Admissions Consulting Archives

Why Write A Five-Paragraph Essay?

September 16, 2021 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Among the genres of writing projects that students experience in upper elementary, middle and high school, the five-paragraph essay is one of the most popular. Well, it’s popular with teachers. With students, just saying the phrase “five-paragraph essay” can evoke audible groans. For those writers, it calls to mind themes of dullness and standardization, a static formula. Yet the form is a valid one for a number of reasons, and in the right conditions, it can encourage creative thinking instead of stifling it. In fact, among the benefits of the five-paragraph essay are valuable opportunities for writers in terms of cognition, rhetoric, and culture.

There’s a reason that Bloom’s Taxonomy, a hierarchy of thinking processes, lists “creation” as its most complex category: whether a student is investigating a hypothesis, building a contraption, or writing an essay, creating something new is a difficult task. A major component of this difficulty is what educators and psychologists call cognitive load, the amount of working memory resources a task demands of the person performing it. In her widely cited article “A Capacity Theory of Writing: Working Memory in Composition,” the educational scholar Deborah McCutchen illustrates the cognitive load of writing: “to compose a text, skilled writers coordinate within working memory planning goals (e.g., plans for content, audience, overall tone, etc.) and product goals (e.g. requirements of grammaticality, plan fulfillment, etc.) while language generation processes retrieve words to express content and organize those words into appropriate text (see Flower and Hayes, 1980, 1981, 1984 McCutchen, 1994).” Understandably, it can be difficult for a writer to attend to all of these processes at once, and if the cognitive load is too high, the writer might not be able to complete the task. One way to lighten this load is to focus on different aspects of the writing process and product at different times; educators have adopted this principle in frameworks like the 6+1 Writing Traits or Judith Hochman’s Teaching Basic Writing Skills. Because it offers a consistent structure, one of the major benefits of the five-paragraph essay is that once a writer is familiar with it, using that framework for planning frees more of their cognitive load. With their basic organizational scheme already chosen, the writer can attend more fully to other aspects of their work, such as ideas, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation.

In thinking of the rhetorical power of the five-paragraph essay form, rather than the total number of paragraphs, we should consider a different number, a bit of a magical number: three. In his book Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, Roy Peter Clark discusses the hidden power of numbers in language. Citing examples such as “Moe, Larry, and Curly. Tinkers to Evers to Chance. A priest, a minister, and a rabbi. Executive, legislative, judicial,” he notes that “In our language and culture, three provides a sense of the whole.” There’s just something about a set of three things that resounds with people. In allowing the writer to use three body paragraphs to set forth three main points, the five-paragraph essay invites the writer to tap into this power. It is worth noting that three is not the only powerful number. For instance, before they learn the five-paragraph essay form, many students learn the four-paragraph essay, which reemerges occasionally in high school. This form allows students to graduate from three-paragraph essays, whose single body paragraph generally explores one major point, to use two body paragraphs to explore a duality within their topic.

The cultural argument for the five-paragraph essay may, at first, seem self-serving: It is useful because it is widely used. But just as it serves a purpose for writers, it serves a purpose for readers. Faced with this familiar form, readers know to look for a guiding claim or thesis statement at the end of the first paragraph. Anticipating how the structure works makes it easier for the reader to comprehend the piece. This is not to say that all five-paragraph essays work the exact same way. As we noted above, the advantage of a familiar structure is to let students concentrate on other aspects of writing, so as students progress, their ideas should grow more sophisticated even within this same form. Their order of body paragraphs should have a perceptible logic, their analyses should be complex, and rather than serving as a simple summary, their conclusion could emphasize the significance of their argument. Even after writers move on to longer and more complex forms, they may still find occasion to access the benefits of the five-paragraph essay. Two of the highest-stakes pieces in high school, the ACT or SAT essay and the main Common Application statement, lend themselves well to the form. In both the ACT and SAT, testers must compose a complete essay in less than an hour. If they enter the test already tentatively knowing what their structure will be, they will save valuable minutes of writing time. The urgency of time is also a factor for the essays’ audiences. Both the test essays and the Common Application essay are read by people who are consuming a high volume of pieces and consuming them quickly — in the case of the application essay, in just a few minutes. It is to the writer’s advantage to make the reader’s job easier by giving them a vivid, specific essay in a structure that is easy to follow.

