Look At Me Go!

Look at me go! It is Saturday night and I am doing my blog! Usually I am the last one to do my blog on Sunday afternoon, but this time I'm not! Probably because I went home for the weekend to get my car fixed so I'm not out tonight, but also because I don't want to be the last one to post anymore. So, I am turning over a new leaf and I will be doing my blog earlier from now on. This past weekend has been ah-mazing! Actually though, it was time to take a trip home. I left Thursday night after my last class and drove 4 hours to Connecticut. A feeling of excitement came over me when I pulled into my driveway, I had actually forgotten how great it was to go home sometimes! Not only was my house spotless, but we had actual FRESH food, and clean floors. For me, this was like a dream come true, since I live purely off of Lean Cuisine's, grilled cheese, and our floors are so dirty I have to wear shoes in the kitchen! My mom washed my clothing for me, and actually bleached my whites, which were previously yellow (Thanks Syracuse laundry services.) Not only did I get real food and clean clothing, but I also got to sleep in, with no interruptions of hearing people walking in and out, or talking too loudly, I actually slept until 2 in the afternoon easily. It turned me into a new person, I was no longer grumpy, the wonder's of what going home can do!

So, I am being as lazy as I can possibly be, and trying pretty hard not to move from the couch, but it hit me, I have a test this Wednesday, as well as my Astronomy test at the end of the week so I have to start my Exam Experiment! So, I decided to try out T.A.R.T. which stands for

Terms Read the terms and definitions in bold print in a chapter or glossary in the beginn

ing and end of the chapter. Create abbreviations for only important terms.

Attend Attend lecture, reread your lectures notes prior to reading the textbook.

Read Read the chapter for clarification of the information covered in lecture.

Test Create test questions you think your professor will ask, then answer them.

Here are the notecards which I made for step one of TART.

Then of course I attended the lectures, read the chapters to

make sure that all of my notes covered what my professor

taught to us in class. However I still have two more classes

before our test so I haven't created the Test part until the next

class to make sure I get in all the notes!

The next test strategy I tried out was Charlie Reads Smart

approach. For this one, similar to TART is done like this:

Chunk - Chunk the assignment according to your attention span and schedule realistically.

Read - Keep in mind the professors reading purpose.

Summarize - Create a graphic organizer,outline, index cards, taping, or summary.

Test - Create test questions and answers reading strategy.

Here is my Charlie Reads Smart strategy played out!

Charlie Reads Smart didn't really work for me. I didn't like the

chunking the part or the creating the

questions part either, it isn't my

preferred style to learn. For me, usually

these strategies show me how to apply

LAME however with this particular

strategy I didn't see how to apply LAME to Charlie Reads Smart. For me,

TART worked really well for me in understanding how to apply LAME

especially the evaluation part of how the teacher is going to evaluate me and

what I have learned. To me, TART made that more clear which for me,

is what I need when it comes to LAME because I struggle for some reason

trying to understand it and put it to good use!

I have started to like to end all of my blogs with Dr. Blumin's favorite

saying, which has slowly become mine as well.

"If you continue to do what you have always done, you will continue to get what you have always gotten."

And for once I can say that I am changing my ways and it is a great feeling to want to change what you have always done to do better! Look at me go!

No Mess No Stress

I like to think of myself as being very organized. My t-shirts are folded by style and color, and my jeans are stacked from dark wash to light wash, making my wardrobe pleasing to the eye and easily accessible. That's just one part of my life that I like to keep in order. However, when it comes to my school work, not everything is so spick n' span.

Each day when it comes time to start my homework I look at my monthly calendar that I have already written down all my assignments on, and make a list of everything I need or want to accomplish that day. By this time the list is just a compilation of tasks and assignments with no order or structure, so I end up just starting at the top and making my way down. While I may be getting my work done, I am not doing it in the most productive manner. This is why when I heard about the "Ranking Priorities" strategy I knew it was the perfect opportunity to try it.

So, to begin I rewrote all of my assignments for that day on a new sheet of lined paper, and then ranked each of the items on the list based on whether they were A- absolutely essential, B- important, or C- optional, and then put a number next to each letter based on which one I wanted to accomplish first . For example, I wrote A-1 next to my REL191 paper because it was due the next day, therefore it was critical I finished that first. I used due dates as a factor for determining my priorities so I would complete the most important tasks first. Now, instead of having a jumbled list of assignments without any specific order, "Ranking Priorities" was able to solve my problem and I have a list that enables me to identify the tasks that need the most immediate attention and are "absolutely essential".

While I figured out a way to better organize my daily tasks, I realized that I needed help solving an even bigger problem : tackling my WGS101 Take-Home Midterm. On Thursday our Take-Home Midterm was passed out in lecture and I began to have a mild panic attack as I read the assignment. My mind began to race and my heart began to pound, and before I knew it little beads of sweat were forming at the top of my hairline. Some people might find this strange, but for me it's pretty normal. When I see a big assignment I get intimidated and overwhelmed, not knowing how to start or where to begin. Once I realized the stress I was putting myself under, I decided to try out the "Is Versus Wants" strategy to help me reevaluate my current situation and figure out what I need to change to be more successful.

As I filled out the chart I was able to actually ask myself questions that I normally wouldn't, such as "What is the problem I am having now?" "What would I like my situation to be instead?" "What do I need to do in order to accomplish this?" "What exactly am I going to do to accomplish this?" and "How will I know I achieved my desired outcome?". Once I got to the "Action" column, where I had to think about the necessary steps needed to fix my problem, I realized that the "Target Planner" - a task management strategy that my friends had used last week- would be the perfect strategy for me to use. It would let me break up the Midterm into small, manageable sections

with due dates so I could do a little work each night. This way, I am accomplishing my Midterm without feeling the stress of having to finish all of

it at once.

With "Is Versus Wants" I was able to become my own therapist. I had to look at my own situation, acknowledge what was wrong with it, and then figure out on my own how I was going to solve the problem. By working something out on my own, I gained a greater sense of accomplishment at the end once I

had fixed what wasn't working.

Enjoy the Weekend and do your work wisely!!