the encouragement lounge: When the first week of class is overwhelming

Friday, January 15, 2010

When the first week of class is overwhelming

Hi All,

For some, a first class, or first week of classes can be overwhelming - papers, projects, exams, a ton of reading... so much work lies ahead.

Steps to reduce your anxiety:

1. Get out your syllabus (or syllabi if you are taking more than one class) and put all of the due dates/exam dates on your calendar (and if you don't have a planner or calendar ((electronic or paper)), go get one NOW!).

2 Assess whether you have all readings on hand -- if not, purchase remaining books, download remaining articles, etc.

3. Make a to-do list of whatever is due in the next week.

4. Look ahead to your coming week and schedule the blocks of time when you will work. Do not leave this up to chance, plan ahead.

5. Be creative about finding more time to work on school work... e.g. can you do some reading over your lunch hours or on the bus?

6. Read assignments ahead of time, so that if you have questions, you can contact your professor.

7. Do at least something every day (or almost every day). Even on busy days, if you read even one or a few pages, you will keep your momentum going and all those short work sessions add up to more work completed.

This list should help you get going. Readers -- any other strategies you wish to suggest?

Ok, we'll look at how it is going next week.

You can do it!

Harriet

Photo by HLS

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Working adult students, on my mind...

I hope this blog will be helpful to friends and others involved in a variety of endeavors. However, I created the blog with students in mind and continue to develop it with that specific group as my focus.

I believe that with the increase in evening, weekend, and low-residency programs, students are working more and more in isolation. If we were all full-time students on campus, we would have the informal support that comes with being able to go down the hall and talk with a colleague, etc. But instead, we are working late nights and weekends at home in front of the laptop.

With that in mind, I hope the encouragement lounge provides brief moments of respite and energizing connection. This does not at all replace valuable face-to-face contact. Many aspects of the academic journey can only be addressed via in-depth conversations with colleagues and teachers. And I would always rather sit down and talk with someone than to communicate online. Nonetheless, my aim is to give you one more channel for quick hits of support.