Category: Education

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Education

3 Ways to Pay for College Without Parents

Keira Burton Pexels

Not everyone has a strong relationship with their parents or even any family they can turn to for help with college tuition. Perhaps your parents have told you they won’t contribute financially, so you have to find out how to pay for your degree yourself. Paying for college on your own is a massive undertaking, but it is possible. 

Student Loans/Tuition

There are both government-backed and private student loan options. Federal loans are issued through the U.S. Department of Education, but private loans can come from banks and other lending institutions. Private student loans offer greater flexibility, and they can help you cover your education bills as well as budget more efficiently after graduation. You should carefully research federal vs. private student loans before you commit to any. Everyone’s financial situation and prospects are different, so you should plan ahead and choose the option that works best for you.

Scholarships and Grants

Government and private scholarships, as well as grants, are available for students who qualify. Many organizations and even colleges offer merit-based scholarships for students who can demonstrate financial need. You can also qualify for funding if you are in the military, have a child, or meet other standards. You can browse a scholarship directory to find different award opportunities based on your own talents and needs. You should also talk to your school’s financial aid office to ask about different scholarship opportunities. They may know of some that you don’t find on your own.

Work-Study Programs

Most colleges and universities offer work-study programs that employ actively enrolled students and allow them to allocate a portion of their pay toward their tuition. While you may not earn enough to fully cover the cost of your degree, this is an excellent way to offset the cost of how much you have to borrow and ultimately graduate with less student loan debt. If you plan on working part-time in school, you can also look for jobs that offer tuition reimbursement benefits. If you decide to pursue a traditionally demanding career like one in the legal or medical field, these work-study programs can also help you learn important life skills like how to balance responsibility and fun. A work-study might not be one of the most common tips to help you survive nursing school but look at what is not obvious and revel in the benefits that exist under the surface. 

 

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Education Uncategorized

Qualities in a Great Educational Leader

Qualities in a Great Educational Leader
Kampus Production Pexels

 

The education sector plays a significant role in society, and therefore it offers a wide array of exciting opportunities to advance your career.

 

Whether you’re considering a mid-career change or simply looking to make a greater impact on the world, you may already have what it takes to kick off a solid career in educational leadership. Here are some qualities that will make you a great fit.

You have problem-solving skills

There’s no better way to put your problem-solving skills to the test than working in education. Teachers, principals, and other NYC education jobs require you to think quickly on your feet to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, have ongoing access to a high-quality education. From developing curriculum to engaging with teachers and families, to advocating for what’s best for students, educators are involved in discerning the most important decisions that pave the way for a better educational experience.

You are strategic

If strategic preparation is your game, you could have the makings of a great teacher. The best teachers are extremely intentional: every move they make is carefully planned, starting with a study of the evidence (e.g., student work!). You create achievable but rigorous goals based on relevant data. Once you pinpoint a goal, you know how to map out a plan to get there. You understand how to clearly get from point A to point B and have the judgment to make adjustments or reroute when the time comes. You responsibly leverage results to create culturally responsive and equitable learning opportunities. When you achieve results, you can confidently back them up with evidence and envision the next best steps with a solid plan. All the while, you ensure your whole team is aligned and ready to tackle the game plan together. 

You have leadership skills

No matter what role you play in education, leadership skills are crucial. The decisions you make will have a significant impact on everyone you encounter and will trickle down to students and families. If you can make executive decisions, but also understands the importance of collaborating and receiving feedback that informs those decisions, teaching could be a great career path for you. After all, education is never a one-person show. Educators bring people together and are able to cultivate and develop leadership in others. While they command the classroom, they know when to step up and when to take a step back.

You are a great communicator

Great educators are great communicators. They express ideas efficiently and effectively in a way that is accessible and reassuring to whomever they are engaged with. They actively seek to understand their audience, the people they work with and know how to connect with them in a way that is unique and personalized. They do more than talk in the room; they are great listeners who know how to implement feedback just as well as they give feedback.

You love working with people

If you love working with people, you will thrive in education. People are at the center of this work, and if people are at the center of your heart, every day in an education role will feel purposeful. Great education leaders see the best in people and help them see the best in themselves. In addition to helping students receive the best education possible, they enjoy collaborating with teammates and being involved in the community. Being able to connect with people puts educators in a unique position to build the community, which this work is all about. It is more than setting up structures to teach children; it involves looking at the bigger picture and leaving a positive impact on children’s lives as a whole as well as the community.

