Time Wasters/ Avoided Tasks

For this weeks blog I decided to use something that is really effective with the way that I handle things when it comes to school work. I decided to go with the strategy time wasters. My biggest problem that I have always had when it comes to school work is procrastination. I have always been lazy with my school work more than anything else. I was able to skate by in high school with being like this and it has really effected me negatively since I have been here at Syracuse University. This is something that I have always wanted to change but until now when I am in some trouble with my grades I have never actually taken the time to actually change my ways. Hopefully this isn't too late.

I am a visual learner so I knew that this would be something that would be good for me to use. It helps me with writing down what ever I can think of that I do in my everyday life and actually take a good look at what I am doing wrong and what I need to and can cut down on to be successful. One of the main problems that I have always had is that I will sit down to do a tech assignment or a journal for CLS and also a paper or a reflection in CFS and I cant find a quiet place where there is no one around or any TV around so that I can actually get something done. I finally figured out that I can go to the Goldstein Student Center and just put on my headphones in the quiet room and get to work. It has been very effective so far.

Final Blog

For the final blog I chose to do Ranking Priorities. Out of all the TECH assignments this one has helped me a lot throughout the year. I do it every week so I figured I'd just use it for my blog. This is really effective for me because again, I'm a visual learner and this list helps me cross things off and makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something and getting towards my goal. I like this because it allows me to take action towards my goals and what is most important for the week for me. The material I use is usually my notebook and then rip the piece of paper out and keep it with me at all times. The last evaluations of the year our coming up in finals and this helps me see what I need to do and what is most important in a list order. I used this strategy for my CLS, and NAT class mostly. But again, this blog pertains to every single one of my classes. Its really effective for me and this strategy has helped me all throughout the year.

D Do's and Due's

For my final blog I chose to do my D Dos and Due. I felt that this was the best strategy we used throughought the whole year so I felt that it would be the best one to do. The reason I felt that this was such a good strategy was because it laid out right infront of me what I had to do and when I had to do it. It was worth the effort to go through my assignments and lay them out all in my agenda. I am a visual learner so having things laid out with a visual break down really helps me be a successful student. Where this really comes into handy for being a visual learner is when I can break a project up into parts and put them into my agenda. when looking at it this way it helps me because I do not feel overwhelmed or stressed out. I guess this is kind of an adaption if you wanted to call it that because it is a mixture of the D do and dues but also chunking the task.
Another reason I really like this strategy is because I am a procrastinator. I know that even when I have things broken up into do able parts in my ageand I do not always do them when i am suppose to. When I usually sit down to actually do work it is because I have been procratinating and I guilt trip myself into doing it because I know I should have done it or started it earlier. To avoid this from happening I usually schedule in extra days in my planner so that even if I do happen to procrastinate I still have a sufficient amount of time to get my work done before I have to start stressing out about work. For this documentation I did it for my WGS project. I need to have four sections, with three artifacts for each section in my final project. This is very time consuming to find artifacts that match up with readings from the syllabus so I knew I had to organize my time wisely. When meeting with Dr. Blumin she helped me break the project up into sections to make it easier on myself. Once I broke it up i put it into my calender as the D do and Dues.

Many other strategies worked for me but overall, because of my learning style and preferences, this one just kept seeming to make its way back into my weekly schedule of learning because of how successful it was for me. On a side note of other good strategies, my other favorites were 20 minute test prep, ranking priorities, and the graphic organizer for asssignments.

D's Due and Do Round Two Blog

For my final blog in CLS for the fall semester I decided to continue with the D’s Due and Do method, which I have been doing since the beginning of the year. I have been using this method before I was even in College Learning Strategies and have found it really helpful. I am a visual learner so I find this strategy very effective for managing my time and writing out when I am actually work on the specific assignment or study for an exam. I used this strategy for all four of my classes as I do every week. Though this week I have been really focusing on my CLS career/exploration project and my final religion presentation, which are both due next Monday the 5^th. But I have also written down what I have to do for my other two classes CFS 388 and History 101. I have begun to start reviewing for my only two final exams, which are coming up in the next two weeks. I know that there are only two weeks left in school and I have a lot of work that I have to complete, so I thinking writing out all my assignments and exams on my D’s Due and Do calendar is really beneficial to managing my time and breaking up my work load. I really suggest using this strategy if you do not already and I am definitely going to continue this strategy in the future.

