With finals and our last projects and papers coming up time management is key to being successful. I did building blocks to finish because it is a good visual to use to see how much I have due in each class. It keeps me organized because it also serves as a list that I can check off each task when I finish it. Marcia used building blocks to chunk the task because she realized it is possible to get everything done. The daily calendar helps her visualize what she needs to do to prepare for her finals and it also lessens the stress she had about finals. Jess used the final exam study schedule because it is hard for her to get everything done efficiently on time. By using this strategy, she manages her time in a way that works best for her without feeling overwhelmed. She broke up her work according to the days in which her exams were. She found the schedule motivating and helpful in showing her when she needs to study. 

Study Schedule documentation

documentation

I made a pie chart of what stresses me out as well as a list of my sources of stress. The pie chart is beneficial because I can clearly see what stresses me out the most. Then, I can begin to tackle one stress at a time, which will reduce my overall anxiety. 

This week's app

This week we talked about stress.  For our app, Marcia, Julie and I all agreed that since it is coming close to the end of our freshman year of college, we are all very stressed.  Both Marcia and I right now are mostly worried about money, and what we will do this summer in order to make some extra cash.  College is very expensive, and it is starting to all add up.  We used the pie chart as a visual to point out the top 5 stressors that we are all dealing with right now.  This visual helps us to see where it is we are struggling, and how we can reduce that.

Stressor documentation

stress documentation

Documentation!

This week we revisited procrastination. I, Marcia, chose to test the effects music has while I study. I had many grammar online exercises to complete so I did one with no music, one with music with words I know, and one with just instrumentals. I found that the music with no lyrics was when I was most productive. I will now make a playlist of songs without lyrics to listen to while I study. Julie used a chart to find out what her “time wasters” are. She found that she procrastinates her work by doing something that either takes a long time or something she knows will distract her. This chart helps her realize what she does to procrastinate, so she can catch her procrastination before it starts. Jessica also forced herself to look at why she procrastinates and she found out she procrastinates the most when she has a big project and it is difficult to start. She then will do other things with her time and puts of the project. She is going to limit her distractions to be more productive. 

procrastination documentation

This week in CLS we talked about motivation, and what it takes for us to be motivated to succeed. As a group, we collectively agreed that we all are self-motivators, and that our motivation is internal. For example,  Marsha had to read a play for DRA 115 and really didn't want to.  She pushed herself to do it and made an agreement that if she finished the play, she would reward herself by watching a movie afterwards.  This motivated her to read the play.  For me, I have a huge paper due tomorrow.  I have been doing bits and pieces each day but I am motivating myself by thinking about how much will be taken off my shoulder if I just sit down and finish it.  For Julie, it is also crucial for her to motivate herself and not have others do it. Collectively we all agree that our motivation comes from within.

Motivation documentation

motivation documentation

For this week’s topic of choice app Jess and I used target planners, and Marcia used T notes. I used target planners for my CFS 388 and Math 121 courses. I really like using target planners because they keep me organized. It also forces me to start an assignment or begin studying for a test in advance. They benefit me because they keep me on schedule so I’m not cramming the night before. I am going to continue using target planners in all of my courses. Marcia used the T notes in her PHI 107 class. She put the argument for a theory on one side and had an example on the other side. It was helpful for her because it created a great study tool by having the theory and the example. It helped clarify the theories because there is an example right next to it. Marcia would use this note taking strategy again in her PHI 107 class as well as in MAT 183 for formulas. Jess used that target planner for her COU 101 class because she loves how organized it keeps her. It helps to divide up what she needs to do for a major project. She has a project in the class due on Tuesday, so the target planner helped her to organized when she would complete each part of the project. Overall, these strategies helped us to say organized and on schedule. 

Target Planner

t notes

Argument	Example
Argument by Analogy: X’s has property P. Y’s are relatively like X’s.  THEREFORE: Y’s have property P. Argument by the best explanation: I observe phenomena Z. The best explanation for why I would observe phenomena Z is that Y exists. THEREFORE: Y exists.	Argument by Analogy: I feel pain when I get stung by  bee. 2)You are relatively like me. THEREFORE: You must feel pain when you get stung by a bee.  Argument by the best explanation: I observe you screaming when you get stung by a bee. The best explanation for why I observe that behavior in those circumstances is that you have a mind. THEREFORE: You have a mind.

Reading strategy documentation

reading documentation

My Poem Reads Dandy:

read Death of a Salesman

Measure: -38 pages

         -can read 15 pages at a time

    -read first 15 pages on the 12th, next 15 on the 13th, the remaining 8 pages on the 15th

Preview: It is a play so there is no preview necessary

Read: Stayed on schedule

Draw: 

Question	Answer
What was the importance of DOAS?	It redefined American theatre
What is the ?	Tragedy
Who is the author	Arthur Miller
What 3 tools did the author use in writing DOAS?	Expressionism, stream-of-consciousness, naturalism

Reading

This week we focused on strategies that would help us on reading assignments. Julie and Jessica both tried the X minute reading strategy and found it very helpful. Julie used it for her Health and Wellness 121 course and liked this strategy because it helped her focus on the main ideas of the text. It helped her see the important parts of the readings in an organized way and she will continue to use this strategy in future classes. Jessica used the X minute reading strategy in her CRS 183 course. She also found it very helpful to pick out the most important information. It also helped her to see what the professor might as on the final exam. I used the My Poem Reads Dandy strategy in my DRA 115 course. I found this strategy very helpful because when I read I have trouble paying attention to what I am reading. This strategy allowed me to take brakes in the reading so I was able to refocus and pay attention when I was reading. The graphic organizer at the end helped me to prepare for the exam because I was able to look back at it later. 