You want to change the world for the better

Educators are at the forefront of building up the next generation of leaders and advocating for changes in the education system. They are on the front lines of the fight for equity in education and serve as lights in the dark. They are optimistic and have a whatever-it-takes-attitude because they want to see changes that will echo into the future. They take daily steps to ensure that each day is a little better than the day before because as Oprah Winfrey said, “Doing the best at this moment put you in the best place for the next moment.”

You are organized

Working as an educational leader involves overseeing many moving parts and managing multiple tasks, outside of overlooking a group of people. If you know how to prioritize, meet deadlines, and shift gears when necessary, you will thrive as a leader in education. Schools leaders need to be prepared to adapt to last-minute changes and the unexpected (because there will be plenty of those to come). But if you have schedules and plans in place, you can efficiently deal with anything that comes your way.

You are a good learner

If you consider yourself a lifelong learner, education is for you. That’s right—great education leaders love to immerse themselves in learning new things. They have the intellectual capacity and knowledge mastery that is foundational to teaching. Their passion for delving into new subjects and ideas allows them to inspire that same curiosity and engagement in everyone around them. At the end of the day, knowledge is power, and education is a career path where a passion for learning is absolutely foundational to excelling.

You foster inclusive environments

Schools are places where students, staff, and parents feel a sense of belonging. As a leader, you are intentional about getting to know everyone you work with so you can implement practices and create an environment where everyone feels comfortable and can thrive. This work is more than a job; it is an opportunity to close the achievement gap and create equitable opportunities for children. This starts with the attitude and perspective of leadership to break down barriers and propose new ways of doing things that will open up new doors for all.

You are passionate about your work

Education leaders largely influence the school culture and climate. Their energy and drive are contagious and inspire others to be the best they can, despite challenges. They believe that all children can achieve their full potential, and that starts with high expectations. They foster an environment that is both joyful and demanding, where productive struggle leads to accomplishment, not failure.  

 

Do you have what it takes?

 

Overall, individuals from a variety of professions and experiences can excel in education—after all, they’re building up the next generation of businesspeople, medical professionals, engineers, artists, and more. Working in education is an opportunity to leverage your current strengths and make a real difference that lasts a lifetime.

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Culture Education

Where Language-Learning Apps Come Into Serious Play

An app can promote everyday practice

So many apps, yet only a few right ways to use them.

Language-learning apps, from Duolingo to Babbel, have taken on a slightly ambiguous role for any individual seeking to learn a language. While in many ways they’ve broken down barriers of time, money, and accessibility for the everyday learner, in other ways they’ve promised fluency or comprehension far beyond what an app can offer. Using a language-learning app can promote everyday practice in small bites of five to fifteen minutes at a time, allowing learners to engage with their target language through everyday practice. Elizabeth Zackheim, owner of ABC Languages, encourages all students to use apps like Duolingo to build on their understanding outside of the classroom.

But it all comes to a point. Rather than using an app as a means to achieve fluency, apps can best be used to build familiarity with vocabulary and grammar. Where you might see on a Babbel commercial a student speaking conversationally through a phone, in reality authentic conversation practice can only come from exactly that — a conversation. Working with a teacher or other students in a classroom setting or a community conversation group can provide the setting needed to become comfortable with speaking a new language. That’s whether you’re trying new words, experimenting with the tenses, and exploring topics outside your understanding. 

Using an app to promote everyday practice

Feeling shy? Apps enable you to practice speaking short phrases for pronunciation accuracy; this can also help with associating the written language with the oral. And in my own experience, I once used the CD found in the back of an AP French textbook to practice speaking using the recorded conversation bits and 20 seconds of silence. Remember those? They helped tremendously with thinking of things to say on the spot while in the context of a conversation.

What our options show us is that achieving fluency can’t take any one avenue. Using a language-learning app can promote everyday practice in ways that are free in both time and money. We can’t cart a tutor around with us on the subway or while in line at the cafe the way we can with a smartphone. Yet apps only go so far when it comes to learning how to have a conversation in a foreign language. Many of the more intangible skills, from speaking to thinking to joking around, are best found in the classroom, in the conversation group, or on the street when in conversation with friends and acquaintances. To explore safe spaces like these in Lower Manhattan, check out tutoring options and conversation groups available at ABC Languages.

