Meet Nick! Your Resident English & Humanities Expert!
The greatest athletes in the world still have a coach and most of them consistently work with trainers. They do this not because their skills are deficient, but because they want to constantly improve and be the best they can possibly be. A proactive approach to maximizing a student's performance is no different. Academic coaching is an alternative to tutoring that is more focused on long-term success and turning average students into extraordinary students. We believe that all students can achieve their highest potential regardless of their current performance.
With the right trainer and the right plan we can stabilize, energize and even maximize your student's academic performance.
Meet Nick. His is an Aristotle Learner and Appleton's High School English/Humanities Academic Coach. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English, Language Arts & Secondary Education and is currently in school working on his Master of Arts in English. FUN FACTS: His favorite authors are Raymond Carver and Amy Hempel. He also worked at Huntsville Times writing and editing the obituaries (Interesting conversation starter).
Appleton Committed To Hiring Veterans, Spouses and Wounded Warriors
by Alissa Ramsay, Plato
As a Marine Corps Brat and wife of a former Marine who has lived most of her life alongside some of the most honorable and courageous men and women, it gives me great pleasure to announce Appleton’s involvement with the International Franchise Association’s (IFA) VetFran initiative. The VetFran mission is to expand the economic opportunities of veterans and their families by providing them with special franchising opportunities. VetFran and the IFA have helped more than 2,100 veterans become proud owners of small businesses in communities across our country.
Franchising is one of the best ways for someone to embrace their entrepreneurial spirit and stake their claim as a small business owner. Moreover, veterans make for some of the best franchisees because they possess the discipline, work ethic, and civic mindset necessary to be a great business owner.
By 2014, the franchise industry has committed to hiring and recruiting 75,000 veterans and their spouses and 5,000 Wounded Warriors. Recently, a piece of legislation known as the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 was introduced that provides incentives and tax benefits to businesses that hire veterans. The legislation’s objective is to reduce the level of unemployment among the veteran community. One way to do that is by making it easier for veterans to go into business and capture their own piece of the American Dream. As President Obama noted during the legislation’s signing ceremony the Franchise Industry has been one of the strongest supporters of this initiative.
Appleton is among the more than 400 franchisors that have made a commitment to fight for and serve those who have fought for and served our great nation. In fulfillment of this pledge, Appleton is doing its part to make it easier and more affordable for vets to start their own business. Specifically, Appleton is offering to take $25,000 off the $35,000 Appleton franchise fee of veterans and spouses who purchase a franchise*.
As the Director of Franchise Development and former military dependent, I am honored to be associated with the IFA and their VetFran program. Thank you to our veterans and to everyone who supports them and are committed to their successful futures.
This is an exciting time at Appleton and for education reform! Many people have questions about Appleton’s growth in a down economy and our part in the education revolution. Over the last couple weeks we asked our Facebook fans and Twitter followers to submit questions for Glenn, Appleton’s founder and CEO. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions! See Glenn’s video blog below for answers to those questions.
If you have more questions for Glenn about education reform, franchising, business, or any other topic of interest, please tweet them to @my_geniuStyle or post on Appleton’s Facebook page.
I have spent the last seven years fully engaged in the business of educating people. I’ve worked with hundreds of public schools during that process and seen the stark contrast in how I approach running a business compared to how they run a school. It really is quite interesting when you think about it. Appleton sets out to do the same thing that a school does every day – help a student learn and master a concept or idea. However, we go about it in very different ways and deliver very different results. Recognizing these differences and seeing the impact (positive and negative) of those differences has allowed me to identify what I believe are a few principles from the business world that would do a lot to turn around our public school system. Here are 15 of the most important lessons I think schools could learn from business.
15 Business Lessons For Education (TEDx Video above)
1. Competition is a good thing: Just like with businesses, when schools compete the customer (aka the student) wins. When teachers and administrators know that parents and students have the ability to choose where they go to school, they will become more responsive to their customer’s needs.
2. Meritocracy: People are naturally competitive and respond to incentives. We incentivize employees to perform well by giving bonuses, promotions, etc. Teachers should be treated no differently – promote the best and the heck with the rest!
3. Build a brand: Your brand is your voice and your personality…critical components to understanding WHY your organization exits. Schools need to develop brands for the same reasons companies do. Communicate what you believe and why you believe…then hold yourself to your own standard.
4. Managers and technicians: In business, it has been proven time and again that the skills necessary to be good at a craft and the skills necessary to manage an organization that engages in that craft are two different things. Hire business people to run schools…not teachers.
