WVA Virtual View
February Newsletter
Inside This Issue
- 30 Fun and Fast Facts About Your WVA Counselor, Jodie
- Online Students Have Talent!
- We Want to Hear From You!
- Your Voice Student Poll
- Student Spotlight
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Brooks McMullan's Favorite Super Bowl Recipe
Where is All of Your Stuff?
Motivation Tips For You This Semester
15 Ways to Relieve Test Anxiety
Parent Corner - How is Your Student Doing?
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30 Fun and fast facts about your WVA Counselor, Jodie
- What’s your favorite restaurant or type of food? Italian or Mexican
- Do you have kids? Yep, four of them, three boys and a girl, ages 13, 9, 6 and 6
- Would you bungee jump? Nope, but I would skydive; I know, it makes no sense
- What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Tin Roof Sundae
- What is your least favorite thing about yourself? My hair – it’s super thick and wavy
- What color shoes are you wearing? None, I like to go barefoot
- What was the last thing you ate? Peanut Butter and Jelly
- What are you listening to right now? Piano Music on Pandora
- If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Purple, mostly blue with a streak of red
- What is your favorite smell? Cinnamon or clean laundry
- Mountain hideaway or beach house? Beach House – we go every year as a family
- What are your favorite sports to watch/play? Play – Volleyball, Watch - Football
- What is your favorite movie? Hum, I have too many to list
- What’s the last movie you watched at the theatre? Frozen
- What’s the furthest you’ve ever been from home? The Philippine Islands
- Summer or Winter? Actually I’m a four season kind of girl
- What book are you reading now? The Book Thief
- What was your favorite subject in school? Band and PE
- Who is your favorite band/singer? Pink, Imagine Dragons, and OneRepublic
- Morning or night person? Morning, once I force myself out of bed!
- Do you have a special talent? I play the piano; have since I was little
- What is your favorite TV channel? CBS
- What is one thing you would put on your “Bucket List”? Pilot an airplane
- What is your favorite hobby? Spending time with my favorite people, doing just about anything
- What is the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten? Pork Intestines dipped in Mango sauce
- What store do you shop at the most? Old Navy
- What are the top 3 reasons students love contacting you? I’m a good listener, I’m good at solving problems, and I care
- Do you have pets? Yes, two dogs, two rabbits, and 8 chickens and I’ll be buying a horse by the end of the year
- Where is one place you would like to travel that you’ve never been before? The Caribbean
- What are three words that best describe you? Smart, Self-Aware, Loyal
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Online Students Have Talent!
Thank you for sharing your talents!
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We Want to Hear From You!
Fellow student, Sophie Babb, says, “My twin sister, Grace, and I are involved in a duo band together called "Annie Oakley". We've performed all across the state and are hoping to widen our audience even further. We transferred to online school last year because our schedules were so busy with constant gigs and events. Traditional school got in the way of furthering our career, not offering the same flexibility online school gave us. This year, attending online school has allowed Grace and I to write, record, and release our debut, self-titled CD Annie Oakley. The CD is available to buy on iTunes, and is available to listen to for free on Spotify.”
You can learn more about the band Annie Oakley at the links below:
https://www.facebook.com/AnnieOakleyOfficial
Have you overcome crazy obstacles to reach your goals in school or in life? How has online learning helped you be successful? Why is online learning the best option for you? We want to hear your story! Send your testimony or inspirational story to your Student Achievement Coordinator, Brooks McMullan, at bmcmullan@advancedacademics.com. Participants will receive a prize!
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YOUR VOICE STUDENT POLL
In the January Newsletter we asked, “What is Love?” And the responses were overwhelming, here’s what you had to say:
- Love to me is caring for someone even when you are mad at them. It is knowing that you wouldn't be the person you are without them, and doing everything in your power to give them the best things in life. Love is cherishing every moment with that person, and never leaving their side.
- Love is doing anything and everything for someone, or having great passion for something; it is by far the deepest feeling there is.
- Love is so often mistaken as other things. It has become blurred into concepts such as gratitude and sentimentality, passion and desire, romantic obligations and inescapable commitment to another, and other ideas and false fantasies we've created from our own selfish desires. But these aren't love.