For this weeks blog I chose to do a Stress Pie Chart. I chose this strategy for two courses! PSY 322 and NAT 244. I also wrote something about all of my finals and staying on top of everything else including my other classes! I chose this strategy because I am a visual learner. It's easy for me to look at this chart and see what I have to focus more attention on. This is sort of like ranking priorities and thats why I like it so much! I made some adaptations in my head, I sorted this chart out like it was ranking priorities so I kinda used two in one! I thought this strategy is really effective, especially with all the exams and final projects and papers coming up. I can write down what I'm stressed most about and try and focus a little extra on that point. I also chose this because I can see what materials I will need for each study session according to the assignment thats due in the certain class. This also helps me because it shows me how my teachers will be evaluating me at the end of the year, and we all know this is the time to buckle down and make ourselves proud!

Stress Pie CHart

For this week I chose to use the stress pie chart to help get some stress away off my shoulders. This strategy was good for me to notify myself what are my top five things that are stressing me out. What is stressing me out the most is project and papers because I have 3 papers and 1 project due in the next three weeks and its really stressing me out and when I stress, I am always grumpy and I don't want to be that kind of person. I'm glad we got an entire week of from school and I will be taking advantage of the time to get my work done and be well prepared when classes start back up. The 2nd thing that stress me the most is basketball because I want to play good every game and even though I might play good in other people eyes, sometimes I don't be satisfied with myself, I guess that is just the competitive nature in me. Overall I feel good about how I have been playing in the last few games.
Time is another thing that stress me out because I wake up around 9:30-10am every morning. I don' have class until 11am, and I got classes from 11-2pm. After class I go get something to eat and start heading over to the gym at 3pm and practice starts at 4. Practice is usually 2hours long and I stay after an extra 45mins to workout in the weight room or on the court. Some days when my body sore I go in the cold told for 15mins then take a shower after, about the time I'm leaving its 7;30pm. Then I go get something to eat and relax for a couple hrs, next thing you know when I start my homework its almost 10pm, and when I finish it's midnight. Where did all the time go?
Major and selecting classes for spring are two more things to add to my stress. I am undecided and I'm going into my sophomore spring semester and I'm applying to get into CRS because I can really see me making an career out of that. The only problem is I have to get accepted and I really want this major. So when selecting classes for spring I don't know If i will get in CRS so I don't know if I should pick any communication classes.
This strategy has already help me because when I am writing down the things that give me stress it seems to get off my chest. This strategy can be very helpful to people that are visual learners.

Stress Pie Chart Documentation

Stress Pie Chart

This week I have been real stressed out with all the work that I wanted to get done before I went back to Baltimore for break. I am excited to get a week to relax without worrying about classes and lacrosse. For this weeks blog I decided to use the stress diagram method to help me get through the week. I felt this strategy to be very helpful to me because I am a visual learner and I was able to lay out my top five stresses out in front of me. I am especially stressed out in my Religion and History class because I still have a lot of work left. We only have three weeks left in class and I have two big papers and a presentation left to complete. I currently have a low B in the class and really need to do well on these next for assignments so I maintain that B average. For my History class I have a paper due the Tuesday after we get back from Thanksgiving, which is our final paper. I am on the borderline of C+ and B- area and am really stressed out that if I do not do well on these assignments I will not get a B in this class. On top of those classes I still have to stay on top of CLS exploration project, which is due in two weeks. So I decided to write out my top five stresses before I leave for break. I have final exams 5^th on my list because luckily I only have one final exam which is December 14^th in Human Sex.

1. Rel. Papers
2. Religion Presentation
3. History Paper
4. Finish Fall Ball off strong
5. Final Exam

Overall, I found this strategy effective and very useful because I am a visual learner and was able to write out my top five stresses and know what I have to really focus and do well on so once I accomplished the tasks I will feel a lot more relaxed.

Daddio's Time Wasters

For this weeks blog I decided to use something that is really effective with the way that I handle things when it comes to school work. I decided to go with the strategy time wasters. My biggest problem that I have always had when it comes to school work is procrastination. I have always been lazy with my school work more than anything else. I was able to skate by in high school with being like this and it has really effected me negatively since I have been here at Syracuse University. This is something that I have always wanted to change but until now when I am in some trouble with my grades I have never actually taken the time to actually change my ways. Hopefully this isn't too late.

I am a visual learner so I knew that this would be something that would be good for me to use. It helps me with writing down what ever I can think of that I do in my everyday life and actually take a good look at what I am doing wrong and what I need to and can cut down on to be successful. One of the main problems that I have always had is that I will sit down to do a tech assignment or a journal for CLS and also a paper or a reflection in CFS and I cant find a quiet place where there is no one around or any TV around so that I can actually get something done. I finally figured out that I can go to the Goldstein Student Center and just put on my headphones in the quiet room and get to work. It has been very effective so far.

