BlueSky Online School

I've always loved the beginning of the school year. It's like someone hit the "Refresh" button! 

New school year, new classes, new goals...ah....a fresh start! 

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting some tips and tricks to help you get started on the right foot. 

The most important thing you can do right now is to get your materials ready and be prepared to start school.

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR THE 

2016-2017 School Year is: 

Tuesday, September 6th

Please login in on Tuesday, September 6th and complete your first assignments! 

[Strong Start] Topics that are coming up: 

• First Day of Class: Getting to know your teachers and syllabi
• My Pace vs. Group Pace classes: How to pace yourself
• The Academic Snapshot
• The Attendance Policy
• For Parents: How to help your online student
• Gmail and Googledocs
• The Three Person Team
• NWEA MAP Testing

Tip #5: FINISH STRONG

As we head in to the final hours of the semester, take a deep breath, buckle down, and FINISH STRONG. 

You are so close to accomplishing your goals, you have planned to do each assignment once, you have triaged the work that needs to be completed, and you have guarded your health.

The only thing left to do is FINISH STRONG! 

We're all cheering you on!!!

What could this adorable sleeping kitten have to do with our Tip #4 installment of the [End of Semester Tips] series??

Tip #4: Guard your health

Often when we are faced with a deadline, the solution seems to be to stay up ALL NIGHT to work. 

Research indicates that this is NOT the best plan!!! 

Sleep (and getting enough of it) is crucial to physical health and to proper brain function. Check out the National Sleep Foundation for more information about the importance of sleep. 

When you settle in to study remember some important things: 

*EAT and don't just eat anything. Eat good, nutritious food. Your body and your mind with thank you.

Triage: to assign degrees of urgency to

Every student has different goals, so the idea of "triaging" your courses may mean different things. 

*Some students may be passing all of their classes, but are hoping to finish each and every assignment in a course. 

*Some students may be on the edge of passing classes and need to decide which classes to focus on. 

*Some students may be failing all of their classes and have decided it's time to focus on passing just one.

For the second installment of our [End of the Semester Tip] series, a short but sweet tip! 

Plan to do each assignment ONCE

What does that mean? 

Take the time to LEARN the material, so you are completing an assignment with the intention of passing it. 

Often when we rush through things, we end up having to redo them. And in the end that take more time. 

So, take your time. LEARN. Plan on doing each assignment ONCE. 

Eek! It's the end of the semester! 

I will be posting a series of five [End of Semester Tips] to help you FINISH STRONG. 

Tip #1: Set some GOALS

I chose the above image to help illustrate the important features of proper goal setting. It's one thing to say "I want to pass", it's quite another to set reasonable, attainable, and specific goals. 

As you set out to wrap up your classes, use the "SMART" acronym to guide your goal setting. 

S - Specific: Make a list of the specific classes you are planning to pass. Or, if you're already passing everything, make a specific list of which classes you want to revisit and maybe redo some work to increase your grade. Whatever your goal is, make it specific. If it is specific, then you can know when it has been achieved.  

M - Measurable: Most of the end of semester goals will come with their own measure...your report card! But, if your goal isn't grade related, you may need to measure it in a different way. Some examples: "Complete all 5 discussions that I skipped throughout the semester" or "Redo my math assignment until I raise the score to 70% or higher". It's important that a goal has measurement so you know you have met it! 

A - Attainable: Be careful to choose a goal that is realistic. Now is not the time to take a grade of 11% up to an A. Focus on the places where you can make a real change in the short amount of time we have left. So, make the goal specific, measurable, and possible to attain. 

R - Relevant: Make sure that your goal is relevant to finishing the semester at school. Examples of relevant goals (that also meet the above criteria!): "Raise  my Science grade from a 52% to a passing grade of 60% or higher by completing the remaining 7 assignments in the course." or "Redo the 'Required to Pass' assignment in History to achieve a passing score, so I can pass the course". These goals are relevant to the end of the semester. They are also specific and can be measured. And they are attainable! An example of a non-relevant goal? "Beating my sister at Trivia Crack" :)

T - Time Bound: Luckily this one is kind of taken care of for you...the end of the semester is our time limit. It is an important practice in goal setting to have a time limit set. We all know how procrastination works...so setting a time goal can help you achieve! 

Check back over the next weeks for my series of [End of Semester Tips]! And as always, contact your BlueSky Student Services Advisor and your individual teachers for help! 

Leasa Kulm

What is your role at BlueSky Online? 

I am part of the Welcome and Support team. I work with new students coming to BlueSky. I also teach Spanish for grades 7-12.

What is your Education background?

I attended South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD.

What is your favorite part of working online?

I love being home with my kids in the morning before they go to school and being home when they get home from school. Working in sweats is also a benefit!

What is your favorite food?

Qdoba

What are your hobbies? 

I like to travel, read, attend sporting events, and spend time with my family.

Do you have any fun or interesting tidbits to share? 

I've traveled with students to Spain and Morocco, Mexico, and most recently Costa Rica. I hope to one day go back to Spain. Life is too short to stay in one place.