My New Years Teaching Resolutions A Veteran Teacher Talks Goal-Setting

My New Years Teaching Resolutions A Veteran Teacher Talks Goal-Setting New Year’s resolutions are an important part of our personal and work lives. Veteran teacher, TeacherVision Advisory Board Member, and mom Jessica shares her approaches to creating New Year’s teaching resolutions. by Jessica Peresta New Year’s resolutions can be as simple as setting a word to focus on for the upcoming year, or as complicated as setting and detailing a number of goals you want to achieve. When you’re choosing which resolutions you want to set, dig deep and focus on ways to improve as a teacher. As part of this process, ask yourself some hard questions. What will help you to gain traction in your teaching? Can you be more patient? Give yourself time for self-care? Connect with those hard-to-reach students during the rest of the school year? Whatever resolutions you choose, make sure you remember that they’re yours and no one else’s. Your resolutions won’t look like anyone else’s, because you’re unique, and have your own teaching style. My Teaching Resolutions First of all, let’s talk about my resolutions and then we’ll talk about examples of other resolutions you could set. For me, I want to focus on being less stressed. I need to prioritize my tasks better and truly cross things off of my to-do list. I’m tired of having a “zombie” to-do list! I tend to procrastinate and wait until the last minute when it comes to planning lessons and tackling everything else I need to get done. I also want to get better at focusing on family time and really putting my work down at a good and reasonable time at the end of the day. I’m a big believer that work and family time should be kept separate. Does that mean I won’t ever need to work when my kids are home? Of course not! But my goal is to get better at truly making “quality time” actual QUALITY time. Strategies for Making Your Resolutions OK, now it’s your turn. Think about your own life. What’s caused stress this year? What goals do you want to achieve in the coming weeks, months, and year? To get going, start out by getting out a piece of paper and a pen. Label a list from 1-5 or even 1-10. Then, start writing down any goals you want to achieve. You could even have two lists...one for your personal life and one for your teaching life. Here’s an example of what my list might look like: Organize my time better Create fun and engaging lesson plans Connect more with my hard-to-reach students Take more time for self-care Collaborate more with my team Spend more time with my family Go on that vacation I’ve been dreaming of Give myself grace when I mess up Accept positive criticism Try not to bring work home at least 3 times a week The main point of this exercise is to write down resolutions and then try to achieve them as the year goes on. There’s something truly powerful about putting your thoughts down on paper. You could even hang your resolutions up somewhere so you can see them as the year goes on. Or, if you want to get even more technical, you could even set one goal for each month of the year. After You've Made Your List After you’ve made your list, now it’s time to actually achieve your goals. How many times have you made resolutions and then gotten to get to the end of the year and realized that you definitely didn’t stick with them? (I’m sure I’m not alone here!) While you’re making your list, make sure the resolutions you’re setting are specific and actionable...but also easy enough to achieve. Don’t set goals that you’ll never meet - that will just lead to frustration and a feeling of failure. Also, don’t overwhelm yourself with too many resolutions. Also...give yourself lots and lots of grace. If you don’t achieve the goals you’ve set and feel like your resolutions aren’t being met, then you can always set new ones. You don’t know where you’ll be 11 months from now or what your students will need from you. You will also change as a person. So, instead of beating yourself up for not achieving something, just set new goals and add them to your list. Be mindful of progress - it’s more important than perfection. Happy New Year! What are your New Year's teaching resolutions? Share with us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Jessica Peresta is passionate about providing other music teachers, especially those right out of college or new to teaching elementary music, with the music education resources, lesson plans, teacher training, and community you've been looking for. She believes your domestic life outside of school should be spent soaking up time with family and friends and your music teacher life while at school should not leave you feeling defeated, but should be a joyful, exciting, and rewarding experience. To find out more about Jessica and her passion, visit her at The Domestic Musician.