Time wasters and Reading

For this weeks blog I chose to use the time wasters strategy and the ready, go, done reading strategy. I chose the time wasters strategy because I'm a big time waster! I usually procrastinate a lot and this shows me in a table what my time wasters are, and what specific tasks I'm trying to avoid. I like this because I am a visual learner and it lets me visually see what I should be avoiding while studying. I basically used this strategy for all my classes because all these time wasters pertain to all of my classes and problems! I really think this is effective because it points out the weaknesses in my study habits and I can then eliminate them one by one. I like that because it gives me something to shoot for.

I also used the ready, done, go reading strategy! I also did this because I am a visual learner. It again shows me a table of how to construct my readings for all of my classes. It makes it really easy to separate the timing of my reading out so that it will be most effective. I used this strategy for my EAR 117 class and my PSY 322 class. They both have a lot of reading so I thought it would help those classes the most!

My teachers in all of my classes evaluate me with quizzes and exams, so both of these strategies should and hopefully will lead me on the right path to getting a high GPA.

Time Wasters

This week I decided to use time wasters. I thought this was a very effective strategy to write down all of your flaws in completing schoolwork. I am a big procrastinator but think that I have been better this year because of all new work strategies that I have learned in CLS. I am a visual learner so I thought that laying out all of the possible ways to be distracted in completing my work would be beneficial. I used this strategy in my CLS and History class. I always procrastinate when I am trying to do my CLS tech assignment.

I always get distracted after I open up the blog by watching football with my friends and surfing the web. I am going to try a start to block out a specific time when I am going to actually sit down for 15 minutes to write out my blog. For my history class I usually procrastinate when I am studying for my test and usually wait till the night before to actually start breaking down the study guide and really getting to understand the material. I really need to change this bad habit, because I could be doing a lot better if I spaced out my study schedule for History.

24 hour rule

For this week's blog I decided to use the strategy 24hour rule to help me get organize with everything. I used it for all my classes and anything else I thought was important. It was easy to do I went on Microsoft excel and did a spreadsheet to plot all of my data as you will see in the document provided. The way my schedule is set up is I right down things I want to do before the due date, when its due, and what i have plan after I finish the day of classes. This is a great strategy to use because I am a big procrastinator and I trick myself when I write down the assignment in the real due date, in actuality it's not due until the next day. I give myself cushion to complete my assignments early, so just in case something come up where I can't complete the assignment the last minute it will already be done since I did it earlier than I was suppose to.
This is a strategy I will continue to use all year around even when I'm not in school because during the summer I tend to forget things because it's not a set pattern like for homework. I don't write them down and I try go off memory and I always forget something.

Daddio's Acadmic Fears

For this weeks tech assignment I decided to do my blog about my academic fears. I used personal experience from this past semester to do this weeks assignment. The two classes that my blog is mainly about are EAR 105 and CFS 388. In EAR 105 this past week I had my second exam which I was a little bit excited to take becuase I have been doing well in school in the second part of the semester and I really wanted to get a good grade on this test. All of the excitment went away when I slept through my alarm and through the test. I dont want that to happen again.

In CFS 388 I took an exam a few weeks ago and I felt pretty confident about it. I saw the grade that I got on the test this past week and I was very confused as why I got that grade. I went back and looked at the information that I studied and tried to figure out why I didnt do so good and I realized that I was studying some of the wrong information so some stuff that I thought i was learning was actually for the next assignment. Hopefully I can do a good job at staying organized so this doesnt happen again.

Academic Fears

For this weeks blog I decided to try the Academic Fears technique. I found it really effective because I found it very motivational and understood what assignments specifically that I need to spend extra time on. For example last week I had an eight page paper due in CFS 388 so I had to make sure that I had to find time to edit the whole paper. I also used this technique to for my History class which I had my second test in on Thursday. The tests are usually two big essays and a identifying four key terms. I was afraid that I would not have enough time to finish the essays during the test or I wouldn't know enough about the specific topic to create a whole essay. I know that I am a visual learner, so I thought this strategy helped me plan out my upcoming tests or essays and what I really need to focus on while studying or writing a paper. I really hope to continue using this strategy for all my classes and stay on top of my work. Hopefully after I conquer these fears I will be able to go into the next test or the next paper I write, confidently and improve my grades.

