Today was the first official day of the conference and it has been a busy time filled with saying hello to old friends and making a few new ones. (There also may or may not have been beignets involved).
The keynote speaker was Jonah Lehrer, author of How We Decide, and he focused his remarks around the different psychological traits that correlate with success and how those traits can translate into the college application process for high school students. I really enjoyed his speech and will highlight below some of the main take away points:
1) The highest predictor of success is a quality called 'grit' - defined by Angela Duckworth's research as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” Students that have grit are the ones that don't shy away from challenges, even challenges where they fail multiple times, instead they keep going, find creative solutions, and resolve to redouble their efforts to try and improve. It is this quality, he said, that is the best predictor of college success - not SAT scores, not high school grades, not socioeconomic status.
2) Colleges that make it on a student's list need to pass the 'underwear test.' Just like we wear underwear and can't feel it against our skin, a college's appeal can easily wear off. It is the colleges that never lose their excitement and newness that earn a place on the list because they are places where the idea of acceptance never gets boring. You don't adapt to them or get too comfortable with them, you remain excited to find out if you've been accepted. This 'underwear test,' in my opinion, is especially applicable to the targets and likelies on a list. If you aren't consistently excited about the prospect of going to a school, move on and replace it with a school with a similar profile that DOES consistently excite you.
3) Pure rational thought is a disease. Literally. He presented the argument that emotion HAS to play a role in decision making because it is the only way to push past the indecision of rationality. How does this relate to college admission? Listen to your gut. Trust your instincts when making decisions about where to apply and where to go. Dwelling for days or weeks on the pros and cons of certain aspects of the process will only paralyze you. Free yourself by letting your heart take over for your brain some of the time. Take your emotions seriously, they are not going away.
4) Lastly, a famous psychological study called the marshallow experiment where young children are offered the option of eating one marshmallow now or waiting 20 minutes and getting two marshmallows in return. Like the quality of grit, it was discovered that the ability of children to delay their gratification for those 20 minutes is a very strong predicter of later success, including academic and social success. (He also played us an amazing clip of actual kids during the study. I cried with laughter. Here is a similar more recent example.) The best part of some follow up research was the discover that delayed gratification can be taught, suggesting that some children that don't naturally have the ability to distract themselves from temptation can in fact learn these skills. This has huge implications for increasing school success for traditionally at risk populations and for helping college students that may struggle with the college transition learn new skills that can help them both in college and in life.
After the keynote, I went to the my first professional development session. The topic was letters of recommendation. While most of what was discussed was things that I'll be going back and sharing with ElRo faculty, I did ask a question of the panel about how to best instruct students in terms of who they choose for their letters. I was affirmed to hear back that indeed the student/teacher relationship trumps all. Even if that teacher isn't from a core subject or isn't from a more recent grade, if they are the best staff person to describe your classroom performance and personal qualities then they should be the one writing on your behalf.
Finally, I finished the day with the annual CACHET reception, a group of colleges with Engineering and STEM fields. It is always nice to chat with these fabulous schools. If you are thinking about this area of study, check them out.
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