Most stressful time in the academic year… Solution? Drink Water

Posted on April 18, 2012 by johnwilliams

End of April, early May is the most stressful time for high school students.  Finals are coming up.  Year-end grades.  Summer is close but not close enough.  Pretty depressing.

But here’s my all-time favorite tip to beat end-of-year stress:

Drink Water.

Drinking Water is Good

Here are five reasons why students (especially high school students) need to carry a water bottle:

1) Thirsty people are grumpy.  It’s hard to study when you’re grumpy.

2) It’s lame to have to ask someone to get a drink of water.  I feel bad for students.  I really do.  Imagine an adult, “Um… excuse me boss, but can I be excused to get a drink of water?”  Carrying a water bottle is a way around lame rules.

3) Feel Better.  It’s a scientific fact.  People who drink water feel better.

4) Better focus.  Drinking water helps the brain focus and think better.

5) Better sleep.  Apparently drinking water before bed is a great idea that leads to deeper, more restful sleep.

And here’s one final reason..

Look Better.  Apparently drinking lots of water makes skin more hydrated and look better.

Sometimes it’s the little things that end of making a big difference.  In the most stressful time in the academic year, drinking water is one of those little and often overlooked actions that make a big difference.

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A Day of Rest

Posted on April 8, 2012 by johnwilliams

Play-time is important.  Downtime is crucial.  That’s why I don’t schedule any appointments on Sunday with a definitive time ever.  (With a few notable exceptions.)

The trouble with the school schedule is that most students wait until Sunday evening to do all of their homework.  Still, on Friday night and Saturday a part of students’ minds are still reserved for thinking about what they have to do to get ready for Monday.

It’s exhausting to never rest, burdened with the knowledge that you need to be prepared for the next day at work.  Unfortunately, being in that state of stress or trying to escape it is the reality of most teenagers.

If a student could figure out a way to be disciplined enough to get all their homework finished Saturday, they would definitely get A’s with half the stress.

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Myth about the Common Core: Students were asked to help

Posted on April 6, 2012 by johnwilliams

Myth: Students were asked what they wanted to learn.

Fact: Of course not!!  At no point did we ask students what they wanted to learn.  Panels of adult experts with teaching degrees got together and set the standards.  Who would imagine asking students for their input?!?

For more myths and facts, check out:

http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/myths-vs-facts

p.s.  Just to be super-duper clear: not one student was asked about what they wanted to learn in regards to the Common Core Standards that every single high school student in the United States will be required to learn.  Silly myth.

Posted in Life Coaching for Teens, Life Skills, Re-Designing Education | Leave a comment

Results do NOT equal Identity

Posted on April 4, 2012 by johnwilliams

Two big questions that teenagers (and everyone else for that matter) ask themselves:

  1. Who am I?
  2. How do I fit in?

Students get bombarded – literally bombarded – with grades that reflect on their status every school day.  It is so tempting for students to identify self-worth with grades.  It’s an easy measurement of how good they are and how they stack up to their peers, right?

(For adults you could simply substitute money for grades and you get the same effect.)

 

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Reality Check

Posted on April 3, 2012 by johnwilliams

So many students received their acceptance and rejection letters in the mail this past weekend.  The trouble with college acceptances and rejections is that it puts a student’s happiness in the seemingly arbitrary hands of admission officers.

The ironic part about the whole process is that those teenagers who have pursued something they love and excelled in, regardless of college admissions, usually get into their favorite schools.

Those students who spend time doing things just because it looks good for admissions, usually don’t get into their favorite schools.  Rejection letters are a harsh reality.  Equally harsh – and the big reality check for many students – is realizing that they wasted time doing something they didn’t really love.

Posted in Life Coaching for Teens, Preparing for College | Leave a comment

The Urge to be Distracted

Posted on April 2, 2012 by johnwilliams

The urge to be distracted feels like a need for more information.  Usually the problem, however, isn’t that the mind needs more information.  The problem is that the mind needs to dump information.

A clear mind thinks better.

The problem with giving into the urge to be distracted and check social media, the latest news, or the internet is that it doesn’t clear the mind.  It clutters it.

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The Secret behind finding the “Common Core”

Posted on April 2, 2012 by johnwilliams

Here’s a peak behind Google’s way of making sure it’s page ranks are accurate.

http://www.google.com/onceuponatime/technology/pigeonrank.html

I’m pretty sure that the same databanks are being used to compile the Common Core for Curriculum in the United States.

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Bully: Maybe one of the most important films made about education (but how could the makers be so stupid?)

Posted on April 2, 2012 by johnwilliams

So much of a student’s real education is in navigating the social land-mines of Middle School and High School.  Bully is a brilliant film that brings an awareness and an insight into the tragedy of bullying in an effort to end it.  I LOVE the MOVIE and wish students an watch it.

Yet it got an ‘R’ rating for six f-bombs, making it impossible to view in classrooms.

People are mad at the rating agency.  Really?!?  Even signing a petition to get it rated PG-13.  Really?!?

How about making a version of the movie with the 6 f-words bleeped out?

How about knowing the rules of the rating agency so that you can really achieve your aim?

Unfortunately it seems that the makers of Bully are claiming to be bullied by the Motion Picture Association of America.

(Psst… it’s so much easier to add a few bleeping bleeps to your movie…)

http://youtu.be/rjjeHeAzZZM

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Common Phrases I Hear from Teenagers New to Coaching

Posted on April 2, 2012 by johnwilliams

Common phrases I hear from teenagers new to coaching:

  • I want to have better friends.
  • I don’t know how to study.
  • I just want to be happy when I grow up.
  • I don’t know.
  • My mom (or dad) really bugs me.
  • Mr. Teacher is terrible.  Everyone in my class thinks so too.

Phrases I’ve heard from teenagers after a few coaching sessions: 

  • I realize how easy it is to be a better friend.
  • Reviewing is not studying.
  • I talked with this (expert in some field) and asked them questions about what they do.
  • I don’t know.  (Still happens.)
  • My mom (or dad) are much calmer now that my grades are getting better.
  • Ok.  So Mr. Teacher isn’t as bad as I thought.  I actually had a good conversation with him.

Thoughts going through my mind:

  • I love my work.
  • I care about teenagers being proactive and successful.
  • The hardest part is getting them to believe in themselves and taking those first steps.
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To Care: A Guide to Parenting

Posted on April 2, 2012 by johnwilliams

I was talking with a parent last night about Life Coaching for teenagers.  I was telling her my story about how I got to do what I do.  I started talking about the impact this work has had on teenagers.

Then something surprised me.

She started to cry.

I asked her, “What is it?”

“You have no idea how scary it is to think of the world changing and not having a clue about what it means for me, let alone what it means for my daughter,” she replied.

It’s true.  I have the same concern for my two daughters, and I started to tear up too.  So there we were, both of us sitting there with tears in our eyes.

Later that night, I was thinking about why I cried.  I think it’s because parents care so much, and I thought about the one thing that I want my two girls to learn.

The answer when I woke up this morning:  I think it’s as simple as teaching them to care.

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