Category Archives: organization

organization

Organization starts with a clean room

 

Sign up for my FREE parent tips email and get my FREE Ebook on college financing!

images

Studies show that a clean room can help improve grades. The psychology theories behind this fall under the basic idea that a clutter free environment leads to a clear mind. A clearer mind will aide in retention and concentration while reducing distractions. Organization skills can help ensure that it is easier for kids to keep their room clean. One of the most important elements is to not let the clutter and mess to get out of control. Once things get out of control, it makes cleaning it up a bigger and more daunting task.  Getting an organized routine will help kids while in school, but also give them a great foundation for the rest of their lives, especially when they begin the college prep process.

A+ for Organization

For many kids, making a schedule for a cleaning routine can really help keep their room neat and organized. Breaking tasks down into small, easy projects makes cleaning easier for students with short attentions spans and busy schedules. We have 5 easy ways (other than nagging) to help your kids use organization and cleaning and get better studying habits.

5 Tips for Organizing and Keeping Rooms Clean for Studying Success

  1. Make a list or schedule of what to clean when. Keep tasks short so kids do not get overwhelmed with cleaning chores. Keep a calendar of daily and weekly chores that only take a few minutes and will not be a big burden. Something as simple as emptying the garbage can each night can help reduce clutter and keep chores quick and easy.
  2. Reduce room clutter as much as possible. Only keep what you need in your room. Put seasonal items and anything not being used regularly in storage. Clutter causes confusion and stress!
  3. Utilize space saving furniture and tricks wherever possible. Loft beds and under bed storage create a big space savings, as do ottomans with storage and vacuum bags.
  4. Recycle papers you no longer need on a regular basis. Do not keep papers around that you do not need. Scan them if they need to be archived and save them on your computer. This reduces the need to file.
  5. Do not let your room get messy. Fighting a mess is never a winning battle. The first and last step in keeping things organized is making sure that it never gets out of control.

Keeping clutter free and organized will help the school year fly by. The reduced stress that is a result of an organized room will help students get through their school year with success and great grades.  It will also help students as they proceed on to college. Get that Diploma Display ready!

 

college guidance, organization, study tools, surviving college

5 Tips to help manage your studies

 

Sign up for my FREE parent tips email and get my FREE Ebook on college financing!

studyingOne of the unnamed difficulties of college is the allocation of resources and time. All too often, students are blindsided by the sudden responsibility of managing and scheduling their classes, courses and homework dates without any overseeing parental body to guide their hand. The proper management of time can impact the success of academic and social lives, while the mismanagement of the many distractions and temptations will result in a convolution of unmet deadlines, incomplete assignments, and a schedule that always seems to be one step ahead of the output.

The Compromise

The college compromise means finding a way to have your personal time and your academic time with their own allotted schedules and time frames. A successful college experience doesn’t have to mean focusing on studies without enjoying the social niceties, or conversely, partying without bothering to practice and study for assignments and tests. As with much in life, moderation is a key. Managing academic chores in one hand with personal choices in the other is the kind of mature grace that the most successful students exhibit.

Of course, some of this comes from proper preparation. Making sure that you have all the materials you need to take notes, investing in a laptop ahead of time, installing note taking software, all of this can be worthwhile. The same goes for how you manage the logistics of living on or off-campus. For instance, Off Campus Living can provide a very worthwhile alternative to mature students looking for a more peaceful, mature approach to studying and university life, rather than jumping in with the ‘freshers experience’ and ‘party accommodation blocks’ we hear so much about.

Continue reading 5 Tips to help manage your studies →

organization

Organize, Prioritize and Maximize your College Prep

 

Sign up for my FREE parent tips email and get my FREE Ebook on college financing!

staying organizedSchool is back in session. College prep is (or should be) in full swing. If you and your student haven’t started thinking about college prep yet, you’re lagging behind. With so many tasks to do and just a few years to complete them, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Before you tear your hair out and scream in frustration, take a deep breath.

Here are just a few tips to help you start the year off right and stay ahead of the game.

Organize

Organization is your friend. Being disorganized during college prep will cause your student to miss deadlines, neglect to send follow-up emails, and forget who they met at which college. Start the school year by helping your student start a system that keeps them organized. Their bedroom floor is NOT the place to store those important papers and notices. This is the part of the process that you can help them with. After all, haven’t you been doing this for years?

