May 18, 2021 | Academic Coaching
ADHD Medication – Safe Storage
This post is sponsored by Adlon Therapeutics L.P, a subsidiary of Purdue Pharma L.P. Personal opinions expressed within this post are my own.
Who is ready for our students to get back to a normal academic and social life?
The pandemic has brought us closer as a family so much that I am NOT feeling a huge need to take our annual family vacation. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with my family and making memories together. Still, after over a year of eating, breathing, and working together, we have had a lot of time to get really close and make memories! My overtired and somewhat irritable mind is fantasizing about me, alone, at a resort that serves my favorite food and drinks while cleaning up after MY messes!
As a parent of a soon-to-be college student, I struggle with the mix of my lingering unabashed mother patrol. My intentions are purely to install good work and cleanliness values, but they are often in conflict with the desire for me to “let go.”
Some of the joys of trying life out on their own have been delayed. They are over-eager to get back to what they envision life to be like for them. For my daughter, it is an independent young adult ready to take the world on and prove that my over-bearing parenting worries are all false. I am feeling the time has come to let her try it out.
I am ready for this new chapter too. I can envision myself sipping fresh fruit drinks at the pool as my young adult happily departs home to chart her own course in life. But I have that deep feeling in my gut to give just a little more parenting around how to manage life responsibly.
Some may say I am overreacting. When ADHD runs in your family the way it does in mine, this is not going overboard. You get used to a predictably unpredictable life of happenings due to a family history of impulsive decision making. This is when I think of an exit plan just in case, I have to dash back from my dreamy solo vacation to intervene. Or at least have a solid phone connection. Those without an impulsive streak in their genetics would think that my thought patterns were absurd and co-dependent but believe me….I do not seek any pleasure in this!
So, how does one help their exuberant college student who cannot wait to escape the shackles of parental oversight help them enjoy the new freedom while using good decision-making choices?
In a perfect world, I see this transition to take responsibility for their life as a right of passage with me waving good-bye with joyful tears in my eyes.
Then I get a second vision where the joyful tears turn to joy FEAR tears.
I read books about the desire for a child to exert self-management skills as early as 3 years old when they say “NO! I do it myself!” This was cute back then, and I remember chuckling and marveling at the fact that my daughter “COULD” dress, brush her own teeth and buckle herself in the car seat. The outcome was not perfect, and I often jumped in candidly to assist, hoping she didn’t notice my takeover.
Now, at 18, she is really ready to exert freedom and self-management skills as an adult. I have to face the reality of my inability to fix things. I had to let go and hope that the years of parenting had some effect on developing a capable young adult who could make good decisions.
This is a mild concern for the neuro-typical kid as I have witnessed from being around moms throughout the years. For the student with ADHD, the only way I can think to describe it is using this metaphor:
Freedom is a dog without a leash
Think of a dog who is always leashed up. The owner can quickly correct the behavior by redirecting them. They are picture-perfect while walking with their owner. People may even comment on what a well-behaved dog you have trained. You take great pride in those comments, yet secretly you know if they were off the leash, the people would be running away from you, fearing for their lives. Not that your dog is mean or vicious. It just has an exuberant amount of energy and loves to interact with people. This leads to them forgetting the social norms you taught them about not getting in peoples’ faces, where and when to do their business, what they can run after and what to leave behind.
Basically, they forget all the rules you taught them in a flash of a second.
This is how I felt the day I dropped off my daughter to the dorms of her freshman year of college.
She was like a dog off her leash for the first time – despite all the trial runs we had practiced for years in advance. I just had the feeling her impulsive behavior would take over!
The fear was deep-rooted in many stories over the years. One of my concerns was her medication and the unbridled opportunity for misuse. I was hoping she had learned a lesson about the dangers of medicines from an incident back when she was 10 years old and was exerting independence and self-management.
I had to learn the hard way about safe storage of ANY type of medication. That toddler who said, “mommy, I do it myself,” continued to develop her independence skills year after year. The problem was, she didn’t always think through the outcome of her actions or consider all the factors it takes to make decisions.
She was competent, and that was the problem.
She had so much confidence in her ability to make decisions, nothing was off-limits.
