How are you?

If I were face to face with you right now and asked "How are you?" what would you say in reply?  Let's be honest, most of us hear that and just assume it is an in passing greeting and not really a question so we would quickly respond back with "good," "fine," or "okay."  And hopefully all of those responses apply and are true, but can we go a little deeper for a second?

How many of you feel almost as if you are holding your breath?  Are you feeling almost like you are walking on egg shells watching and waiting to see what twist is coming next?  In the brief conversations I have had with some of my students as we work on schedule changes and the start of college stuff, I think this is a really common feeling that most of us are experiencing.  The uncertainty is tough!  Not knowing if we are just going to stay remote learning or if we are going to switch back to hybrid is tough.  Not knowing if we get to come back to hybrid if we will then have to switch back to remote again is tough.  But, here is what I know for sure... you CAN do challenging things!  I have seen it!  I have watched students overcome obstacles far greater than learning remotely or adjusting back and forth between remote and hybrid.  

So I am going to encourage you to exhale!  For real, pause right now and breathe out.  Let some of that tension from your shoulders, jaw, and chest relax out at least for a moment.

Even though there is so much unknown yet to come, I need to remind you that there is a lot that is for sure...

1. Your WKHS teachers want to make this new learning set up work for you.  

2.  It will be different, but different isn't always bad.  (In fact, today was our first ever Common App 101 Workshop and I am so thankful that we were able to do that!  It was great to see students remotely and hopefully all of the attendees got a solid jump start on their Common App.  Seniors, if you didn't attend today's workshop there is one tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday so check your wscloud email and register for one!  But I am giving the workshop as an example, because it is something we had never done before, but now, with the platform of being able to have kids on their own computers and with the extra time when you wouldn't have to miss classes, we were able to do something that we think is important for students and had been on our wish list of things to do in past years.)

3. You can manage this stress.  I am here to help support you as are your teachers and your family.  And, when I ask "How are you?" I really mean it and would like to hear your genuine answer.

4. I believe in you!  You have been through hard times before and have overcome things that weren't going the way you wanted.  You can do that again.  Try to believe in yourself, and if you are struggling to hold onto that hope, please know I will help hold onto it for you.

5.  This will get better.  I don't know what the future holds.  I can't say what we will be doing in 2 months, 2 weeks or even 2 days, but truly, we never actually know that.  So this is a good chance for all of us to try to stay in the moment and focus on today and the areas where we can actually have some influence. (And yes, this is a message for me as much as for any of you because I really, and I mean REALLY, like to try to have control.) But even if it is hard to see right now, it will get better.

6.  I am still here to support you!  Let me know how things are going and remember that you never have to tackle any of these stressors alone.  

Breathe out again... release that tension... I believe that next week once you start getting into the new structure and rhythm of school it will make everything feel at least a little better.

Making Your College Decision

May 1st is this Friday... which means this is a big week for students who are making their final college decision.  Yes, it is true that there are many colleges who have extended this deadline, but with so many still holding steady with May 1st as their deadline to commit to attend that college, it is imperitive that students and families double check to make sure you don't miss a deadline.  In other words, whatever your first deadline is for declaring your decision, that essentially, by default, becomes your deadline for all of the colleges.

If you are on the wait list at a college, please understand that in that situation, you will still commit to one of your other colleges and then if you are fortunate enough to be selected to move off the wait list you can decide if you will be changing your mind and switching to the school where you had been waitlisted.  But you do not want to wait and hope that you will be pulled off the wait list and not commit to any school unless you are intending to take a gap year between high school and college.

The reality is that the coronavirus is having an impact on students and where they are choosing to go to college.  You may be struggling with what you thought you had your mind set on and are now revisiting that decision in light of these changing times.  If that you is you, I know this is stressful, but you will get through it!

Some of the factors I have heard from students/ parents related to their college choice and covid-19 include:

• Changes in finances.  Family finances may be in a very different spot today than they were 6 months ago.  This may impact what you and your family are able to pay for college.  You can reach out to the financial aid office of your college and ask for them to reconsider your situation and see if an override and the possibility of additional aid is an option.  But, sadly, you are not the only family in this situation so that may/ may not be possible.
• Distance matters.  Many students are re-thinking how far away from home they are comfortable being with stressful times like this.  Students who had been planning to move far away are now considering that a flight away from home may not be something they are as comfortable with any more.  
• Transfer options.  Some students due to finances or fears of moving into dorms in the fall have indicated that they are now considering taking the transfer route and starting at Columbus State so that they can take classes cheaper and can also attend as a commuter student vs having to live in a dorm.

