Brad Hoffman, Author at My Learning Springboard

What Is The Ivy League?

September 4, 2012 Brad Hoffman

It’s never too early to think about personal statements, ACT or SAT scores, and which schools are your top choices when it comes to college applications and, perhaps, applications to Ivy League schools.

I’ve helped dozens of students with every part of their application (as have many other My Learning Springboard specialists) and worked on applications to attend one of the eight schools that form the Ivy League (Harvard, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale, and The University of Pennsylvania).

The term Ivy League is associated with academic excellence, prestige, highly selective admissions, and social status. Every year, thousands apply to these schools, but, where exactly does this term come from? What does it mean?

The most general idea surrounding the name is that older buildings can be covered with clinging ivy, which has been a classic icon in literature and art from the beginnings of recorded history.

However, here are some different (and mostly unrelated) “Official” accounts of where the term Ivy League comes from.

1) 1954-Present: Athletics— The Ivy League (emphasis on League) represents the eight colleges whose athletic programs are part of the Ivy division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In other words, athletes that are part of the Ivy League compete with one another, and the top athletes of this league attend the NCAA national championships. Founded in 1954, you can read more about the league here: www.ivyleaguesports.com

2) 1937: New York Herald Tribune— Caswell Adams, Tribune writer, is credited as the first person in print who used the term “Ivy League” to describe the eastern football league. As the story goes, the name stuck and the group of athletic teams were known as “Ivies” ever since.

3) 1850: Ivy Day–Harvard University’s school newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, asserts that the term Ivy League or Ivy School comes from a modification of “Class Day” in 1850 when it became a new tradition to plant an ivy shrub on campus as part of graduation ceremonies.

4) 1607-1733: Pre-American Revolution—Seven of the eight Ivy League schools were founded and run before America separated from England in 1733. Prior to the revolution, they were known as “Colonial Colleges” because they were intended to educate the 13 original colonies and they were funded by England. The eighth and final school of this league, Cornell, was founded in 1865. Although Cornell was founded over a hundred years later than the other colleges, it is considered a part of the Ivy League because it was founded close to the same time as the others. (Interestingly, Cornell was the first Coed school in this league, letting women attend classes with men in 1870. Go Bears!)

By Grant Bergland, Private Tutor

Watching History Age

August 30, 2012 Brad Hoffman

In The Forward yesterday, there was an article that brought into question the way that the Jewish community approaches Holocaust education. The article looks at the way kids and teens are being educated about the Holocaust, and I can’t help but see myself in it. It explains that for years kids have been given lengthy booklists to read, seen every graphic movie and documentary, and listened to countless tales from survivors. I had the exact same education. The author writes that she experienced this education as a burden being placed on her, as though the next generation had to carry the weight of the Holocaust with them, as the number of survivors still living shrinks smaller and smaller, but the community does not want the individual stories to be lost.

In this case, the Holocaust can be used as an example – a moment in history that is quickly moving from “present” to “past”. How does that affect the way we teach its stories? Every part of history goes through this transition at some point. There was a time when people could recall details from the Spanish Inquisition, or even the Crusades. But all pieces of history must move out of the realm of “recent” which means we have to change the way we think about them and therefore teach them. How do things change when there are no longer any first-hand accounts?

With many pieces of history, there is a desire to maintain the legacy of those who had direct experiences, but it leads me to think about the how the transition in teaching happens. There is definitely a shift towards the big picture and away from specific stories. Should we be looking more at large themes than at details?

My immediate inclination is to scream, “NO!” for fear that those details will be lost. But then I think about all the other pieces of history I’ve studied, and the further back I go, the more there’s a focus on the big picture. What were the themes that led to the American Revolution? What were the structures in place that allowed slavery to flourish as the United States was being formed? As a historian, I was able to dive into the specific details of these accounts. I spent hours reading transcripts from trials that occurred in the aftermath of the Boston Massacre, and poring over ledgers kept by slave owners on plantations. In the same way, the specifics of the Holocaust can and will still exist for those who are inclined towards the deeper dive into history.