The students who rail against five-paragraph essays might be surprised to hear that the form is controversial in academia as well; in fact, a new book by the college instructor John Warner, titled Why They Can’t Write, is subtitled Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities. While we don’t want to kill the five-paragraph essay, we agree that the form has at least one downside: the potential for overuse. If every piece a student composes is a five-paragraph essay, that’s a problem. No single structure, essay or otherwise, should encompass all of a student writer’s experiences in a school year, or even in a single class. Writers of all ages need opportunities to wrestle with form. We don’t want writers to believe, as even some first-year college students do, that big ideas always come in threes, or that one paragraph is always sufficient for sharing their thoughts on one of those ideas. Notably, hardly any pieces of “real world” writing, including published essays, take the form of a five-paragraph essay. That’s another downside: ultimately, the structure is too simple for public discourse. Even as we help students understand and access the benefits of the five-paragraph essay, we must emphasize that the form acts like a set of writerly training wheels. Eventually, with instructors’ guidance, students need to shift from letting form determine their ideas to letting their ideas determine form. At that point, the training wheels should fall away, and writers will zoom forward, perhaps a little wobbly at times, but entirely under their own power.

By Elizabeth Walters, Private Tutor and Writing Coach

School Planning Considerations: 2021-2022 and 2022-2023

May 12, 2021 Brad Hoffman

Summer and Fall School Planning

It is with gratitude and hope that we proceed through the final push of this most unusual 2020-2021 school year. The rules of the road have changed continuously since the start of the pandemic with each week bringing new surprises; announcements from schools, colleges, and publishers along with local, state, and federal government agencies have made surviving this school year a real test of flexibility, tenacity, and creative problem solving. The resilience of our families, faculty, and professional colleagues is inspiring, and we’re grateful for our close partnerships with everyone, including school teams and related service professionals across the country. Together we’ve mastered new technologies to support continuous, high quality instruction; we’ve successfully navigated admissions and school planning for day schools, boarding schools, and colleges entirely virtually; we’ve speculated and hedged with plans A through Z to address learning and emotional challenges in a way that takes executive functions and our “future glasses” to a new extreme. Despite all the challenges, our students have come out on top, and we’ve delighted in their incredible successes!

With the 4th quarter of this school year now coming to a close, we look ahead to the summer 2021 and next school year with hope and anticipation of a return to more normal operations. Realistically, we expect next school year will have continued challenges as schools manage shifting policies, social distancing, and safety protocols, but it’s our hope that everyone will have a chance to recover and rejoice this summer by safely reuniting with family and friends in person, enjoying camp and summer travels, and breaking some of the difficult routines that have been so necessary to manage the past 14 months. Last summer was spent in nonstop speculation and school planning mode, and we hope this summer will provide some much needed relief from the constant feeling of uncertainty.

In order to make the most of summer 2021 and truly enjoy some respite from a wild school year, we strongly encourage families to make the most of May and June with regard to school planning for the fall and addressing any significant academic concerns as a result of the past 14 months. Remediation works best when the pressure is dialed down, and there’s no question that slow and steady wins the race. Moreover, test preparation for independent school admissions and college admissions works best when it’s structured and mapped out over a reasonably long runway to avoid cramming and unnecessary stress ahead of early decision and regular decision deadlines spanning November, December and January. Test-optional policies create a lot of confusion about what’s expected to be a competitive candidate, and now is the time to organize these planning conversations to avoid a fall blitz.

Whatever planning support you may need, we’re here for you, and we look forward to our continued partnership with your family.

Below you’ll find more information about: 1) benchmarking your child’s progress this school year, 2) summer enrichment teaching opportunities, 3) standardized testing in this climate, and 4) starting the common application essay.

