Productivity @ Home

What I Learned at High School Graduation: Lesson 4 -- Deciding to Make a Difference

Today, I continue my weeklong series on lessons learned by attending our high school's graduation last weekend. This weekend, I had the joy of attending the graduation ceremonies for my son's high school. Adam is only a Junior this year, but we were on hand to celebrate with several of his senior friends. Perhaps since my own son wasn't graduating, I did a better job of listening to each of the five individuals who spoke. I found that I took away a lesson from each of their speeches. This week, I will be highlighting one of those lessons each day.

The second student speaker at Saturday's commencement, nationally-ranked forensics competitor Shaun Lichti, set the stage by inviting us to imagine ourselves at the foot of the steps of the Great Library of Alexandria. 

"Awesome," I thought to myself, "I love libraries! Let's go!"

Then Shaun shared the catch -- you are an impoverished man with no access to the building that holds the collective sum of all the world's knowledge. You can stand on the steps and contemplate the core of all learning, but your station in life prohibits you from embracing it. Even if you could enter the building, your illiteracy would prevent you from making any sense of the tomes surrounding you.

My, how our world has changed. Shaun rightly reminded me how prolific information is in our world today. We lack former civilizations barriers of access to education. 

But so too do we lack that desire, the burning pattion to learn, to grow, and to share our knowledge with others. The prevalance of so much data, so much information, and so much noise around us has dulled the part of us that is desperate to climb those library steps and take it all in.

What My College Son Teaches Me about Learning

On Wednesdays, I share my thoughts on Learning and Personal Development.

On Friday night, we made the three hour drive to San Francisco to pick up a treasure -- my eldest son Eric, who just finished his sophomore year of college. Sporting a Harvard sweatshirt and a few days growth of beard, Eric had the slightly beleaguered look of someone who had just been through finals. You remember that feeling -- sleep deprived, randomly crammed tidbits of knowledge as yet unforgotten, thrilled that the tests are behind you, and anxiously awaiting the outcomes.

As a mom, for years now it's been my job to teach Eric and his brother Adam. I was the queen of flashcards and storytime and asking, "Is your homework done?"

I should have caught a clue sometime around fifth grade when my boys' Math left me in the dust that they would eventually be the ones teaching me.

It's clear to me now. 

Unfreeze Your Brain with Kahn Academy

Every Wednesday, I share my thoughts on Learning and Personal Development.

Sometime in the early first grade, I came to the conclusion that I was "bad" at Math. I attribute it both to my own personal attitude and to a teacher who perhaps herself didn't like math and wasn't too great at teaching it. I managed to survive those elementary school years, high school math, and even barely scraping by in Pre-Calc my first semester at Notre Dame before landing in the "dummy math" class second semester. My classmates there, largely members of various Fighting Irish sports teams, were also bright people who just didn't "get" the whole math thing.

In our home, the division of parenting labor found me squarely in charge of helping with most homework except anything related to math. Once the boys evolved beyond memorization of times tables, I was out of my league.

So imagine my surprise when I recently discoverd the amazing Kahn Academy and found myself voluntarily watching videos of Math lessons! The Kahn Academy, a not-for-profit educational endeavor launched by Salmon Kahn in 2006, is truly revolutionizing the way people learn using technology tools and a systematic approach to teach not only math, but also science, humanities and even test preparation. It's a terrific resource not only for the students in our lives, but also for "grown ups" who -- like myself -- gave up all hope of learning math years ago.

A quick visit to the Kahn Academy website is sure to inspire you to spend ten minutes per day learning something new -- whether it's simple equations or a history lesson, this style of learning offers us the ability to go from "bad" at something to proficient in no time!

Have you used Kahn Academy for yourself or a student in your life? What other types of online services help you and your family to learn and grow?

Topic Updates

With my second manuscript in the editing phase -- and thus off my desk and onto my editor's -- I have a bit more time to spend here at P@H.  I'm going to slightly update our agenda here and will be focusing on the following daily topics:

• Monday - Working Issues
• Tuesday - Family Life Issues
• Wednesday  - App Spotlights
• Thursday - Finance and Learning Issues
• Friday - Entertainment Topics and Fitness Solutions

Is there a topic you'd like to see discussed here?  Sound off in the comments below!