Here is the reality.  We don't really know what the future will hold.  Truthfully, we never have.  We just always took for granted that things would keep going in the ways it always has and so this has thrown all of us for a loop.  If you are weighing your options for those reasons or for others, that is completely understandable.  It is important to have frank, honest conversations as a family about what your plans are and how it will work for your specific circumstances.

If you have a college that is sticking to the May 1st deadline and you truly need more time to make your final decision, you can ask them if there would be an option to extend the deadline for you to make that choice, but understand that their answer may be no.  Remember, if you want to talk it through with me, I am still here and am happy to listen!

Plans...

I wanted to write this last night... but honestly, I was struggling with the news that we aren’t able to return to school for the end of the year the way I had hoped and planned.  I know that it's necessary and important for the health and well-being of each of you and for our community. I am thankful that we still get to engage electronically and that socially distant doesn’t mean completely cut off. And I am hopeful that new memories are being built and priorities are being realigned as families are spending more time together.  But even though I can think all of that and I truly believe all of that, I’m still just really sad. And I know that I am sad because of how fortunate I am... I am so lucky that I have a job I love so much that I desperately miss being there and seeing you all each day.

But, here’s my challenge... this isn’t about me. I mean, yes, of course it is because it’s impacting me too, but the main reason my heart is hurting so bad is for all of YOU!  For all you are missing, for all you’re sad about, for all the disappointments you’re experiencing, for the fears you are facing, for the uncertainty you are struggling to manage, for the anger and hurt you are encountering, and for whatever it is that YOU feel today.  We are all walking the same path but we experience it in very different ways.  In fact, today I have talked to several students who had already gone through the feelings I have been struggling with over the last 24 hours because they had already come to the conclusion that we wouldn’t get to return to the building and, as a result, they had already grieved that loss.  But, no matter where you are with your feelings, I firmly believe that we have to lean into our own feelings and emotions – even if they are difficult or heavy. We have to give ourselves the space and permission, and muster up the courage to fully feel whatever it is we are feeling. When you can name it and be present with it, then you can also heal from it.

And now, here I am... and still I have no perfect words for you. I will say that I began to gain some perspective in that I truly believe that while this is heartbreaking and sad, it is something we can and will get through. There are real problems- big, life changing, can never adjust, adapt, and overcome kinds of problems in our world today. And this is not one of them. We will still connect - it will just be remotely instead of in person. We will still honor our seniors and the difference they have made over the last four years. And we will somehow come through this changed, but stronger and more resilient. And wow, what a gift that will be from this pandemic.  And no, that new perspective didn’t fully take away my sadness, but I find it valuable to allow the emotions and feelings of both to sit side by side.  It isn’t either/ or – it is and.  Please know it is ok to be sad and to know that it will be ok. 

One of my personal self care strategies is trying to find the right picture quote for different situations.  The one that stuck out to me yesterday was, “Your purpose didn’t change, your plan did.”  And obviously that applies to me in that I believe my job is a huge part of my attempt to fulfill my purpose in life. But as I was reflecting on that concept it also made me think of how this applies to all of you too. You go to school to learn. You still attend school, but your plan of how that would look and feel has changed. You interact with friends and family members to celebrate how important they are in your life. And yet your plans of physically being together and hanging out have changed. And, for the seniors, of course you graduate to celebrate the accomplishments of 13 years of education, to recognize how much you have learned and grown, and to acknowledge the excitement of the future which is before you. But the plan for how the end of your senior year would look has been shifted. But the rest of that stuff… the purpose parts... those are the areas that matter!  And no matter how awry our plans go and how overwhelming and sad we may personally find it that our “plan” for 4th quarter of 2020 didn’t go the way we wanted, I know that good is still here too because it is within each of you!

So please, let me remind you... you still have a purpose!!! You matter to me, you matter to our school, you matter to our community. You are not alone. There are people, like me, who are still in your corner, caring and believing in you... and we will always be no more than a call, text or email away!

