Mrs. Cerchiaro's Blog

All freshmen have signed up for an account with Peterson's Student Edge - an online resource for future planning that includes PSAT, SAT & ACT Prep, Career Exploration, College Searches and other articles and resources for the future. This website can be accessed by visiting www.studentedge.com and logging in with their username and password. Students will have access to this site throughout their OLSH career.

During this mentor session, we reviewed prioritizing assignments and explored the benefits of homework.

Sorry for the late update!

During the last week of mentor sessions, students completed a future planning session with our guidance intern, Miss Zyroll. The students first looked at value cards and narrowed down a list of the 5 values that were most important to them in the future. Then the students considered how their values and what they want to do career-wise relate. The students chose a career and mapped out a career path for that career.

During this week of mentor sessions, the freshmen signed up for an account with Peterson's Student Edge (a free online resource for future planning). Parents should have received an email blast about this website last week. The Student Edge website offers test preparation, homework help, college search, career search, admissions advice, a scholarship database and more. In mentor sessions, students completed a career interest survey and chose 5 careers to explore further. Mentor groups are in various stages of exploration - some have completed learning about their five careers, others just finished the interest survey and are just beginning to look at their career matches. Students have access to this website and their career matches at any time and their career matches will be saved to their account. We will be utilizing this resource in future mentor sessions as we check out the PSAT preparation course.

Next week we will revisit time management and prioritizing our school work.

Upcoming Forensics Tournaments:

Feb. 4 - North Allegheny 7:30am-5:30pm (end time approximate) - Sign up by Wed. Feb. 1

Feb. 10-11 - Bethel Park - starts Friday afternoon, continues all day Saturday - Sign up by MONDAY, Feb. 6

Feb. 18 - West Allegheny

Feb. 25 - State Qualifiers

Remember - in order for us to be able to send someone in congress to states, we must submit a bill! Bills are due MONDAY 1/30!

This week the freshmen are setting academic goals for the 3rd &/or 4th quarter. We are learning how to write good, achievable goals using the 3 Ps and the SMART test.

Goals should be:
Positive
Personal
Possible

Ask yourself if your goal is:
S - Savvy and specific (easy to understand)
M - Measurable (with a specific outcome)
A - Active (using action words to show how you will achieve your goal)
R - Reachable (something you can achieve)
T - Timed (has a deadline)

Next week we start career exploration!

For these two cycles the freshmen will be reviewing for midterms. We have been playing a review game with questions for Science (Biology or PreChemistry), English, and World Geography. The freshmen are being reminded to study for midterms and we are going over the midterm schedule and how we plan to study for the various tests.

Midterms are:
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Science (a.m.) - Religion (p.m.)
Friday, Jan. 13 - Math (a.m.) - World Geo (p.m.)

Tuesday, Jan. 17 - make-up day - if you are absent Thursday or Friday. freshmen can make up a midterm at this time
Wednesday, Jan. 18 - Language & English (both tests in the morning - intramurals in the afternoon)

Freshmen have received a form in homeroom to write down the locations of their midterms and with the time schedules for midterm days printed for them.

Good luck on your tests!

This week we are reviewing test taking skills using a "comic book" from a book called "Test Smart" by Gary Abbamont & Antoinette Brescher. We are discussing skills and strategies that will particularly help us with midterms, like following directions, carefully reading questions and managing time wisely.

Freshmen were also given a Midterm Study Plan organizer. They have been instructed to keep this sheet in their planner or folder that they have with them all the time. As teachers discuss midterms in class, they can fill in sections of this organizer to know what and how to study. Freshmen should ask teachers about the midterms - what topics will be covered, what types of questions will be on the test, how many points is the test worth, etc.

Freshmen have been advised to take home at least one subject to study over the Christmas break. We will continuing reviewing and studying for midterms over the next couple of mentor sessions.

This week we are starting out with a study skills "quiz" to help the freshmen remember important study skills and learn some important lessons about their school work. Most teachers will no longer be accepting late work. This quarter is very important to stay on top of grades as midterms will be given at the end of the quarter.

This week we are also finishing our collages about our dreams, goals, & values.

We have our first two NEW Official NFL (National Forensic League) Members - earning 25 points in competition!! They are Freshman Lauren Harrison and Sophomore Lauren Kunde! Congratulations!

Points for the National Forensic League are earned by competing - points are based on the ranks received by students in each round of competition. You are a member of the NFL for life and continue accumulating points throughout your high school career. There are several recognition levels as students earn more points.

This week's mentor sessions are Part One of Goal Setting. We will discuss the importance of having and setting goals. Then we are taking a moment to dream and answering the question, "Imagine you are at your five-year high school reunion. You have been asked to make a 15-minute video highlighting your life since high school. What would be included in your video?" After this, we move on to discussing values and how what we value is connected to our goals and purpose in life. Thinking about our dreams and our values, we are creating "Dreamprint" collages that illustrate our dreams and what is important to us.

Next week, we will complete our Dreamprints and share them with the group. We will also continue discussing the importance of goal setting and we'll come up with a goal we will work on for the rest of the school year.