Benchmarking Student Progress

The 2020-21 school year was more organized than the 4th quarter of the 2019-2020 school year, but it was a very challenging year nonetheless. For September 2021, all classroom teachers and schools are going to need to adjust their typical expectations to some degree because of Covid disruptions. Our lower school students — and particularly our students in the primary grades — are likely going to be reading, writing, and completing math work below typical benchmarks as a result of missed instruction. Despite a school’s best efforts, pivoting to distance learning and online learning so quickly was a Herculean effort, and there was simply no way to perfectly optimize it under these circumstances. Moreover, there’s simply no replacement for in-person instruction and live classroom discourse. Digitals tools provide lots of opportunities and accessibility, but we typically prefer to use them as a complement to in-person instruction, especially with our younger students.

Many parents have inquired about benchmarking and making sense of report cards in this climate for school planning purposes. They aren’t sure if their child is meeting grade level expectations or not. It’s surely not a guessing game, and parents don’t really need to wonder. The Common Core State Standards provide an excellent starting point for benchmarking, and while private schools don’t strictly follow these standards, many of them use these standards to guide their own curriculum mapping. For competitive NYC private schools, parents should look at typical grade level standards and reading benchmarks and then skew up a grade level. Keep in mind that standards aren’t “one and done” but rather build over time and across grade levels.

Since the Common Core website can be overwhelming for many parents to navigate, we like this alternative format developed by Jill McEldowney and Cathy Henry at The Curriculum Corner. For Kindergarten through 8th grades, they have created parent-friendly checklists based on CCSS in the form of “I Can…” statements available as both Excel and PDF formats.

We also make use of the Teachers College Columbia University Reading and Writing Project independent reading level quarterly benchmarking. It’s best not to get hung up on a single exit level for June but rather to think about reading levels in bands of two to three alpha letters. Performance with fiction and nonfiction texts may differ, and writing response work needs to be factored into benchmarking, particularly as students move into grades 2, 3, 4, and 5.

So while benchmarking doesn’t need to be a guessing game, it’s also not simple and quick. Ideally a portfolio of work from the entire school year is available to help guide benchmarking and school planning in addition to a variety of data points, including classroom work, homework, projects, grade level achievement testing (e.g. CTP testing), and informal classroom assessments (e.g. running records and spelling inventories). As for typing skills, typing.com offers typing speed guidelines for grades K-5.

Summer Enrichment Opportunities

Because this was such a strange school year, and because many camp and summer programs are modified, there’s an opportunity to use the summer season as an extended school year term, thus helping to avoid the summer slide. But summer learning can and should look different from academic year learning. Kids need to feel like they’re getting a break. They need to feel like the instructional time is something different. Summer learning, without school parameters in place, allows for more targeted instruction as well as project-based, interdisciplinary learning. The summer is a good time to close gaps, build expertise, or expand a passion. Ideally, the learning goals are driven by each student, which we can help to scaffold depending on age. With the help of creative and nimble educators — and the mindset that learning happens all the time and everywhere — the sky’s the limit with summer planning and school planning at large, and we welcome any special requests.

Here are some ideas from our teachers:

- Physics Lab at Home combines the rigor of an in-person lab while using the constraints imposed by remote learning to foster creativity and stimulate critical thinking. Students perform experiments at home with whatever materials they have at hand. They make measurements with both simple instruments they may have and with their cellphones. Students explore mechanics, electromagnetism, optics and thermodynamics in one-on-one sessions designed to illustrate a simple, profound truth: the world around us is governed by the laws of science.

- Book Groups for a few friends who haven’t been able to see each other in person. A group of cousins or other family members who usually gather during the summer at the family vacation house might also want to “meet” to discuss a high-interest book of their choosing. Mixed age groups can discuss a book that focuses on topics relevant to all or that might illuminate different perspectives. A group of students from the same school can read their assigned summer book together. Our teachers can help groups choose books, come to the meeting with ideas to share, and engage in a friendly, dynamic conversation. This can be a one-time activity or a group may choose to meet a few times over the summer.

