AI Written College Essays Might be a Problem

Forbes is reporting that many College Admissions Officers are concerned with new AI Technology that is on the market and would allow for students to use it to write their college essays. ChatGPT, OpenAI’s new natural language tool, can write clear essays, but it can also conjure up its own personal details and embellishments that could up a students’ chance of acceptance and would be difficult to verify says Jim Jump, director of college counseling at St. Christopher’s School and former admissions officer at Randolph–Macon College in Virginia. Many schools have eliminated using standardized test scores such as the SAT and ACT to make admissions decisions, so they are relying more on the College Essay to help in the college admissions process.

It still does have its limitations though. David Hawkins, chief education and policy officer at the National Association for College Admission Counseling, “says that while GPT’s writing is clean, grammatically correct and well structured, it is likely too vague and flat to stand out in a crowded applicant pool.”

Here is a link to the full story from Forbes – https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2022/12/09/a-computer-can-now-write-your-college-essay—maybe-better-than-you-can/?sh=19e5adacdd39

Advice for Sexually Active High Schoolers

It can be a bit of a startling revelation for adults to find out that teenagers in their life are sexually active. I don’t even like that teenagers are legally allowed to handle food at restaurants. Now, this? But as a person of influence in a teenager’s life, your primary job is to help them make good decisions.

That means approaching the conversation as calmly and productively as possible. In this article, we talk about how parents and guidance counselors can talk to high school students about sexual activity.

Make Decisions

I’m pretty sure they already doing that, you think, as you begin moving the mouse toward the little x at the top of your screen. Well, sure. But there is a difference between making a decision as things are picking up, and, say, several hours before when you’re in a calmer frame of mind.

When a person is in the moment, it’s very easy to make decisions that they otherwise wouldn’t have. This could mean forgoing precautions that they know are important. It could also just mean taking things a little bit faster than they wanted to originally with this particular person.

Of course, high school students don’t necessarily need to plan to the point that spontaneity completely exits the equation. They should, however, be in a steady frame of mind as they make certain decisions. What boundaries am I comfortable with? How will I communicate what I want, and what I definitely don’t want? What ways will I protect myself from pregnancy and disease?

Adults worry about teenagers being sexually active precisely because they so often don’t think things out in this way. They have the bodies of adults, but in many ways, the minds of children. Adults who have the chance to help guide a sexually active teenager should try to help them view the situation from a more grown-up perspective.

Emphasize the Importance of Birth Control

High school students may not appreciate the risks they take with even one unprotected sexual encounter. As a guidance counselor or parent, it’s important to help them understand the reality of what can happen. Disease. Pregnancy. Permanently life-changing conditions that they can be left with after only one encounter.

As a guidance counselor, it’s also important to appreciate that not every teenager will have the same access to birth control. While it should be easy enough — they sell condoms at the grocery store — there may be financial or social barriers in place that you aren’t aware of.

Some public high schools distribute condoms for free in the nurse’s office. If yours does not, consider keeping a list of resources handy for where the student might find free contraception.

Discuss the Facts Without Being a Fear monger

Ok, so you typed something like “how to discuss sexual activity with teenagers” into the browser, right? And if you stopped anywhere else before getting here, you probably found a lot of articles on how to persuade a teenager out of being sexually active, or otherwise make them fear it.

Well, good luck with that. Sexually active teenagers are only doing what they’ve been biologically wired to do for millions of years. If you emphasize consequences over information, you’ll run the risk of shutting them out. And what happens when a teenager starts to shut you out? They listen better.

Ha. No. They don’t listen at all. Instead of being a fearmonger, just calmly discuss the facts. “The rate of sexually transmitted disease for teenagers in our area is X. Here’s how you can avoid it…”
And spoilers, the phrase “abstinence only” probably doesn’t have much of a place beyond those dot dot dots.

About sixty percent of kids have sex in high school. Less than many people might guess, but still a strong enough figure to make one thing clear—this is a normal, mainstream activity, that kids will do with or without “approval”.

The job isn’t to persuade them out of it. It’s to equip them to make smart decisions. Tell them the difference between HIV and AIDS. Discuss other STDs. Just don’t alienate them. Which feeds into our next point….

