Monday, December 29, 2014

Successful Students




As we look forward to a new semester 
here are a few ideas on how to prepare for success:


  • Focus: Have a goal, prioritize, and organize. Utilizing a calendar or planner, in either digital or paper format will help you stay on top of classes, assignments, and exams. Two words: Procrastination and avoidance. It's likely many of us have had problems with this. Dr. Monica Harn recommends doing a time study; examine how you spend your time to see where you can improve. Dividing up work on reading, assignments, and papers work progressively and efficiently. 
  • Participate: This is your education, actively engage! Discuss class material with classmates and ask questions in class, chances are if you have a question, someone else does also. Often the best advice will come from our professors; they are available through email and office hours. 
  • Balance: A full load of classes, jobs, friends, relationships...sometimes it can be hard to manage everything. Stay healthy and balanced by getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising. 
  • Persistence: As in the quote above, don't give up! Persistence pays off. Attend all classes. Evaluate classes as you move through them, if a class is not working for you, sometimes it may be better to drop and retake it. Network with classmates and professors for recommendations on future classes and activities.

Team Work Makes the Dream Work

 Sincerely,
Your Speech and Hearing Family


Monday, December 22, 2014

Test Taking Tips

Have you ever left class after an exam feeling that you had under performed? Likely we have all had that feeling before.

The links found below will help you build test preparation skills and improve test taking abilities.

If you are experiencing problems with just one class, talking with the professor is the best place to start. You can explain how you are preparing, and ask for alternatives or suggestions.

Resources at Lamar:

Student Services Listing

Career and Testing Services

Student Advising and Retention

Academic Enhancement Workshops

Resources on the Web:

Overcoming Test Anxiety (SUNY Buffalo)

Strategies for Difficult Test Questions (Virginia Tech)

Memory Skill Building (Virginia Tech)

Test-Taking  (Bucks County)




Team Work Makes the Dream Work

Sincerely,
Your Speech and Hearing Family


Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Preparing for your Masters or Doctoral Degree

 The deadline to apply for Fall 2015 Master of Science Speech-Language Pathology and the Doctor of Audiology program is fast approaching. February 1, 2015 is the deadline for all documents to be completed and turned in. You can find the complete guidelines and forms here.

 Even if you are not currently ready to apply, it is a good idea to take a look and familiarize yourself with the application requirements. The Letter of Intent and Recommendation Letters are important parts of your application packet, and require forethought; it is best to begin working on gathering these items in advance. 


Letter of Intent

 A letter of intent is an intellectual autobiography; its conveys the continuum of your academic life experiences and events  that have led you to desire a graduate education. 

 Writing a letter of intent can be a daunting task, so here are a few tips to think through the process and create your perfect letter of intention.

  • Do your Homework: Read all the available information about the program you are applying to; be familiar with the mission statement, general program structure, and courses offered.
  • Get others viewpoints: After your initial drafts, let someone you trust read your letter, and take their suggestions into consideration. Also, help is available at the Lamar Writing Center. You can find out more here; now is not the time to wing it like you might with class research writing.
  • Style of writing:  A direct and straightforward writing style is recommended with an active, not passive voice. be positive, and emphasize strengths and explain anomalies. 
Here is a link to a webpage that gives a good complete outline to writing a letter of intent: Writing a Letter of Intent.

Letters of Recommendation

 Both Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology have forms that the person writing the letter of recommendation must fill out. They are available here, look on the right side bar for links. 

 You need to begin this process early, because the person you are asking needs time to complete the recommendation; if you are planning on asking professors, ask early because they may have many of these letters to write. 

The College Board website has a comprehensive guide for getting a good letter of recommendation. You can find them here.


Master of Science Speech-Language Pathology Degree Plan

 The Master of Science degree program in Speech-Language Pathology at Lamar University is a two year program, with 10 academic courses, and a clinical practicum rotation each semester. The first year clinical practicum will be at Lamar Speech clinic and possibly combined with a school location. The second year students participate in off campus externships at public schools and medical sites. You can find complete information on courses and degree plan here.

Doctor of Audiology Degree Plan

The Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) at Lamar University offers comprehensive academic, research and clinical experience in a wide variety of settings. A unique feature of Lamar Audiology is the diversity of the clinical and research experiences available. Students obtain clinical and/or research experience at the Lamar Speech and Hearing Clinic, several local audiology clinics, public school programs, local private practices, Houston and Lake Charles and Lafayette medical centers and other medical, rehabilitative, and educational facilities across the United States. More information about the Doctoral program can be found here.


Team Work Makes the Dream Work

Sincerely,
Your Speech and Hearing Family


Sunday, December 7, 2014

Career Planning

You chose a college major and narrowed your career choices...
Audiology or Speech-Language Pathology. 

Both fields have multiple paths you can take: clinics, schools, hospital, home care, children, adults. The possibilities seem endless. How will you decide on a path? 


 Really, the question is: 
How will you decide on and build a career?

A career is more than just a job. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that a career is: a field for or pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement especially in public, professional, or business life; a profession for which one trains and which is undertaken as a permanent calling.

Much of what goes into building a career are processes you are very familiar with. Gong to college and choosing a major involve much of the same process that beginning a career takes: you thought about your likes, interests, strengths, you networked to find out about classes and professors...and really it is a continuous process, each semester we ask ourselves, "Am I meant to do this, this class was HARD!"

 The process chart displays basic career development planning


A Career is not a static entity, it is an ever changing, evolving process. As you begin your new career in your chosen field you will likely perform a self-assessment: "Oh I love working with children!" or "Swallowing specialist sounds perfect so I never have to transcribe phonetically again."

And just as you will go through changes in life, your career can too. Through a continuous monitoring process, networking, and continuing education, we can change direction in our career. 

The Texas Workforce Commission has several web pages that are interesting, to help us in researching our chosen fields, Texas Reality Check and Texas Cares are places to start the process.


Team Work Makes the Dream Work

Sincerely,
Your Speech and Hearing Family

Monday, December 1, 2014

Become an Audiologist or SLP & Reward Yourself with a Career that Helps ...

Our chosen fields have so much to offer, take a look at this video from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association




Team Work Makes the Dream Work

Sincerely,
Your Speech and Hearing Family