Resolutions Continued - Soul

As I continue sharing some of my New Year's resolutions with you in the "Heart, Mind, Body & Soul" format of my upcoming book The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul, today I want to focus for a few moments on "Soul". 

Most of you know that I'm a pretty faith-oriented person.  Because readership of this blog is more diverse than the other places where I write, I will spare you the specific details of my faith-oriented resolutions for this year.  I will say, however, that for me to be "successful" in my other goals for this year, this particular set of resolutions is the bedrock upon which the others are built.

Regardless of your personal religious affiliation (or intentional lack thereof), I hope you will join me in making time each and every day for quiet in your life.  We can all get so caught up in the busy-ness of our worlds that we neglect our spiritual underpinnings.  For me, I know that when I let this part of my life go astray, the wheels begin to fall off of the cart and nothing else runs properly.  What I call "prayer time" you may call "meditation" or "silent time". 

Resolutions Continued - Mind

As I was sharing with you yesterday, this year I've divided my New Years resolutions into four categories:  Heart, Mind, Body and Soul to accompany the upcoming release of my first book, The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul. 

Today, I'd like to give you a peek into a few of my "Mind" resolutions, that is those efforts to improve my intellectual abilities.  Falling into this category are topics such as being a life-long learner, time management issues, career related issues, family finances and more. 

A Shocking Vision of Students, New Media and Technology

With a teen headed to college next year and a tremendous interest in New Media, this video caught my attention when I saw it recently on a friend's blog.  I've seen my kids "multitask", seen how they interact with their friends online and in person, seen them turn off the TV but live out loud to iTunes, and seen the way they obtain their information.  What are we, the grown ups who love them doing to realize and communicate with them in their changing world?  Fascinating - please take five minutes and watch this video.  I'd love to hear your take.

College Admissions and Facebook: To Friend or Not To Friend?

 Many of you know that my son Eric is in the throes of applying to college. It's likely during the next several months that I'll be writing a great deal on this topic, not only for those of you with high school seniors, but also for those with younger children too. You'd be amazed how quickly this process sneaks up on you, and it seems impossible to be "overprepared" to apply to college.

So many things have changed since I applied to college, including the many technological advances that now exist. So when I ran across this USA Today article this week entitled To friend or not to friend? College admissions in the age of Facebook, it caught my eye immediately. This article deals with the ethical issues that surround college admissions officers' use of social networking sites. Here's an amazing statistic from the article:

While 86% of college students have a Facebook account, according to a 2008 survey by Harvard University's Institute of Politics, only 13% of the 401 admissions officials surveyed this year say their schools have a policy about interacting with students on social networking sites, Olson says. "That's the picture of the changing landscape that we are in right now."

I'm certain that most of you with teens who are online are carefully supervising your kids' use of tools such as Facebook. But it's worth having a discussion today about the types of "friends" your child should be accepting online. We had a personal experience of this during the summer, when Eric received a personal letter from the Dean of Admissions at an Ivy League school. This professional shared all of the usual information about their wonderful college and then invited Eric to be his "friend" on Facebook. Thankfully, I was standing nearby when my son zealously grabbed the letter and headed to the computer. I was able to stop him and have an immediate conversation about the propriety of this use of Facebook. While I'm certain that the college official in question is likely simply using Facebook as another marketing tool, we were able to discuss the importance of Eric's personal profile - both his own postings there and what his friends write on his profile.

It seems that history is now being written about the role of Social Networking profiles in the college admissions process. We've always discussed around our home the need for Eric to have the attitude that his Facebook profile serves in a way as his "online resume". In other words, don't post (or allow the posting of) anything you wouldn't want a potential college or future employer to consider.

For those of you who use Facebook or have teens who are on any social networking site, I'm curious to hear how you handle these issues around your home. How do you regularly monitor your child's online presence? Do you feel it is ethical for colleges and universities to consider information posted online as part of the application process? Please chime in with your thoughts!