Prioritize

With a myriad of activities going on during school, it’s in your student’s best interest to prioritize their tasks. College prep involves more than test prep and college applications. It’s best to make a list of tasks and do the ones that need to be done first. Which tasks are important? Depending on the grade level there will be various tasks during different times during the school year: test registration, essay prep, scholarship applications and more.

Maximize

Maximize your resources and get help if needed. During the prep process it’s critical to find the best information from the best resources. Read books. Research online. Ask other parents. Talk to high school counselors. Go to information sessions. An informed parent is ready to help when needed, willing to encourage when necessary, and able to guide their student throughout the college prep process.

Keep these three tasks in mind as the school year progresses. Burying your head in the sand isn’t going to help and denial is never a solution.

Remember my motto: Preparation Prevents Panic!

college guidance, college planning, organization, parenting, social networks, technology, test prep, tutoring

Tech resources for the college-bound

 

tech resourcesTonight’s #CollegeCash Chat was centered around available tech resources for the college-bound and their parents. Following is a short transcript of the questions and answers with all the links I provided. As a parent myself and a parent advocate I understand the frustration with the college admissions process. It’s my hope that you will find some tools here that will make the process easier.

Q. Is there a lot of technology out there that benefits students and parents when it comes to college? 

  • We now have online sites for just about every part of the college admissions process and stay organized
  • Multiple apps are also available to help parents and students while they are on the go
  • Smartphones and portable devices like the iPad have made the college prep process easier

Q. Are SmartPhones necessary for our kids leaving for college? 

  • Every college student needs a smartphone–here are some features you should look for: http://bit.ly/151BUJj
  • Smartphones help them communicate, socially interact, store and process information, and enable social networking in class
  • An added bonus to the smartphone is the ability to stay in touch with parents via facetime, texts, and location apps

Continue reading Tech resources for the college-bound →

admissions, college planning, organization

ApplyKit: An Online Personal Assistant for College Applications

 

Last night during #CampusChat I noticed a new participant–@applykit. Naturally it peaked my interest and after the chat I did a little research about them. As luck would have it, the founder Bobby Touran emailed me with the 411 about their service.

Heads up parents and students–there’s another tool available to help organize the college planning process. The app manages all aspects of the college application process, including recommendations.

applykit

ApplyKit, the online personal assistant for the entire college application process, today announced the beta release of its ApplyKit service, cloud-based software that helps high school seniors manage their own efforts as well as those of interested stakeholders such as recommenders and parents.  ApplyKit manages the college selection process by bringing the entire process online, and connecting everyone involved.

The ApplyKit software includes the following features:

  • Add a desired school with one click, and ApplyKit will automatically load its deadlines and requirements in checklist form
  • Personalized dashboard tracks a senior’s progress against all applications, as well as any upcoming deadlines
  • A single, secure online space for students to work on application materials with collaborators like recommenders, consultants, and parents

“I’ve built a business around the inefficiencies of college applications,” said Craig Plummer, a professional college counselor.  “ApplyKit will help me manage the application process for my students in a way not previously possible.”

When a student creates an ApplyKit account, she can search for schools and add them to her dashboard. ApplyKit automatically adds dates and deadlines to a student’s master timeline for each school she chooses.  These dates and deadlines trigger email reminders to make sure she doesn’t forget a single step in the process.

ApplyKit then provides an online “Folder” for each school to keep materials and workflow clear and organized.  A student can use the “Collaborators” feature to involve others in the application process as appropriate.  For example, a teacher can compose and submit a letter of recommendation online.  If desired, ApplyKit will even automatically send newsletters to parents to keep them in the loop, including analytics on their student’s overall progress.

ApplyKit was founded by Bobby Touran, a serial entrepreneur from a family of educators, who was stunned by the hassle and manual grunt work required to manage his business school applications.  “At ApplyKit, we plan to disrupt the archaic college application process,” said Touran. “We have launched our product, we have new customers signing up daily, and we will be announcing a number of key relationships in the coming months.”

Touran built ApplyKit as part of Wasabi Ventures’ Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, based in both Nashua, New Hampshire, and Baltimore, Maryland.  Said Touran, “This is a fantastic time for EduTech innovation, thanks to all the great resources available.  For example, in addition to the Wasabi Ventures EIR program, we are an applicant for Pearson’s “Catalyst” program.  Catalyst exposes startups to Pearson’s API and arranges sessions with Pearson advisors.”

Pricing and Availability

ApplyKit uses a Freemium pricing model.  Any student can sign up and manage a single college application for free; a Basic plan that covers 5 applications is $12 per month, and a Premium plan that allows unlimited applications is only $25 per month.  Discounts are available for students who pay for 6 or 12 months in advance.

