What are Co-academic Skills?
Co-academic skills are defined as necessary areas of expertise for academic and life success. These skills include but are not limited to time management, reading college textbooks, writing college essays, information literacy, financial literacy, social skills, networking skills, self-management, interdependence, academic self-esteem, personal responsibility, goal setting, life planning, self-awareness, taking college level notes, taking college exams, and how to study for college courses.
The concept of co-academic skills depends upon the existence and development of academic skills such as reading, writing, math, language arts, and critical thinking skills. These are skills that are developed in the classroom. For example, a student taking a statistics course will be able to develop critical thinking and mathematical skills in relation to statistics. In order to pass the course and submit satisfactory assignments, the student will need to not only understand the course material, but will also need to utilize co-academic skills to meet their goal of passing the class and showing mastery in the statistics course.
Co-academic skills are more important than academic skills due to their ability to not only improve academic performance but employability as well. Co-academic skills surpass the limitations of academic skills in that co-academic skills can increase employability and provide a student with the ability to be successful outside of the classroom. These skills are also considered life skills. Generally speaking, a student can still be successful person without mastering academic skills such as statistics, however no one can be successful without mastering their co-academic skills.
In 2017 Melissa Doreus coined the term Co-Academic Skills as a result of the work she was doing with students, faculty, and staff.
Your Student will not Graduate College without this!
Regardless how much your student studies, or what you paid for tutoring, your student will never graduate without this skill. Having proficiency in this skill leads to better academic performance. A student who feels fulfilled and ready to take on the world. This skill takes time to develop and can be the wild card in student success.
To begin, when I work with students one of the first things that we focus on is self-motivation. Frequently, students will tell me and their families the symptoms of low self-motivation. Low self-motivation is rarely named initially. This causes everyone to focus on the symptom and not the actual problem.
The problem
K-12 provides the opportunity for students to learn a number of co-academic skills. However, it is incredibly easy for self-motivation to fall between the cracks due to the amount of support provided. In many grade schools, teachers are evaluated based on the academic performance of their students. This is not the case in college. Higher education demands self-motivation in order for success to occur, as does life.
Your student needs to know how to motivate themselves when they are in the library at 3 A.M. studying for an exam. Otherwise, they will never be able to graduate college. The reality of it is, no matter how much you can want them to graduate college, or take up the family business, or even just get a job, there is one truth. If your student does not want to do something, it will not get done.
The solution
There are ways to figure out what drives your student. There are strategies to teach them how to motivate themselves towards any goal. Working with a student success coach can make this transition a smoother one for families and students. For families who choose to go through this process on their own, here is my one tip- Let your student surprise you. Throw out all of your expectations of who your student should be and what they should be able to do and accept them for where they are. Celebrate the things that they determine are accomplishments, and you will see the student you want to see in them.
5 Types of College Student Before Break
Here are 5 types of student before break. See which ones match you or your friends!
The Hitchhiker
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This is the person who is always looking to go to someone else’s house or join in on someone else’s plan. Maybe they just don’t want to go home, or maybe they just
The Traveler
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This is the person who takes trips you didn’t even know they were planning! They to go to places you have only dreamed of going or only heard mentioned a few times on television.
The Family Reunioner
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Every chance this person gets they are going home. They always talk about home and how they miss it. Everyone knows their whole family including who’s birthday is coming up next.
The Escape Artist
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This person seems to almost vanish into thin air right before break but somehow gets all of their assignments and test completed. How they get it all done is all a mystery.
The Workaholic
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“What break?” This is the person who is working (possibly multiple jobs) during all of break. They may not even leave campus for break. They use this time to make more money, or to get ahead on their classwork.
20 Famous Quotes to get you through Midterms
Do you know what season it is? Fall? No! It’s midterm season!
There are open books as far as the eye can see. People who you haven’t seen in class since the first day are starting to show up again. It feels like assignments and deadlines are coming out of nowhere. What is happening? I will tell you my friends it is the midterm season. For some midterms can be scarier than Halloween, but no need to fear, with time, self-care, and motivation you can get through this! Here are some quotes to remind you of your strength when you may be feeling down because of the amount of work and studying you have to do. If you have a quote that is helping you feel free to share it with all of us in the comments. Let’s get started!
1. “Stay positive, work hard, make it happen”
2. “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it” Charles Swindoll
3. “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” – Thomas Jefferson
5. “Don’t stop when you are tired. Stop when you are done.”
6.“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” – Gail Devers
7. “Success all depends on the second letter.”
9. “The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.”
10. “It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
11. “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”
13. “You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.”
14. “We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
15. “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”
17. “The person who reads too much and uses his brain too little will fall into lazy habits of thinking.”
18. “Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success.” – Virat Kohli
19. “Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall.” – Oliver Goldsmith