Academic Fear

The strategy I chose to use for this week blog post is Academic Fears. This was a good strategy for me to use because it helps first acknowledge my fears and then I can overcome any fear I have using this strategy.The way the strategy help me because the format of it lays out everything you need to do in columns starting with your academic fears, worst outcome, best outcome, and actions needed.
My academic fears are not getting a high enough GPA to be eligible to declare for the major i want. Another fear that i have taking Quizzes/test/exams. I am not a good test taker so when coming into taking a test I already don't have the best confidence with me because of past history I had with bad test scores. In order for me to over come my academic fears are to go look at the strategy to know what actions are needed for me to get the best outcome.
I used this strategy for all of my classes except my sociology class because we do not have any tests/exams in the class. This chart is great reminder of what you are trying to accomplish and overcome and it lays out what will happen if you don't take the actions needed to overcome, so that keeps me motivated.

Matt Harris' Academic Fears

For this weeks blog I choose to write about Academic Fears. I choose this topic because I felt that if I could write all these down on paper, I could visually see what I needed to fix and what would happen if i didn't fix them. I'm also a visual and kinesthetic learner so it lays out a table of my fears and what I can do to never get to that point. It's a really good strategy because it kinda shows your future if you take the certain steps your not supposed to take and I like that about this strategy. It also shows the actions I can take to prevent and help me get through the troubles of the difficult weeks of school. It's a really good motivator as well to not do the things I want to do sometimes, because I can look at it every time I want to do something crappy, and it will remind me to stay on track. I choose to pick my number one fear as exams. I did this because first, its my number one fear, and second, because in all my classes I'm being evaluated on exams. This chart can help me stay on the track of success!! I choose to do this strategy with pretty much all of my classes! Just because I think it benefits every single one of them.

For this week's blog I chose to do ranking priorities again because I thought this strategy was really effective for me. I chose it because I'm a visual learner and its easy for me to see things I need to do if I have a list. It also helps that I can cross things off the list so it makes me feel like I'm working towards a goal or a finish line, which also helps me a lot. It was easy for me to make up a list this week because of how busy I will be. As you said in your email, this week is very hectic for most of us, and I feel like this list will help me conquer this week. Pretty much all the assignments I chose to put on this list are getting evaluated by test or exams, I do have one paper but either way this strategy helps me with doing well and getting evaluated the best that I can. I used this strategy for my CLS 105 class and CFS 388 class. These are the two classes with the most work this week, so I feel like it would be most effective to do this strategy for these two classes.

D's Due and Do Round Two Blog

For this weeks Tech Assignment I chose the D's Due and Do strategy because I have been using since the beginning of the year and it is really effective. Since it was mid term week and Halloween I knew I was going to have a lot on my plate. I used this strategy for my CFS writing paper that is due this Wednesday. I also used it for religion 244 paper as well. I had an eight paper for my CFS class that I knew I had to spread out the paper and break it up so that I was not waiting for the last minute to write out eight pages. I started with making an outline, then broke it up to two pages a day. I finished my paper by Friday, which gave me the whole weekend to edit and make revisions. I also had my Religion paper that only had to be two pages but I had to also respond to two other peoples in my class by Saturday. So the D's Due and Do strategy was really effective for me because I am a visual learner and was able to lay out all of my assignments in front of me and was able to plan out when I was going to actually do the work and see when it was due. This was very was very effective once again because I was really stressed last week and this was a good reminder for me by writing down and looking over it each day.

Daddio's D's Do and Due Blog

For this weeks tech blog assignment I decided to go back and take a look at something that has been helping me more than anything lately with all of my courses. This strategy is known as D's Do and Due agenda. I never have really done a good job with keeping an agenda or making sure that I have all my assignments written down in a planner of any kind so I was always bad at getting assignments in on time. This little trick has seemed to really help me out lately as I have gotten a handle on how it really works!

The who main courses that I am using this strategy on this week is CFS 388 and this course CLS 105. Its also helps because my paper experiment which I am doing in CLS I have decided to do about my research paper that is due in CFS next week. I chose to do this because it is the most important assignment that I have due coming up in the next week or two. The paper experiment is doing a good job of keeping me on track with my progress on my research and is gonna help me get it done and turned in on time. The D's Do and Dues is helping me with making sure that I give my self enough time to get all of my steps in my CLS project completed on time which in turn well get all of my CFS steps also completed on time. Hopefully I can do a good job of continuing my success that I have had so far in the second half of this semester.

post of your choice

Since this week we can blog and post about whatever we want I chose to talk about how the PROJECT this week went. This week I knew I had to get a lot of my assignment done before the weekend because I wanted to be able to hang out with friends for halloween festivities. I met with doctor Blumin to start getting my paper done and the steps of the project. The part that really helped me get started was my graphic organizer. Seeing it in the chart and laid out part by part really helped.