- Journal Writing Circles for teens interested in using writing to explore feelings and ideas that might be difficult to talk about or that might normally be shared with friends in more normal times. Budding writers and all students would be encouraged to write informally without worrying about judgment or “correctness,” rather focusing on recalling memories, capturing fleeting thoughts or ideas and expressing themselves through writing. Prompts would be provided either between meetings or at the beginning of the sessions to help students write about a range of experiences. Sharing would be optional.

- Family History Interviews of older relatives with stories to tell! With more time on their hands, students can prepare generative questions to elicit grandparents or other family members’ stories. Working with a supportive teacher, individual students or a small group of students can prepare questions, practice interviewing, read profiles written in different formats and eventually write their own pieces that capture the experiences of their favorite relatives. Photos can be used to enhance the final stories, creating high-quality photo-journalistic pieces.

- Comedy writing is a fun and creative way for kids to learn the conventions of writing and producing content while expressing themselves. My Learning Springboard is offering lessons from TV writing/screenwriting to improv comedy to expository writing and more to keep students’ writing skills sharp in a fun, relaxed setting where they can write pieces that are true to their experiences and personalities. Looking for portfolio pieces to include in art school applications? Our team of teachers have won screenwriting competitions, been nominated for Sports Emmys and more, and they are happy to help hone your student’s voice as a writer and content creator.

- Super-Hero stories is a collaborative course in which students explore the traits and challenges of their favorite superheroes, including Thor, Moana, the Incredibles, and Studio Ghibli’s Chihiro. We will watch video clips and read stories to better understand how superheroes are created (their “origin stories”) and how they change over time. We will also discuss villains and whether so-called “evil” characters such as the Joker, Syndrome, and Disney’s Evil Stepmothers are born “bad” or become this way due to misfortune. Students will get a chance to present their own favorite superheroes from books and film. Then, inspired by the wide world of superheroes, students will get a chance to start thinking of their “superpowers” and how they might use their own special traits to deal with challenges and difficulties. Then, they will create their own unique superhero characters and send them off on missions and adventures. Their superhero stories will be workshopped and we will develop them using imaginative writing prompts. At the end of the course, students are invited to dress up as their characters and share their special superhero stories.

- Real-Life Math and Writing Connections for elementary and middle school students means searching for ways to take fundamental skills that the students need to practice, and repackaging them into activities that target the students’ interests. For example, when practicing mean, median, range, and mode, we might analyze statistics from a student’s favorite sports team. To facilitate teaching writing skills, we pick articles on topics that are interesting to the student. Music, movies, and sports can all provide opportunities for practicing skills. We’re able to push our students to read higher level discussions of the topics that interest them and are intrinsically motivating.

Standardized Test Preparation

The summer season is also an excellent time to get a jump start on standardized test preparation at every level from lower school through college. Given the pandemic, many schools adopted a test-optional policy, which has been confusing for families to navigate and factor into their school planning. The large majority of our students stayed the course with standardized test preparation, which proved to be advantageous. Competitive independent schools and colleges saw huge surges in admissions activity, and it was arguably the most competitive year ever. A solid to strong performance on a standardized measure provides advantageous data for schools to review as part of the process, particularly when the spring term of 2020 and this school year was so unusual. And truly the ISEE or SSAT is just a vehicle for middle or high school readiness. Going through the process closes any gaps and advances reading, writing, and math skills. We typically see huge growth for our students between now and December.

For now, it seems the only age groups that are surely saved from standardized testing are our rising kindergartners and first graders. ERB has officially phased out use of the AABL, and they are not planning to resurrect the ECAA. Schools have created their own assessment protocols for kindergarten and first grade admissions.

The Common Application Essay

Each year, the Common Application itself “resets” in early August, so we advise rising seniors to wait until then to fill out its typable forms; similarly, colleges tend to post their individual supplemental essay prompts in August or early September. But the Common Application has already released its essay prompts for the upcoming application cycle, making spring and summer an ideal time to begin the writing process—particularly this year. Focusing on this effort over the summer gives students some control while challenging themselves creatively, with no pressing deadlines. It is one of the concrete steps that they can take in shaping their future and actively managing their school planning; it’s an opportunity to reflect on where they’ve been—such as a nook on a living-room floor, a treacherous rock wall, or a thumping concert arena—where they are, and where they will go.