I used to say she would do EVERYTHING once.
She learned from her mistakes experientially and did not have the type of wiring to think abstractly through her actions. This kept me on my toes as a parent for the most part. I had a real awakening the day the first time I left her alone. I took a quick 15-minute trip to fetch her younger sister from a dance class while she was watching her favorite show.
What could go wrong?
Well, I found out after interrogating her for hours after the incident what went wrong. The fast-acting and impulsive mind took over. Within minutes of me being gone, she noticed that she had a headache. She went to my medicine cabinet and found my aspirin. She never read the label, but decided she needed a few since her headache was bad. She logically followed the routine I did when she was not well. The problem was that she wasn’t using children’s medicine, instead, she grabbed my adult extra strength. I had no idea exactly how many she took because she became so frightened by my actions of calling poison control. I feared she took more than “a few” because the headache wasn’t going away. After watching every breath for the next few hours, I realized that she was fine, luckily. I still get that panicky feeling today reminiscing about that incident.
Adding to what some may call loosely parent PTSD is another incident to set the stage for my fears that day.
The very day she got her driver’s license, she immediately backed into a person behind her at the gas station because they had blocked her in. Yes, she did driver’s safety, driver education, practiced, practiced and practiced. But somehow, we missed that if you get blocked in at the gas station, don’t try to get out of the lineup; even if you are going to be late. Like I said, I had come to terms that she was the one that would do everything once!
It was exhausting as a parent.
I was SOOOO looking forward to the day she was 18 and going to college and yet had that visualization of the dog at the park off-leash for the first time!
Now off to college with her prescription medication in hand. I had a whole new worry.
How would I guide her on her own to navigate these things with the same level of vigilance I gave it?
I thought I had to create a sense of value for her medication safety the way she values her money stashes and cell phone. I approached the subject with a prelude of all valuable things to her: her cell phone, debit cards, computer. Would she allow a friend to borrow any of these things? We ran down the reasons she did not want to “loan out” her items and how to keep the things safe when she couldn’t carry them with her. We had good traction and then came my interjection of how she valued her medication. Surprisingly, it went well! The timing was good and I had segued into this topic smoothly: a win.
We even laughed about her headache story and how scary it was for me and how she would not want to experience that as an adult. So, I felt the timing was right and asked if she could see her medication as valuable and sacred to keep it safe with the other things. We found humor as we talked through the seriousness of her prescription medication. We used a creative analogy of how wonderful it would be to develop a Pez candy dispenser for her medication that had a code she only knew. We came up with a more realistic plan to buy a safe to keep in her room where she could keep all her things secure.
This empowered her to start her true “adulting” behavior. What followed was a conversation that led to a review of tips for keeping her medication safe.
Here are the points we talked about to be an enlightened medical consumer and be “SPAFE” (slang for Especially safe)
SPAFE Plan:
Create a daily ritual
build the habit –more likely to follow through
Feeling a “laze-day?” DON’T
Just snap the cap and play it safe
Spin the dial
Lock it up in the SPAFE place
When it goes south
In the unfortunate event the SPAFE place was violated.
Know the count:
If you have a plan with your daily pills, this should be easy
Brave the ask
While hard to confront, ask if you suspect someone did it.
Have a Say
Know what you will say if you are asked – here is a video for ideas
It took quite a bit of energy to create a situation for a conversation like this to happen without the typical family triggers. The effort was well worth it to help ease my fears of the dog off the leash scenario happening given her past history.
Creating a relatable situation that she could truly identify with set the groundwork for this to be successful. My tip for you beyond the ones above is this: Find that sacred thing your son or daughter values so much that they put as their highest priority in any given moment. Use it in developing a strong analogy that will truly stick with them well after you leave them on their own.
For more parent tips and advice check out this link
Michelle R. Raz, M.A. Ed., is a professional executive function coach and educational consultant. She specializes in helping people with executive function challenges associated with ADHD be the best version of themselves in their academic and career journeys.
Oct 14, 2020 | Academic Coaching
3 Get Focused Advice for the ADHD Remote Learning Student
Learning at home is full of distractions; there is your sister watching the television, your brother playing his online games, and the noise coming from the outside. While focus is an essential factor in remote learning, students with ADHD struggle and find it hard to focus on their schoolwork.
