Finals Preparation

Yikes! Its here. The last month of the school year. The many things learned will now be cummulatively formatted into a test of some sort. Testing your ability to retain knowledge and your ability to apply that retained knowledge. As a student, I would dread finals preparation in high school and undergraduate school.

Now however, maybe because I’ve taught and have been on the other side of finals, I do not dread them. My look at finals is making sure that I have properly organized my materials so that I may review and prepare accordingly, when I would prepare myself and students for finals I always suggested doing previous work tow or three times. This work may be classwork, homework, or lab work. Paying particular attention to concepts misunderstood.

Though the goal is to achieve a high grade and to retain as much book material as possible. It is also imperative to reflect on the beauty of the process. To reflect on the minor growths that made major breakthroughs. And to reflect on how what you’ve learned will open doors to the next chapter, or has exposed your mind to something new. Be sure to step back, and enjoy to journey of learning.

 

-Brandy

Spring Cleaning

I love to meet new students in the fall. The emotions of each interaction varies, from excitement to indifference. The emotion of buckling up for the rollercoaster. Through the dips, stomach drops, and cheers of the ride of the school year, the information begins to clutter.

The clutter is not necessarily filled with negative moments. But rather, the clutter is a mix of high’s and low’s of what has been learned through the fall and winter seasons. By spring, the tangible emotions are that of old papers. For teachers, papers of future assignments, past assignments and bright ideas. For students, papers of proud scores, unfinished assignments, and the work that the substitute teacher gave (dreadful busy work). However, in order to finish strong, there has to be a calm. Much like the slowing down of the rollercoaster before you unbuckle. This calm, in the school year comes with the decluttering of those papers, the stress, and the preparation for the light at the end of the tunnel.

This Spring 19′ as a tutor, I have been decluttering my students work. Decluttering their folders of those highs and lows, deciding what was important to keep and what is great information to hold to prepare for the next rollercoaster. It has been rather refreshing, for myself, the parents, and most importantly the students. The time to organize gives vision, and fixes thoughts into the right spaces so that you may know what to hold on to tightly, and what to release.

Spring 19′, I encourage everyone to declutter. To organize your schoolwork and emotions, to prepare for what is ahead and be confident in it.

 

Brandy

Teen Summer Jobs

Summer 17′ is right around the corner. The sun will be out and young people will be free from school, with much idle time. Parents often try to find different activities to keep young people active, whether that be tutoring, volunteer programs, or church activities. Another great way to stay busy and teach responsibility is by working.

There are a plethora of jobs to either apply for, or to begin as a personal business venture. Penny Hoarder has an excellent list of jobs in this link, Teen Summer Jobs, this list includes ideas of: babysitter, pet sitter, tutor etc.

Having a summer job teaches financial responsibility and gives a young person accountability. Which is essential to growing in Americas forever changing job force. Youth will also be exposed to interviews and having to have a professional confident demeanor. Many youth struggle with talking about themselves, who they are, and what they love. Jobs give youth opportunities to truly bloom.

If possible, push young people to get a summer job and expand on their personal brand.

Interview Skills

 

One of iBrand.Me’s staple activities at our professional development workshop is our interview skills activity. In this particular scenario we had two of our attendees interview each other.

Prior to this activity we reviewed the basic skills of giving an interview. We covered how to dress, tone of voice, 30 second pitch etc. The goal is to get students to understand who they are as an individual and what will best work for them to be successful at many different forms of interviewing.

Our attendees always take these interview skills and use them in real life setting and have success. We hope the impact will be the same with our most recent attendees.