So then what is love really? How can the essence of something so inexplicable be described using the limitations of a language that never has, will, or ever will be able to encompass the full entirety of its existence? We can't, we can only try; and so love is the quintessence of a beauty within us. It is all there is, all there ever will be, and all there was. Love is light and knowledge. Love is an acceptance of the infinite and all that comes with it, positive or negative. Love is an open state of existence towards oneself and all others and a trust in thyself and the universe completely to just be.
Love is us. We are love.
And love is eternal. - To me, love is unexpected. You never know what love feels like until you are in it. You see all these movies and hear these songs that tell you that when you find someone worthy, you would do anything for them. I never realized how true that was until I fell in love.
- Love is to hold dear to you, to cherish that person or thing, and to feel the devotion or take pleasure in. (example: I take the pleasure of wrestling and I devote all my time into wrestling, I love it!) Inspired by affection.
- Love is trust and respecting. It's also not giving up on each other when things get difficult; Especially when things get difficult.
- To Me, Love Is.... Putting that one special person before your own self. But sometimes love can hurt you because love is hurtful at times. I also believe that love isn't something to play around with, love is very special.
- Love to me is forgiving and kind. Love to me is knowing that when you are together you make each other better. Love to me is when you know that if something happened to the one(s) you love you would be devastated, torn, and you wouldn't know what to do. Love, to me is beautiful.
- Love to me is the caring for someone and family. Love also is the feeling you know that you can not live without family and someone close to you. Love also is showing your passion about things and people.
- Love is Blind. Love is trust. Love is the feeling which you share with someone you feel whole with. Love is togetherness. Love is a battlefield. Love is making someone else in your life a priority and not an option when it comes to support.
- To me, love is being told you're alright, even when you know you're not.
- To me love is kind, gentle, free, pleasant, and so much more. Love can come from anybody, from your family, friends, and loved ones. So love is key to every relationship without it it will fail. No matter what always show love. ;)
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Love is outgoing concern for the other person.
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Love is trusting someone with your darkest secrets and staying by their side no matter what!
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Love is .... understanding that you have to love yourself first, before loving anyone else. Love is ... knowing your self worth and respecting it. Love is... never settling for less that what you truly deserve. And love is sharing french fries, and letting the other person have the last french fry.
Thank you to everyone that submitted a response! We LOVE working with you!
We want to hear YOUR VOICE! It’s time to share your comments with your fellow students, teachers, counselors, and Student Achievement Coordinator. We can’t wait to hear what YOU have to say!! This month’s question is:
WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN THE NCAA COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT?
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
We hope to spotlight YOU in next month’s newsletter!
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Brooks McMullan’s Favorite Super Bowl Recipe
What goes better with football than a Frito Chili Pie? And…What’s better than eating a Frito Chili Pie right out of a Frito bag? Well, there’s probably a lot, but this one tops the list!
Portable Frito Chili Pie
1. Start with a great chili recipe Use your own, or for those of you that like to try something new, here’s a great recipe for you from the Pioneer Woman!
2. Grab a snack size bag of Fritos, and cut it open, length-wise
3. Add your chili and any other goodies you want (cheese, onions, jalapenos, sour cream)
4. Grab a fork and enjoy!
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Where is all of your stuff?
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Motivation Tips for you this semester
As a Student Achievement Coordinator, I have found that keeping yourself going in an online learning environment is a difficult thing to do. There are a zillion distractions that occur that can result in not staying on track with what you would like to do during the day. However, motivation is one of those qualities you really need to master, not only in online learning, but in life!!
Unfortunately, motivation is often used to describe something missing in ourselves. It’s easy to invoke these words into our way of thinking to explain another person’s success: “If I were more motivated, I’d get better grades in school.” “Of course she finished her classes sooner than me because she has more motivation.” However, you can stop looking outside yourself for this motivation quality because the fact is you already have it within!!! You may only be lacking a few certain motivational skills that come from…practice!! Motivation is simply a habit. The advantage of this view is that you don’t have to reform yourself overnight. So, here are a few tips that you can practice to develop the habit of motivation:
Motivational Tip #1: Promise Yourself
Motivation can come from being clear about your goals and acting on them. Say that you want to be 50% complete in all of your courses by spring break. Find out what it will take to make it happen and commit yourself to it. Then ask your parents, your counselor or Student Achievement Coordinator to hold you accountable. Make yourself a promise and keep your word!