This week the freshmen created Study Skills posters, reviewing the skills we have learned so far this year. During mentor sessions, freshmen reviewed their first quarter grades with Mrs. Cerchiaro and talked about ways to do better academically in the second quarter.

This week we are learning about reading a textbook and taking notes! We are viewing Prezi presentations on the SQ4R Method for reading a textbook and on Notetaking.

SQ4R stands for:
Survey - scan the chapter; note titles & subtitles; look at pictures, charts & graphs
Question - turn the titles & subtitles into questions; read the questions at the end of each section
Read - actually read the chapter, including captions for pictures, charts & graphs
Recite - ask yourself questions out loud or outline the chapter; explain what you read to someone else
Relate - connect the information you read to something you already know
Review - survey & question the chapter frequently between the time you are assigned the section to read and the time you take the test

Note-taking Systems:
Cornell Notes - separate your notebook into 3 sections; write the main idea and questions to be answered in the left column; put the main points, facts & information from your notes in the right column; summarize your notes at the bottom of the page
Outline
Mind Map

Remember to use abbreviations and phrases in your notes so that you can write faster!
Date each page of your notes!
Use pictures or diagrams to make things easier to understand!
Write notes from the book in your own words - don't just copy things word for word (unless it's a quotation)

Try the different styles of note-taking until you find what works best for you!

This week we learned more about ourselves with 2 personality "tests". The first, based on Gardner's multiple intelligences helped suggest ways that we can study better that match our personality. The second was a simplified version of the Meyers-Briggs Personality Test. This one broke things down into four types - Organizer, Thinker, Giver, & Adventurer. The freshmen enjoyed learning more about themselves and some different ways to study. We will revisit our personality types later this year when we begin career exploration.

OLSH Forensics meets every Tuesday after school in Room 2021 until 3:30pm to practice! Please join us any time if you are interested in being a part of the team!

There are two service opportunities for YYS girls in October:

Tuesday, Oct. 25 - World Vision - CANCELLED!
We will go to World Vision immediately after school until 5:00pm. Transportation will be provided to and from OLSH. Students may be picked up at World Vision if preferred. Sign up in Mrs. Cerchiaro's office. All YYS girls are invited to attend this optional service opportunity.

Wednesday, Oct. 26 - YYS Info Night
We will have the Info Night for interested YYS applicants on the 26th at 7:00pm in the OLSH Auditorium. All YYS girls are invited to participate - I am in need of girls to speak about aspects of the program, as well as girls to greet guests and direct them to the auditorium. Wear your YYS polo shirt and khaki or black pants. Freshmen- if your shirts are not in, I will give you a YYS polo to wear that night.

The YYS Application is now available for the 2012-2013 School Year! Please visit the OLSH website at www.olsh.org and go to the Academics Tab and select "Youthtowne Young Scholars". Complete the information form and you will be able to download the application!

This week in Mentor Sessions we will be continuing our conversations about ways to be successful students. In particular we will be focusing on communicating with teachers. We will be role playing ways to approach teachers when we have questions or concerns. We will also talk about treating others with courtesy and respect.

This week we have been reviewing "Ten Steps to Be Successful in Class". These steps are:
1. Be in school, on time, every day!
2. Learn how to adapt to different teachers
3. Be prepared for each class
4. Be aware of your body language
5. Always do your homework
6. Participate in class
7. Be a good group member
8. Treat others with courtesy and respect
9. Involve your parents
10. Take responsibility for your grades

We discussed each of these "steps" and how they are important. We also learned about SLANT: Sit up, lean forward, ask questions, nod your head, and talk to your teachers - as a way to stay focused in class. We played "charades" to show how much our body language and facial expressions can say to our teachers. Students were encouraged to check PowerSchool regularly, communicate with their parents about things that are happening in school, and to sign up for NHS tutors if needed.

It is roughly the half-way point of the quarter! Students still have plenty of time to improve their grades if needed! Next cycle we will be talking about Step #8 - Treat others with courtesy and respect and learning some "teacher pleasing behaviors" and ways to communicate with teachers.

During the second mentor session, we focused or organization and time management. Groups played a game, called "Warp Speed" to practice working together as a group and thinking creatively to solve a problem. We then created our weekly schedules - filling in a time sheet with all of our regular activities - sports, music lessons, homework time, free time, etc. We discussed how to combat common distractions to getting our homework done (like facebook, phones, friends, and TV) and how important it is to plan ahead!! We looked at each other's planners or homework notebooks and talked about how important they are. We also talked about the importance of keeping our papers and notes organized - particularly for help in studying for midterms and finals!

During our first cycle of mentor sessions we will be getting to know each other better! Students are decorating paper plates to share "What's on your plate?" this year - school, sports, activities, interests, etc. These plates are displayed in the mentor room as the Class of 2015 gets to know each other a little better. This cycle we are also taking a study skills inventory - just to see what some of our habits are and what we might need to improve upon. We are also discussing our expectations for mentor sessions for the year. I hope to make mentor sessions a fun learning experience for everyone!

Don't forget - if you need extra help in a subject, stop by and see me! I can help you sign up for an NHS tutor or help you with whatever you're stuck on!