 

Frugal Living

Minimalism is a new hot topic among millenials. Many young adults are opting to buy cheaper groceries, minimizing house sizes, buying electric cars. Sustainability is gaining attention and being ingrained in daily life practices of many people. Here are 5 tips on living frugal. Not your ordinary pieces of information on frugality, but certainly beneficial. All articles were found on a popular barganing blog: www.TheBalance.com

1. Buy Furniture in January or July: January and July are the months that stores are riding of furniture to make way for new seasonal furniture. Many people do move in the summer or beginning of the year. It is wise to pay attention when to invest in new necessities. Click Link: When to buy furniture
2. Use Vinegar: Vinegar has many benefits other than to detoxify your body. Vinegar can be used as a cleaning utensil and an air refresher. Clink Link: everyday Vinegar Use Recipes
3. Use “Old” Fruit for sauces or desert: Wasting food is one of the planets biggest sustainability issues. Food scarcity could be resolved by making use of what we consider “rotten” food. Browning bananas can be made into banana bread, and rotting apples can be formed into cinnamon apple slices. Click Link: Apple Recipes
4. Earn some extra cash: In today’s job market sometimes one job is not enough. Or the simple career that brings purpose to your life does not bring in enough cash. There are many ways to fulfill your purpose and be able to fund your lifestyle. Tutoring or service driving are just a few of many ideas. Clink Link:15 Side Jobs
5. Save Money on Air Conditioning: Sustaining energy is essential to keep down bills and not overuse non-renewable energy resources. Clink Link: Air Conditioning Costs

Black College Expo: Oakland

 

On this upcoming Saturday February 18th there will be a job and college expo at Laney College in Oakland, Ca. The event begins at 9:00 am and ends at 5:00 pm. The earlier you arrive the better, to ensure that you are able to apply to colleges and receive job interviews. Be sure to bring your transcript, SAT/ACT, and resume.

The black college expo has been occurring in Oakland for more than 15 years and has been nothing short of a success to the African American community.

iBrand.Me will be present at the expo and will be promoting our upcoming workshop dates and connecting with teachers and universities.

Time Management: Timers

I never appreciated my white board timer as much as I did when I became a full time teacher. Timers help students bring recognition to the amount of time expected to complete an assignment, and how much of that time they have truly been being productive. I use timers when doing multiple tasks throughout a class period and to also assist with transitions from different activities such as: reading, discussion, writing etc.

Because they are so beneficial in the classroom. I also use them when completing my “adulting tasks.” If I know that I need to fill out many different forms of documentation, grade, write a blog, call colleagues etc. I will set up a timer to be sure I am accomplishing those tasks. For example I’ll set aside 2 hours and set four 30 minute timers for: filling out forms, making phone calls, grading, and blogging. It may seem like silly advice, but it helps bring understanding to exactly what I’m doing with my time and if I am being productive.

So, if you are feeling overwhelmed. Utilize a timer, and be productive.

 

Presidential Inaguration and Protests

As of January 20th 2017 we have a new president. Donald J Trump has become the 45th president of the United States and the response has been quite unique. Thousands of people stood in barely bare-able weather to wave in delight of the president from Capitol Hill to the White House. While several another several thousand protested against the policies President Trump has promised to implement.

For the people in favor of Trump, they feel that he is going to bring jobs back to communities that have struggled for several decades with the loss of industrial jobs. Many of these cities are in the midwest, and they used to produce items in America, which are now being outsourced to different countries. Trump promises to bring these jobs back and provide income in America, along with new health care policies.

Many trump supporters were not in favor of the Obama care that was implemented the last 4 years of our democracy. And for reasons that seemed apauling to many. Republicans are in disfavor of Obamacare for ideological reasons, such that those who can afford insurance, pay a higher premium to pay for the subsidies of the government programs, this is viewed as a government meddling of doctor-patient relationships. People against Obama care also feel that the economics do not stack up. The number of people with insurance has dropped, making the price of Obamacare higher and many young healthy Americans may not want insurance, making the system collapse.

While there are reasons to be in favor of the Trump Republican party, protestors are not buying into the parties rhetoric. Trump promises to handle crime with a “law and order” approach. The same that we saw with Nixon in the 1970s and led to the arrest of low socioeconomic and little educated minorities in America. This approach has raised the amount of people in prison, particularly black and latino people.