As teachers we are privy to a unique perspective, having the ability to watch as an educational process changes, and more importantly, impact it along the way. How will our contemporary history teachings evolve the way all moments in history have? Are we capable of the personal separation from the subject matter that is needed as new generations are more removed from our experiences? And more importantly, will any of our historical moments be seen as outliers that should forever be approached differently?

By Aleeza Lubin, Private Tutor

Step Up to Writing: A Tool for the Reluctant Writer

August 27, 2012 Brad Hoffman

Some kids are naturally great writers – but some aren’t. Although there are a number of cool strategies for teaching writing (Six Traits, Writers’ Workshop, The Writing Process) the holistic approach to writing isn’t always effective for the student who just doesn’t have a knack for written communication. The struggling writer needs something simple, effective and reliable that they can apply in every writing situation. As a teacher and private tutor, I find the Step Up to Writing approach offers a valuable tool that is simple, easy to use, and equally applicable in the classroom and in one-on-one learning situations.

The Step Up to Writing model is easy. Think of a traffic light cycle – green, yellow, red, green. The green light is the first sentence in a piece of writing. It means GO! Just say your idea, or answer the prompt in one simple sentence. I am really looking forward to going back to school.

The yellow light is the second sentence. It says SLOW DOWN – tell us more about that idea. Write a sentence that gives a reason or detail about your first sentence. I have lots of friends at school and I can’t wait to see them all.

The red light means STOP. In the next sentence, give a supporting detail or an example. My best friend, Jessica, went to the beach this summer so I haven’t seen her for a long time.

Finally, a green light again – GO. Say your first sentence again, but use different words. It will be fun to see all my friends at school on Monday!

The end result is a clear, four sentence paragraph that includes well developed ideas and supporting details. Best of all, the model can be applied to just about any writing situation – a mathematical explanation, a journal entry, a reading response log, or a thank you letter to Grandma.

I always introduce this writing model using a picture of a blank traffic light. I invite my students to color the lights green, yellow, red and green, while we discuss and model what each light represents. Then, I give my students colored pens or colored pencils to write each of the four sentences to build a paragraph. Later, I use colored bullets at the beginning of each sentence to reinforce the structure and provide an ongoing visual and kinesthetic model of the paragraph structure.

Using the Step Up to Writing model, constructing a basic, four-sentence paragraph is easily accessible to even the most reluctant writer. The model can also be extended to incorporate more complex written responses. An extended response can be created by alternating yellow and red sentences, between the green sentences to express more than one idea on a given topic. Multiple four-sentence paragraphs can be combined to form a complete essay.

When students are comfortable with the use of green, red and yellow sentences, I extend further by introducing transition words. I always color these blue, and I introduce them to students on jigsaw puzzle pieces – transition words link ideas together, like pieces in a puzzle. I particularly like using transition words at the beginning of the red sentence. For example,.. and In the text … are two of my favorites.

I love this approach to teaching writing – it is concrete, visually stimulating, tactile, easy to use, and widely applicable. And my students love it too because it helps them experience success in an area that was previously full of frustration.

By Sandra Cornell, Private Tutor

How to Use Real World Examples to Make Math Interesting and Applicable

August 22, 2012 Brad Hoffman

$Math in the Real World$ Why do so many students lack interest when it comes to learning math? One student told me that she might have a more intense passion for learning subjects like pre-algebra and geometry if she thought that she would actually need to use what she learned later in life. When asked, “When will I ever need to know this?” it is important to be armed with a motivating response backed by valid examples. Different approaches include referring to specific cases that are tailored to career goals or bringing up more general math scenarios. It is also helpful to make connections to a student’s personal hobbies and interests, and to allow them to explore those using math projects.

Whether a student dreams of becoming a lawyer, an actor, or a veterinarian, some form of math skills will be required. The simplest example is for managing finances. You need to be able to figure out how much is in your monthly budget and compare it to how much you are paid. How many extra hours should you work this week to cover the road trip you want to take? Another essential example is unit conversions. How many miles is it to drive to Georgia and back? How many gallons of gas would that take, and how much would that cost?