By Brad Hoffman, Faya Hoffman, and Laurie Gross
My Learning Springboard Leadership Team

How Can We Help Our Students With Anxiety and ADHD?

April 15, 2021 Brad Hoffman

How often have you heard these statements?

“I just want to get this right.”

“If I can’t find the right word to use here the sentence won’t be perfect.”

“It’s so hard to put all the pieces together on paper.”

“What if I don’t get an A?”

“How do I compare with my peers?”

“Sometimes I worry so much that I can’t think about anything else.”

“There are so many things to keep track of, I’ll never get finished.”

“I never had trouble with school before, now I am, what’s wrong with me?”

“If I don’t turn it in, I won’t make any mistakes.”

“I’ll do it, just leave me alone about it.”

Anxiety and ADHD

Anxiety and ADHD — these diagnoses often come together and one may look like the other, but they are quite different when looked at closely and situationally. The Anxiety Disorders Association of America estimates that 50% of people diagnosed with ADHD also have an anxiety disorder, and anxiety in children and teens often overlaps with depression. Each of these diagnoses, separately and together, has a negative impact on executive functions, too. These overlaps can make it challenging to tease out the primary or driving issue, but what’s most important is identifying the contributing factors and strategically and systematically planning for intervention at home and at school to disrupt the negative loop.

ADHD

As diagnoses are refined, we find that students with ADHD (whether it’s inattentive type, hyperactive type, or combined type) often find it difficult, if not challenging, to focus and concentrate most of the time in a multiplicity of situations and locations. It’s often a struggle for a student with ADHD to follow multiple steps of a process, manage multiple deadlines, and shift gears without becoming overwhelmed. Students with ADHD can become anxious and panicked due to their worry about missing deadlines, not turning in work or struggling to pay attention in school as this is a pattern which has often been repeated with negative consequences and feelings of distress. Their challenges are generally not situational in nature, though it’s notable that children with ADHD can often focus extremely well, even hyperfocus, on a self selected and high interest task or activity.

Anxiety

Anxiety can be generalized as well; however, it is more often than not triggered by specific situations or events, which can cause students to find it difficult to concentrate and/or focus at that specific time. Students with anxiety may worry about their peer relationships (maybe also family relationships or the home situation) and how their peers view them both academically and socially. These students often become distracted by their worries, which can lead to the development of physical symptoms, such as stomachaches, rapid breathing, and trouble sleeping to name a few. Additionally, many of our students with an anxiety disorder also have perfectionist tendencies, and/or compulsive tendencies, which can render them unable to begin an assignment or assessment due to the anxiety about not being able to complete it successfully or perfectly.

With our very bright, persistent, and perfectionist students, it’s not uncommon to see some rigidity and performance anxiety. Attention and anxiety are closely related, and if a student is focused on “being right” or “not making mistakes” or “needing it to be perfect”, it can make it difficult to begin, or complete, a new and challenging task. Moreover, with these students who are used to “getting it” on the first try, being in a situation where they might not “get it right away” can feel incredibly humbling and frustrating, thus leading to avoidance and/or resistance and overwhelming anxiety. We often see these challenges with our students who are openly labeled “gifted and talented” at very young ages and then encounter certain academic challenges as they age up.

How do we help students manage their anxiety and ADHD?

First, we have to consider the specific factors, variables and triggers in each child’s situation. An intervention plan should be carefully developed that considers both the home and school environment as well as any other activities or transitions in a student’s week. Small changes can often have a big impact, so we like to look for those opportunities first. If there’s a longer history or more escalated concern, the value of a comprehensive evaluation with a skillful and thorough psychologist cannot be underestimated. Then we help families to translate that information into an actionable plan at home and at school.

Second, all of our students, and especially our students with anxiety and ADHD, benefit from consistency, predictability, and order. Having and practicing routines leads to mastery and ease with transitions and provides great comfort to children. Parents can establish morning routines, after school routines, evening routines, bedtime routines, and weekend routines. At the same time, we need to also help our children develop comfort with flexibility and change. For our children with high levels of anxiety, this flexibility can be extremely difficult, so we need to plan for practice opportunities in a safe space. Students with anxiety and ADHD also benefit from having clean, organized, and thoughtful spaces at home and at school. Organized spaces provide comfort and structure while modeling successful executive function skills for our students.