4th Quarter Grades

By now all students and parents should have received the email from the district about how Worthington will be handling grades during this time of remote learning.  This is a big deal and I want to make sure that all of my students are aware and fully understand how this will work. 

As you know, you had been at school for all of 3rd quarter and earned a grade for that quarter before everything in society got shut down and we were all told to stay at home.  But then the district had to figure out how they could help support students learning in this time of crisis and how the grading would work.  Ultimately, the decision was made to transition to a pass/ incomplete system for this quarter. 

There were a LOT of factors and a great deal of thought that went into this decision.  I am confident that it will be a fair system that will be good for all kids.  Let me tell you a little bit more about all of this and how it will work.  Obviously, right now you are still in school and you are (hopefully) doing your school work every day.  It is important that you receive meaningful feedback on your learning and to support your understanding, but the school district firmly believes grades should not be a reward or a punishment.  At a time when there is so much beyond your control, it is important to value the learning vs stressing about the particular grade that you earn in a class.  It is possible that for some of you, the biggest challenge you are experiencing is being bored right now.  But other students - your friends, classmates and peers at WKHS - will be facing other circumstances that are more difficult.  They may deal with being sick, having a family member that is sick, have responsibilities helping with younger siblings, have difficulty accessing reliable technology to access the online material, etc.  Truly, the list is endless when one starts looking at all of the dynamics some of our students are trying to juggle while also trying to learn.  That is why the grading system is set up to be a Pass/ Incomplete... because we don't want to unfairly punish a student who might have some of those circumstances preventing them from keeping up with their work.

So what happens if you get an incomplete?  You, your parents and your teacher will develop a specific intervention and learning plan that you will have the summer and, if needed, into the first quarter of next year, to be able to make up the missing work so that you can change your incomplete to a pass.  This allows flexibility for students who might have been sick to work during the summer when they are no longer ill.  If technology was the roadblock, then working in the summer once libraries reopen or even next fall when we are back at school will allow the freedom and flexibility to make that possible.  The bottom line - you need to do the work!  You will either do it now or you will do it later, but we are committed to helping you to be successful in furthering your learning even while we are not together in the building.

Normally, your 2nd semester grade would be made up of your 3rd quarter grade, your 4th quarter grade, and your semester exam.  The district has cancelled all semester exams so your semester grade will now be an average between your 3rd and 4th quarter grades and that letter grade will be on your final transcript.  For averaging purposes, a "P" will equal 4 points (like an A) for regular classes and it will equal 5 points (like an A) for AP/ IB classes.  An Incomplete "I" during the 4th quarter would equal an "I" on your transcript until you get that grade up to passing and then you will earn your average letter grade.

One other significant issue that I need to make sure you are aware of with regards to Incompletes. While Worthington schools is dedicated to giving you the time needed to make sure you are able to earn the credit and pass your classes, the Ohio High School Athletic Association would NOT count Incompletes towards credit earned to be eligible for sports in the fall!  This means, you must earn "P" grades in at least 5 half-credit classes during the 4th quarter to be eligible to participate in sports or marching band next fall!  This is all the more reason that, if you are currently healthy and in a position where you can access your school work and get it done, that you take advantage of this time and complete as much of your work to the best of your ability now so that if you end up getting sick in a few weeks or family responsibilities start to weigh heavily on you down the road, that you will not end up finding yourself in a position where you missed out on being able to earn the "P" grade this quarter to be eligible for the fall.

Please note, CC+ classes are under the rules of the college and so your grade that will be reflected on your high school transcript is whatever grade you earn in your CC+ class.  Please be checking with your individual college about their rules, guidelines and expectations because some partner colleges are also allowing students to change some classes to Pass/ Fail and others are not.  The CC+ classes are college classes so you must follow the colleges guidelines and timing expectations and we just reflect whatever you earned with the college on your transcript.

This truly is the best, most well-thought through system that was possible for looking out for the good of all students while also being reasonable about the fact that remote learning is hard!  So, be patient with yourself, but be consistent!  Keep working hard every day on your school work and you will get there!  As always, if you have questions, about how grades will work, please let me know!