Looking At The Customer Service Of Ryanair - 1663 Words

1. An overview of Ryanair In this essay, I will also be looking at the customer service of Ryanair. Ryanair is a low budget ‘no frills’ airline which offer domestic, inbound and outbound flights out of their hub which is Stansted. Ryanair have their headquarters in Swords, Ireland. First founded in 1985 by the Ryan family, with a share capital of just  £1.00. They offered a 15 seated aircraft during the summer months from Waterford, which is in the southeast of Ireland to London Gatwick. In 2013 Ryanair saw 81,668,285 passengers, with over 300 aircraft in their fleet but with the added 180 aircraft ordered in 2013 they hope to see their fleet over 400 by the end of 2014, then a further increase to 500 by 2019. They currently fly to 183†¦show more content†¦The needs though would be the same for many travellers. Needs such as helpful check-in staff. Lots of check-in desks to reduce queuing times, though Ryanair unfortunately don’t offer this compared to an airline such as British Airways, easy boarding, comfortable seats/comfortable flight. One of Ryanairs’ is that they get you from A to B. Thus a lot of the features of their aircraft are very basic. For example there are no seatback pockets, so that passengers are able to put newspapers and other possessions. In the past business travellers would have not chosen to fly with Ryanair, as the company was not seen to fly these types of passengers. One of Ryanairs’ competitors, EasyJet are now including business class travel on selected flights. Therefore Ryanair are changing their business strategy if you like, and they have decided to include this too. They offer flexibility change seats, they offer 20kg of baggage, fast track through airport security, priority boarding, choose your seat and free airport check-in. For people who require mobility, Ryanair offers a whole range of mobility assistance. This includes passengers who require either wheelchairs or electronic buggies, also on their website they offer assistance to those who are either visually impaired or blind. Therefore Ryanair do offer a whole range of needs for many different types of passengers, and in the previous paragraph, the company is adapting to increase their customer service skills and

Toyota a Glimpse of Leadership, Organizational...

Toyota: A Glimpse of Leadership, Organizational Behavior, and Organizational Structure Courtney Berry Organizational behavior is the study of application of individuals’ behaviors within structured groups within an organization (Robbins Judge, 2007). The field of study identifies behaviors within specific groups and individuals in organizations and how the structures of organizations play a role in behaviors (Robbins Judge, 2007). In the past several months, the leading company in the car industry has been experiencing a quality control and consumer product safety issue. Toyota is not only encountering a quality control issue but also a senior management crisis issue. The corporate leadership team of Toyota did not recognize†¦show more content†¦These behaviors are found at the managerial role but play an important and predictive role at determining the behaviors of an organization and its structure. When Toyota led the way in the car industry the organization was firing on all cylinders in their organizational behavior. At the individual level, job satisfacti on empowers the employees to make decisions on the line and create effcient processes that lead to high production. At the group level, communication and decisions are made across multiple teams and employees to engineer the highest level of product leadership (Womack Shook, 2007). The organizational level mirrors the individual and group level that creates a culture of pride within Toyota. This organizational pride creates a culture of employees with a belief that Toyota engineers the best products. Organizational structure is the backbone to the strategy of an organization. It helps carry out new strategies by differing structure designs and parameters in which individuals and groups communicate within organizations (Mintzber, Lampel, Quinn, Ghoshal, 2003). The car industry typically mirrors the machine organizational structure. The work is highly standardized and is designed to run by a large technostructure to formalize behaviors and actions (Mintzber, et al, 2003). The structure of this design typically limits power at the operatorShow MoreRelatedEssay about Marketing and Entry Mode19449 Words   |  78 PagesTITLE â€Å"Internationalization Process of Toyota in Europe from the Perspectives of Entry Mode and Network Structure† London School of Commerce (LSC) University of Wales Institute of Cardiff (UWIC) Student Name: Miss. Sajida Ramzan Student ID: 0089kkvl0409 Course: BABS 6 (HONS) Subject: Disertation Lecturer: Dr. Gerald Pollio Executive Summary Problem, Purpose and Method Decision-makers, like sailors, need to know how to ride out a potential storm and to understand how theRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. 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Hopwood University of Oxford December 2005 PREFACE ‘ A multitude of forces shape management accounting. From an organizational perspective, decision-makers and other users of accounting information often perceive changes in their information needs. Consequently, providers of accounting information within organizations respond to many of these desired changes by redesigningRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 PagesChapter 10 Reducing Project Duration Leadership Chapter 2 Organization Strategy and Project Selection 1.4 Projects and programs (.2) 1.4.1 Managing the portfolio 1.4.3 Strategy and projects 2.3 Stakeholders and review boards 12.1 RFP’s and vendor selection (.3.4.5) 11.2.2.6 SWAT analysis 6.5.2.7 Schedule compression 9.4.2.5 Leadership skills G.1 Project leadership 10.1 Stakeholder management Chapter 11 Teams Chapter 3 Organization: Structure and Culture 2.4.1 Organization culturesRead MoreInnovators Dna84615 Words   |  339 Pages is the Horace Beesley Professor of Strategy at the Marriott School, Brigham Young University. He is widely published in strategy and business journals and was the fourth most cited management scholar from 1996–2006. is a professor of leadership at INSEAD. He consults to organizations around the world on innovation, globalization, and transformation and has published extensively in leading academic and business journals. is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration

Google Search Free Essays

How does Google search engine works which search engine Is the best..? Yahoo Bing Yandex Fine. We will write a custom essay sample on Google Search or any similar topic only for you Order Now . Let’s Google It! we know that Google tops the list without giving a second thought.. Let’s see how It works. The web contains over 30 trillion pages and It keeps on increasing. To understand our query and to provide the most relevant solution is definitely not an easy task. So how do they pull it together? Google uses a automated program called Spiders or Crawlers. Spiders begin by fetching the data from a few web pages and then it follows the links on those pages and then follow the links on those pages and so on until a pretty big portion of the web Is linked. These pages are stored on millions of computers and have about million of ggabytes. The pages are sorted by their content and other factors and they are kept track of in the index. There are several algorithms and programs to understand and deliver the best posslbe result. Algorithms Ilke autocomplete, spelling, synonyms, query understanding etc are used to understand what the user actually want. Then using these Information the most relevant pages are sorted out based on over 200 factors. These factors Include site and page quality, freshness, This blends the relevant Images, videos, data and personal content Into a single unified search results page. After all these factors are evaluated and a fine list of search results are obtained they are Olspla to tne user. The next stage is to fight the spam off The site owners will be notified if their site is marked as spam. The siteowners could then fix the problem. And the best part is that all these things happen in Just 118th of a second and Google could support about 100 billion searches each month..! How to cite Google Search, Papers

