I want to post a thank you to a great class in the teacher training education program at
Granite State College in Rochester. It was a great semester filled with lively conversation, great questions and some fun activities.
We started the semester in the Child Development class learning a little about our own learning and thinking styles. We watched some great videos on prenatal and infant development. We learned all about the way kids learn as they grow. But what really made the semester was the conversation. Members of the class shared their experiences with children of all ages. We learned a lot about growth and development from the stories classmates shared with us. And finally, we ended the semester with our own version of Jeopardy. The class members created great questions and a fun competition followed.
It was a great semester and I hope to see many of you again in future classes. Thanks for making it a great semester.
Are you an early childhood professional, a paraprofessional, or a classroom teacher about to be out for the summer? Have you thought about what you are going to do? Maybe you are going to sit on the beach and read a good book, or just sleep late and relax. Have you thought about taking a course at
Granite State College? Maybe you are interested in furthering you teacher training education, or maybe you are just thinking about improving your skills or pursuing an area of interest with a fun course or two. Well, I may have an answer for you. Try an online college course at Granite State College, or maybe a classroom course in Portsmouth, or Rochester or Concord. So many choices. So don't just sit on the beach with any old book, instead get college credit for all that reading you will be doing anyway! See you in class!
As the Academic Advisor at
Granite State College Portsmouth I have many advisees who are enlisted in the military. Pease Air National Guard is located less than a mile from where we hold evening college classes and is a convenient way for these men and women to take advantage of obtaining a degree. Many of the students are also pursuing an associates degree from the
Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) or have recently completed that degree.
Granite State College has a great program that grants college credit for their military training. A Bachelor of Science in Applied Studies
(BSAS) works in conjunction with their military credits as a technical/career focus and students receive 24 or more credits towards the major component of a BS degree. They then choose an option to further round-out their career goals: Management, Allied Health Service, or Education & Training. In addition to taking the general education courses such as math and English, students include classes in one of these focus areas to meet their specific career needs.
Have you been or are you now in a branch of the military service? Visit an Academic
Advisor at Granite State College and learn how easily you can get an education and career advancement.
So you say to yourself what am I going to do sitting in a classroom at Granite State in childhood education classes or teacher training education classes all evening. Will the professor lecture all evening? Will there be anyone there to talk to? What if I fall asleep after working all day?
Well hopefully it will be better than you might imagine, after all, 4 hours is a long time to sit in a classroom after working all day.
For me, classes need to be active, even in a class where there is a lot of material to cover. Imagine being part of a discussion about a new special education law, or trying to budget to build a new day care center. Think of pretending to be the parent of a child who is struggling in school, or the teacher who must tell the parent what is happening. Imagine trying to identify your own learning style and then meeting with others who have a similar learning style. Maybe you are working on a computer, or even watching a video of children in a play setting.
Any of those things are possible in an childhood education classroom at Granite State College. Sure the teachers will need to lecture some of the evening, but you can be sure that with a full evening on class, it will not be 4 hours of straight listening. After all, I can't even talk for 4 hours even if you could stay awake that long.
Meeting new people is one of my favorite things to do! And I seem to be doing a lot of it through my career training education at Granite State College. During one of my evening college classes I arranged a meeting with Mike Sullivan, a local children's book author, Librarian, Storyteller, and Instructor at Simmons College.
Because Adult Higher Education manifests itself in many different capacities, I thought it would be a bonus for my class if we could meet with Mike and pick his brain a bit regarding boys and their reluctance to read. Many of the students in my class are either taking Childhood Education classes or Behavioral Science classes so I thought a discussion with Mike would be of interest to them.
My course instructor, Heidi Zollman, my friend Marilyn and one other student joined us for a conversation. Mike is clearly vested in the topic of boys and reading, a passion of his condern for a long time. He articulately described brain function in girls and boys which is directly related to its development in both genders. We discussed the very real reason why boys brains develop slower which in turn causes a cycle of delay which then deforms reading into something boys think they are not good at or cannot do at all so they stop trying.
At one point the conversation turned to"No Child Left Behind." I have not read the philosophy behind this Act though it was described by Mike Sullivan as a way to educate the middle 80% of students while the top 10% were on their own to succeed and the lower 10% were expected to fail anyway.