Video for Seniors

WKHS staff created a video to honor our Class of 2020 seniors and to remind them that we miss them and our hearts are with them!  Check it out at: https://youtu.be/_TCUXZYtVVs

Local Scholarships

Normally I am able to write on my blog about whatever questions I am getting from student's at school each day.  Today's topic is definitely the most asked question for the last few days even from afar!

What do you do with the local scholarships that were initially due to be turned into the school by today?

The answer is both simplistic and complicated.  You need to go back onto the Counselor Website where you first found the scholarships and look at each scholarship that you plan to submit an application for consideration.  On each page there are updated instructions for where you should forward your application.  Some of them are open to students emailing applications or mailing them to them by the 6th.  Others need you to mail them.  But each scholarship provider elected their own steps and so you need to follow what they have determined.

Sorry that it is a little more complicated than normal - we typically try to streamline the process by letting you turn them in to us and then we get them distributed, but that just isn't possible this year.  Our hope is that with each organization still generously providing scholarships that the option of students submitting their applications directly to the organizations will make the process as easy as we can have it under the circumstances.

Thanks for your patience as we worked the details out for all of the applications!  And a huge thank you to all of the scholarship providing partners who have been incredibly patient and flexible as we had to make adjustments.  We appreciate their support of the Class of 2020!

School Email

Have you been checking your school email accounts while we have been out of the building?  In talking with students, it seems like about half of you are doing this and half of you are still struggling with checking your school email.  I need to tell you, never before has it been so important for you to check your school email account regularly!

Chances are, as you check your email, you will quickly start to feel overwhelmed with how many email messages you are getting from teachers.  (And maybe also from me too for that matter.)  Whenever possible, try to get in the habit of dealing with the email when you open and read it vs going back to it multiple times throughout the day or losing track of emails because they fell off your radar.

The district realized that there are constraints with the current set up of the email system which could cause problems.  For example, if your teachers are emailing you a document that you might want or need to print, the way the system was set up before, you weren't able to do that from your school emails to home printers (only to school printers).  So they have temporarily changed some of your email restrictions and you can now either print to other printers or at least you can forward to your own email account and print the documents from there.

Speaking of forwarding emails, you can now forward your school emails to yourself at other email accounts or to your parents AND you can also receive emails from your family as well as your teachers.  The goal of this change was to allow students, teachers and parents to have easier communication options for everyone to be together on one message during a time when everything else seems more confusing.

I would ask that if your teachers are emailing you that you please respond back to them so they know you are alive and well.  Truly, that is our first and foremost concern with students.  We don't know if you are healthy.  We don't always know if you even have access to email.  So please, if you are able to get to your school emails, check them and respond!

So Much to be Thankful For...

I have so much to be thankful for!  My heart may be sad in this moment at the realization that I won't get to see all of you until at least after May 1st, but the reality is I am sad about this because I am so thankful to have a job that I love working with students who enhance and enrich my life every day!

Two weeks ago today I had to go into school to bring home a bunch of stuff that I knew I would need to have available to me as I worked with all of you.  Since that time I have been super strict about isolating myself at home.  In the last two weeks I interacted with NO people face to face.  (Lexi hated every single second of it!)  But all of that was because I care about my students, their families, our health-care workers, our first responders, and the men and women who work in essential front line jobs like as delivery workers and at grocery stores... and it was for my parents.  My parents aren't "old, old" but technically they are in the "Senior Citizen" at risk category and I wanted to be around them, but I didn't want to risk exposing them to the coronavirus if I had been exposed to it.  Today marked 2 weeks which is how long the CDC and other health experts recommend that individual self isolate and so tonight I was finally able to go over to my parents house for dinner.  My mom made a traditional Thanksgiving day meal (see photo of my very yummy, very full plate) which is part of the reason I am thinking about how thankful I am even in the midst of a pandemic and even in the midst of extreme disappointment of not being able to see you face-to-face for a month.

At Christmas, my sister bought me a gratitude journal where I am supposed to write 3 things I am grateful for every day.  I have to admit, it is a good way to force myself to reflect back on the day and find 3 unique things that I am grateful for and even on these hard days I have found plenty to write down. 

