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<p><strong>Please include attribution to BrainTrack.com with this graphic.</strong><br /><br /> <a href="http://www.braintrack.com/blog/2013/03/the-importance-of-student-parent-satisfaction/"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/infographics/Importance-Students-Parents-Satisfaction-800.png" alt="The Importance of Student & Parent Satisfaction" width="500" border="0" /></a></p>

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Populated by peers and experienced adults alike, #genychat (Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST) and
#millennialchat (Thursdays at 3:30 until 4:30 p.m. EST) both provide environments where kids today meet and talk about the issues impacting them. From college and careers to sex and dating to money and other daily doings, tweeps logging into these regular chats meet up with others who might share their experiences. Or, at least, provide perspectives on experiences that fellow Gen Y-ers or Millennials or whatever they’re calling themselves these days need to know. If these options prove a little too broad, check out #moneychat every Monday from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. for straightforward personal finance advice. No matter what path post-high school provides, the ability to balance a budget and spend and save responsibly proves an absolutely essential skill. Get started on it early!

Obviously, the decision over whether to head to college hovers over every high school kid’s experience. More tech-savvy institutions host their own hashtags and/or regularly-scheduled chats, often hosted by their admissions or student services staffers, so check out their websites and Twitter feeds to see if they provide any opportunities in that vein. Keeping that profile free of anything controversial might very well help schools gauge their interest in an applicant, so try to remain active as well as “clean.” Even if talking with a professional at the top choices and safeties isn’t an option, plenty of more generalized Twitter chats exist as resources for the possible incoming freshman. In fact, they enjoy their pick of at least three to check out when seeking advice on a wide range of higher education subjects. Give #campuschat a shot for tips about admissions and organizing a college visit. The moderators do not hitch it to any specific time frame, so feel free to ask questions whenever they arise. On the first and third Wednesdays of every month, #collegebound happens starting at 4 p.m. EST, with topics of interest to both incoming and brand new higher ed students. #Collegechat covers the exact same content, especially when it comes to admissions, on first and third Tuesdays starting at 9 p.m. EST. Most importantly, #collegecash ought to wind up on every Twitter-savvy high school graduate’s @ feed. Starting at 11 p.m. EST (moderator Judi Okun lives in the Pacific time zone) every Thursday, parents and students alike hop in for easy-to-follow talks regarding how to pay for school. Financial Aid and other considerations receive full coverage here, so consider it a valuable resource when trying to make sense of the fiscal side of a college education.

High school graduates either wanting to take a gap year to work or opting to forego higher education altogether need to turn toward #careers, #jobs, and #jobsearch for ongoing discussions about openings, career advice, and anything else related to launching a career. Amplify the number of opportunities and create social media networks by adding a hashtag for city names and professions as well, such as #houston #healthcare #jobs, #houston #healthcarejobs, or even #houstonhealthcarejobs. Slightly more locked into a temporal locale, but not as freeform as the aforementioned options is #hirefriday, which borrows from the ubiquitous (one day a week, anyways) #FF (for “follow Friday”) and places it within a career context. Users spotlight themselves or loved ones looking for jobs, and employers skim the lists to see which names and profiles pop out the most. Hire Friday also involves #hfchat, which meets on the eponymous day at noon EST. Take advantage of that and #jobhuntchat every Monday from 10 to 11 AM EST for a diverse array of advice and possible leads. Moderators and participants in these active chats almost always prove willing to answer any questions about finding open positions, scoring an interview, and hopefully clinching it to a secure a spot in the workforce.

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<p><strong>Please include attribution to BrainTrack.com with this graphic.</strong><br /><br /> <a href="http://www.braintrack.com/blog/2013/01/china-vs-the-u-s-meeting-students-technology-needs/"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/infographics/China-Vs-The-US-800.jpg" alt="China vs. The U.S.: Meeting Students’ Technology Needs" width="500" border="0" /></a></p>

Resources & Advice

Find an internship, student reviews, news, and so much more from these Twitter feeds full of resources and advice.

• @TravelGov:

  Stay up to date on travel advisories and more with the U.S. State Department on Twitter.

• @SocialAbroad:

  Find travel tips and resources for staying socially connected while you study abroad with @SocialAbroad.

• @RateMyStdyAbrd:

  Find student reviews of study abroad programs here, as well as news and info for study abroad, travel, and living abroad.

• @VergeMagazine:

  Verge shares great ideas and opportunities for study, work, and volunteer abroad.

• @triptrotting:

  On @triptrotting, you can get connected with locals and travelers wherever in the world you’re studying.

• @acei1:

  Evaluate international programs in terms of the U.S. system with the help of @acei1.

• @internworld:

  Connect with @internworld to join a community of interns, students, and volunteers abroad.

• @stage_usa:

  Get help from @stage_usa, and you can find an internship for your study abroad experience.

• @volunteerabroad:

  Don’t just study abroad, volunteer! Find travel stories, volunteering opportunities, and more on @volunteerabroad.

• @goinglobal:

  @goinglobal offers great advice for finding a job while studying abroad.

