Managing Yourself as a Successful Student

Agenda

• Self-management techniques• Learning styles strategies

Self-Management

Use the ‘Izes’

OrganizePrioritize

RecognizeMinimize

SynthesizeMaximize

Re-Organize

Developed by Northeast Center student and peer coach, Tom Daley, ‘13

ORGANIZEORGANIZE

Think about how you organize yourself as a student…

What do you do? What tools do you use?

ORGANIZEORGANIZE

Things to consider:What do you do?

What could you do better?

• Your calendar (Term, Week and Day)• Your workload (Work, Personal and School)• Your individual course responsibilities (Reading, Writing

and Assignments)• All of your courses together

Organization Tips - Time

Choose the right tool(s) – term-at-glance, datebook, electronic, other

Be consistent with your time management tool and how you manage your time – make time management a habit not an after-thought

- regularly schedule time for each of your classes (reading, studying & assignments)- regularly schedule time for yourself

Give yourself a “time buffer”

Regularly review your plan

Organization Tips - Physical

Keep an organized workspace – everything has a place

Physically organize your assignments, course materials and papers/ assignments: Have a binder or notebook for each class

Include notes from your reading and/or class meetingsHave a section in the binder/ folder in the notebook for all of your work from

your instructor

Create a Positive Learning Environment

• Relatively free of interruptions (phone, email, TV, friends)

• Free of distractions (noise, people watching, windows)

• Study in the same place & time (routine)• Not too comfortable (easily fall asleep)• Choose a time when you are mentally alert • Take breaks• Approach assignment with a positive attitude• Keep a distractions list

Organize - Electronic

Electronically organize your assignments, course materials and papers/assignments:On your computer

Make folders on your computer/flash drive for specific classes/instructors to more easily access your coursework.

When saving your files, be sure to clearly label and date your papers/assignments. (ex. Journal1_NickNortheast_Jan14)

Be sure you know what format(s) your instructors prefer so your assignments are compatible - Mac vs. PC – Word, PDF, RTF – find out what your instructor prefers.

In your emailMake folders in your e-mail for specific classes/instructors to more easily track assignments, correspondence, etc.

Move emails into the folders once you have replied to messages, that keeps everything organized and in one place.

PRIORITIZE

Think about how you prioritize your work as a student…

What do you do? What strategies do you use?

PRIORITIZE

Things to consider:

• Your goals (long-term and short-term)• Your tasks (complex, simple and time bound)• Your responsibilities (work, personal, school)• Adopting an effective style of planning (more proactive

than reactive)

PRIORITIZEBe honest here!

IMPORTANT

URGENT (Due Soon)

NOT URGENT (Due in the Future)

This is what should be finished 1st

This is what should be finished 2nd

NOT IMPORTANT

This is what should be finished 3rd

This is what should be done 4th

Adapted from Steven Covey’s First Things First

Important & Urgent (crises, deadline-

driven projects, crying child )

Important & Not Urgent (reflection, anticipate & prevent problems, long range planning,

stress relieving activities )

Urgent & Not Important (interruptions, some email, other people’s priorities and

expectations )

Not Urgent & Not Important (constantly checking email, over use of mindless TV,

excess web surfing)

RECOGNIZE/MINIMIZERecognize - Pitfalls Minimize – Reduce impact

Indulging immediate wants versus focusing on long term needs

Example - I want to go out and buy new shoes. I need to finish my research for this paper.

Minimize any negative impact – balance wants and needs

Example - I will spend two hours on my research and then go to the shoe store.

Overstressing on the wrong thing -- being a perfectionist/overachiever

Example – My paper is about the Greek and Roman gods and their impact on daily life in Greece and Rome. I need to learn all of the Greek and Roman gods before I can even start the paper.

Understand your tendencies to overdo/overstress.

Example – I need to stay focused on the assignment and look at the impact on daily life and then determine which gods/goddesses contributed to that impact.

Identify when you might be procrastinating

Example – I will start my homework after I clean the kitchen and the bathroom. I need to have my house in order before I can do schoolwork.

Redirect your focus and get back to the task at hand

Example – I need to schedule time for both homework and housework and stick to that plan. I might need to leave the house to do homework if I can’t focus on it and want to procrastinate by cleaning the house.

What is Procrastination?

• Filling time with unimportant tasks• Being easily distracted after beginning an

important task• Letting fear, dread, or discomfort take control

Dealing with Procrastination•Understand why it happens

• task is unpleasant• lack of organization• perfectionism (afraid you don’t have the skills to do a good job)• feeling overwhelmed

• Adopt anti-procrastination strategies• eat the frog first (click the link for video)• create your own reward system• create a prioritized to do list

http://www.eatthatfrogmovie.com

SYNTHESIZE

Think about the ways to connect all parts of your life

• Exercise and time with kids or significant other helps you reduce stress and stay fit

• Do homework on your lunch break or come into the office early to do some of your schoolwork before work.

• Extended “Coffee-Break” or “Dr. Office” Time - always have work with you to read/study while you wait on line or sit in the waiting room.

• Involve your family in your school work, make it dinner discussion make the kids your study buddies.

MAXIMIZE

Do you wonder how you can maximize how you learn and study?

• Learning Style (auditory, visual, kinesthetic and/or read/write)?

• Study Strategies (note-taking, reading, writing, learning environment)

• Most people have developed a preferencepreference for how they learn.