 _____________

About ApplyKit

ApplyKit manages a student’s college selection process. Students can access, track and share all research and application materials in one place. Applications to undergraduate institutions are at record highs, and students need an advantage more than ever. ApplyKit is positioned at the heart of the college prep industry. Bobby Touran—an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Wasabi Ventures, started the company in 2012. Visit http://www.applykit.com/about for more information. 

 

organization, parenting, social networks, technology

5 Essential smartphone features for students

 

smartphonesThese days it’s practically a given that you will send your students off to college not only with essentials like bedding and a computer, but also with a smartphone. For most parents, this is not only a way to ensure that they can get in touch with their kids at any time of day or night, but it’s also a way to put their minds at ease, knowing that kids will have a way to call for help should they find themselves in a sticky situation. However, not just any smartphone will do. And before your children are out the door with visions of frat parties dancing in their heads, you need to do a little research to figure out which smartphone options will best benefit them during their time on campus. Here are just a few essential smartphone features you might want to consider.

1. Front- and rear-facing cameras.

While you can certainly communicate with your kids via phone and email, you might want to get a look at them once in a while. Front- and rear-facing cameras mean that you can use a service like Skype to video chat with your students even while they’re miles away on campus.

2. 4G service.

Let’s be honest: there’s nothing wrong with 3G service, per se. Well, there is the fact that everyone has it now, which means that it has gotten a lot slower over the past couple of years. If you want your students to have instant connectivity and fast download speeds, 4G is where it’s at nowadays. Although coverage is spotty in some areas, many networks are diligently expanding their 4G zones in order to ensure the best service for their customers.

3. Intelligent personal assistant.

You’ve no doubt heard of Siri, the intelligent personal assistant that can seek directions and make reservations, all with hands-free functionality and a computerized wit to go with it. This type of technology is essential for student smartphones for a couple of reasons. For one thing, the voice activation and recognition means that your kids need never use their hands, a great boon if they can’t seem to disengage from a phone, even when they’re driving. In addition, it can help them to find any information at the drop of a hat without stopping to type, a handy feature for busy college students.

4. Storage.

Most savvy students these days store data in the cloud, but with a wealth of educational apps at their disposal they should also have plenty of storage space available on their device with which to run their plethora of applications. They may want to take notes, use talk-to-text functionality, keep a schedule of classes and assignments, or even share project information with group members for a specific class. All of these applications may have to be present and accounted for on the device (rather than in the cloud) in order to be useful, so phones that feature extra GB for storage are probably preferable.

5. Insurance.

In case you didn’t know, your mobile service provider (i.e. Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile, for example) can offer you insurance in case your kids’ phones are lost or damaged. While it won’t cover issues arising from unlocked cell phones, and there may be restrictions on coverage due to negligence or abuse at the hands of users, it should pay out in cases where the phone is lost, stolen, vandalized, or even damaged by the user is some cases. You could rely on a protective case and a lost device locating program like the The Find My iPhone application. But only insurance will guarantee a replacement phone or parts.

The smartphone today is what the laptop was 10 years ago. Every student needs one to be productive in college. Not to mention, stay in touch with friends and family.
college planning, financial aid, organization, parenting

Basic accounting for your student

 

basic accountingMany students graduate high school and head off to college with no real experience with money. Sure, your child may have worked a part-time job to pay for the movies and to put gas in the car, but that doesn’t mean he has any understanding of accounting. Basic accounting for students is easy enough to master, as long as you take the time to sit down and truly understand the meaning. As a parent, it’s up to you to make sure this happens. You might not see the point, as most accounting details are automated these days. But perhaps your child plans on studying accounting as a major? Additionally, if your high school student has any plans to get involved in the world of business, accounting skills will always serve him well. Here are some of the basic accounting concepts for students.

Affirm the basic concepts

At its heart, accounting is all about tracking numbers. The concepts are big, but you’re basically monitoring how money and resources move from one place to another.

Start off by discussing some simple definitions. You can begin the process by discussing assets. Most parents know that an asset is anything that a company or an individual has at their disposal. This could be products, people or cash, but the value of a business (and an individual) usually boils down to the assets on the books. Then you have liabilities. A liability is anything that belongs to other parties. That could be a debt or it could mean a contract that hasn’t yet been fulfilled. College students will most often experience liabilities when it comes to credit cards. And the more liabilities on the books, the more difficult your financial situation. Finally, there’s equity. Equity could be a financial investment put towards goods or services, or it could be money paid towards a debt, such as when you repay a mortgage.