The thing I struggled the most with was the source outline. I thought that the hardest part was understanding what exactly you were looking for. I was not clear on what we were being evaluated on and that was the only thing that really tripped me up.

To make sure i

got the assignment in on time i made the DO and DUES on my agenda so that I could have plenty of time to get it in. And hopefully get it finished so that I could get extra credit!

Tech #6

This week for my tech assignment I chose to use D's Do and Due again since it was topic of choice. The first time I was introduced to this strategy I fell in love with it because it organized all my upcoming assignments. This way I know when the assignment is due and when I have to start the assignment by. Since i learned this strategy I have been using it since, i would recommend this strategy to any student because it's very helpful.
I use D's Due and Do for my Earth Science class and my philosophy 107 class. These two classes are the ones that give out the most work and assignments for short term and long term. When using D's Due and Do i can space out the days when i want to start the assignments and it gives me cushion to do the work. I don't have to stress about my work and try to jam everything in one night. I sometimes have a problem with procrastinating but this strategy helps me get started on my work and have a consistent pattern to finish the work, and when I'm with my work i still have a day or two to look over it and see if there is any mistakes.

CJ Documentation

ChrisDaddio's T.A.R.T Questions

For this weeks tech blog assignment I have chosen to use the T.A.R.T reading strategy. I chose to use this strategy for my Earth science and my Chemistry class. I chose this strategy because I feel like I can relate my learning to this method the best. I feel that it also helps me pay attention in class. I like being able to take notes in class then look back at them and find the main points that I put in bold when I took the notes and make out some really good questions first with those points then go back and put in some other questions to cover all of the other information that might not be as important but is still important enough to know.

This method I feel works best in these courses because these are manly lecture courses in which you get all of the information in the lecture and then go to the section and do small assignments to exercise your knowledge and refresh your memory on what you learned in lecture. So I feel that it really helps when I sit in my lecture and take notes and then the next day I sit at home and take my notes and make up good questions to help me practice before my section so I’m on track already to get my work done and stay on pace with the rest of the class in section.

Pat's Documentation

Tart Strategy

I used Tart strategy for this week studying my notes. Tart was a good strategy for me to used because it's kind of familiar strategy i usually use to study. When i go to class and take notes i usualy look for the key terms to write down and write the definition next to it, also i write out an example next to the definition so i can use the term in a sentence and understand it. TART stands for Terms, Attend, Read, Test.
I Make sure I attend all my lectures and classes because i hate when i miss a class it feel like I'm way behind in the class. I don't like raising my hand that much in class to ask a question so i usually go to office hours or see the professor after class. After I'm done writing all my notes and format it I read over it so it can be easy to read, then i make test questions. Tart strategy was very simple for me to use and I know for sure i will use it in the near future, especially for my earth science class.

Pat's TART Strategy

For this weeks blog I tried the strategy T.A.R.T which I felt was extremely effective in study for my Earth Science and my History test. I knew that I was a visual learner so I decided to try out the T.A.R.T study technique because I could lay out all my notes and questions in front of me, that I could study and that way I didn’t have to flip through pages and then forget what I just learned. I feel like if I am using this technique in class it will help me stay focus and busy by writing down the notes and then writing out the questions after class for review. I tried this strategy for my Earth Science 105 and my History 101 class. I knew for my history test that I would be responsible for knowing key terms that I would have to identify on the test. So by writing out the questions for the key terms like they do on the test I would be able to do exactly what he asks for on the test when I am studying the terms. For Earth Science the whole test is around 60 or 70 multiple choice questions. So I knew if I was able to connect terms together and answer the questions that I thought would be potential test questions. I felt like this TART strategy was very similar to some of the study technique’s that I have enjoyed learning so far and is very effective. I feel like if I continue to do this technique or the 20 minute test prep, I will improve my grades and not waste time on notes or questions that I don’t think will be on the upcoming tests.

Tart

I chose to use the TART learning strategy because I felt that this fit me the best. I am a visual learner so when I am in class I struggle to get much out of a class if Im just sitting there listening and paying attention. I need to have QUESTIONS infront of me with notes so that I am forced to follow along and pay ATTENTION.