Third, all of our students, and especially our students with anxiety and ADHD, need parents and teachers to impose technology boundaries. Technology use is a major “time robber” and contributor to off-task behavior and anxiety in children and adolescents. Teaching our students how to responsibly use technology as a tool is critical to their academic and personal success. Achieving responsible use is a much more complicated discussion, but undoubtedly it starts with planning, discussing, and establishing expectations that are enforced with consistency, predictability, and transparency. To the extent that expectations and messages can be consistent between home and school is especially valuable, but it’s okay to have specific expectations at home that differ from school or from friends. Creating a “phone jail” during homework time and dinner time could be very useful for all members of the family. Consider “silent” times when all mobile devices are set to silent or “do not disturb.” Consider “screen free” times within the course of your family’s week. Parents and teachers need to model their own responsible use as well.

Fourth, we encourage families to consider a second sandbox when thinking about school placement. Boarding schools (and Junior Boarding Schools) — which come in many shapes and sizes — are often a better environment for our students with stress sensitivities triggered by city stimuli. New York City is incredibly fast-paced and energized, which is great for the adults who choose to live here, but it’s not always so great for our students. We’re fortunate to have such easy geographic access to so many campuses offering incredible academics, learning support, advisory, arts, sports, and diverse communities, which become extended families and neighborhoods. For students needing therapeutic school environments, we have tremendous resources in that category as well.

Faya, Laurie, and I help families everyday with educational problem solving, which includes school planning and school placement, developing and implementing intervention plans, refining (or overhauling) their weekly schedules, and partnering with their schools more effectively. Whenever possible, we work in close collaboration with psychologists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, occupational therapists, speech therapists, school leadership, school learning specialists, and classroom teachers to optimize resources and coordinate planning. A big challenge for families is knowing what to do at home to support learning and how best to partner with their child’s school. Without this close partnership between home and school, it’s very difficult to successfully mitigate challenges around anxiety and ADHD. If your child is struggling, we can help. Please contact us for more information.

These links may also be of interest:

Anxiety Disorders Association of America

Anxiety and Depression Association of America

NIH: Anxiety Disorders

CDC: ADHD

Child Mind Institute: Resources for Parents

Written by Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed., Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist, Faya Hoffman, M.A., Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist, and Laurie Gross, M.A.T., Special Educator and Reading Specialist. Brad, Faya, and Laurie comprise the senior Leadership Team for My Learning Springboard.

How A Virtual College Visit Can Help You Choose The Right College

April 5, 2021 Brad Hoffman

The college admissions process is full of milestones: The first day of new student orientation, the first text exchanges with new roommates, the first acceptance letter. These moments are significant for students, and for their families as well. They form important early impressions of an institution you are considering becoming a part of for four years, and often a lifetime. Chief among these milestones are the college visits students and their families would normally take beginning in junior year of high school (or even earlier). These visits help students get a feel for those hard to measure qualities that will determine whether a school is more than a good match on paper, but a place they could see themselves becoming a part of. But this year, and likely next year, too, students will be making virtual college visits.

Not being able to visit a prospective university in person may feel like a disappointment, but a virtual college visit can offer surprising insights into what life is like there, and ultimately, help you decide if this school is right for you. Just remember, a virtual college visit is more than just fifteen minutes cruising an admissions page. If you’re creative, it’s a way to tour the campus, talk to current students and alumni, and perhaps sit in on a few lectures and meet potential professors.

Start with your chosen university’s social media channels and website, where new digital tools and initiatives are being rolled out on a near daily basis. Like many of its top-tier competitors, Queens College at Cambridge has introduced a new live chat initiative. This feature on their website allows prospective students to speak to their team and have their questions about studying at Cambridge and being a Queens’ student answered in real time, no matter where they live. If you’ve ever contemplated reading classics in the UK or attending the Cambridge vs Oxford regatta – this is a great way to learn more without hopping on a plane.