With all the distractions and challenges that you may encounter as a student with ADHD, what do you think are the things that will help keep you in focus while learning?
This blog will give you three focused Tips for the ADHD Remote Learning Student.
Stick to your medication routine
Staying healthy is what matters most because your behavior starts with yourself. If you feel good about yourself, that’s step one to feel good about your day too and if that happens, you will be inspired on whatever it is you’re doing, well in this case in your schoolwork.
If you have ADHD medication, take it regularly or as prescribed. It helps reduce the tendency to have an overactive and thinking brain, inattentiveness and impulsivity. However, not everyone is too keen on medication. If this is you, I encourage you to look into alternative ways to help your cognitive skills. You can read more tips on this on my Instagram page. There is a lot of advice for whether you are taking medications or not to improve your lifestyle through a good self-care routine.
Just a reminder, be responsible with your medication. If you want to know more about what I mean on this topic go here.
Set a goal
It’s Monday, the weekend felt so short and you feel lazy. What do you usually do to start your day?
Make a goal for today or for the week. Starting your day with a goal in mind will help you keep your focus. You can start with one goal a day and set the alarm on your phone daily to remind you of what you need to do. Once your alarm rings, never ever snooze it, make it a habit to really begin “doing” and start the day with a no procrastinating mode of operation. Eventually, when you’ve already got the hang of doing your tasks on a daily basis, you will be set on your routine.
To be able to do that, first, you have to know what you have to achieve and commit to it. Use your planner. I have a great and easy one I use with clients and share it in a previous video. You have to create a plan, a step by step process on what needs to be done. That plan of small activities will help keep you on track and focused.
Create the mood
One’s environment affects their behavior significantly. For your online class, create a regular study space for yourself and keep it organized. Setting up a dedicated learning environment will help create a positive mood for you and it will help you focus on achieving or finishing your task.
Having your work done in one place repeatedly allows you to be familiar and establish your daily routine. Your space can be anywhere around the house, wherever works best for you and wherever you feel most comfortable. Having a designated place for your daily class will help you stay organized. Keeping your important files in one place will make it easier for you to access everything.
Staying at home is a global effort to stay safe and healthy amid the pandemic. In our current situation, online classes are the best option for students to keep going and still be on track on their academic journey. It can be challenging at first because online classes have its fair share of challenges in reality. These Tips for the ADHD Remote Learning Student tips will help navigate ADHD and the stressors.
Michelle R. Raz, M.A. Ed., is a professional executive function coach and educational consultant. She specializes in helping people with executive function challenges associated with ADHD be the best version of themselves in their academic and career journeys. You can follow her for fun and motivational ADHD facts and free advice on Instagram or Facebook.
Sep 7, 2020 | Academic Coaching
COVID-19 College Challenges
College is a big deal, especially for incoming freshmen. It is the most awaited time for students to finally have their freedom, freedom from home, freedom from their parents’ rules. Entering college is a new era of making friends and opening up themselves to the excitement and fear that goes along with it.
And then comes Covid-19
It’s like someone just popped all the balloons at a party and turned off the music! This has had such a significant effect on college life that many students are opting to take a year off and wait this out.
So, what about the students that are going ahead with their college plans for this year?
Adapting to a new normal is filled with uncertainty, fear, and disappointment. Let’s discuss some of the possible challenges that you may encounter along your college journey and what possible solutions you can do to still create memories.
Cut the cord and finally have some freedom!
Now that COVID-19 has turned the world upside down and schools have transitioned to online learning, you might feel that you’re still stuck if you are living at home. You still live in the same house as your parents and you still have to follow their rules. So much for you cutting the cord and being independent, you are thinking.
While at home, challenge yourself to be more independent. Do activities alone, finish some chores alone, or give yourself time to the things you need to learn before wanting the freedom that you’ve always wanted. Do you know how to balance your bank account? Know how to set up utilities in your name? What bills do you pay on your own? Take some time to set yourself up with some personal finance skills needed to be genuinely independent while staying at your parents’ house. You might just get some useful guidance and input. Trust me, they will most likely be very eager and willing to help you out!