Good debt versus bad debt

There’s such a thing as good debt versus bad debt, and that’s a difficult concept for the beginning accounting student. For example, a student loan is looked at as good debt, because it is stable, usually has a low interest rate, and was accrued in order to better the student. A credit card issued by a retail store is bad debt, because it often comes with a high interest rate and will lower your credit score.

Moving on to the balance sheet

The balance sheet is quite similar to the budget your student should begin to use now that he’s joining the adult world. It tracks those three elements, the assets, equity and liability, to give you an overall snap shot from one moment in time. The first real lesson of accounting is to bring the balance sheet to a state of equality. That means in an ideal world the assets and equity would either equal or outweigh the liability. Otherwise you’re operating at a debt, and that’s bad news for all involved.

Ask a CPA and accounting firm how they handle balance sheets, and they’ll probably laugh. That’s a core of their business. Just because it’s a basic of accounting doesn’t mean you understand it and then move on. The opposite is actually true. Learning to trust the valuations determined by a balance sheet is crucial, to running a business or running your personal expenses.

You can easily explain basic accounting to your student

Don’t spend more money than you take in. Don’t borrow more money than you can afford to repay. Once they have these basic concepts down, they can carry them to college and use them the rest of their lives.Put in the work now to help your young student comprehend these basics, and they’ll be much better off in the long run.

 

college planning, file storage, organization, parenting

Necessary tech gadgets for students going to college

 

The days of being able to pass your classes with only a pen and a notebook have long passed.  Today, many colleges mandate that you need to have certain materials like laptop computers in order to just sign up for courses.  There are five necessary tech gadgets that you have to have if you want to graduate on time with good grades.

Laptop Computers

tech gadgetsWith many courses taking place online in today’s universities, it is more important than ever to be connected with your class and classmates.  Laptop computers not only allow you to connect to online databases like the popular Blackboard system, but also to email teachers and other students in order to get information about the next class assignment or the big final.  If you need to work in a team on a project, you will have to coordinate schedules and make plans for each step of the way.

Some courses require using specific software: a foreign language class, for instance, will require that you download the voice tools and letter commands in order to complete assignments in a different tongue.  With a good deal of research taking place online, furthermore, access to the Internet at all times is crucial, especially when partaking in an online degree .

Laser Printer

It used to be possible to turn in assignments on scratch paper or by a living hall’s typewriter.  Today, however, each student needs to have the ability to print out materials in color.  Complex graphics may be necessary for a PowerPoint presentation or from a picture taken off the Internet.  Having a standard printer may not be satisfactory for an assignment.  Spending a lot of money on the university printers, furthermore (who may charge as much as a quarter per page) means that buying a printer will soon allow the purchase to pay for itself.

Flash Drives

Whether you need to transfer notes or entire papers to and from, a flash drive allows you to convert digital into physical and back again.  Once you have an assignment, put it on your flash drive and you can have a reliable backup or share it with classmates.  In the event that a computer crashes, is corrupted, or is even stolen, you will be able to keep all the vital information on a flash drive and turn in that assignment without having to re-type dozens of pages.  In addition to papers or PowerPoint slides, you can move movies and music on a flash drive to better impress your friends.

Smart Phone

A text-only phone may be a bit cheaper, but will leave you well behind if there are specific applications that can help you achieve success in your class.  With a smart phone, you can take pictures, connect to the Internet, check email, and quickly look up saved information — as well as talk and text with your connections.  Whether a course updates information on Twitter or whether there is a physics app that will help you through intense calculations, a smart phone is a crucial tool for surviving the rigors of college.

LiveScribe

For those who still want or need to take notes the old fashioned way, LiveScribe is the modern version of shorthand.  You can put down information with the pen and then connect it to a computer.  The system automatically transcribes written words into digital documents, so that you can email your notes or check them against a textbook.  Better still, the audio record system will let you compare the notes that you have written against what the professor actually said in lecture class so that there is no worry about missing the small details that come up on tests.

_________

Author Bio

Ryan Ayers is a writer who creates informative articles in relation to education. In this article, he describes a few gadgets for college students and aims to encourage further study with an Online Masters of Education.

college planning, file storage, organization

Tech essentials for your college-bound student’s dorm room

images-2When you send your student off to college, you will no doubt equip him with the tech essentials you assume he needs. A decent PC or Mac setup for his dorm room is a must so that he can do homework and write papers, and a printer goes along with the package. Of course, you probably also want to provide him with a webcam so that you can stay in touch via video chats on Skype. And for these basic purposes a laptop will work just as well with the added bonus of portability. Plus, your student can save some space by storing it in a drawer when not in use.

