Summer is winding down, and it’s time to pack away the beach gear and bust out the textbooks. The incoming freshmen of 2010 are settling in for their first year of college, so this is the perfect time to reach out and welcome them to campus and the Red Rover Student Directory. Here are some tips and tales to help you get back in the swing of it:
Earlier this summer, Coxsackie-Athens High School Valedictorian Erica Goldson stirred up controversy with a graduation speech that criticized the public education system:
“I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker.”
Want to know more? Read the full text** of Erica’s speech, or check out her blog, America Via Erica.
Last week, USA Today reported that student participation in activities leads to a higher GPA and a more satisfying social life. Instead of focusing on standard groups, the article looked at obscure clubs, like Michigan’s Squirrel Club or Harvard’s College Cube Club.
The Red Rover Student Directory allows students to self-organize around an infinite number of interests. For example, The Badger Aviators organization at UW-Madison unites student airplane pilots, and the “Acoustic Guitar Singing and Playing/Jamming” group at the College of Coastal Georgia attracts students who share a passion for picking and strumming.
To explore the long tail of student interests at your school, log in to the Student Directory and click on “Interests,” then scroll down to see the most unusual tags. For even more info, check out our blog** .
The First Year Experience Curriculum is a web technology curriculum plug-in for instructors. Use it “as is,” or scale it up/down to fit into your FYE seminar.
Though you’ll find that most of your first year students are using Facebook and Myspace and spending a great deal of time on the web, many still aren’t familiar with the web tools that are most conducive to enhancing their education. Helping your students develop positive digital identities sets them up for success in an increasingly digital age – after all, Google is the new resume.
On his YouTube channel, Cade Goes to College, Cade shares his college stories: from his first semester to his 21st birthday, and all of the awkward moments and egg-related mayhem in between. Check it out, and leave comments on his videos…but whatever you do, don’t tell him he looks like Zac Efron.
