AxiaStudent.com

Hello everyone!

I was just curious if anyone had some useful tips, tricks, etc. on how to divvy up the coursework so it's not overwhelming (especially finals), how you stay organized or focused, and that sort of thing. There were time management/organization workshops available in the past, but I no longer see them on the list...

Here's my 2 cents for those starting out:

Use a binder & some tabbed dividers! I use 1 binder for both classes, but most people who tend to print more than I do, will want 1 binder per course. In the first tab/divider, include your course calendar, the point values for course assignments (found on a page in the syllabus), & the grading scale. Use 1 tab/divider per week (9 weeks total for Axia), and in each week, insert the syllabus pages for that week, i.e., week 1 syllabus is in the Week 1 tab/divider. This makes it easier to see where you are with everything.

I've added a little cheat sheet to the 1st tab of my binder because I constantly forget how to convert those numerical values to percentages so I can see if I have an A (or worse) in class. Here's the formula if you need it:

Code: Select all

100 ÷ Total Possible × Total Correct = Grade %

If you are a geek like me, chances are you've got a PDA or other gizmo to help keep track of when assignments are due. I have a Palm handheld, and on it I use this (old but good) freeware called, "Due Yesterday," from LOG IN TO SEE LINKS IN POSTS . Sure, you can use the tasks/to-do software that came with your PDA too, but the one I mentioned allows you to choose to have your assignments added to the task list or the calendar, and you can enter what each assignment's worth (points), and then enter what your score was, so that you can keep an eye on what your grade is as you go along.

Another thing I use for this and other stuff is a windows vista gadget called "Desktop Essentials," by Roger. It has a to-do list, notes, and calculator in one gadget, and you can print it if needed. It can be found at this link: LOG IN TO SEE LINKS IN POSTS

Lastly, if you tend to be a facebook addict like moi, a good site to use in order to help you cut down is "Keep Me Out" at LOG IN TO SEE LINKS IN POSTS . You enter the website that you tend to visit often, tell it how long you want the breaks to be in between your visits to the website you named, and then you bookmark the new link it generates for you and use it in place of the website you named. If for instance, you set it to 2hrs and you visit the site 45min later, KeepMeOut will nag you and ask you to come back in so-many-hours... You can choose to have them include the link to the site you're addicted to (which kinda defeats the purpose), or choose to not have it display the link just to postpone you a little bit longer from your obsession. LOL

So other than the above I've mentioned, what do you all have/use to keep on track, stay organized, be timely, and not feel overwhelmed? Pls. share it by replying to this topic! Thanks!

I also meant to mention that keeping track of your participation can be a pain, so I don't know how others have handled it, but what I've been doing is using my course calendar to help. At the bottom of each day on the course calendar, I write a tally mark for each post I've made that day. This shows me how many posts I've made, but not how many were counted as substantial. When I log in the next day (or whenever), I click on my class' "My Sent Items" link, to see only my posts. From there, you can see which ones were marked with the green "S" icon. On your course calendar, mark those tally marks by putting an "S" on it. This makes them look like dollar signs, I know! LOL Now you can glance over your calendar and see which days you were "on the money," and which days you were slacking!

If you've got an instructor who sneaks in late in the week so you're not sure if the reason you haven't gotten a substantial post is because they haven't been online, just go into the DQ thread and click on the instructor's name. This will show all of their posts, so you can see if they've logged in before or after the date/time of your post, and you can assume that if they've been replying to others, then chances are your post was seen and failed to be substantial.

It's better to anticipate the worst and hope for the best, then you'll never be caught off guard.