Handling Stress Essay Example For Students

Handling Stress Essay This essay is about handling the stress of University studies. We will be looking into many ideas and different peoples views on how to handle stress. I will also be giving my own opinions on how I think stress can be controlled or relieved. The first thing we must do is ask ourselves one very important question, what is stress? WHAT IS STRESS? According to an Australian born physician, Hans Selye (1979), stress is the nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it. The body responds in many ways. One is to the loss of blood and the other is to the lack of sleep. Both of these are nonspecific responses, however all demands made on the body evoke generalised, nonspecific responses. For example, they all unable you to concentrate as would normally be expected, they activate ones sympathetic nervous system, and they also increase the amount of the hormone epinephrine that is being released into your body. When people say theyve been under going alot of stress they are usually referring to a couple of unpleasant experiences. Now that we have an idea on what stress is the next question we should ask ourselves is what is or can cause stress. CAUSES OF STRESS There are many different things that cause stress. One may be if you have a big term paper due and you want to do your best to impress your seminar leader. Another may be peer or family related. All in all it is things, events, situations, and people that cause stress. It is how we perceive them that will determine whether or not stress will be a result from the encounter. Not only negative situations are the cause of stress. Joy and happiness can also cause stress even though they are positive. In a sense, it is we then who choose our own stressors. Selye noted that with the absence of stress there is death. Current researchers are also discovering that too little stress may be a major cause of depression or boredom. It is therefore up to us to choose the best Handling Stress # stressors and the optimal level of stress. Since we have now begun to understand the definition of stress as well as the causes we now ask ourselves what can I do to control my stress? CONTROLLING STRESS There have been many studies done on the managements of stress. One group of researchers found out that many university students tended to gain weight their first year away from home. These students stated they overate in response to the many life-style changes and varying stresses of the university environment (Journal of College Student Personnel). This group of students were placed in stress management sessions. These sessions included overall stress assessment, assertiveness training, time management, exploration of stressful thoughts or belief systems, and life-style and stress reducers. The main focus of these sessions were: a) how to manage stress by using things other than food and b) how to apply stress management principles to the amount of food you take in. The majority of these students found better ways to manage or control their stress by using more healthful outlets, such as walking or taking up a sport. During the last twenty years disease prevention and health promotion have been found to be related to the development of healthy life-style behaviour and the management of stress. The course entitled Psychology and the Management of Stress: Theory and Application (Personnel and Guidance Journal), has been set up to: a) acquaint students with theory and research related to stress management techniques b) to provide guidance and information about diet, physical exercise, and other matters of a healthy life-style and c) to provide an opportunity for students to learn and practice how to apply stress management to their present lives. .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 , .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 .postImageUrl , .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 , .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19:hover , .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19:visited , .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19:active { border:0!important; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19:active , .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19 .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u62cea46bd9986538f0528a6f0ee78b19:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Anne Frank Essay Each Handling Stress # course is developed around four dimensions. Two of these are, the influences of diet, physical exercise, and alcohol, drug, and cigarette use on stress and physical health, and principles related to effective time management. These courses have been proven to be highly effective. The stages in which the students are taught are as follows: a) the students

aerosmith essays

aerosmith essays Cause and Effect Aerosmith In this capitalist society where trends and popular opinions drastically sway the value of arts, it is rather difficult for artists to cleave to their original preferences throughout their careers. This was certainly the case for the popular band Aerosmith who initially had started as a rock band and had then turned into a pop band. In this short paper, I will explain how Aerosmiths drug issues had eventually become the cause for this change in music style. Founded in the early seventies by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Ray Tabano, Aerosmith originally began as a rock band. Although Ray Tabano leaves the band, Aerosmith is soon joined by Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer who further strengthened their rock music. Performing their self-made music at local bars, Aerosmtih soon attracted rock fans from all over the United States. After signing with Columbia records in 1973, Aerosmith gradually gained popularity as a hard rock band producing hit singles such as Dream On. Building a strong, targeted fan base, the rock band continuously released hit albums and eventually became one of the significant icons in the genre of rock music. However, the sex, drugs and rock-n-roll band faces a sharp decline in popularity and sales in the late seventies when the members experience serious drug problems. Needless to say, their incessant drug abuse led to bad publicity and performance. To illustrate, the band frequently destroyed hotel rooms with chainsaws, took drugs during performances, attacked fans and so on. Named as the Toxic Twins, Tyler and Perry spent most of their money on drugs and soon went bankrupt. To make matters even worse, Perry and Whitford leave the band in 1979 after a quarrel. Aerosmith had lost most of their loyal fans and was headed for their withdrawal from the music industry. Something...

