2nd Quarter
- Individual meetings continue with counselors in October
- PLAN administered in November
Plan
While the PSAT serves as a preparation test for the SAT, the PLAN serves as a preparation test for the ACT. It is also useful in assessing personal interest. The PLAN provides feedback about how the student compares academically to sophomores throughout the country. Its greatest value is that students receive direct feedback on each answer of the test and can see exactly what they need to change and where they need to improve.
Recommendations to Parents
We advise parents to expect to see their sons squirming under the increase in the quantity and depth of material to be learned in sophomore year. There is usually some resistance to assigned homework, but mostly there is little expectation or understanding of the regular review that would reduce the strain before tests and quizzes. Note-taking skills for reading and lecture material are essential. Sophomores are likely to have little by way of skill or habit in this regard. While Global History teachers try to make these skills a focus, sophomores tend not to see these skills as applicable anywhere else in the curriculum, when they are not expressly told to do so.
Your most supportive stance is often one of pacing, as a partner, rather than supervising from a distance. This may be needed to get new habits started. Sophomores want to be independent, but may lack the needed competence in skills or organization that would make them truly self-sufficient in matters of academic performance. Those who lack such competence are also likely to fear adult involvement as a threat to independence and to their much-needed, "front" of competency. One way to start is to let them know that they are not expected to have acquired the skill or capacity already and that they simply need to be "groomed" into discipline and success, as we were! Try having them teach you what they learned from a book or lecture, in a class where their performance is an issue. You could also remind them that they could rewrite their notes, condensing them onto review sheets. Those who have tried these methods are reporting greater satisfaction, not only grade-wise, but also in their relationships at home and school!
Please call your son's counselor, if you are anxious about your son's performance in the first quarter. Remember that they do not need punishment or threats, but concrete plans in how to work more effectively. Certainly, many students will have to make some difficult choices and may try to blame you or the system for putting them in such a bind, but calmly focus on helping them to come up with a strategy that works, not on what pleasurable activities he might need to curtail. If you would like some assistance in this, we are eager to meet with you.
Sometimes, students get unnerved by a lack of immediate success and may be losing hope. Your anger and frustration may only compound the pressure. Other students are just beginning to broaden or deepen social connections. The issue of using alcohol or other drugs, in order to escape the pressure and disappointment, or to fit in with a particular group, often begins at this point. All SLUH students have to make a decision on this issue. The more hospitable you are to discussing the inevitability and complexity of the choice, rather than preaching dictums, the more likely you are to have balanced and open responses. Again, we would be happy to be of assistance.