I chose to use this for my human sex and chemistry class. as you can see in my documentation the human sex was very affective and easy for

this. I was able to come up with questions easily because there are straight right or wrong answers in this class. Classes like that are the easiest to use this for I believe, for example in math or a class like that it would be hard to use this strategy I think, or a writing class would also be difficult.

My human sex teacher evaluated on half from lecture half from book so this part of the strategy really helps in how the teacher evaluates me on the lecture part. We only have two tests so if i keep this up and do this every week for notes, when the exam comes around at end of semester i will be in good shape and not stressed because i will have been studying bit by bit the whole semester.

My one complaint about this strategy is that it was a little too similar to other strategies i have used. i feel like every strategy is questions for your notes. i do find them all very helpful though!

T.A.R.T MATT HARRIS

The strategy I chose to use this week was the TART reading strategy. I chose to use this strategy for my EAR 117 class and my PSY 322 class. As it says on the book on page 133, "This strategy is well suited for lecture dependent courses". Both of these classes are 100 percent lecture based, so I thought it could be most effective to use in these classes. The main reason I chose this strategy though is because I feel like it suit's my style of learning the most. I'm a visual and kinesthetic learner so seeing the questions in front of me helps me. I also feel like this helps me listen and pay attention in class, I don't want to say give a purpose to class because that would be rude! But it really does help me focus and challenges me to pay attention and read the notes I take then create test questions. The way that my teachers evaluate me with both classes is through tests and exams, so I feel like coming up with test questions will also benefit me in the long run.

The only adaptations I made was the way I took notes for my classes, each one is different so for some I took bulletpoint notes and for some I just wrote a list of most important things I needed to remember. Again, I feel like this strategy was really effective, although its similar to some of the other strategies we've done so far, there's one thing in common that I keep finding that works for me. It's the fact that it makes me pay attention in class, and challenges me to take good notes so I can come up with some test questions. I will continue to use this strategy and make adaptations as I go a long in school. SEE YOU NEXT WEEK BLOGGERS!

Plug In Notes

Plug in notes was very helpful to me in my two classes i used it for. I used it for my sociology class and my earth science: climate change class. This was an good strategy for me to try it because it showed me another way to keep notes fresh in my head. After each of them classes i went through all of my notes and came up with a few questions that i thought would be important and could possibly see on a test. This help me in my sociology class because my second meeting with that class we had an pop quiz on information from the previous two meetings. When i made my plug in notes i two questions i came up with was on my pop quiz, and it was only 5 questions and the other 3 i knew from paying attention in class.
For my earth science class plug in strategy was good for me because this class is all lecture and power-point notes. Sometimes you get caught up in writing so many notes that when you wait to study for an test you are overwhelmed with notes. Plug in helps me to organize and shorten my notes because I'm picking out the important notes and making them into possible test questions.

Daddio's Plug In Notes

For this weeks tech assignment I decided to do plug in notes for human sex and earth science. I thought that making the notes into questions helped me remember what I had to know better. First I went through all my notes for human sex and turned them all into question format. For human sex most of the things I needed to know were all terms and definitions so it was easy to turn them into questions. This really helped me this week because it was the week of midterms and it was extra applicable.

For earth science I did things a little differently. Most of the terms had pictures or visuals to go with the definitions so in my answer category I had descriptions of the pictures. This week really helped me study for my exams this week and up coming mid terms this coming week!

Plug-In Notes

For my blog this week I chose to do Plug In Notes. I used this strategy for my Human Sex CFS 388 class, and for my Oceanography EAR 177 class. I chose this strategy because its easy and keeps me organized. During class I can take notes, then after I can come up with five or 6 questions that I think will be seen on the next test. Then when my tests come around I already have a study guide with somewhere around 50 questions, which I'm sure at least half of the one's I asked will be on the test.

I didn't really make any adaptions because I thought that it was really clear cut for me the way it was in the book. It's worked so I just stuck with it. But if anyone out there has any suggestions on any ways I can improve my note taking skills I would love to hear!

For LAME, I'm more of a visual learner so its more effective for me to look at a chart, and see the specific questions and the answers as well. I took this into action by paying close attention to what kind of notes I wanted to take then eventually I got to a point where I felt comfortable taking the notes a certain way. I also used this strategy because I know the professors will be evaluating me on how well I do on the tests obviously, so I knew this strategy would help because it could make some test questions as well as good notes.

I thought that this technique was really effective. I know that I've said this about most but every one I've used so far has helped me in one way or another. I feel like it gets me prepared for class and It also helps me pay attention because I know if I take notes, I will have some answers to tests questions at the end!