Social Life Stifled!
If you do have some classes in person, making new friends while not meeting other students without wearing a mask is awkward at best. How are you going to know them? Maybe you have an online class that is hybrid with some in-person and some remote learning. In this situation, you can get the benefit of actually seeing the person without a mask! I know seeing them online is different than knowing them personally, but it can be a hybrid situation like the classes themselves. It will certainly give you something to look forward to when it is safe to go out with friends without masks. Having something to look forward to is a good feeling too. Making new friends in the middle of this pandemic is one of a kind experience for sure!
The excitement of a change of scenery after so many months at home…
One of the things that you might be excited about college is the change of environment. Arriving on campus and realizing that you are still: confined to wearing masks, staying in your dorm, pod or apartment to study, eat with little socializing can leave you feeling disappointed and frustrated. How can you really have the freedom to explore and enjoy the new scenery change if you are so confined? Maybe, this is the time to take up hiking or biking. Often college towns are in ideal areas for outdoor opportunities. If you did not get to leave and remote learning is your only option, you can look at the positive. A good thing that studying at home can offer us is being in the comfort of our own home with no negative influences and distractions around you. You might just have a stellar academic semester. During this challenging time, appreciating the little things at home is one positive way to look at it.
As you navigate this fall with Covid-19 and college challenges, think outside the box and find ways to make it work out the best it can for you. It is a good practice to find the positives or lessons in the face of challenges. When this pandemic of over, you will be better equipped to face whatever the next challenge is in life.
You got this!
Let me know your concerns with Covid-19 and college challenges. Go ahead and Ask Raz! for personal feedback, just click the link: https://www.razcoaching.com/ask_raz/. If you have anything to share, please feel free to reach out to me at www.razcoaching.com or www. coachingacademics.com. michelle@razcoaching.com Or follow my www.Instagram.com/razcoaching. I do daily mini blogs with tips of inspiration. There’s something in there for you that can help you with your focus for the day.
Aug 13, 2020 | Academic Coaching
Dark Impact of Remote Learning for Students with Disabilities
COVID 19 has caused pandemic that brought a lot of changes to our way of living. One of the most affected areas is education, especially for students with disabilities. The pandemic has resulted in schools shut all across the world and as result, education has changed drastically with the rise of remote learning where lectures will take place remotely on digital platforms.
While schools are having transition from traditional face to face classes to online education, there are several issues that must be given attention to. A big portion of that is the disadvantages of remote learning to students with ADHD.
The following are the barriers to education through remote-learning practices that students with disabilities may encounter along the process.
Need for one on one instructional support challenges.
Students tend to learn faster, master more instructions and remember lessons in one-on-one teacher and student interaction or the traditional face to face learning method. One-on-one learning relationships encourage students to take control over their studies, have the confidence to communicate what they need, and receive the attention that will enable them to focus on what they’re doing.
Now that classes will be through online learning formats, there are several things to worry about. Teachers paying attention to students and their educational requirement will not be as personal as before. Giving the students the instructions online is different from supporting and guiding them.
Behavior Modification and intervention needs.
Nobody can’t force a child to change his behavior. However, there is one thing you can do. Change the environment in a way that he’ll be more motivated to change. Behavior modification is about modifying the environment in a way that your child has more incentive to follow the rules.
While behavioral intervention for ADHD students is finding a way to understand and modify or change behaviors that interfere with the student’s ability to learn.
The need to modify a child’s behavior depends on the personality of the students. When developing behavior interventions, it is important to remember that every ADHD child is different.
With the students having more time at school than at home, behavior modification and intervention is often exercised at school by their teachers. A change in learning environment is a factor to look at. Students are expected to also change their behavior in a different environment. They can lose their focus, get distracted easily and take a more relaxed approach to their studies.
Mental Health issues: Depression, Anxiety and Isolation.