How to Plan for College 5 Tips for 9th Graders

How to Plan for College 5 Tips for 9th Graders SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you have college aspirations, you can and should start planning for college during your freshman year of high school. You want to make sure you're on the right path and have a solid plan in place to help you navigate the college process and eventually reach your goals. In this article, I'll detail what to include inyour 9th grade college planning. Then, I'll explain what you don't yet need to worry about. It’s Not Too Early to Think About How to Plan for College If you’re thinking that 9th grade is too early to start preparing for college, you’re wrong. Some of what you do in 9th grade will impact your college applications and influence admissions decisions. Many of my former students told me in their senior year that they wished they’d developed good study habits or knew more about what they’d need to do to get into college when they were freshmen. Also, if you have the mindset in 9th grade that you’re going to college, you’ll be much more likely to stay on the path to achieving your college goals. Below, I outline the five most important tips for 9th grade college planning. #1: Take the Right Classes When you start high school, you need to make sure you’re taking a college prep curriculum. Talk to your counselor to ensure that you’re on a college prep track. In many schools, the math or foreign language class you take in your freshman year of high school will determine what level you’re able to reach when you’re a senior in high school. Colleges will evaluate you based on the classes you’ve taken. If you have any aspirations of attending a top college, the most selective schools want to see that you’re challenging yourself and taking some of the hardest classes that are offered at your school. You don’t have to take every single honors or AP class, but to get into the top schools, you should demonstrate that you can do well in the most difficult classes. I do recommend taking honors or AP classes in the subjects you're best at and the subjects you're considering studying in college. Here's an example of a good freshman schedule for a student who wants to be competitive for admission to elite colleges. Note that this is just a rough guide, and you can take a more or less challenging schedule depending on your skill level and the courses offered at your high school: Honors Biology Geometry Honors English World History Spanish I PE Elective #2: Get Good Grades Believe it or not, your freshman year grades do matter for college admissions. Colleges will look at your freshman year grades, and your grades in your freshman year will influence your high school GPA and class rank. Furthermore, if you get good grades in your freshman year, you’ll be more likely to get good grades in your sophomore and junior years. You’ll have developed the skills and habits that will allow you to continue to be successful academically. Learn more about how to get a 4.0 and better grades. If you don’t do as well as you’d like in your freshman year, it doesn’t mean that your college dreams are doomed, though. Undoubtedly, your sophomore and junior year grades are more important to colleges. #3: Get Involved in Extracurriculars Other than your grades and test scores, your extracurricular activities probably have the biggest influence on the quality of your college applications. Colleges, especially top colleges, want their students to have exceptional achievements outside of the classroom, and they’re looking for individuals who use their leisure time to pursue their passions. Some students believe they need to be well-rounded and do a ton of extracurriculars; however, for college admissions, it may be more advantageous for you to develop a â€Å"spike† and exhibit excellence in a particular activity or field. If you play a sport, you can focus your energies on reaching the highest level in your sport and becoming a recruited athlete. If you excel in math, you can use your time outside of school to practice for and compete in math competitions. You should be participating in extracurricular activities during your freshman year of high school. Colleges prefer to see a sustained commitment to your activities. It’s more impressive to do one activity for four years and continue to show growth in that activity than it is to start doing a bunch of activities in your junior year. Furthermore, getting involved in extracurriculars now increases your odds of gaining leadership positions or winning awards later in your high school career. Learn what to do if you’re struggling to find extracurriculars. Maybe you can join the basketball team. Image source:David Holmes/Flickr #4: Start Preliminary College Research When you’re a freshman in high school, you don’t need to know which college you want to go to. You don’t even need to have much of an idea of which colleges you want to apply to. However, you can start thinking about what you’re looking for in a college. What do you want to study? What geographic region do you want to be in? You can play around with college finders to get an idea of different schools that may be good for you. You can also visit local college campuses to see what they're like and get a small taste of college life. Once you have an idea of a few colleges that may interest you, you can get a better idea of what you need to do to get admitted. Google "PrepScholar[name of school] admissions" to get the acceptance rates, average GPAs, and average standardized test scores for different colleges. If you know the grades you'll need to get into different schools, that can help you stay on track. Furthermore, you can also go on colleges' websites and look at their admission requirements so you know whichclasses you should be taking. It's perfectly OK if you're unsure at this point what you want in a college, and it's very possible that you'll change your mind before you graduate