5. Customer service: The idea of customer service in education is completely foreign. But why? Are students not a school’s customer? If so, we should be treating them as such and trying to find ways to make them WANT our product…not despise it.
6. Profit...the cost of efficiency: Profit might as well be a four letter word in education…but should it be? Profit is not an unnecessary cost added on to a product…it is the price you pay for a more efficient and effective product. That’s why for-profit organizations often can accomplish the same ends as government but at a lower cost, in less time, and with a higher degree of quality. Why not embrace for-profit schools?
7. FEAR: Fail Early And Responsibly...in education “failure” is to be avoided at all costs. However, in successful companies, responsible failure is encouraged. We understand that great things are never achieved without first failing a few times. Let’s start encouraging students to be innovative, creative and risk takers…FEAR!
8. Be a talent snob: A friend of mine who is an organizational psychologist helped me to become a “talent snob” – relentless seeking out the most talented people, even when those people didn’t have the ideal resume, etc. Talent above all else leads to success. Let’s start focusing on highly talented teachers…instead of highly “qualified”.
9. Marketing is your friend: When is the last time you saw a school market itself? My guess is never. But marketing is a key communication tool. Schools should be marketing themselves to students to try to attract students to them. Students should WANT to go to school…let’s sell them on the idea!
10. Structure follows Strategy: Rather than coming up with “Improvement Plans” and countless policies and procedures, schools should first focus on strategy. Businesses go through a strategic planning process to understand where they want to go before they try to figure out how to get there.
11. Change or die: Education is slow to innovate. Schools must accept that if they don’t innovate and change, they will soon become obsolete. Online schools and non-traditional education will corner the market if public schools don’t change…and soon!
12. Looks matter: Walk in an Appleton branch, and you’ll see that the environment is important to us. Schools should take their looks serious too. Cinder block walls and florescent lights never attracted anyone…
13. Set expectations, Not regulations: As a manager, my job is to find talented people, give them clear goals to achieve, ensure they have the resources they need, and then get out of their way. Government should start focusing on clear, concise expectations for schools, and stop regulating HOW they go about achieving those expectations.
14. WHY is more important than what or how: Mission statements, vision, values, etc. All related to WHY we do what we do. Schools must understand what they are setting out to achieve, in precise terms, before they focus on mastering their craft. Focus on the result we’re trying to produce in students and the rest will follow. Unfortunately, this often backwards in most schools.
15. Don't Stop Here: Last, but not least…once you’ve done all of the above, don’t stop there. Keep innovating and reinventing education. Just like in business, once schools start to get lazy (as they have today), they will wake up to find themselves irrelevant.
Posted: Organization, School Strategies, Academic Coaching
by Sonia Robinson, Rembrandt, Director of Marketing at Appleton Learning
Day three of the New Year! Have you already broken a resolution or did you even make a New Year’s resolution? If your resolution involved exercise did you include your noggin in that equation? In addition to the treadmill RETHINK your exercise routine for your BRAIN!
READ: Make a resolution to read more or to read more to your children! A child’s reading skills are critical to their success in school. Be a reading role model. Check out this list of the best books to read with your kids! Bored with a bedtime favorite? Read books a new way! Is your child mastering their reading skills, consider an Academic Coach for Reading.
MUSIC: Did Santa fail to deliver the drum set this year? Well, music lessons may be a great investment for child’s brain health especially later in life, according to the American Psychology Association. So make a joyful noise (okay, it may not be that joyful at first) whether its drum lessons, guitar lessons, trumpet lessons or any other musical instrument. Oh, and music lessons aren’t just for your children, take up a musical hobby of your own, too.
STUDY: WHAT? You want me to go back to school? No, you don’t necessary have to go back to school but do continue learning. If you toyed with the idea of Graduate School or even obtaining your undergrad degree, DO IT! What’s holding you back? Education is an investment. Check with your employer, they might offer tuition reimbursement or you may even qualify for scholarships. Consider a professional accreditation program or learn a new skill.
DAYDREAM: Okay, this is a resolution we should be able stick with, right? Wrong, you would be surprised how many us are so closely connected – to the point of addiction – with our electronic life lines. Take a break from the TV, video game, cell phone, tablet, computer, etc. and spend time just DREAMING! Encourage your children to partake in CREATIVE PLAY.
Happy New Year and Happy Learning!
Posted: Activities, Literacy, Parenting, School Strategies, Academic Coaching
Day three of the New Year! Have you already broken a resolution or did you even make a New Year’s resolution? If your resolution involved exercise did you include your noggin in that equation? In addition to the treadmill RETHINK your exercise routine for your BRAIN! 