So I want to tell you a few...
- I am thankful for each student who sends me an email and updates me on what they have been doing.
- I am thankful for the students who, unprompted, sent me an update on their ACT scores.
- I am thankful for the students who have sent a note asking about how Lexi is doing and telling me that they miss her.
- I am thankful for former students who have found time to reach out and check in with me.
- I am thankful for students who reach out and ask questions.
- I am thankful for the Counselor Website being available as an easy place for us to post updates and Mr. Estice helping me to continue updating it even now.
- I am thankful for the Kilbourne support staff who are working from home to help contact scholarship providers for alternate means to allow students to submit their scholarship applications.
- I am thankful for the teachers who are genuinely trying to make the best of the remote learning experience.  I am especially thankful for those teachers who have contacted me saying, "I want to follow up with this student because I haven't heard from them, but I really just want to make sure they are ok and not to just ask them why they aren't doing their assignments yet."
- I am thankful to work in a district that knows that this is hard for you and for your parents and for your teachers and wants to support all of you in this time.
- I am thankful that Mrs. Humphrey has worked to secure additional chromebooks we can loan out to the students in families who had not already been able to get a loaner device.
- I am thankful to live in the United States, to be blessed with a strong healthcare system, and to have all of those amazing front line workers who are doing everything they can to help keep us safe and to allow us to return to a "normal" life again as quickly as possible.
- I am thankful for YOU!  Each student and parent who takes the time out of their day to read my blog posts.  I hope they are useful and informative to you, but I just want you to know that I value this interaction and I appreciate that you are pausing in your day to read the information I share.

There is no question that I am sad tonight.  Yes, I saw it coming.  Yes, I knew that it was possible.  But no, I still wasn't really ready to hear school buildings are closed until May 1st.  The good news though is I will choose to be thankful that even though the form of our relationship has to change, our connection does not and we can continue to email or chat any time!  If you are feeling sad tonight, I'd like to encourage you to reframe this disappointment and think instead about how much you are thankful for today and every day.  It doesn't take the sadness away, but it definitely makes it a little easier to manage.

College Changes

This is such a surreal time and it is impossible to predict what is going to happen in the days, weeks and months ahead, but colleges across the country are trying to determine how they are supposed to interact with prospective students and what they can be doing to continue to convince you that their school is YOUR future school.

There are a lot of colleges that are posting virtual tours on their websites so that students and families can try to get an idea of their campuses.  There are blogs and social media sharing from admissions officers, college representatives, specific departments, and students to help give a fuller picture of the campus environment.  However, most on campus visit opportunities including special accepted student visit days have all been cancelled.

Prior to this year, the one thing that remained absolutely consistent across every college in the country was May 1st as the College Decision Deadline.  May 1st was the date when every college expected students to submit their deposit to demonstrate their commitment to attending that college next fall.  But, as a result of the Coronavirus, this year, that deadline date has changed for some colleges.  There are multiple reasons behind the shift to a June 1st decision date for various colleges.  Some were hoping that giving students an extra month to make their final decision would hopefully allow campuses to be opened back up to visitors so that students could come and explore campus in person before the new deadline date.  Colleges also know it is possible that some families, from a financial perspective, could have difficulty gathering the money required to pay their deposit by May 1st.  And the other rationale which I think plays into this is the realization that there is so much fear and uncertainty in the world right now that people might be hesitant to make any decision about where they want to go to college - particularly if distance is a factor and the areas where COVID-19 is currently hitting hardest.  So, students might be deciding that they want to stay closer to home or they may be electing to avoid particular areas of the country that are being hit harder by the devastating effects of the virus.  As a result, some colleges are wanting to give our world  more time for the impacts of the virus to balance out before asking kids to make that final choice.

But, not every college is changing their decision deadline to June 1st and that is a BIG deal that you need to pay attention to when making your choices.  If you are debating between 2 colleges and 1 pushes their deadline to June 1st and the other does not, then you essentially have to make your decision by the earlier, May 1st deadline.  You don't have to pay the depoit at the other college until their June 1st deadline, but if you don't commit to the May 1st college by May 1st then you are most probably not going to have the option of attending that school in the fall. 

This website contains the latest compiled information about college changes and you can sort to look for information that applies to you, but I also strongly recommend that you look at your desired colleges individual websites for the most up to date and accurate information.