Thats it for the blog this week! See you soon.

Plug-in Notes

For this weeks blog I decided to use the Plug-In note strategy, which I found extremely effective. I had a big CFS Human Sex test on Wednesday night so I took all the notes that I had in the class and wrote out six questions that I assumed would be on the upcoming mid-term. I made sure to write the questions that he stressed highly during lecture and hinted that they might be on the test. I drew out a few diagrams in my plug-in notes that were important to know for the midterm. I also used this strategy for my History 101 class. I knew the format of the tests was one big essay and than four identifications. So I knew to focus on individual people a major war’s or events that took play and that he stressed in lecture. I tried to focus on the major points and study them so I could tie it all together during the essay part of the test. I completed this technique before I met with my tutor so we could go over these terms and events in greater detail. She thought it was a great way to prepare for the exam as well.

I found this study technique very affective because I could see both the questions and answers spread out on one giant page and so I didn’t have to keep flipping back and forth through pages. I felt that I did very well on both exams and the majority of the questions that I answered in my plug-in notes were on the exam or somehow tied into other terms and questions. I will definitely continue this technique because it keeps you busy during class and then refreshes your mind when your answering the questions after class and is a helpful study guide. There were a few questions at first that I couldn’t answer in great detail, so it was helpful to know what I did and did not. So I went back and looked up the answer until I knew it perfectly.

This weeks blog was for us to use plug in notes in order to help us study for up coming MIDTERMS. I went through my notes and picked out things that I thought would be useful to know and that I would need for the upcoming EXAMS in the next couple weeks.

The first class I used this strategy for was EARTH SCIENCE. I had one category with questions and one category with answers. I went through my notes and made all my notes and definitions into question form. For earth science a lot of things you need to recognize are visuals and pictures, to help me better remember what they look like in the answer column I drew pictures to help me recognize it. As you can see in my documentation I have pictures of plate tectonics and how they look and move in relation to each other. When I go to study its going to very helpful to see it in this table lay out so that I can see not only see the DEFINITIONS but the PICTURES to go with them.

The next class I used this strategy for was HUMAN SEX. We had an exam this week so this was extra applicable. For Human sex there was a lot of definitions that I had to turn into question format. This actually helped me because making into a question form helped me to remember it better.

Directional Word Analysis

EAR 117 test

For my third blog I chose to use Directional Word Analysis for Exam prep! I chose to do this for my EAR 117 class. We had a test last week so I figured this would help me most in this class. I chose this strategy because I was interested in how can I do better on the tests. I thought that If I used this strategy I could get an inside look at how my professor creates the tests and what I can look for specifically on the next exam. I also chose this because I will feel more comfortable going into the next exam. I get really nervous sometimes going into tests and feel unprepared, but with this strategy I feel like I'm ready to go into my next one! The only adaptation I made with this strategy is that it wasn't just a simple multiple choice test, it was 10 questions and I had to write the answer. I thought this was extremely effective strategy because after applying it to my EAR 117 class, I feel more prepared and more comfortable going into the test. I can now anticipate questions on the next exam and have a good understanding for what the professor will be putting on the next exam. Overall, I really liked this strategy. I feel like these exam prep strategies will help me a lot and I will definitely use these throughout college.

Pat Powderly Ranking Priorities

For my 2nd blog I chose to do Ranking Priorities. I felt like this was an effective way to know what you have to do during the busy week, not only for your schoolwork but to keep a heads up on when your meetings are and other little things that you cannot forget to do. I did this strategy for basically all my classes and things outside of school. I knew I had a big CFS paper due this week and an Earth Science test so those were my top two biggest things to take care of this week. I also have been struggling in my Religion 244 class, so I decided that I should sign up for a tutor this week.

A few weeks ago I set up a meeting with my advisor in human ecology. So this a good reminder for me that I have a meeting this Tuesday at 11 because they don't send out an e-mail or call you to remind you. The other day I ran out of my aderrall, which is key for me to stay focused and on top of my assignments, so I have to be sure get a new subscription. And the last two things were to re-write my history notes so they stay fresh in my mind and to find a time during the day to laundry.

I hope to keep this up on my wall so I see it every morning and before I go to bed so it stays fresh in my mind. I also need to make sure I make a new one each week because this is a great way to stay up with all my assignments and stuff outside of school that I need to get accomplished.