• @ConnectOurWorld:

  Check out this community that supports international education at @ConnectOurWorld.

Wanderlust

Looking for travel inspiration? These feeds offer a great jumping off point. Find your study abroad destination, or discover great things to do where you already are.

• @NatGeo:

  Discover the wonders of the world simply by following @NatGeo. You may even find your next study abroad destination!

• @OffTrackPlanet:

  Check out tweets from this magazine to see how other students and young adults are enjoying their travels.

• @lonelyplanet:

  Explore your study abroad destination with @lonelyplanet, and find the best ways to make the most of your experience.

• @SmarterTravel:

  Check out @SmarterTravel to find travel news, deals, and advice.

Programs & Information

Find news, study abroad programs, and more from these helpful Twitter feeds.

• @GlobalChronicle:

  Find international education news from The Chronicle of Higher Education on @GlobalChronicle.

• @GoAbroad:

  @GoAbroad offers a heads-up on opportunities abroad, plus a great community of students and travelers to share with.

• @interstudy:

  Discover a more global you through @interstudysa.

• @SemesteratSea:

  Find out what Semester at Sea has to offer from their Twitter feed.

• @CEAstudyabroad:

  Follow @CEAstudyabroad to discover great programs for U.S. and Canadian students, and see some of the fun experiences other study abroad students are enjoying.

• @aifs:

  Get inspired for your study abroad experience with dispatches from the @aifs program.

• @intstudent:

  Here you’ll find information and advice for studying around the world.

• @AUIPStudyAbroad:

  Find out about short-term study abroad programs in Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji from @AUIPStudyAbroad.

• @StudyAbroad101:

  Find reviews, advice, and information for study abroad programs from @StudyAbroad101.

• @AspireAbroad:

  Check out high school and gap year study abroad programs in Europe and Latin America with @AspireAbroad.

• @GoOverseas:

  Check out @GoOverseas to learn about meaningful travel experiences, whether you’re teaching, studying, or volunteering abroad.

• @LivingRoutes:

  Take part in the next generation of eco-leadership by checking out the @LivingRoutes education program.

• @ISAabroad:

  Students can learn about study abroad, service-learning, and internship programs from @ISAabroad.

Students & Experiences

Want to hear about study abroad from students who have been there? Are you a study abroad student and want to share your experience? Get connected with these Twitter feeds and join the conversation.

• @StudyAbroadProb:

  Explore the humorous side of study abroad on @StudyAbroadProb, an account that chronicles some of the funny problems study abroad students may run into.

• @StudyAbroadAlum:

  This international organization can get your connected with study abroad alumni who have been there, offering advice and friendship.

• @ISVMagazine:

  Check in with @ISVMagazine to find stories from international students studying in the U.S. and Canada.

1. Ability to pay isn’t taken into consideration

   For just about any type of loan, you’re required to show some sort of proof that you’ll be able to pay back the money you’re given. A paystub and bank statements are typical even for the simplest loans to ensure that there’s enough income. But for parents who apply for PLUS loans, they don’t have to show anything like that at all. Parents do not have to submit to an income check, verify employment, or disclose any additional debt that may make repayment difficult. It is amazingly easy for parents to get a PLUS loan. In fact, parents with bad credit can still borrow, as long as they have an endorser or can prove extenuating circumstances. Even parents who earn minimum wage can qualify for five-figure student loans.

2. There’s no set cap on the amount of money that can be borrowed

   Obviously, lending without considering ability to pay is dangerous, but even more dangerous is doing so without capping the amount that can be borrowed. PLUS loans are practically unlimited, allowing parents to borrow as much as they need to bridge the gap between their child’s financial aid package and what they need to attend school. For some families, it’s a reasonable amount, but for some, especially those attending expensive schools, the figure can be very high: $40,000 to $50,000 or more, which may be far beyond what families can realistically pay off in a few years.

3. Interest rates are steep, and so are fees

   Exacerbating the lack of payment qualification and cap on borrowing are the high rates associated with parent loans. Currently, the interest rate for direct PLUS loans is a fixed 7.9%. There’s also a 4% loan origination fee that’s deducted from loan disbursements. With steep rates, potentially overextended loans are made even worse. Families who have difficulty keeping up with payments can stretch loans out for 10 or more years: one mother in New York took out a $17,000 loan in 1998. She’s still paying for that debt, and it hasn’t gone down. In fact, thanks to fees and interest, it’s now $33,000.

4. If you get in over your head, it’s nearly impossible to discharge Parent PLUS student loans in bankruptcy

   Getting overextended in student loans is terrible, but if things get too bad, you can just declare bankruptcy, right? Well, you can, but it’s not going to get rid of your student loan debt. They just won’t die. Really. Loans can typically be put in deferment or forbearance, but not Parent PLUS loans: they’re not eligible, not even for programs that help borrowers get more affordable monthly payments.

5. Students may not be able to help pay back loans

   Many parents agree to co-sign student loans, with plans to have their children pay on the loan after graduation once they get a job and have the means to do so. But in today’s tough job market, that’s not always the case. Often, students can’t find a good job, so they can’t pay the loan, and parents are left with the burden to take care of the student loan lender. Even worse, there’s no recourse if the student fails to graduate.

6. Loans put retirement at risk

   Many families send their kids off to college just before, or right around the time they’re ready to get serious about retirement funds. It’s not really a good time to be thinking about huge loans that may never go away. Plus, when students graduate and it’s time to pay the bills, parents may be stuck deciding if they can pay on student loans, or save for their coming retirement. Answer: you have to pay the loans. If you end up in default, the government can seize tax refunds, garnish wages, and even go after your Social Security.

7. Schools can keep charging more

   Aside from the financial peril presented to families, and in a larger part, parents, parent student loans are practically a blank check for colleges. The loans will give parents as much as they need to have enough for college. And as long as families still have enough to pay for college, schools can keep raising rates because they’ll be paid.

1. Compact curriculum:

   Curriculum compacting is a fancy term for the system whereby kids who have mastered a subject can advance to something else, rather than twiddle their thumbs while they wait for everyone else to catch up. Experts say compacting works best with subjects that involve yes or no answers like math and vocabulary, which can easily be measured by administering a pre-test. If a student passes it, whether they move on to another topic in the same area is up to you, but for gifted kids who are easily bored, letting them jump from, say, math to English instead of moving to another math topic could be a great way to keep them interested and motivated.

2. Be yourself:

   It may sound like motivational poster fodder, but you have to understand that a kid as smart or smarter than you is not going to find intellectual stimulation from his classmates. It’s just not going to happen. As an adult, you are his only chance of bringing a little talk about politics, or space-time, or the economy into his day. If you share your own intellectual passions and pursuits with the class, this helps the gifted student — who is himself extremely curious about the world — respect you and stay excited about learning.

3. Get them around other gifted students as much as possible:

   It might be a little intimidating to get several kids who are smarter than you in a room together, but research shows this is one of the best things you can do for them. Putting them together levels the playing field for each of them and challenges them more than when they are far and away the smartest one in the class. There is also the added benefit that you can give them your full attention, rather than consigning them to guide their own studies while you teach the rest of the class.

4. Get a guidance counselor involved:

   Teaming up with a guidance counselor is a great but often overlooked way to determine just how gifted a kid is and how best to reach him. Exceptionally smart kids seem to have a higher occurrence rate of obnoxious behaviors like know-it-allness and stubbornness. Not only can guidance counselors help them work on getting along with their classmates better, they can give students aptitude tests to give you, the teacher, a clear idea of where they are academically and what they can handle.

5. Turn them into teachers:

   Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth: every genius you have in your class is a little tutor just waiting to be put to work. In Finland — home to one of the highest-scoring education systems in the world — teachers focus on weaker students and encourage the brighter ones to lend their mates a hand. This keeps the smart kids engaged and will also (hopefully) make for good practice for them to work on their people skills.

6. Remember how old they are:

   It can be easy to forget that a 9-year-old genius is, after all, 9 years old when they’re solving math equations you can’t. It’s an all-too-common refrain for super-smart kids to be told, “You’re smart; you should know this,” as if smart kids don’t need any help. Smart kids are far advanced intellectually but may even be less mature than their peers, so if you begin to think of them as some kind of adult in a child’s body, you’ll find yourself denying them the patience you would have for other students.

7. Bring out what they don’t know:

   As a doctor, odds are he doesn’t have any students that are smarter than he, but assistant professor Dr. Michael Arnzen of Seton Hill University says he deliberately gives his students readings that are over their heads, then has them write a “difficulty report” about the challenges they faced. He says this “rewards honesty, encourages further research and self-directed learning, and discourages passive overconfidence.”

8. Give open-ended answers:

   When you teach an uber-smart kid, sooner rather than later she’ll have a question for you that you can’t answer. You could take a stab at an answer, responding either wanly or as if you have 100% confidence. But a beautiful alternative is to turn the question back around on the student by saying, “Why don’t you investigate that and report back to the class?” Clearly it will be a subject of interest to the student, or she wouldn’t be asking, so you’ve given her a challenge on a topic that will stimulate her and also educate the rest of the class. It’s a win-win.

9. Laud hard work, not good grades:

   This one is more for the kiddos’ sake than the teacher’s. With super-smart kids, grades are often not adequate motivation to even stay in school. (In fact, some have even claimed as many as 20% of dropouts are in the gifted range.) On the other hand, many geniuses have trouble completing assignments or are simply too bored with them to bother. Researchers have come to discover praising kids for putting in hard work is more advisable than praising them for being smart, because if and when they fail, they may take a significant hit in confidence (extremely gifted kids are known to be especially sensitive.)

10. Use a cheat sheet:

    There’s no reason you have to feel your way along in the dark when it comes to teaching exceptional students. Excellent sources of helpful info abound, both on the Web and in print form; many are geared toward parents but can be used by teachers just as effectively. Understanding Our Gifted is a quarterly journal with great help in the form of book reviews, articles on the latest research in the field of gifted and talented, and more. LD Online has a section on gifted kids with learning disabilities. The National Association for Gifted Children and the Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page are also solid places to look.