This week, we zero in on specific activities teachers can do, mostly independent of you, to help advance your college curriculum.
Tell their story The more adults who “talk college”, the more students will go. Teacher stories are a huge help, since it brings the choice of college to life-- as long as they are told in the context of lessons learned, not with a tone of “yeah, that was awful, so don’t bother.”
Many high schools have a College Application Week, a Spirit Week to promote college awareness. Many of these programs devote a day for teachers to wear their college gear and spend five minutes of each class period talking about their college experience. With a little training from you, this is a powerful experience.
Give them reminders A quick monthly email from you keeps the teachers clued into your postsecondary planning curriculum, and what the students are experiencing. Give a quick summary of each grade level and some one sentence announcements to share with students (“Juniors, have you signed up for the ACT?”), so they can nudge them in a way you may not have time for. They also might keep their academic expectations in mind as they assign homework, as in, don’t give seniors a term paper in October. Write these once, and you’ll use them every year.
Teacher letters of recommendation The best thing most teachers can do is write letters of recommendation colleges value. Typically, that’s not the case; colleges report that most teacher letters are so vague, they don’t really say anything about the student.
The goal The goal of a teacher letter is show what it’s like to work with the student in the classroom on a regular basis.
The start of the letter A great teacher letter starts with a story about the student. “I’ll never forget the look on Bill’s face when he talked about three new applications (to him) of titration. It was like he saw the whole world in front of him, and was eager to understand all of it.” Too many teacher letters start with too many adjectives. They should give colleges a close-up view of the person the college wants to get to know beyond the numbers and the platitudes.
Activities? No Some teachers include the student’s activities in the letter as a way to say “See? I really know this kid!” Those are somewhere else on the application, so the teacher should show their understanding of the student in a different, more personal way—all in one page (and only one page-- really).
Other relationships? Maybe It’s OK to say they were also the student’s cross-country coach, but it’s better if they have a cross-country story to match the classroom story. Mentioning the connection is OK; using a cross-country story is a little better; connecting that with the classroom side of the student is gold.
Description Paragraphs two and three include what the teacher sees in the student. Adjectives are OK here, but adjectives with examples are much better. Qualities like curiosity, innovation, classroom leadership, level of academic preparedness, combined with examples, make a killer letter.
Closing It’s OK for the teacher to sign the letter giving the college some idea how long they’ve taught (Bill Smith, Geometry teacher for 20 years), but that’s really the only place the teacher talks about them.
Giving a letter writing workshop to teachers is a great way to do this. Better yet—invite a college rep to do it, which, for better or for worse, gives it more credibility, since they read the letters. Don’t take it personally.
[Photo: York High School, Nebraska staff wear spirit gear on College and Career Day]
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