The other possible change that I am starting to see information about from some more colleges across the country (this is still in very early stages though) is that for current juniors, there may be more colleges who will elect to move to Test Optional for your application cycle.  This is because they know that you have at least 1 less ACT and SAT opportunity to complete the test than students in previous years.  There have always been hundreds of colleges who have been test optional in their admissions approach, but we have already received emails from schools that have historically not been test optional indicating that, at least for the kids in the high school Class of 2021, they will move to a test optional model.  Again, it is hard to predict how wide spread this trend will go, so unless you were set with the score from your February test, you will likely want to repeat the test this June/ July or in the fall.

Things in the college admissions world are changing fast.  I am doing my best to keep track of it all - at least from a big picture scale, but I also encourage you to look for specific details on the college websites that you are considering.

Update Me

You made it through your 1st week of remote learning.  How did it go?  What is working well for you?  What is a struggle for you?  Are there things you wish teachers were doing more or less of?  I want to hear about all of it!

Every week the counselors and administrators are meeting to talk about how things are going and I want to make sure I am sharing accurate information that reflects what all of you are finding through this remote learning experience.

While I definitely want to know how things are going for you academically, I actually care even more about how you are holding up emotionally through all of this.  It is very anxiety provoking and there is so much you are grieving right now.  I hope that you are finding safe and consistent places to share what this is like for YOU!

I came across this article and I suspect it will resonate with how many of you are feeling.  Parents, I encourage you to read this to better understand what your son/ daughter may be feeling and students, I hope you will read it so that you recognize you are not alone in how you feel.

I was talking recently with one of my students who said, "this break stinks!" And, of course, that is true, but here is the reality... this is NOT a break!  I think that is probably part of the problem for many of us (myself included).  We slip into the mindset that we should be able to relax, have fun, and still do our school work.  That isn't how this works... especially with all of the underlying stress that we are dealing with in our world right now.  And that discrepency between reality and expectations is setting you up for disappointment and frustration.

So, please, about all of it, take a minute and send me an email to babbott@wscloud.org and let me know how things are going for you.

Welcome to Remote Learning

Well, it was your first day of Remote Learning... how did it go???  I want to hear from you and know what is going well and what is harder for you.  Eventually I will meet (virtually) with our building administrators and they are going to ask what is working or not with remote learning and the only way I will have good insight to share is if you update me.  So please, send me a quick email as the days progress and let me know how things are going.

One of my concerns when I have thought about all of you trying to learn from home is that there are MANY of you who already struggle with getting work done effectively at home.  I can't even begin to count the number of students who use their options/ prep and lunch times to finish up work or try to hurry and get everything done because they don't want to have to worry about trying to complete the assignments at home.  For others, you get caught in the cycle of "I'll do it later" always thinking that some other moment in time will be when you feel motivated to complete your work.  This typically looks like you thinking, "I don't want to work on this during my lunch so I'll just do this tonight when I get home" and then you get home and think, "I don't want to work on this now, I'll do it in the morning before school" followed the next morning with "ugh, I don't have time to get this done now, I'll do it during lunch/ prep."  And the cycle continues.  The reality is there is no better time.  But, even if I say that and even if you KNOW that, it still is a pattern of behavior that is hard to break.

There are definite advantages/ disadvantages of learning from home.  You get to sleep in later.  (Something many of you desperately want to do.)  You get to create your own environment that meets your learning needs.  And you are in an environment that typically feels safe and supported.  But, all of those advantages can also back-fire and work against you.  It is easy for teenagers to sleep half the day away.  The environment where you might do your work may also be the same place where you typically sit to play video games.  And a place where you feel relaxed, doesn't always elicit enough push to focus and get work accomplished.

So, if you realize already that keeping up with learning remotely is going to be hard for you, what can you do?  I have lots of suggestions for you to consider...

- Come up with a plan.  What is going to be reasonable for YOU?  In addition to completing your school work, what are the other expectations for you with your family?  Are you expected to help with your little brother/ sister?  Are multiple people in your family sharing the same computer?  All of those are key reasons that you need to have a plan.  If you start with a plan then you can always modify it and adjust, but if you have no plan and no "to do list" items for the day, it is going to be really easy to reach the end of the day without accomplishing anything.