But while this type of hardware is certainly handy, it won’t come close to providing for the many technological needs of the modern student. So here are just a few other crucial pieces of tech you might want to consider sending along with your child when he leaves for college.

  1. Clocky Robotic Alarm. If your teen has trouble waking up even when you’re shaking him and pulling off the covers, then you might be a bit nervous about his chances of getting to class on time, making a good impression on his professors, and soaking up all the information he needs to pass his classes. But there is a solution out there that could help: the Clocky Robotic Alarm. This ingenious and dastardly invention is meant to get users up and moving, and it does so by running away with the alarm going off so that anyone who wants it to stop blaring must get up and chase it. Thanks to two wheels and the ability to change direction, this device should help even the deepest of sleepers to get up on time.
  2. Portable hard drive. Most kids are media hounds, soaking up music, books, movies, and TV shows, and since you don’t want them cluttering up their computer hard drive with anything besides classwork, a portable hard drive could provide the solution that lets your student store his favorite movies, his music collection, and even his textbooks in one place for easy recall.
  3. Noise cancelling headphones. Living in close quarters with another student will be made no easier by a roommate that snores or refuses to turn down the volume on a movie. So if your student wants to preserve the peace and catch a few zees in the process, noise cancelling headphones are essential to his sanity.
  4. Smartphone. Aside from the ability to call home, smartphones can provide students with a slew of mobile solutions. This general usefulness could manifest through the ability to set up a WiFi hotspot from anywhere. But students are more likely to enjoy the many amazing apps that allow them to access files saved in cloud storage (like Dropbox), take notes in class (Evernote), and manage their schedule (iStudiez Pro), just for example.
  5. Tablet. There’s really no better tech tool on the market today for the average college student than a tablet. It can act as a multimedia device, allowing your student to download and access movies, music, and even textbooks. It can handle the many tasks associated with computing (file creation, email, even faxes via a service like www.onlinefaxservice.com). And of course, front and rear-facing cameras will let him talk with you face-to-face, as well as capture his time on campus through pictures and videos that will jog his memory in years to come.

 

college guidance, college planning, dorm life, organization, parenting

Tips for making the transition to college easier

Savoring the last few months of high school education, your student may get the ping of fear in the back of their mind to find the right college. Researching and applying to colleges has most likely left your student with stress, excitement and anticipation of the future.

Whether your student searched for colleges with online classes or universities that offer top-notch academic programs, the applications have been submitted and the wait contines? While you and your student are waiting for offers of admission from the colleges, here are some tips for making the transition to college easier:

You’re not there yet

Many seniors take the attitude that once their applications are submitted they can coast through the remaining months of senior year. That is not the case. Many colleges require a spring or final transcript and have been known to reject offers for admission based on that transcript. Encourage your student to buckle down and do their best these next few months. Colleges are looking for students that take their education seriously. The last thing they want to see are grades that have dropped since they received your student’s application.

View of a messy roomWhat you need to take to the dorm

Once your student gets into a university, it’s easy to forget half the stuff they need when moving day comes. For the bedroom and main areas, grab two sets of sheets and pillows, a trash can, desk and area lamps, a laundry bag or basket, storage boxes, a mini fridge and a coffee maker. Life isn’t complete without electronics. Remember the laptop, iPod and dock, headphones, alarm clock, TV, DVD player, cell phone and charger, camera and a microwave.

Cleaning is now up to your student, so bring along a vacuum or old-fashioned carpet sweeper. In the bathroom, they will want soap, shampoo, toothbrush and paste, towels, a comb and a razor. For their desk, grab some Post-It notes, a compact stapler, printer paper, note cards, pens and pencils.

Finding a roommate

Finally, the college may allow students to choose their own roommate. If they don’t have a friend lined up, they can find a roommate through roomsurf.com. They will be matched with potential rooming partners based on the results of a survey. They can communicate with potential roomies beforehand to make sure they’re a match. If assigned a roommate, make contact with them online by searching social media like Facebook, Twitter and Google. Contact beforehand allows your student the opportunity to plan and not bring duplicate items for the dorm room.

While entering college is exciting, it can seem overwhelming. With these tips, you’ll have a much easier time getting started and moving forward. Soon, they will be settled in and on their way!