For me I chose to use Ranking Priorities in for problem solving. This type of strategy I have been using since high school just not in this detail and it works very well for me because I am busy with not only school but athletics. When I have commitments for lax and school I have to distinguish between what is IMPORTANT and what is NEEDED. I used this strategy in classes such as Womens and Gender studies and Earth Science. I liked this because I can rank things from most needed such as studying for a TEST all the way down to important things such as cleaning my room and keeping my place organized to have a good study environment. I also liked that it gave me a list of things and as I get the most needed done I can start working my way down the list to important things that will help me be successful. Before when I used this strategy I did not use the ABC concept I just had a list but I like how the book lays out the ABC and the numbers to go with it. It can really me with my organization of what is NEEDED vs IMPORTANT. Every sunday now I sit down and make one of these lists with ten or so things on it that I need to accomplish that week. For example this week, I had studying for my earth science test that is actually this week at the very top, this is the most important because it will currently affect me and I have no time to put it off. But things such as a rough draft for womens and gender studies was a little lower because that is not due for another week or so. Both need to get done in order for me to be a good student, but right now!......earth science is more important. This strategy is very helpful and I will continue to use it in the future!

Ranking Strategy

The strategy i used was Ranking Priorities. I used this strategy for PHI 107 and SOC 248. This was a strategy for me to figure out what assignments i had coming out and see what was the more important one for me to start with. I usually do what's assignment is do first but this was different to do the more important assignment first. I had to adapt using this strategy because ranking these assignments on a chart help me determine which one was more important to start with and i could do a check list to mark off the assignments i did.

I think this strategy was a good one, it has it pros and cons but overall i felt it useful because it made it easier on my week. As the week went on my work started to get easier and I didn't have to stress so much towards the weekend.

Ranking Priorities! Matt Harris

For my second blog I chose the ranking priorities. This strategy has been proven to be effective for me, so that's why I chose to blog about it. For the particular blog I used the strategy for my EAR 117 class, my CFS 388, my PSY 322 and this class, CLS! I chose this strategy for many reasons. I have a hard time with my priorities so thats what initially drove me to use this strategy. I also like the fact that I can make a list and when I'm done with a task I can check it off as something I've finished. It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing things I need to do when I can make a list and check of my priorities. I also like the fact that I can visually see what I need to do and how important they are. Usually I do these lists in weeks, so it helps me visualize what I need to do that week. I also like the fact that I can add onto the list, its never a set thing, which with lacrosse and academics, helps me stay organized. The only adaptations I had to make was sometimes I didn't really use the A,B,C concept. But that was only when I was adding things, and was on the move so to say. This strategy is really effective for me, I've been using this for a while, probably since around my junior year of high school. It keeps me organized, and I can visually see what I need to do each week. That's it for blog number 2!

D's, Due, and Do

D’s Due and Do

For lacrosse we have to use the D’s Due and Do technique every week. Each Sunday we sit down with a mentor and fill out a big sheet of our weekly schedule. We write down when our assignments are due and write down what days we are going to do the work. Last week I had big Religion 244 essay that was due on Saturday night by midnight. I made sure to leave time to correct and edit my paper for Friday during the day. I did the reading on Monday so I had a better understanding on what to write my paper on and so I didn’t have to waste anytime when I met with my tutor on Tuesday. I broke it up during the week and met with my tutor on Tuesday and did two pages of it. I met with my tutor again on Thursday and did two more pages of it, which completed it. This left me time on Friday and Saturday to re-read my essay and make the changes that I needed for the final draft.

It also helped me with my history essay that was due last Thursday. It was an autobiography about my life and how I ended up here at Syracuse. It only had to be two pages so I broke it up and wrote a page on Monday and page on Tuesday and edited it on Tuesday night. I also had to read 4 chapters that week in history so I broke them and read a chapter a day up until my recitation on Thursday, where we discuss what we read.

I’ve been using this technique since the beginning of school and has really helped my time management and I have been doing more efficient work much easier and less stressful to break it up instead of waiting till the night before which I used to do the past few years.

Chris Daddio's Fritter Finder

For this weeks tech assignment I choose to use my fritter finder strategy. The main reason I chose to do this one is because I have had the most success using this strategy. As for the other strategies I have attempted all of them I just haven't gotten a good enough feel yet for them. I feel that the fritter finder was the easiest for me because all i had to do was take my schedule and write it out then look at all of the free time that I have and establish when and how I am going to use it to finish all of my assignments that are due and when during the week they are due. It was also a big help when I came in for my friday meeting that my TA Janine helped me better understand what I really needed to do to help accomplish my weekly assignments in enough time so that I can study what I have done and have extra time to work out and practice extra for lacrosse.