This week in our CLS class, our goal was to find strategies dealing with note taking. Marcia used the 1 Plus 3 strategy for her DRA 105 and PHI 107 courses. Julie also used the 1 plus 3 notes for her Wellness 121 and CFS 388 classes. Both of them found this strategy to be very helpful, however Marcia found the graphic organizer to not help her as much as she had hoped.  However, both girls would definitely use this strategy again and found it very helpful in breaking down the main ideas and topics.  I (Jessica) used plug- in notes to help me with my CRS 183 class.  I felt plug in notes to be the most sufficient and beneficial note taking strategy for this topic.   Since this class is idea based there are a lot of terms and pictures in helping to describe ideas.  The plug in notes allowed me to add these visuals in my notes.  I would definitely use this strategy again.

Documentation- Notes

Source and topic outline

This week I used the source and topic outlines in order to prepare for an upcoming exam in my CRS 183 course.  I found this to be extremely beneficial and worked to my advantage because it lays out all of my resources, and the things I need to pay close attention to.

Q & A Map

The Q and A map is really helpful for preparing for a second test in a course. It makes you focus on the type of pattern the professor tests on. I applied this to my PHI 107 and COM 101 courses. Both courses focus on listing and comparing/contrast. I will use this to study for the next exams by understand the topics and not just the definitions.

This week, I chose to use the ranking technique.  What I did, was rank all of the things I had to do for the week in order of importance.  I am a visual learner, so for me this technique was great because it provided me with a visual of all the things I needed to do, and in what order they should be achieved.  I knew I had a Counseling 101 paper due, so putting that on my list of priorities definitely motivated me to do it earlier in the week. I put some of my readings in the B column, because I found them to be less demanding for the week.  Over all, this strategy was a good reinforcement for me and a great visual to see what it was I needed to accomplish this week.

The One Step at a Time strategy was beneficial for me because I identified solutions to the problem. By doing this strategy, I chose solutions I thought would work and then discovered which one was best. This significantly helped me to start my reading because now it is not as overwhelming. I know my readings are more manageable so I am more motivated to complete them without procrastinating. I chose this strategy because I wanted to improve my reading habits. I used the ranking priorities because I like to see what I need to do and in what order. However, I don't go by the titles of "absolutely essential", "important", and "optional." They all need to get done but I use the A, B, and C labels as the order in which I complete the listed tasks. This strategy is effective because it keeps me organized and is visual. I will definitely use this strategy again.

I decided to use the ranking technique for all of my classes. I listed all the assignments that were due within the week in my DRA 115, COM 101, TRF 205, PHI 107, and MAT 183. From there I grouped them in groups of important and not as important. Then I ranked the assignments in each group for what was for the most points. This strategy really helped me to put into perspective that even though something might be due sooner, there were other assignments that needed my attention first. I realized the PHI and TRF readings were not important enough to spend time on when I should be using that time to read for DRA. This is a strategy I will keep using along with the dues and dos. 

The target planner helped me in my Health and Wellness 121 class because there are several reading assignments due for each class. The target planner helped me visualize which readings are due when and when to finish them. I am a visual learner so this made the reading assignments much less overwhelming and more manageable. The fritter finder is also extremely helpful because I can now clearly see how much time I have for studying and on which days I should do which work. I'm able to divide my work among the week so I am not doing some work for classes last minute. This allows me to schedule my work ahead of time so I'm not stressed out with the amount of work I have.

I used the Target Planner for a project in my counseling 101 class. The target planner was so helpful because I am good with visuals, and seeing what exactly I need to do by when literally kept me "on target." Using the target planner, I knew what I had to do, and I got it done at the given time. For example, one part of my counseling project was to do voice notes in the power point, and since I didn't know how to do it, I put it earlier on my target planner, and got it done the first day it was assigned. The target planner forced me to finish the project on time because I ended up chunking it up to a little at a time.  Now, I used the Fritter Frinder for everything because it really helped me to manage my time and see when I have free time to do other things. When I say, "oh, I don't have time for this," the Fritter Finder really showed me that I have time to do everything. Once I realized when all of my free time was by highlighting on my schedule, I realized the next step was to start scheduling that free time. But, instead, I am going to highlight that time in my agenda book, and then schedule in my "to do's" there.

I used the target in TRF 205 and DRA 115. I am a visual learner and this strategy is very useful for such learners. It allows one to visualize the task they must do. I could actually visualize my progress on the project or assignment. Build into this strategy is chunking the task. Chunking up the task is a great strategy on it's own because it brakes up a large project or assignment to smaller more manageable parts. Overall the target planner is a great way to get you started on projects and assignments, and it keep you on track to make sure you will finish in time for the due date.