Be Someone They Can Talk To

Whether you’re a parent or a guidance counselor, you will have your own opinions about sexual activity in high school. Depending on your relationship with the child, it may be appropriate to express this opinion in measured, well-thought-out quantities.

Here’s the thing: you don’t want to do that at the risk of blowing up the entire conversation. You don’t necessarily need to go in completely resigned — they’re going to do it no matter what I say — but there are two things to consider:

• They might not. Remember our stat from earlier? Forty percent of people graduate high school without having sex. Proving, perhaps, that high schoolers can distinguish between their biological impulses and activities that are in their best interest.
• Your job isn’t really to talk them out of it. If you’re a guidance counselor, this is definitely true. You may have a personal or religious perspective on teen sexual activity, but your job in this context is just to have a productive, informative conversation. The same pretty much goes for parents. Your relationship is of course, different. Personal opinion will have more weight. Nevertheless, you don’t want the conversation to devolve into a fight.

So yes. Be someone they can talk to. If you think you have reasons that the teenager should abstain from sexual activity, make sure they are entirely rooted in fact. More importantly, though, make sure that your teenager leaves the conversation feeling comfortable enough to bring their sexual questions and concerns to you in the future.

They need guidance, and they aren’t going to seek it from someone whose only move is to try and shut them down.

Help Your Students Improve Executive Functioning Skills

You may be scratching your head – executive function skills?  Taken literally, the term seems to refer to something beyond a child’s immediate realm, and hardly something that needs improvement now.  Wouldn’t ‘executive’ function skills be better suited to briefcase-carrying corporate professionals? Actually, everyone would benefit from improved Executive Function Skills – especially children. 

By definition, executive function is a combination of skills and behaviors that we all use – on a daily basis – to focus our attention, plan, simultaneously manage multiple tasks, and achieve goals. Someone with poor Executive Function Skills (EFS) may find it difficult to focus, pay attention, follow directions, and get things done. Children with these challenges often have difficulty in school.  

These skills begin emerging in early childhood and continue to develop into early adulthood. Much like walking, talking, reading, and other milestone skills, EFS develops at different times in every child. However, if children cultivate strong executive function skills now, they will benefit throughout their lives.  

Jason Robinovitz, Chief Operating Officer of Score At The Top Learning Centers and Score Academy, says that it’s never too early – or too late – to strengthen your Executive Function Skills and help your children develop theirs.

“Executive function includes a long list of skills with inter-related themes,” he said. “They involve planning, time management, organization, and memory. They’re the four domains of EFS that you can work on to augment and improve now, and you’ll be a better – and happier student and person when you do.”

The ABCs of Executive Function Skills

Although many people with learning disabilities struggle with Executive Function Skills, poor executive function is not considered a disorder – and not everyone who struggles with EFS has a learning disability. 

To clarify the concept of EFS, here are its 12 facets explained in relatively simple terms: 

Fact 1. Planning and Prioritizing

Determining the appropriate order for accomplishing multiple tasks, then completing them so that the most time-critical assignments and tasks are tackled first, and multiple-component tasks are done in a logical order.

Fact 2. Time Management

Effectively allocating time for schoolwork, extracurricular activities, friends, family, part-time jobs, sports, and other commitments.

Fact 3. Task Initiation

Overcoming procrastination in order to begin a necessary task.

Fact 4. Organization

Keeping track of all necessary materials at home and in school, managing digital data, and efficiently organizing ideas and information to complete homework, study for tests, and write essays and research papers. 

Fact 5. Working Memory

The information we hold in our brains temporarily to relate to other information and complete tasks that require thinking and making connections. For example, we use working memory to temporarily remember an address to enter it into our GPS, or to perform mental math.

Fact 6. Metacognition

Metacognition literally means “thinking about thinking.” It involves reflecting on your own and having awareness of your thought process, and what drives your good – and poor – academic-related choices. 

Fact 7. Response Inhibition

The ability to inhibit our responses to distractions, or ignore distractions in our environment so that we can focus on the task at hand.

Fact 8. Cognitive Flexibility

Shifting between tasks and goals and handling multiple tasks simultaneously – being able to adapt our thinking and behavior to the situation.

