Shannon Whitney

About Shannon Whitney

Shannon loves traveling, watching Friends, and all things Florida Gators. While she grew up in Northern Virginia, she left the state to attend the University of Florida in 2001. After earning a master’s degree in education, she returned home and has worked as an elementary school teacher for the past 11 years. Shannon recently decided it was time to put teaching on hold and venture down a new professional path. During her free time, Shannon is either traveling, cheering for Florida, binge-watching a Netflix series, or preparing to be an aunt!

Planning, Prioritizing, and Task Initiation — In our last article in the series, we explained what executive functioning (EF) skills are. This article focuses on the EF skills of planning, prioritizing, and task initiation. What do “planning, prioritizing, and task initiation” mean? Planning refers to the ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal or achieve a […]

Executive Functioning Skills: Planning, Prioritizing, and Task Initiation

This entry was posted in Study Skills on October 17, 2017 by Shannon Whitney

Executive Functioning Skills — Have you ever heard of executive functioning skills? I hadn’t until recently. When I was a fifth and sixth grade teacher, the term “executive functioning skills” began to be used more and more frequently in my elementary school. We were encouraged to pause curriculum and spend a part of every […]

Introducing Executive Functioning Skills

This entry was posted in Growth on October 11, 2017 by Shannon Whitney

How to Maintain a School-Life Balance — Maintaining a school-life balance is extremely important while you’re in college. You are obviously there to study and learn, but that should not take up all of your time. College is also about making new friends and being a part of something new, but again, these experiences should not make up your entire life. […]

How to Maintain a School-Life Balance

This entry was posted in Study Skills on October 2, 2017 by Shannon Whitney

How to Set Short-Term Goals, Long-Term Goals, and Smart Goals — Why do goals matter? We have all made goals at some point in our lives. Whether it was to lose weight, earn money, or pass a test, setting goals is a common occurrence for most people. What you may not realize is how important these goals truly are. By setting […]

Goal Setting: Why It’s Important and How to Succeed

This entry was posted in Preparation on September 20, 2017 by Shannon Whitney

The Dos and Don'ts of Your College Application — On Monday we talked about the types of applicants that colleges are looking for. Yes, they want you to be well-rounded, but it’s more than that. Colleges are looking for well-rounded students about which there is something unique. Maybe you’re the student who has great grades and test scores, but also […]

The Dos and Don’ts of Your College Application

This entry was posted in Admissions on September 14, 2017 by Shannon Whitney

What Types of Applicants Do Colleges Look For? — Applying for college is overwhelming, and the added stress of making sure that your application stands out is exhausting. How exactly do you show a school that you deserve to be admitted? This post shares what many schools are looking for and will be followed by a post on Thursday […]

What Types of Applicants Do Colleges Look For?

This entry was posted in Admissions on September 11, 2017 by Shannon Whitney

Students in a marching band. — We all know high school is tough. Maintaining a strong GPA while taking rigorous classes is challenging enough, not to mention preparing for any number of standardized tests each year and applying to college. But what if you were to add in extracurricular activities? If you’re already busy and stressed […]

Why You Should Participate in Extracurricular Activities during High School

This entry was posted in Finishing High School on September 8, 2017 by Shannon Whitney