Supporting Students in K-12 to Post-secondary Transition

College applications were filed months ago and acceptance letters are on the way. April is a perfect month to have those last-minute discussions with seniors about preparing for college. Here are some possible ways to prepare your K-12 students. The post-secondary transition is often intimidating to students. Creating transition opportunities in your classroom lowers their anxiety and increases their chance of success.

Reach out to local schools
Contact an instructor at your local community college or university to share typical expectations and to describe the curriculum.
Plan a school visit
Arrange a school visit that focuses on the language learning opportunities offered in a nearby school. Even if several of your students have plans to attend elsewhere, this should prepare this to know what questions to ask and what resources to find at the school they do attend.
Career Discussions
Use a guideline like ACTFL’s Oral Proficiency in the Workplace handout to help students assess how much language instruction will be necessary to support the career of their choice.
Connect to Language Opportunities
Hopefully, students will find a myriad of opportunities to use language on campus. They won’t know where to look until you give them directions. Suggest chat groups or round tables, language partners, online language learning services, trips, study abroad programs, and other college language experiences.
The Language Lab
Language labs are back but in new ways. If your school has not used a language lab, you may want to find an example online to show your students.