For some people, depression, anxiety and ADHD happen to co-exist, but for others, depression or anxiety is a result of ADHD, with low self-esteem and a poor self-image caused by ongoing feelings of being overwhelmed by life due to many ADHD symptoms that they are dealing with on a daily basis.-
Studying at home with ADHD alone is a challenge, what more if the student is suffering from depression and anxiety? How hard can it be for them to accomplish remote learning? It will be difficult for students to complete tasks that require high-motor and cognitive skills. They may feel confused, scatterbrained, overwhelmed or easily frustrated. Even basic everyday tasks become difficult for them.
Students with disabilities are at higher risk due to the needs and impacts for remote learning mentioned above. Amid the challenges and risks, the most important thing to keep in mind is the education and safety of students and teachers must be balanced. Education is important but enjoying and learning through the process is what makes it more valuable.
Can you think of other challenges that might get in the way during remote learning sessions?
What are those and how do you think will it affect the quality of a student’s education?
Let me know your concerns on this matter, go ahead and Ask Raz! for personal feedback, just click the link: https://www.razcoaching.com/ask_raz/
If you have anything to share please feel free to reach out to me at www.razcoaching.com or www. coachingacademics.com. michelle@razcoaching.com Or follow my www.Instagram.com/razcoaching. I do daily mini blogs with tips of inspiration. There’s something in there for you that can help you with your focus for the day.
Jun 18, 2020 | Academic Coaching
Why I Worked Through Cognitive Struggles after a TBI while earning a Master’s Degree
A 4-part story of adversity, courage, hope and success for one TBI survivor
Lisa had worked through the initial phases of a TBI patient, completed her bachelor’s degree, yet still wondered what she could do to fit in while struggling with on going cognitive challenges. She pushed herself through yet another degree program at the graduate level to learn and heal, but it still was not enough.
This is part three of a four-part series of how one traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivor overcame obstacles to improve her quality of life when appropriate resources seemed out of reach. We learned how Lisa’s life changed after a terrible accident in Part I: Overcome Obstacles Instead of Being Overcome by Them and in Part II how her she combatted her damaged spirit, executive function with determination.
These obstacles and challenges associated with TBI survivors include many skills associated with execution functions of the brain. These skilled functions can be thought of as the command center of the brain that controls the cognitive processes such as decision-making, impulse control, attention, emotional regulation, and working memory.
Here is part three of her story.
Progress Takes Time
During my undergraduate work, I did a significant amount of research on mild to moderate traumatic brain injury and found there to be limited research regarding mental health and TBI survivors. The wonderful degree I had just earned would not be enough for me to be able to work with fellow survivors.
I do not know about other survivors’ experience with locating a mental health provider who understands and works with TBI survivors, but I ran into a number of therapists who wanted to throw a label on me (whether right or not) and use therapeutic approaches that did not work with my processing and cognitive impairments.
The therapists would say “I can’t help you”, give me a name of someone else to pawn me off on, and be done with it. When I began going to a brain injury support group, I realized there were more people like me out there with similar struggles.
Why not take my accident and turn it into something good to work with other people just like me? I sure did not understand “normal people” and “normal people” reaffirmed time and again that they had no interest in attempting to understand me. So, back to rehabilitation (school) I went.
Unfortunately, the “I can’t help you” therapist plea did not end or improve on the “Learning to Become One of Them” journey. I saw many TBI survivors not being provided with appropriate services and were given diagnoses just as inappropriate when I was doing my internship for my master’s program.
Three years later, I graduated and was blessed with the opportunity to become licensed as a therapist and began working within a private practice where I had the freedom to work with TBI survivors without negative backlash. This, while still working for the other employer (great benefits) and the associated disrespect (bad benefit) I had served for over three years at the time.
I had the misconception that after I graduated and made something out of myself that life would be better, and I would finally earn the respect of my peers. For some reason, this matters to me. If people do not respect me, they are surely not going to see me as someone they would want to work with in a therapeutic setting.
It seemed like my boss with the long-term employer lost respect for me when I earned a master’s degree, which was disappointing because I had a lot of respect for that boss who actually came to my undergraduate graduation and told me how proud they were of my accomplishment.
My self-esteem tanked once again, and I struggled with not feeling good enough. The judgments, cold-shoulders, and rejections were taking their toll on my well-being. What was wrong with me, I wondered?