Heidi has invited Mike Sullivan to come to Granite State College in Rochester to visit with our entire class. His visit will include the topic of Storytelling as a lost art form and Mike will tell us stories. He will also describe ways to promote literacy with boys, and answer questions.
I am so happy I took the initiative to contact Mike Sullivan. His knowledge base is an amazing resource as we continue to make new discoveries in our own educational process whether we are teaching, observing, or parenting our boys. What we know for sure is that boys must learn how to read. It is to their betterment that we find ways to help them enjoy forming the habit of reading over time.
Every semester thousand of people in the adult training and education communities try to balance their career development goals with their work goals and sometimes even family time is taken into consideration (hopefully family time is the first consideration and the rest is after that, but I digress). We struggle with the daily demands of taking care of our jobs and our families, yet we also see the value and benefit to fitting in either some career advancement programs or maybe decide to enroll in one or more online classes for college credit or maybe to finish that elusive degree work.
Witih more and more challenges in terms of the economic environment, corporate downsizing, companies only hiring small percentages of what they need, it can become more and more difficult to balance all of our priorities and feel like we are still in control of what we do.
We all know that time management is an oxymoron as we all have the same 168 hours each and every week to accomplish whatever we deem to be important. Typically, if you take sleep (a non-negotiable) into consideration (averaging 6 hours per night) we are now down to 126 hours. If you are working the typical 40 hour per week job, you know that you are committing at least 55 hours per week to work (not taking into consideration the commute time), we now have 71 hours left in our week. If we commit 24 hours per week for the people in our lives that we hold dear, we now have 47 hours left.
What to do with those 47 hours. Given that most college courses are about 3-4 hours per week with another 3-4 hours of homework per week, it doesn't look as difficult as it did when you started reading this blog. Maybe you might even consider taking two classes (there goes another 8 hours per week) and you are down to a mere 31 hours of free time per week.
Now, those of you who are still reading this commentary are either laughing or wondering what cave I just walked out of to figure out how we all have approximately 30 hours per week of spare time. Well that equates to about 4 hours per day. Just pick any of the last 7-10 days and look at where your time went.....I'll be you have at least 2-3 hours per day that you can't really account for, right? It's like having money in your pocket. You may start the week with $100 dollars in your wallet and then before you know it you need to get more from the bank, simply because you don't know where your money went.....$3.00 for coffee, $10 for lunch, $1.00 for the paper, a quick run to the grocery store and "what did I buy" becomes the guessing game. Same as "where did the day go?" Ever been so busy at the end of a day you sit back and none of the things you needed to get done got done, but you were so busy you don't know where the time went? We all have been there.
So, if you didn't follow the math in this thought process, Granite State College has online adult college courses in math and other business programs. If you want to make a great investment, take some of those 30+ hours of spare time and enroll in an adult education college course or two and find out where your time goes!
I find it interesting that as I travel around southern New Hampshire, speaking with prospective students who have been out of school for a while, who are looking at NH colleges to ease back and take part time classes; a familiar theme repeatedly surfaces:
FEAR.
So many working adults that have considered going back to college for career advancement education are hesitant or procrastinate because they're not sure they're up for it. Either they've been away from the education process too long, they believe that they can't fit it into their schedule or that an adult college degree is simply not affordable. For these individuals I can honestly say; "been there, done that!"
I started college as a traditional-age student at a large urban university. After a year and a half "life got in the way" of my college aspirations. A career opportunity pulled me away from my full time studies in Criminal Justice and into policing. My plan was to get settled into my job and return to college to finish my degree part-time. As you can guess that's not how things worked out. I ended up taking a 15 year summer break. I considered going back a number of times over the years, but the thought of the time it would take and the cost caused me to repeatedly put this idea on the back burner. When I hit my mid-thirties I recognized how important that a degree would be for my continued career success. This reality finally overcame my reservations and I bit the bullet.