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Culture Education Featured

Get the Most Out of Your Language Classes

Get the most out of your language class

Having a regular language class or tutoring session is a great way to give yourself structure and dedicated guidance for your language practice. To get the most out of your language classes, what should you be doing in between? The key is frequency. Just like working out, the more often you do it, the quicker you’ll see the results. Sure, some have the time to work with a teacher on a daily basis which is a sure-fire way to get that frequency in. If you’re like most, you’ll be meeting once or twice a week. So what to do on those off days?

Like any practice, you will want to develop tools to get the most out of your language classes. Ideally, you’ll spend at least 5 minutes every day doing something and have a few extra activities to mix it up. With even a little daily practice, the language will stay fresh in your mind and keep you on track. Here are some tips on how to spice up your practice, arrive prepared and get the most bang for your language lesson buck:

  1. LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE IS FUN.  Keeping it fun is up to you. Forget what they taught you in high school.  It’s not a competition unless you’re the kind of person who loves competition.  If you didn’t do this week’s homework, no problem.  Just do it with your teacher in class.
  2. USE A LANGUAGE APP 5 MINUTES A DAY.  This is an easy way to make sure you are regularly interacting with the language and keeping it fresh in your mind. It doesn’t matter which one you choose as they will all give you exposure to the language. The most important thing is to find the one that you appeals to you so you stick with it. No matter how “good” it is, if feels like a chore, it will be and you won’t do it. If you find it enjoyable, then you found the right one. Some apps you might want to try are: Duolingo, Babbel, Busuu and Memrise.
  3. KEEP A DIARY IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE. Start with one sentence a day. It can be anything. “I ate a sandwich for lunch. It was delicious.” “It’s raining today. My shoes are wet.” Just an observation or two about your day. The nice thing about this exercise is that you will direct yourself to vocabulary that is relevant to you so, rather than learning words that are given to you, this is a way to reverse that pattern and seek out words that will help you express your thoughts using vocabulary that reflects you.
  4. WATCH MOVIES AND TV IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE. Even if you need the English subtitles to follow the story, having regular exposure to hearing the language is a great way to develop your listening muscles. By just picking up a word here and there, your language learning brain is still being engaged. If you are an intermediate or advanced student, try watching with the captions in the target language or, for an extra challenge, watch with no captions. You could even watch it through once with captions and then a second time without to see how much you follow. If you find you’re getting lost and frustrated, just put the subtitles back on and enjoy the picture. Always try to have fun with it!
  5. FIND A PRACTICE GROUP. We have drop-in conversation classes and other fun pop up classes to add to the mix at ABC. You can also look into Meetup, Eventbrite and Coursehorse for a wide variety of one-off classes, workshops ad practice groups to supplement your learning and get the most out of your language classes.
  6. MAKE LOTS OF MISTAKES. Do not underestimate the power of the mistake. If you make one, it just means you’re trying which is exactly what you need to be doing. Maybe you’ll get it right the next time, maybe you won’t. As long as you are being understood, you’re most of the way there. Forming a perfect sentence is great and a worthy goal. Managing to get across, albeit imperfectly, that you would like a cup of coffee and then getting one is…mission accomplished!
  7. ADD LANGUAGE TO YOUR NEXT VACATION. Planning a trip to a country where your language is spoken is a wonderful way to give yourself a goal and a treat for the energy you are putting in.  To max out this time, find a school or a tutor who can provide you with daily lessons while you are there. You can practice the situations you will find yourself in during the day, get tips from a local and still have loads of time to enjoy your stay. Even if it’s just for a week, you will get a big injection of language that will have a lasting effect.
  8. STAY ZEN AND KEEP ON TRUCKING! Along the way, you will have moments when you feel your language glass is half-empty and all you can see is what you don’t know. That’s okay. You will also have breakthrough moments that make it all worth it. If you keep at it, you will progress and the moments that make this whole process thrilling will happen. Just don’t quit before the miracle.

Looking for a class or a tutor? Check out ABC Language classes.

Happy Learning!

This guest post was written by Elizabeth Zackheim, co-founder of ABC Languages.