Fact 9. Goal-Directed Persistence

Remaining focused on a goal and completing it without getting off track or becoming distracted by interruptions or other outside stimuli.

Fact 10. Sustained Attention

Properly directing our attention and maintaining focus – particularly when tasks are lengthy and/or have multiple components. 

Fact 11. Disengagement of Attention

The ability to shift and reengage our attention from one focus to another.

Fact 12. Regulation of Processing Speed

Being able to regulate the time it takes you to complete a mental task or process new information. 

Strategies To Improve EFS 

If your child experiences difficulty with one or more EFS, don’t worry. There are a variety of tried-and-true methods to improve Executive Function Skills and help your child stay focused in school and at home. Here are some easy ones to consider and adopt:

• Using calendars, checklists, and ‘to-do’ lists that indicate ‘start-by’ and ‘complete by’ dates can help students plan and organize their time.
  
• Establishing daily routines – and sticking to them – can get your kids into the habit of accomplishing tasks in an orderly fashion.
  
• Breaking complicated tasks or lengthy assignments into smaller, more manageable segments makes goals more attainable and less overwhelming.
  
• Writing due dates at the top of assignments (and highlighting the dates) serves as an effective deadline reminder.

Phone-Friendly

Your smartphone gives you access to a variety of organizational tools in the palm of your hand, including calendars, task lists, notepads, built-in video and voice recorders, and more. You and your child can download effective apps to support strong EFS, in addition to the ones already built into your phone. 

Additional Online Tools

You can also utilize a variety of online organizational tools including Google Drive for file storage, Google Keep (a free note-taking app), and countless others. Research the available online options to find apps that meet your child’s particular EFS needs.

A Place For Everything

Minimize clutter and ensure that your child puts belongings away in designated places so that everything can be easily located when needed. For even greater organization, create folders, label supplies, and color code items (using a different color binder for each subject, for example). Think plastic bins, painter’s tape for labeling, and a Sharpie.

Making Memories

To help retain information, students can use their phone’s voice recorder to record class lessons and lectures in addition to taking notes. Some students find it helpful to create flashcards to learn and remember the material. There are even a variety of free flashcard apps and sites available online, such as CRAM. 

Academic Coaching

Robinovitz says that another way to improve EFS is to work with an academic coach, who focuses on developing a student’s organizational and functional learning skills. 

“While a private tutor might touch upon some EFS skills, an academic success coach determines which executive function skills need strengthening,” he said. “Then, using multiple tools and methods, the coach works with students to strengthen those skills to make them better students and enhance their performance in everyday life.” 

Students who can benefit from private academic coaching include those who procrastinate on assignments, frequently submit assignments late (or don’t turn them in at all), easily become distracted and have difficulty staying on task, struggle in multiple classes, appear to lack motivation, are disorganized, and/or may have impulse-control issues.

Improving Executive Function Skills At School

If your child is struggling with one or more Executive Function Skills, talk to his or her teacher. Teachers can help support students by establishing clear and consistent classroom routines, sticking to daily schedules, and providing extra assistance when necessary. 

Some schools specialize in working with students individually or in small groups, which can also be beneficial. For example, Score Academy, a Florida-based private school with six locations, specializes in one-on-one and small group education. Instructors develop individual academic plans and specific strategies for each student. Using a variety of techniques and hands-on learning activities, they help students develop strong Executive Function Skills, and coping strategies, and build self-confidence. Programs like these can help students overcome EFS challenges and boost self-esteem.

EFS For Life

We know that Executive Function Skills aren’t just for corporate professionals who spend their days strategizing in boardrooms. We also know EFS is crucial to our children’s success (as well as to our own). The good news? Robinovitz says that by applying these simple strategies – and with proper support – our children can significantly improve their Executive Function Skills – and their lives.

“All academic learning – as well as doing well in most of life’s endeavors – requires the use of multiple Executive Function Skills,” he said.  “Strengthening EFS will not only create a better student – the benefits also extend far beyond the classroom and include increased self-confidence, reduced stress, effective time management, problem-solving skills, and so much more. Students who develop their Executive Function Skills will literally become better versions of themselves.”

Score at the Top provides tutoring, full-time schooling, courses for credit, test prep, college and grad school planning, and more. Check them out at www.scoreatthetop.com