Not only are protestors against the injustices of policing in minority communities, but also against the “attack” on women’s rights. These are the reproductive rights and such as brith control and abortions, that were fought for desperately during the late 60s and early 70s. If these rights are taken from women it is believed that we take a negative step back into history, and the many advances of women in the workforce may subside.

The American people have many reasons to be for and many reason to be against
Trump. His for week of presidency has had a powerful response from people all of the world, we hope to see peace and progress in our Nation as we continue to grow and develop young professionals.

Dr. King’s Success

Today is Martin Luther King Day. A  Day of rest in America, a day or recognition to one of the most influential people of all time. The day being set aside to respect the legacy of Dr. King is essential to understanding the greatest progressions of African-Americans, the beginning of the ending of legal segregation.

Segregation was a major political topic of the 50s and 60s in America. Many southern governors were in favor of segregation of African-Americans from adequate resources. Adequate enough to allow true progress of African-American people in the America. Black people were not given sufficient school supplies or job opportunities. Black people were not allowed to eat in certain areas of restaurants or stay at certain businesses, because they were allowed to be discriminated against to allow the comfort of those in fear of black people living the violent stereotypes they’ve scripted in their minds. It was truly a shameful fallacy that was allowed to be portrayed through laws in southern states and across the united states.

Dr. King was outwardly against the oppression of black people in America. King was an excellent speaker and fought for equality in all areas where black people were not equal. King supported restaurant sit-ins, bussing segregation, housing segregation, voting rights, work placement, state college attendance, and the consistent injustice in the courtroom. What I recently come to realize is why king was successful.

King was successful because first, he had a fearless team with many different talents. King was a preacher and able to deliver a message. But with him were men who specialized in organizing, marketing, law and political strategists. King never had a large church nor was he as popular alive as he is today. But it was the mixture of minds to reach a common goal that motivated them all.

King organized through mass marketing from flyers distributed in markets to announcements in classrooms. Consistent communication through teachers and churches. They would drive down the street and make speakerphone announcements. He would demonstrate in areas that were known to have violent police forces, to allow media presence, and spread the image of what was happening int he segregated south around the world.

Dr. King succeeded through his calm demeanor and consistent belief that change could happen. He rejected the obvious wrongs of society and calmly marched across states in massive crowds to let it be known that people will not tolerate the illicit behavior of the government against any people. King brought attention to the fowl character of the government and an image to people across the world. He worked in love for the progress of black people, and that love is still being emitted today through believers of Dr. Kings dream.

5 Tips For Getting Back Into School Mode

The time has come to get back to school or back to work, for those in education. After a 2-3 week break it is not the easiest. Depending on how amazing or depressing your break was you may be anxious to get back to co-workers and studies, or dreading the idea of going back to work and class. Weather your outlook is positive or negative, we have some advice for excelling in this new year.

1. Self Care- Be sure you’re are healthy. Go back to drinking those 8 glasses of water a day and eating vegetables. Don’t forget 7-8 hours of sleep are optimal for health and brain function.                                                                                                                                                            
2. Planning- Getting back into full stride may require some extra lifting. That means being prepared. Write a list of goals to accomplish for the week then break them down by day. Make a checklist of the tasks you did accomplish for the day so as you plan in the future, your checklist will become more accurate.                                                                                          
3. Routine- This is essential. Not all routines have to be daily. You can simply exercise every other day, cook three times a week, study 2-3 hours a day, and read a leisure book 15 minutes daily. That could be useful to be sure you are covering your basics.                                                        
4. Time Management- Pay attention to how you manage your time. Its imperative to be sure you have an idea time range of the amount of time you want to spend on tasks. That way you can get more tasks done, and you record what tasks need more time.                                                   
5. Be Grateful– Its a new year. Be grateful you made it hear and have more opportunity to complete the goals you see yourself achieving and the status of your situation. Weather it is ideal or you are in a bind, appreciate the journey.