-  On social media you have likely seen "experts" spelling out ideal daily schedules for kids and teens.  While some students will absolutely want and need every minute to be spelled out for them, many of you will feel it is too strict and abandon it without ever really trying to actually follow the schedule.  So, come up with a loose enough schedule that works for you.  I know that for many of you when you sit down to do school work, 80% of the time ends up being doing something else - searching for the right music to listen to, checking social media, watching a YouTube video, getting distracted by a video game, responding to a text, taking a FaceTime call, trying to refocus on what you were supposed to be doing, and, at best, 20% of your time is actually on doing the work.  I have seen many students find success by blocking out 3 times of 30 minutes where they fully and intensely work.  Switch the phone to Do Not Disturb, turn it off, give it to a parent, set it in another room, etc. - anything so you don't absent-mindedly grab it and get caught in your old patterns.  Set an alarm for 30 minutes and during those 30 minutes go full out on your work.  Apply yourself, read, write, calculate, whatever is expected and do it intentionally for 30 minutes.  And then stop.  Be done.  Go back to doing the things you wanted to do... the things that typically distract you.  By working intensely for 30 minutes you are getting work accomplished, but it isn't so long that you will feel as if you are missing out on other activities which are definitely more fun than doing work.  And then, two other times in the day, repeat this schedule and time block.  A lot of students can do this successfully if you wake up, give yourself time to do your normal morning routine, and then when you have finished that and caught up on all that there is to know about your friends for the moment, do 30 minutes of work before you eat (probably lunch since you most likely slept in).  Do 30 more minutes after lunch some time, and 30 minutes after dinner if you like to spread it out.  As you start to implement this routine, you may need to adjust the schedule to your needs.  Are your friends more active and wanting to talk more later in the day?  If so, maybe get the 3rd work session in earlier so that you can have that time to relax and enjoy without school work hanging over your head.  YOU get to set the plan, so you get to adjust it to make it work, but try this idea for 4-5 days and see if it works for you.

- Be realistic with yourself.  You are going to need time to transition.  If you think about life as normal... you would wake up, get ready, go to school, and then do school work.  Chances are there were lots of mornings when you would wake up and think, "I don't want to go to school," but then you would get up, get ready, go to school and by the time you were at school you had made that transition and you were ready to learn.  You don't have those same signals and cues, but you can try to create some transition signals to help shift your mind and body into thinking it is time to do school work.  If you notice that you get stuck, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT!  It means you need a change to help you transition.  Stretch, do jumping jacks, take three big deep breaths, go pet your dog or cat, or (if you have a laptop or Chromebook) move your work space somewhere different like the kitchen table.

- You are going to need to figure out a plan for how you will set up some accountability.  At school, you normally are handing in assignments face to face with your teachers and that inherently creates it's own internal reward system.  But we don't have that now... and it is hard to replicate that same feeling when submitting assignments electronically.  So try to figure out who you could have as an accountability partner... who can you be truly open and honest with that will help you stay focused and get work done?  It might be someone else at your house, but most of all it needs to be someone you will be honest with because you can be sitting at your computer in your room for hours and your parents can come in to check on you and no one will know that you were actually sitting there playing Minecraft for hours instead of doing your work.  (Again, that goes back to fully work for shorter time periods and then allow yourself the freedom and flexibility to do those things you want to do.)  So, maybe it will be one of your parents or siblings, or perhaps it is one of your friends who also wants to get some work done, but knowing that you will have to report back on your progress and how you did at following through on your plan and any pitfalls you ran into is valuable and can help keep you on track.

There is no question that this is going to be a BIG adjustment to how you learn and interact with your teachers - just like you are also having to adjust to being at home and away from your friends.  So experiment and try some new strategies and approaches.  If it works - keep doing it.  If it bombs - abandon that idea and try something else.  Most of all though, please apply yourself and get some school work done!  I believe in you!  I know you can do this.  Let me know if you need more help.

Changes

Have you been on the WKHS Counselor website lately? There are SO MANY CHANGES happening so quickly and, I have to be honest, I don't want to overwhelm your inboxes with separate updates on every single one of them. But, the information is helpful related to emotional health, important if you are in an AP class and planning to take the AP exams at the end of this year, time sensitive if you are planning to take an ACT/ SAT this spring/ summer, and it is hopefully useful for all of you!  So I can't stress enough how important it is to me that you begin visiting www.wkhscounselors.com on a regular basis.  If you are checking the website, you already know of the 45 minute AP test that you will take at home and more changes that are coming as a result of this pandemic.