In researching colleges in NH I discovered that Granite State College was my most affordable option and GSC offered me significant credit in transfer and through validating professional training. I still was a bit anxious about returning to school after such a long period of time, but after I started attending classes I discovered that most of my fellow students were in circumstances similar to my own. I found that I actually enjoyed the coursework and my time in class. It was a great feeling being able to finally earn my degree and walking in the graduation commencement with my wife and son in the audience made all of the time and effort worthwhile. So for those of you considering returning to college as an adult I have two words for you:
NO FEAR!
Have you always dreamed of being a teacher but worry that it's too late to for you to change careers? We hear that frequently. Harriet Richardson Ames is proof that there are no limits to lifelong learning. She realized her goal of earning a bachelor's degree at one of our sister institutions just three weeks after celebrating her 100th birthday.
Regardless of your age or educational attainment, the teacher training education programs at Granite State College offer the perfect pathway to a career in education from an entry-level para-educator through an advanced endorsement. Somewhere there's a blackboard waiting for you.
If you don't have a bachelor's degree, Granite State offers affordable college study at locations all around New Hampshire. Our adult online degrees make it possible to get a college education without leaving the comfort of your own home.
Isn't it time for you to pursue your dreams and goals? Our post-baccalaureate teacher certification programs will help you make a difference in the life of a child. The question is "what are you waiting for?" So call or write -- it's YOUR turn to realize your dreams.
If you work for the NH Department of Environmental Services I will be attending your Wellness Fair on February 2nd...come and learn more about
Granite State College's continuing education degrees.
Students currently in the CCSNH come out and see Outreach Coordinators at your respective campuses the first week in February. The University of New Hampshire System is holding Transfer Fairs at each campus. On Friday, February 5th I will be at Great Bay Community College for Rochester NH college and Portsmouth NH college students. Check out
www.nhtransfer.net to look at transfer options.
Students currently at York County Community College, I will be visiting your campus on February 10th. Stop by and learn more about taking classes online, night college classes or
teacher training education.
Hope to see you on the road!
Consider how many people return to college each semester. They are using Adult Education Services, accelerated studies, evening college classes, adult online classes, enrolling in continuing education degree programs and career training education programs. Some take classes from their home or office, some still walk into the classroom with other students and an instructor.
Now, think about all the reasons they are doing this. Some are there to finish something they started before work, family, life took them down other paths. Some are there to start their educational journey now that some other responsibilities have changed or gone away and they have the time. Some are there for the enjoyment of contuning to be a life-long learner. The vast majority however, are there to gain new knowledge in their efforts to become more valuable in their current positions, prepare for a promotion or in some cases, a complete career change. Either way the expectation is that whatever you learn will be something that you will be, and should be, able to apply in your daily set of personal and professional circumstances.
One of the key differences in educational experiences between students who enter college right out of high school and the adult learner seeking education and career advancement hinges on two elements:
-
Experience - the student coming directly out of high school really is limited
in the level of experiences they bring to the classroom. Most of
their learning has to be more directed and often includes the use
of case studies. Case studies allow all students to share a common
set of experiences, usually with a known outcome, where the
proverbial "what ifs" can be explored through a guided lecture or
or assignment. In the case of the adult learner, often coming to the
the class with years of work/life experience, they ARE their own
case studies. They bring a unique set of circumstances, good and
bad, successful and not so successful, to the classroom. They can
and should use these experiences as a tool in their educational
journey.
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Focus - while the typical college student just entering college from high school
may have desires and aspirations that they firmly believe their pursuit of
an education will help them achieve, the adult learner, returning for
their education and career advancement desires tend to be very focused
and will willingly share their experiences with one another as part of their
overall classroom experiences. They are very focused on what they are
learning and how they can apply that knowledge immediately, not at
some time in the future. There is a sense of immediacy.
Keep in mind that every student, regardless of age or reason for being in class, has their own set of expectations. Some take courses that are required simply because they are required, others zoom in on what are the lessons that will help them achieve very specific career goals. In either case, the student and teach form a relationship that should result in the student knowing exactly how the lessons learned in that particular class can be used in their current situation.
When you participate in adult continuing education programs, for whatever reasons, remember that you have an obligation to apply your learning each and every day. The best way to keep your knowledge current and viable is to use it.
Remember to flex your knowledge muscles each and every day.....they are yours to apply and hone so the next set of learnings have a strong foundation to build upon.
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