Likewise, universities are offering a bevy of small scale Zoom initiatives for potential students and their families to interact not just with the usual student tour guide, but with department chairs and university trustees. Though it is impressive how those well spoken sophomores and juniors manage to walk backwards in flip-flops, it can be much more enlightening to talk with the university’s top brass. And while it’s rare to be able to sit in on classes during a typical campus tour, for your virtual college visit, it’s much easier to get previews of lectures from world-renowned faculty and check out digital art exhibitions and science fairs.

If you’re more technologically savvy, consider using the virtual platforms you already know to create an experience that will better represent what life will be like at a prospective school. For those with Oculus Rifts, UPenn — among many other colleges — has invested in a detailed VR tour that allows participants to virtually walk through campus. Likewise, Columbia has tried to give prospective students a sense of life in New York City (subway fragrances not included) by tapping architecture historian Andrew Dolkart to give walking tours of the Morningside Heights campus via podcast. Some creative universities are even recreating their likenesses in video games, like UC Berkeley, UPenn, and Drexel, which have built digital replicas of their campuses in granular detail in Minecraft. It turns out that all those hours your child spent building elaborate environments out of cubes were not wasted!

Ultimately, rather than thinking about the things we lose with virtual college visits, it’s best to focus on what is gained. CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, Angel Pérez, recalled receiving an email in the fall after his group sponsored its first-ever online fair. Afterard, a student wrote to Pérez to thank him for opening his eyes to institutions he wouldn’t have otherwise thought to consider. It was an “aha!” moment Pérez told Higher Ed Dive. Though you won’t be able to head to the university shop for a sweatshirt and a baseball cap at the end of a lap around campus, a virtual tour opens up the possibilities to see places you wouldn’t otherwise have visited, either because they’re too far away geographically, or they weren’t on your radar. As seniors prepare to make college decisions by the end of the month and juniors kick off the admissions process in earnest, take the time to explore local (or even international) schools virtually. You’ll be surprised by how much you can learn.

Written by Daniel Penny, an educator and writer with an MFA in creative nonfiction from Columbia University, a BA in English from Grinnell College, and an AA in liberal arts from Bard High School Early College.

Case Management and Instructional Coaching

March 29, 2021 Brad Hoffman

My Learning Springboard is defined by its success as a multidisciplinary educational consulting firm with expertise in case management and instructional coaching.

The first question we ask – What would benefit the student and your family? – forms the basis of our work. With over 100 years of combined teaching, case management, and school leadership experience at every grade level from preschool through college, our Leadership Team is able to support a wide range of learners and needs. Hence the question, what would benefit your student and your family?

As Board Certified Educational Planners and professional educators, we facilitate case management, instructional coaching, and parent advising to bolster the success of every student. We discuss cases as a professional team based on formal and informal assessments, school documentation, educational testing, and observations in order to make strategic recommendations that support learning. To develop each plan, we apply a 360-degree evidence-based approach to gather data from classroom teachers, learning specialists, or school administrators. Further, we layer in data from psychologists, pediatricians, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, and other related service professionals, as applicable. Even once a plan is in place, we expect to adapt and tailor it as the tutoring or intervention gets underway. We believe that each student’s situation must be carefully considered on an ongoing basis and strategic planning is essential to achieving success.

We take great care to build the right team for you. Our Leadership Team works together with highly qualified and skillful tutors or specialists and related service professionals in partnership with families. We seek relationships with educators and related service professionals who are consummate professionals and have a demonstrated track record of success. They approach their work as compassionate practitioners, which includes having excellent communication skills and a desire to build trusted relationships with all stakeholders.

At the core of our practice is the belief that every student can succeed. We recognize that there are lots of ways to get from Point A to Point B, and all stakeholders ought to work together toward a shared goal. We seek to facilitate a transparent and collaborative process that values working closely with families and schools. In a perfect relationship, we’re all learning from one another, and our students benefit from this cohesion.

Please contact us to discuss our services.

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed.
Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist
My Learning Springboard, Inc.

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