Motivational Tip #2: Change Your Mind and Body
Sometimes keeping your word means doing a task you’d rather put off until the cow really jumps over the moon. But, you can get past this discomfort by planting new thoughts in your mind or changing your physical stance. For example, instead of slumping in chair, sit up straight. You can also get physically active by taking a short walk. Notice what happens to your discomfort. Every feeling registers into your body in some way. For example, when you’re happy you’re likely to smile. When you smile, you’re likely to feel happy. So, experiment with this idea: If you feel like dozing off instead of reading a chapter from your English IIA assignment, then turn on your computer and start reading that chapter in your English course as if you’re excited to get started. Work with your thoughts, too. Replace “I can’t stand this” with “I’ll feel great when this is done” or “Reading this assignment in English IIA will help me get what I want.” These very motions might change your attitude toward the task at hand.
Motivational Tip #3: Sweeten Your Task
Sometimes it’s just one aspect of a task that holds you back. That means you could stop your procrastinating by merely changing that aspect. If your physical environment keeps you from studying, then change your environment. Reading about geometry might seem boring when you’re alone in a dark corner of your room. Moving to a cheery bookstore could sweeten your task. So could sandwiching the task between things you enjoy. For example, brainstorm topics for an English research paper after playing a few rounds of video games and before going to a movie with friends.
Motivational Tip #4: Adopt a Model
Another strategy for succeeding at any task is to hang around someone who’s already done what you want to accomplish. Find someone you consider successful and spend time with that person. Simply communicate with and observe this person and use her as your model for your own behavior. Try mimicking this person’s attitudes and actions, looking for the tools that feel right for you.
Motivational Tip #5: Turn up the Pressure
Motivation can be a luxury. For example, pretend that the due date to get all of your assignments done in your courses is in May instead of June this semester. Raising the stress level slightly can propel you into action. Then the question of motivation seems beside the point, and meeting the due date moves to the forefront. Before you know it, you’ll be done with all of your courses way before the real deadline.
So, to tap into your motivational skills, you really don’t need to acquire anything. You already have everything you need within you to accomplish any goal you want to reach. Practicing these motivational tips can really produce a healthy habit and create some positive results in your school work and in your life.
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15 ways to relieve test anxiety
Since anxiety can be learned, it can also be unlearned. Use the following study techniques to enable you to do better the next time you take a test:
1. Be prepared - Review regularly and often.
2. Use positive thinking - Don’t let the negativity of others affect you.
3. Believe in yourself and your abilities - Don’t panic. Take your time. Tell yourself, “You can do it!”
4. Establish a regular study schedule - Study in one-hour blocks of fifty minutes of study followed by a ten-minute break. Study at the same time and in the same place.
5. Learn and use good study skills - Time management, test-taking strategies, memory aids, note taking, mind mapping, relaxation techniques, etc.
6. Make the course material relevant - Ask yourself, “How can I use this?” Your answer can provide the reason to study the material.
7. Don’t invent problems - Worry is a waste of energy. Put your time into preparation. Start studying for your test the first day of class.
8. Relax - Learn a relaxation technique that works for you. Arrive early on test day.
9. Do not discuss the test with your classmates immediately before taking the test.
10. Concentrate during the test - Avoid distractions. For example if the room is usually cold, bring a sweater. Eat before the test if you are hungry.
11. Read and follow the directions carefully - Don’t skip or rush through the instructions.
12. Scan the test before you begin - First answer a question that you feel confident about to get yourself going, to relax you, and to build confidence.
13. Be an active test taker - Work your way through the test. Don’t expect the answers to jump out and grab you. Be the aggressor.
14. Ignore others who leave the test site early - Don’t make a race out of it. Being fast is not necessarily being right. Take all the time allowed. If you finish early, check your work.
15. Accept a test grade for what it is - Tests assess your understanding of the topic at that time. They do not assess you. Don’t give up on yourself. Your family and teachers are here to support you!
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Parent Corner
How is your student doing?
Parents, do you know how your child is doing in his or her courses? It’s a new semester, and we highly encourage all parents to become involved. Not sure where to start? Check out this Parent Orientation!! Inside this orientation you will find:
- Parent Portal Tutorial
- Parent Success Tips
- Who to Contact for Help
If you are having issues viewing the guide, please contact your student's Achievement Coordinator, Brooks McMullan, at bmcmullan@advancedacademics.com or by calling 1-866-235-3276 option #4.