My cognitive and processing functions began to regress and my mental health was struggling with my hearing the same tune as before, “I can’t help you” or “I am not a good fit for you”. Those feelings of being a freak or an alien returned, and I wondered again why people are so cruel, quick to judge, and slow to understand?
What I was doing was not working, so I began considering ways I could work on my self-esteem and insecurity issues without the willingness of a mental health professional to work with me.
Have any of you ever wanted to get help but could not get it?
Money is a huge factor, in addition to finding a therapist who is compatible with your emotional needs, finding a therapist with an available opening within a few weeks is another challenge, and by the time you actually get an appointment with a therapist, weeks have passed and the motivation to work on your issues has gone on vacation somewhere. Your motivation is on a beach somewhere, while your emotions are playing pinball in your brain.
Overstimulation? No. De-stimulation? Yes.
I went a year-and-a-half swimming uphill in a river of depression. Deaths and dear friendships lost were added weights to my load and I once again struggled with despair. I was driving my vocational-rehab counselor crazy……..
I needed to do something.
Until next time.
Dr. Lisa Ansell, Guest Blogger
Lisa Marie Ansell, Ed.D., LPC, NCC, CBIS
Licensed Professional Counselor
National Certified Counselor
Certified Brain Injury Specialist
Adjunct Professor at a Private University
If you have anything to share please feel free to reach out to me at www.razcoaching.com or www. coachingacademics.com. michelle@razcoaching.com Or follow my www.Instagram.com/razcoaching. I do daily mini blogs with tips of inspiration and post almost every day. There’s something in there for you that can help you with your focus for the day.
Mar 25, 2020 | Academic Coaching
5 Online School Survival Tip
We are in some really challenging times. The way we go about our life is changing minute by minute.
Are you finding yourself in new roles?
You might have just become a teacher or an academic coach and a home health care provider. Things that you didn’t typically think that would be in your repertoire but now are forced upon you by these new changes. Rightfully so, we need to be responsible citizens.
You might be feeling overwhelmed, confused and frustrated.
I want to ease some of that frustration and fear of what you are now being strapped with. If you are having to help a college student or a public school student at home, I will be able to offer you some advice.
This is what I do for a living every day. For over 10 years, I have helped hundreds of students to be successful in their academic life and career planning. Specifically, I work with clients in organizing, time management, task initiation, planning, prioritizing and keeping them accountable. These are what we call the areas of executive functions.
How is this online format going to work?
Maybe they’ve had a class online before and it wasn’t successful for them. These can be triggers and barriers to their academic success in the coming weeks. So, I want to give you five online school survival tips to help get you started.
You got this!
I often tell my clients or parents of students that I work with what I do is very systematic and it can be done by anybody. The difference is that I’m a third party. So sometimes, when there are internal conflicts or triggers within families, it’s nice to have that third party. I know from firsthand because I certainly paid it forward within my own family and I would still do that today if needed.
So let’s get down to these strategies.
Advocate
I want to make this quick for you. When you start online schooling, it’s essential to be your own best advocate. It’s important that you self-advocate if you’re not understanding something and need clarity. You need to reach out to your instructors. You’re in charge of letting people know what you need best.
Now for a younger student, this is where the parent has to be intuitive. But it’s important to advocate and it’s going to take a while to get used to.
Start off with writing out what you need or what your student needs to be a successful online student. Share it with somebody that is helping you transition into this new learning environment.
Resources
Second of all, there are many resources in this day and age. We are so lucky that we have resources such as online tutoring programs. A lot of the schools probably are going to be offering those. There’s online counseling you can seek as well. Just like myself, It’s really something that can be done through Skype Zoom or Facetime. It’s very common these days.
Make sure that you know what your resources are.
If you’re going to be struggling in one particular subject area and you know that you are going to need help, ask questions about available resources. And that goes back to being your own best advocate.
Goals
Goals are super important to set when you have a lot of unstructured time. When I’m working with clients that have online classes, the biggest pitfall for them is not setting weekly and daily goals. That’s a crucial part of what I do. They need to see what’s in front of them and what they want to get done each day and week.