• One style is not better than anotherOne style is not better than another, and all of approaches to learning can be improved.

• Effective learnersEffective learners know how their minds work and are able to adapt their studying strategiesadapt their studying strategies to any learning situation.

• Understanding how you learn bestUnderstanding how you learn best can help you to maximize your studying strategies to match your strengths.

• Making connections between what you are learning and your life experiences Making connections between what you are learning and your life experiences can help you better understand and retain information.

How do you best learn?

ACTIVITY

Here’s a riddle we would like to share with you.

“The day before two days after the day before tomorrow is Monday.”

PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION – What day is it today?

SOURCE: Visual Brainstorms

Don’t just think about the answer;pay attention to how you try to get the answer.

SUNDay before tomorrow

is today

MON

Is tomorrow

&Day before

2 days after the

day before tomorrow

TUES

2 days after today

WED THURS FRI SAT

The day before two days after = 1 day afterThe day before tomorrow = today Tomorrow is Monday

If tomorrow is Monday then surely today is Sunday

A few ways to get the answer… A few ways to get the answer…

Answer : Today is Sunday

“The day before two days after the day before tomorrow is Monday.”

Draw a

calendar

Separate phrases in the sentence into the parts you know:

Talk it

out

Use Your body

Identifying Your Learning PreferenceIdentifying Your Learning PreferenceVARK Learning Styles Self-Assessment Questionnaire

TAKE ASSESSMENThttp://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

What were your results?What were your results?

Your VARK preferences can be used to help you develop additional, effective strategies for learning related to how you:

take in information; study information for effective learning; and

study for performing well on an examination.

Visual Study Strategies (V)Aural/Auditory Study Strategies (A)

Read/write Study Strategies (R)Kinesthetic Study Strategies (K)

Multimodal Study Strategies (MM)

Characteristics of Visual Learners

• Have a keen sense of aesthetics, visual media and art.

• Easily remember information presented in pictures or diagrams.

• Have strong visualization skills. They can look up and “see” the information invisibly written or drawn.

• Make “movies in their minds” of information they are reading. Their movies are often vivid and detailed.

• Have very strong visual-spatial understanding of things such as sizes, textures, angles and three-dimensional depths.

• Pay close attention to the body language of others (facial expressions, eyes, stance, etc.).

VISUALVISUALVisual learners tend to:

You learn best when information is presented visually and in a picture or design format. In a classroom setting, you benefit from instructors who use visual aids such as film, video, maps and charts. You benefit from information obtained from the pictures and diagrams in textbooks. When trying to remember something, you can often visualize a picture of it in your mind. You may have an artistic side that enjoys activities having to do with visual art and design.

Characteristics of Aural/Auditory Learners

• Remember quite accurately details of important information heard during conversations or lectures.

• Have strong language skills, which include a well-developed vocabulary and an appreciation for words.

• Have strong oral communication skills. They can carry or interesting conversations and can articulate their ideas clearly.

• Have a “fine tuned ear” auditory may lead to learning a foreign language more easily.

• Often have musical talents, can hear tones, rhythms, and individual notes.

AURAL/AURAL/AUDITORYAUDITORY

Aural/Auditory learners tend to:

When trying to remember something, you can often "hear" the way someone told you the information, or the way you previously repeated it out loud. You learn best when interacting with others in a listening/ speaking exchange.

• Work well with their hands and may be good at repairing work, sculpting, art or working with various tools.

• Often have well coordinated and have a strong sense of timing and body movement.

• Learn with movement = often do well as performers: athletes, actors, or dancers.

• Often wiggle, tap feet or move their legs when seated.

• Have been often labeled “hyperactive” as children.

Characteristics of Kinesthetic Learners

Kinesthetic learners tend to: KINESTHETICKINESTHETIC

You learn best when physically engaged in a "hands on" activity. In the classroom, you benefit from a lab setting where you can manipulate materials to learn new information. You learn best when you can be physically active in the learning environment. You benefit from instructors who encourage in-class demonstrations, "hands on" student learning experiences, and field work outside t he classroom.

• Like lists and words to keep ideas and “To Do” items straight.

• Remember information displayed as words.

• Emphasize text-based input and output - reading and writing in all its forms.

• Prefer PowerPoint, the Internet, lists, filofaxes, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations and words, words, words...

Characteristics of Read/Write Learners

Read/Write learners tend to:

READ/READ/WRITEWRITE

You learn best when information is presented visually and in a written language format. In a classroom setting, you benefit from instructors who use the blackboard (or PowerPoint, overhead projector, etc.) to list the essential points of a lecture, or who provide you with an outline to follow along with during lecture. You benefit from information obtained from textbooks and class notes. You often see the text "in your mind's eye" when you are trying to remember something.

AURAL/AURAL/AUDITORYAUDITORY

KINESTHETICKINESTHETIC

READ/READ/WRITEWRITE

VISUALVISUAL

MULTI-MULTI-MODALMODAL

Life is multimodal. There are seldom instances where one mode is used, or is sufficient. Those who prefer many modes almost equally are of two types. There are those who are context specific who choose a single mode to suit the occasion or situation. There are others who are not satisfied until they have had input (or output) in all of their preferred modes. They take longer to gather information from each mode and, as a result, they often have a deeper and broader understanding.

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RE-ORGANIZE

Periodically review the “izes” and your progress and make adjustments when

necessary