There have been some very costly errors due to making blunders in unit conversions. In 1999, NASA’s $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft was sent 60 miles off course after a 286-day journey to Mars. The miscalculations occurred because English units (pounds-seconds) were used on the ground, while the navigation team calculated the thruster force in metric Newtons-seconds. The space craft disintegrated upon entering Mars’s atmosphere due improper conditions. Other examples of costly unit conversion errors include a derailed roller coaster in Disneyland Tokyo and a flight in Canada that ran out of fuel.

For any new topic that you introduce, it helps to make some kind of linkage to a real world application. Sometimes a Google search can aid in your brainstorming process. For example, looking up the phrase “real world application of rational functions,” brings up relevant videos and links that illustrate instances of rational functions in the fields of thermodynamics and electrical engineering. Be sure to avoid websites that lack reputable sources.

It is also important to ask questions about a student’s interests and find ways that relate them to math. If a student is interested in sports, you can relate football to player statistics and leaderboards. This is where it would be helpful to bring in some project-based learning. Instead of just going through tedious example problems with a student, you can focus on his/her topic of interest and provide some research data to be manipulated. I study Geographic Information Science and am mapping socioeconomic vulnerabilities to sea level rise. I have lots of data on elevation, census statistics, and land use. If a student was interested in travel, I would have him/her choose a city to assess. I would provide demographic data and have the student create population graphs and proportions.

When students see how creative they can be using math, they will get much more excited about it!

By Keren Bolter, Private Tutor

Developing Autonomy for Your Child with ADHD

August 21, 2012 Brad Hoffman

In the field of parenting children with ADHD, the topic of developing children’s autonomy is too often neglected. Experts as diverse as parenting specialist Jim Fay and New York Times bestselling author and motivation expert Daniel Pink recognize the extreme importance of this trait. Effectively developing autonomy has tremendous benefits ranging from increased compliance with rules, higher self esteem and development of good decision making skills.

But how does one implement this? Given complete autonomy wouldn’t children choose to not go to school, eat cookies for every meal and stay up until 2 A.M.? Simply put, yes they would. Therefore what needs to take place is what I refer to as PICA: Parents Implementing Controlled Autonomy (Copyright, Jeffrey Kranzler, 2012).

The concept behind PICA is simple. A parent gives autonomy to their children within limits that they set. They provide a set range of options, all of which would be acceptable to them, and allow their child to choose within that range of options.

Consider the following situation: A parent demands that their child finish their chores immediately. The child delays, gets distracted, argues with the parent, and a conflict ensues. And when there is conflict, regardless of whether a parent wins, they still lose. They have expended energy and become irritated. Most often they have taken a negative tone, and either explicitly given or implied negative messages to their child.

Let’s try that situation again, this time using PICA. Here, the parent will sit down with their child and provide a range of options regarding the chores. What kind of options? That depends on what you think might be the most effective for you and your child in your particular situation. One could ask the child to choose which chores they would like to do. One could allow them to choose the time in which the chore is to be done (and having a set time when chores are to be done itself greatly increases compliance). A child could choose the reward for completing the task on time and consequences for failing to accomplish it during the appointed time. The more a child’s input is involved, the more ownership of the action they will have.

This method complements another key concept in child rearing. Children crave rules and consistency. While children may not like your rules, or at least express this sentiment, they are much more unhappy when there are no boundaries, or when boundaries and rules are unclear or frequently change. By adding the element of autonomy they not only receive the rules they crave, they internalize the rule and feel a sense of control. This combination is incredibly powerful.

Despite the power that PICA has, there is an important caveat. Unless it is implemented effectively, in concert with other cornerstones of parenting such as clear communication, positive feedback, pre-planning, consistency and organizational help, it will not be effective. PICA is but one key concept in the rubric of effective parenting for children with ADHD.

Please contact us for more information.

Jeffrey Kranzler, LCSW specializing in teaching parenting skills and treating children and adolescents with ADHD, Anxiety, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Depression.

What Is The Ivy League?

Watching History Age

Step Up to Writing: A Tool for the Reluctant Writer

How to Use Real World Examples to Make Math Interesting and Applicable

Developing Autonomy for Your Child with ADHD

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