Beating the Back to School Budget Slash Blues

On Wednesdays, I share my thoughts on Learning and Professional Development.

My son, a high school senior, has been fighting the budget-cut blues this week. If you live in California, you may be aware of the impact the state's budget crisis has had upon the California State University system. 

Eric happens to attend a very fine charter school at California State University Fresno, where students in their junior and seniors years have access to Fresno State classes.  They are permitted to take two college classes each semester, enabling many of them to accrue quite a few college credits prior to graduation.  This year, however, budget cuts have resulted in drastic slashing of courses offered resulting in quite a lot of schedule wrangling for all of the students impacted.  Today, well into his second week of school, Eric is still working on finalizing his schedule.  College students in the CSU system are facing tuition increases, decreases in services provided (for example, shorter library hours), and amped up student fees.  It's stressful on them, to say the least, and will result in many students missing out on prerequisite courses required for their degrees.

My son is only a high school student, so the impact of this is much less critical than it is on the college students involved.  But I've been trying to work with him this week to see some of the positive skills he's acquired in working through this mess:

• Planning skills - Eric has had to come up with a broad variety of options and plans for the various alternatives that he could face when he walks into a college class and tries to register.
• Research skills - My high school senior is now pretty well versed on the college registration system and its ins and outs.   He has handled the scheduling "mess" independently, with his counselor as an adviser.  This knowledge will serve him well when he heads off to college next year on his own.
• Patience - It's a virtue, right?  In today's "now" society of instant messaging  and real time video alerts, it can be a difficult thing to learn to wait for things to work out properly.
• Diplomacy - Gaining entry into a class when you are wait listed frequently involves speaking with the professor and gaining his approval.  The likelihood of receiving an affirmative response is greatly heightened if you address the professor courteously, yet assertively.  Learning to speak with those in authority is a valuable life skill.
• Gratitude - We don't stop frequently enough in life to count our many blessings.  It can be easy to fall into the trap of complaining about what we don't have rather than embracing and being truly grateful for the things that are going right in our lives.

I'm hoping that Eric comes home today bearing news that his schedule has been worked out.  I'm also hoping that students everywhere who face stress and uncertainty will receive the assistance they need to continue to fruitfully pursue their educations.  Finally, I'm praying for wisdom and guidance for our elected leaders, that they can come to some decisions soon that will minimize the impact of crises such as this one upon families around our state.  In the mean time, Eric and will be dwelling on lessons learned and trying to beat the blues with a positive attitude.

Home-work for Today:

• If  your children have headed back to school, review the syllabuses from their classes and discuss with them their learning goals for this year.

Reading Room Resources:
The Best of the Blogs from this week on the topic of Learning and Professional Development

• 5 Minute Stress Relievers - Taking a Mental Break
• Freshman 15: Coping with the First Year of College
• Back to School: Talk to Your Professor

On the Bookshelf:
The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens

Back to School, Back in Business

You may have noted that things have been quiet here on the blog for the past few months.  Well, I've been playing hookey, enjoying summer vacation with my boys.  As they head back to school today, I'll be back to blogging regularly.  On Wednesdays, I share resources related to Learning and Professional Development.

This morning, for the first time since 1994, I did not drive my kids to the first day of school. These two graciously allowed mom to continue our family tradition of standing in the back yard, holding a sign announcing the date and their grade. Eric decided to “suit up”, announcing his intentions to take this — his senior year — very seriously. Adam, on the other hand, went casual. I think the flip flops and sunglasses were a reaction to not having to wear a school uniform for the first time in nine years.

After the photos and a quick prayer, it was time for me to say goodbye.  I offered, one last time, to drive them – both kindly declined.  Before I knew it, they were off.

This year will hold lots of new and exciting adventures for both of them.  There will be challenging classes, auditions and rehearsals, new friends for Adam and college apps for Eric.  They will face their tests and challenges, and their parents will too.  Today, it’s fun to sit back and ponder all the memories that will be made and the many lessons we will learn along the way.

For those of you sending little ones off to school for the first time or commencing your homeschool career, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers!