Hey, I'm Travis Woodward. I'm 17 years old and attend Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose. I'm a junior, enjoy spending time with my friends and ust hanging out having fun. But I've had one big problem - I can't get my grades up. I finally figured out part of the problem - I have ADD which is attention defecit disorder. And now, I've learned how to deal with it and my senior year is my last chance.
No more excuses. I'm not embarrassed or ashamed, its time to step up. I'm ready to show anyone that is in my situation that it can be done.
Follow me as I show you that no matter what gets in my way, I'm not giving up.My education is important, and it should be the same for everyone else. My grade point average is on the way up...watch it.
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Junior Year Blog
5.25.11 I finished my finals, a big relief. I feel ok about Spanish and History. I felt really good with Social Justice but not sure about math or chem, which I've struggled with for a while.
5.19.11 School is technically out but next week I have finals. I'm taking this weekend along with friday to study because I have no school. I spent a lot of time with my chem teacher and feel like I'm kind of getting it better. Math is still difficult but tutor is helping.
5.19.11 My stepdad and mom and I went to Bellarmine to meet with the Vice Principal and one of my counselors. I was really nervous but once I got there I relaxed as I relized they were there to support me. They created a plan for me for summer school and next year to help me graduate. Bellarmine rocks! All this time I thought no one cared and now I feel stupid for not using more of the support available to me. I'm pumped up to do this right.
5.18.11 I got the results of my ADD test and found out I have it. At first I felt stupid but now I realize why I've had a lot of problems. Since we met with the Vice Principal and Ms. Allessandri in April, I'm tutoring two hours a day everyday.
Summer Blog
6.5.11 Got my summer school classes today. Start on June 14th and have Ms. Roemer and Ms. Glynn. Tutoring starts on the 16th.
6.5.11 Its been nice to have a break from school. I will be going to summer school though, I'll be taking two classes until mid July. I'm not too excited about it, because its school, but I will get to see my friends there and try some new things to help me learn better before I start my senior year.
5.28.11 Another thing I'm doing is learning how to manage my time better. Got a new coach named Stacey V. Her and I are creating a plan to manage my time better which should help me out a lot. I'm going to create a few videos for her in exchange for her coaching.
TEAM TRAVIS
5/1/2011
Senior Year Blog
6.1.2011 Got my school supplies for next year. After working with my new coach, we decided that I needed to be more organized so I got a more detailed calendar and made a form so my tutor can communicate with my teachers better.
5.28.11 Met with my college counselor Hollis today. She works with non "A" students and helps them get into college. We created a plan for the summer and this year for college and I'm overwhelmed with it but I have to do it. I am going to college no matter what happens.
5.25.11 Ok I got this report from my doctor that showed me all of these results from the tests I took and I didn't really understand it but she said I need to learn differently so I made two changes already.
1. I'm going to use my iPhone to record notes from my teachers. I learned from Dr. Grimes that I am a "audio" learned meaning that I need to hear things at least twice. If I record it, I can listen to it later. Hopefully my teachers say its ok. Last year I tried it and my teacher thought I was texting. I learned that I need to speak up and say what I'm doing.
2. My school allows me extra test time and even though sometimes I don't think I need it, I do it any way. Mrs. Allesandri is one of my counselors at Bellarmine and I take my tests in her room. I need to spend more time there its where I'm comfortable.
Problem
I'm not a visual learner, I'm an auditory learner. I need to hear lectures twice to really get it.
I'm easily distracted and my mind wanders off when I'm not excited about what I'm doing.
When I write papers, I skip over words and sometimes my sentences are incomplete.
I'm not using all of my resources at school. I have a tendency to only work with the teachers that I'm comfortable with and make me feel like they care. In math, I felt like I was interrupting my teacher so it was hard for me to go in and meet with her and then I still didn't get it..
Solution
Record lectures so I can play them back again. Learn to take notes better. I need to get books on audio tape instead of trying to read them.
Change my mind set and know this is my last chance to graduate from Bellarmine. Need to get more sleep so I'm not tired. Need to focus focus focus on what the teacher is saying and write down anything I don't understand so I can ask later without being embarrassed.
Need to read my papers outloud, not just to myself. Need to have others read my papers.
This is hard for me. I need to go to my teachers no matter what. I need to spend more time with Ms. Allesandri. She really cares and will help me. If I have more problems, I'm going to go see Mrs. Luscher. She made me understand that Bellarmine cares a lot about me and will help me. I also like my Spanish teacher a lot but I'm not taking Spanish next year.
