in the New York Times.

In addition to the current situation that they are talking about in this article, I think it is a good time to remind you that colleges are keeping track of every contact and interaction you have with them. They want to know that you are interested and that applying to their school is something you have investigated and feel like it would be a good fit. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that you should call a school multiple times a week - that would definitely get on their nerves, but they want students who are truly interested. You can show that by meeting with their admissions representatives when they come to WKHS or to the Columbus area, participating in "optional" interviews and essays, and visiting their campus.

The reality is that it is always a guessing game - colleges do their best to get as close to their target number of new students with their acceptances and make up the difference from their wait lists. I know that last year several of my students ended up on the wait list at colleges of choice and it was a tough choice to figure out if they were going to try to stay on the wait list or simply be happy with the school where they had been accepted. Even though this is stressful, it will all work out in the end.

Enjoy sleeping in tomorrow and stop by to say hi and let me know how your weekend went. :-)

Friendly Reminders

I hope that you enjoyed the day off today - I was glad to have the day to try to get some stuff done and to see Josh wrestle and now I am in Kentucky with my niece and nephew who were very excited to be able to wait up for me to arrive in town. :-)

I wanted to remind you that in addition to having today off you have a late-start day coming up on Monday morning. School will start Monday at the normal 9:10am late start time. Also, don't forget that the clocks jump ahead an hour on Sunday so you do lose an hour of sleep there.

Enjoy your weekend!

Congratulations and Good Luck

Josh Burton, a senior at WKHS, will be competing tomorrow in the State Wrestling Competition. He is the ONLY student to make it to the state competition from WKHS this year and in the last 5 - 6 years! Obviously this is quite an accomplishment and we are all so proud of Josh for his impressive achievement. Josh will compete at the OSU Schottenstein Center tomorrow around 7pm and depending upon the outcome he will either compete again later in the evening or the following morning.

Congratulations Josh and Good Luck tomorrow! We are cheering for you!

An Impressive Impact

I am sure you have heard people describe the similarities between a drop of water into a pond and the ripples that result from that single drop and the impact you can have on someone else's life and never truly knowing where that impact ends...

I have thought of that analogy a lot over the last month as I watched the students at WKHS come together to raise over $4,000 in a wide variety of ways for the Winter Charity - the American Brain Tumor Association.

Sachi Oshima and Luke Bott were two of the students elected to the court for the Valentine's Dance. Students "voted" by donating money to a particular person's fund-raising efforts. Sachi won the title Queen of Hearts for raising the most money among all the girls on the court.

The other big fund-raising event was the Talent Show last Friday night. I had a bunch of "my" students participate and showcase their wide range of talents. Some of the participants included: Sachi Oshima, Luke Bott, Josh Cook, Michelle Dutton, Mark Bobson, Jonathan Carroll, Ben Adamescu, Malika Bythewood, Erica Burris, EB Brennan, and Eric Clemens. (And, to be perfectly honest, those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head... sorry if I missed more participants!) Everyone did an impressive job and helped create a fun evening for a good cause. A special congratulations to EB Brennan and Erica Burris who were voted into 3rd place for their "Thriller" dance and to Eric Clemens whose band earned 1st place honors!

And while the recognition to each of the individual students who participated in the different efforts to raise money for a good cause, it was actually the Brain Tumor Association that truly won because of the compassion and good-will of the entire student body!

Course Adjustment Deadline Approaching

This week is the last chance for students to change a class from conventional grading (A, B, C, etc.) to Pass/ Fail grading! The forms are in the counseling center and require a parent signature. If you plan to switch a class to pass/ fail, please be sure to pick up a form and return it before Thursday! (Since we do not have school on Friday.)

March 5th is also the last day that students can drop a class without an F on their transcript. This is only possible if students have above the minimum number of classes required (5 for seniors and 6 for sophomores and juniors). And yes, it is too late to add a class. Sorry.

PSEO Program

The Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program is an opportunity for high school students to take college courses while still enrolled in high school. There are two alternatives for the PSEO program.

Option A is when students take courses at any college of their choice and pay for the courses on their own (often at a discounted rate) and are able to earn the credit for college credit only.

Option B is available in Central Ohio at Columbus State Community College, the Ohio State University, and Franklin University and is paid for by the school district. Students who participate in this option earn both high school and college credit.

There are a lot of details involved in participating in the PSEO program and it is not meant to replace or substitute for coursework available at the high school, but rather to enhance the educational opportunities available. Students must complete the paperwork by March 30th to indicate their intent to participate in the PSEO program in the following school year.

In order to explain all of the details of the program and to provide you with the forms necessary, all students and parents interested in participating in this program should attend the PSEO Information night on Thursday, March 5th at 7:30pm in the WKHS auditorium.