When the instructors give you what they want you to do, take the initiative to set goals and structure your day accordingly. An example of setting goals might be: if your instructors are giving you weekly to-dos on a Sunday evening or Monday, start the week off with a goal-setting session. What is it that you need to accomplish by that Friday and budget your time accordingly for each class. Structure it so that you have built-in time for breaks lunches and tutoring time if you need that.
If you take the time to set the goals that will give you purpose each day and a focus which is an added bonus. Right now, I’m seeing a lot of students pretty bored even though they’re kind of excited to not be in classes. They may have a list of some things they can do around the house, but they’re not supposed to be outside interacting with other people in very large groups. There is only so much downtime they can have. And we really need a purpose and something to do for our mental health. Lay this out with them on a planner with each class and budget that time accordingly. Map it out so that they have a purpose each day. Match it with the weekly plan from the instructor. Your student is going to have a daily purpose now.
Read The Instructions
It’s essential to look at the instructions and read the syllabus. Now as easy and common sense as that sounds, I can’t tell you how many students that I work with that don’t read the instructions. They don’t look at the rubrics. They’re not following the syllabus.
The instructors are going to be communicating a lot via email and possibly sending documents for you to read and follow. If you have a student challenged with some of the executive functions, take the time during goal-setting to go over the syllabus for the week. Check the rubric if they’re doing a project so that they understand what is expected of them. This is an independence skill that even college students struggle with at times. They don’t take that time to just follow through to make sure that what they think the professor or teacher wants is actually what they think they need to do. There are often times when they’re mismatched. I cannot stress enough to take the time to read the materials.
Time To Organize with a planner
I do know there are a lot of instructors out there that are using individual Web sites that can be pretty confusing. So if you feel frustrated with too many instructional sites to coordinate, come up with a plan to take charge of your time and get organized with a planner.
I have a systematic way that I do it. Have all of your subjects across the top of your planner with the due dates set and then backfill it with how you are going to get it done. Start with the end in mind. For example, if there is a project or a test, put that on planner and color code it red, so it stands out. I do it by the month and by the week with students so they can be very clear on what it is that’s important and then backfill it. The next step is to plan how you are going to meet that goal of the test, paper, or project and backfill each step to make the work manageable.
Accountability
It is super important to hold them accountable each day. Not only are we taking charge of the time by getting organized, but they will also know what’s expected of them. The accountability I recommend is for whoever’s in charge of overseeing student work, whether it be an elementary, high school or college student, look at the progress at the end of the day. I have my clients color code a completed task as blue to show it completed.
I cannot stress accountability as a critical factor in your student’s success enough. In our distracted lives, we tend to forget to follow through on things. We set these goals. We are organized but we don’t follow through to make sure that it got done. In our current situation, most parents are juggling working out of their home, taking care of their family, trying to get groceries and maybe taking care of an elderly person. There’s a lot of stress and there’s a lot going on.
What I recommend and I do myself is to put reminders in my phone. I ask my clients to set reminders in their phones as well. The accountability check-ins at the end of the day improve academic success. Have some kind of reward in place when it does get done. Make it something they can do like gaming or binge-watching a movie series are ideas.
The accountability is what’s going to make them feel accomplished every day. If the student does not get done or meets a daily goal, you’ve got the flexibility to be at home and plenty of time to complete it.
I hope that these tips helped you.
- Advocate for yourself
- Resources: make sure you’ve got them in place
- Goals: Set them each week
- Read the syllabus: make sure you understand what the instructors want (rubric)
- Take charge of your time and get organized with accountability.
If you do these five things, you will set yourself up during these challenging times for success. You might just help your student become an independent learner by doing the work on his or her own.
Once you follow this for a few weeks, they will get into a routine and it will begin to flow.
It’s going to be a different home environment but you can get into this flow and be successful. This is a time when we really need to embrace our duties. Things are changing day by day but you can put into place a routine at home that your students can adjust to quickly.
Best of luck out there.
If you have anything to share please feel free to reach out to me at www.razcoaching.com or www. coachingacademics.com. michelle@razcoaching.com Or follow my www.Instagram.com/razcoaching. I do daily mini blogs with tips of inspiration. I post almost every day. There’s something in there for you that can help you with your focus for the day.