Categories
Culture Education

Quickly Fix Language Mistakes with a Teacher

Working with a language tutor at ABC Languages, I’ve recently begun to build on the foundation I constructed for myself in learning a language while picking up a few pointers along the way. Some courses were formal, others casual, some private and others in a group. The faculty at ABC Languages are immensely flexible, orienting their schedules to help you find the best fit at the school given your experience, learning style, and skill level. Dropping in on a few courses, I quickly learned about myself what I probably expected along the way: I taught myself the pretty fundamental constructions behind French, but still face some gaps in accurately articulating myself with coherent grammar and sentence structure. 

An Hour Over Years

Sitting in on a private class, my tutor for the hour quickly brought to my attention an issue I had been repeating while speaking in past tense. For the language learners, it was an issue around speaking in past tense using irregular verbs — obviously. Yet just an hour with a fluent teacher, and I was walked through my mistakes and given a textbook page breaking down the proper conjugations as needed. Flashbacks of the times I had made that very mistake — many of them while living in Bordeaux, attempting to communicate myself to native speakers — came to mind, all now standing to be resolved with the education I was arming myself with. My experience, in this case, wasn’t unique: mistakes like this are of the everyday, and it’s normal and even gratuitous that any person learning a language seriously will turn to a teacher at some point.

How a Language Tutor Can Make a World of Difference

While proclamations for the self-learning movement abound with the many free, independent tools the Internet has given us, it turns out that collaborating with a teacher on anything, whether it’s sports, music, or learning a language, can be indispensable in the personal guidance a student stands to receive from even an hour of feedback. As I look back on several years of a single mistake quickly rectified by a teacher’s advice, I’ll put it out there for the many other students and language-learners who find themselves in the same position: working with a tutor can be game-changing, and often might mean the difference between coming halfway and taking it home. With ABC Languages, I’d recommend anything from the drop-in conversation classes to setting up a private session with a tutor to get that same level of customized feedback touching on the many minor points you yourself may not have even realized you were skipping over. And for anyone looking to achieve fluency or even just a conversational level, classes like these are practically a must. To browse classes, schedules, and connect with teachers, visit ABC Language private tutors.

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Education Featured

How Conversation Groups Can Boost Language Skills

Say you’re learning a language on a budget. You don’t have wads of money and a world of time to throw at a school, investing in what could be years of lessons. With language-learning apps, textbooks, podcasts, and online tutorials at our disposal, we’ve never been at greater liberty to explore new languages for free. Yet for anyone serious about achieving fluency, the time will come sooner or later to seek out others to practice with. Who better to practice with than a native speaker trained as a foreign language tutor?

How I Came to Conversation Classes

In my experience, I began studying French several years ago independently. I used a variety of apps and textbooks, including Rosetta Stone, Duolingo, and even a friend’s old AP French Language exam book. Those tools were tremendously helpful in establishing foundational knowledge of French. For instance, they provided me with the vocabulary, grammar rules, and simple phrases to begin.

As I progressed, I was able to begin listening to the French news and reading elementary books. One of which was Saint-Exupéry’s famous Le Petit Prince. After a certain point, I had achieved basic fluency in reading, listening, and even writing French. However, my conversational skills were rien. Anyone who might’ve heard me would have figured I was on day one of learning French. I knew what I had to do: I had to get some conversation practice. Better yet, practice with a teacher who could guide me in my pronunciations. One who I wouldn’t feel nervous or ashamed in front of. My options laid before me. I could attend a conversation class at a language-learning school, find a group with other French learners, or stumble upon a French-speaking friend with the patience to listen to me butcher the language. I went with the former.

Drop-In Conversation Classes at ABC Languages

Drop-in conversation classes are a constant option at ABC Languages. Therefore, students can stop in at their convenience to practice conversational skills with trained tutors. Many of whom are native speakers of the course language. Because of their background, both professional and personal, they’re able to guide students in casual conversation. They ensure students receive meaningful practice and receive helpful tips in their pronunciation, grammar, and word choice.

While not every native speaker will have the patience or interest in guiding a language learner, students can feel comfortable at ABC Languages. They can take their time and adjust to the new vernacular in a non-judgmental environment. At the same time, the conversation classes are a surer bet against casual language meet-ups between learners. Hence, there may not always be a strong facilitator at hand and not every member will be able to guide others. Conversation classes are hosted on a rolling basis and are open to new students any time, every time.

To see the language offerings and class schedule, visit ABC Language Workshops. 

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