I was sent this article and it was written by the Vice President of Programs at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Dr. Doreen Marshall.  It really is a great way to put this in a perspective that we can understand and visualize when so much of the Coronavirus feels invisible and unknown.  Please read this article.  Go and read through the information on the home page of the Counselor website and select the links that are most applicable to you.  And, most of all, remember that I am here for you!

Supporting Your Mental Health While Navigating Change

Change when things are uncertain is hard. Change that we didn’t choose is harder. Change that has a potential impact on our mental wellness may be the most challenging of all.

The most valuable thing I’ve ever learned about how to navigate change came from a white-water rafting instructor when I was 15 years old. I couldn’t tell you what he looked like, or even who else was in the 6-person raft with me, but I never forgot the lesson, which has helped me at times when I have struggled with my own mental wellness. It went something like this:

If you are thrown out of the raft when the rapids are rough, your first instinct is going to be to stand up, try to resist the rapids, and do your best to climb back into the raft, which is moving. Don’t. Trying to stand up in rapids increases the likelihood your legs will get stuck on rocks and that you could be seriously injured. The raft is moving and slippery, and you won’t likely get back into it easily, no matter how hard you try. Better to wrap your arms around your life vest (which you are wearing) as if you are hugging it, pull your feet up in front of you, and let the rapids carry you down the river until you are in calmer waters. There you can assess the best way to get to land or to where your raft is, since it may or may not be floating down the river with you. If another rafting group is there and you are both in calmer waters, you can get in their raft. The trained guides (in kayaks) will also be looking for you.

I can’t tell you how many times, when things have been uncertain and I have felt anxious, I’ve come back to that image of floating down the river with my feet up and trusting my life vest until waters are calmer. 

We are in some uncertain times. We may wonder if the rapids ahead of us will be rougher than where we are right now, if our current rafts will be meeting us down the river, or if we will be in new rafts when things are calm. This worry may be impacting our mental health.

If you are navigating change and want to support your mental health:

1.    Reach out to who and what you know helps. Turn to the people in your life who are supportive and can listen. Talk about your anxiety, if it helps you, or talk about other things that help you regain a sense of calm. If you feel you have no one to turn to right now, know that there are people who are trained to listen and help, such as a mental health provider. Reach out to them – you don’t need to manage difficult times alone. Supportive people and those trained to help are our life vests.

2.    Do the things that you know help take care of you. Exercise, drink water, take your medication on time and as prescribed, and seek comfort in music, books, journaling, meditation, your pets, or other healthy distractions when things feel too much.

3.    Challenge negative beliefs about change.  One thing you can control is your response in the situation. Challenge your negative beliefs about how you cope with change, especially if those beliefs are rooted in the past. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed, but that doesn’t mean you won’t move forward in a positive way. One way to do this is to engage in small actions that help you gain a sense of control and calm. One thing you can control right now is your breath. Deep breathing will help you regain calm, and costs nothing. There are lots of phone apps, YouTube videos and other resources to help us all practice breathing a little more deeply right now.

4.    Go in the direction of the change. What’s happening right now is moving us all in a direction to be more mindful of how we are in the world, how we relate to one another, and how we take care of our health. Conversations are happening now that were unheard of two months ago, and perspectives are changing in a way that can be good. Remember, change often happens where progress is needed, too.

5.    It’s okay if you end up in a different raft. While you may not know what’s ahead, you can trust that there are many others (an entire world of people, in fact) who are navigating this change with you. You are not alone and there will be others to greet you as things change. Things may be different, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be well or be able to weather new challenges. 

6.    The guides are available and looking to help you. Please know that there are support services out there if you are struggling with your mental health and alone. You don’t need to navigate any of this by yourself. Text TALK to 741741 at the Crisis Text Line or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1800 273-TALK (8255). Many counselors and other helping professionals are also looking to provide telehealth services right now. Take some time to learn about resources in your community, including those that may be online.

We can all do things to help support our mental health in times of change, and in doing so, we encourage others to make their mental health a priority, no matter what is changing around them.