from high school, even if you think you know where you want to go. Keep in mind, though, that it's good to start thinking about college in general and to realize that what you do throughout high school will impact your college options. #5: Involve Your Parents This advice applies primarily to students whose parents didn’t go to college or are unfamiliar with the college application process. Even if your parents went to college, it's probably been a while and they may have fears or concerns about your college goals. If your parents aren’t pushing you to go to college, you can let them know about your desires to attend. If you get them involved with your college planning, they can be more supportive and helpful. Inform themwhy you want to go to college. Also, many parents worry about the cost of attending college. Some parents will incorrectly assume that their children can’t go to college because they’re unable to afford the full cost of attendance. You may want to direct them to our articles on how to save for college and financial aid. At this point, mostly it's important to know that finances shouldn't be a barrier to you attending college. Between grants, scholarships, and possibly loans, a college education should be accessible to you regardless of your financial situation. If your parents are pushing you to go to college or are generally stressing you out about college, you can try to reassure them by letting them know you have a plan (make sure you have a plan first). All of you can read this article and our other articles about college admissions. If possible, try to get your parents involved in your college planning. What Not to Worry About as a Freshman While it’s good to start thinking about how to plan for college in the 9th grade, you should remember that you still have substantial time to prepare yourself for college. Try to avoid stressing about college now. Your education and future are important, but so are your happiness and emotional well-being. Here are some specific aspects of planning for college that you don’t really have to be too concerned with in 9th grade. The SAT or ACT You’ve probably heard of the SAT and the ACT. Most colleges require you to take one of these tests to gain admission. A higher score will increase your chances of getting into selective colleges. In the 9th grade, you don’t have to actively prepare for these tests, but you can start to familiarize yourself with them and the skills you’ll need to acquire. The math section of the SAT and the ACT tests you on algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. Most likely, you’ll need at least a couple of years of high school math before you’ll know enough to be able to maximize your score. Also, your reading and writing skills, which are tested on these standardized tests, will improve with continued reading and the work you’ll be doing in your English classes. On the other hand, if you’re interested in attending a competitive summer program that requires you to submit SAT or ACT scores, then you should spend more time during your freshman year preparing. Even though you don’t have to worry about these standardized tests during your freshman year, it’s not too early to start studying for either the SAT or ACT. You can prepare for and take the PSAT or PreACT. Learn about how to study for the SAT/ACT as a 9th grader. If you start doing some consistentlight test prep early, you'll be more ready and relaxed when you're taking these tests during your junior or senior year when your schoolwork will be more rigorous, and you may be working on your college applications. However, I don't think you should be too concerned with your standardized tests in 9th grade. The Best College for You We get many comments from 8th and 9th graders stating their desire to go to a specific college. While it’s great to have goals and dreams, you don’t need to know where you want to go to college in 9th grade. You have a couple of years before you have to start seriously considering the schools that you want to apply to. Furthermore, as you mature and learn more about different colleges, you may very well change your dream school. You may end up deciding to pursue a different career path or change what you’re looking for in a college. There’s nothing wrong with altering your goals or priorities as you learn more. At this point in your high school career, you should spend the majority of your time developing the skills and qualifications to give yourself as many college options as possible. Perhaps you’re assuming now that you’ll go to your local state college that may not be overly selective. Maybe its incoming students have an average GPA of 3.2. However, if in the summer before your senior year, you decide that you want to go to a more prestigious college in another region of the country, you’ll have many more options if you have a 3.9 GPA. If You Can Afford College While it’s not a bad idea to save for college early, you don’t have to be overly concerned in the 9th grade with thoughts of whether you’ll be able to afford to attend. If you’re worried about college costs, you can start looking for and applying to scholarships, but many scholarships are only open to older students. Again, just realize that cost shouldn’t prevent you from attending college. Most students receive some form of financial aid and don’t pay the listed cost of attendance. Additionally, if you excel in school and end up with good test scores, you’ll be more likely to receive merit scholarships and be admitted to colleges that offer the most generous financial aid. What's Next? Do you want to go to one of the most selective colleges? Find out which classes Ivy League schools require. Learn more about how many extracurriculars you need. Finally, you can learn from our fun infographic about how to apply for college, and everything you should be doing from 9th grade until the end of your senior year. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: