CU 1010 Journal Adam Johnson (Spring 2017)

Adam Johnson

1.31.17: What time management strategies did you use last semester? How well did they work?

Last semester, I used a few different types of time management strategies. One strategy I used was attempting to complete all my homework before doing anything else in my day. I found this very ineffective because I found myself forcing myself to do the school work. This resulted in me putting a lot less effort into the work that I was doing. I ended up just doing it to get it over with instead of doing it to actually learn and know what I was doing. This was the first method I used. Next I decided that I'd try to do some homework after class and some in the nighttime. This was more effective but this resulted in me forgetting to do some of the homework that I put off until later. For example, I would forget a lot to do my math homework on web assign because I would end up doing something with my friends and not realize there was homework due until it was too late to complete it accurately. So after this, I stopped and asked myself, what other types of methods are there to have success? That's when I came up with the idea to set up a schedule of when I was going to study and do homework and stick to it. I kept telling myself that it was a good idea but I never actually ended up implementing it until this semester. I'm already noticing lots of differences.

2.9.17: Procrastination

I have found that most of the time I procrastinate when I have trouble understanding something. For example, if I don't understand the prompt of a writing assignment, I will put it off until a few days before it is due. I will also do this with almost any other subject. Another reason I will procrastinate is if I feel like a due date is pretty far away and I don't feel 100% positive about what to do. This has affected me a lot because I have lost a ton of sleep because of this. There has been countless times that I have had to stay up a very long time completing assignments that are due the next day. This has also affected me a ton because it has created many stressful situations for me. There were countless times that I would have to race the clock to get math or engineering homework completed. This always put me very on edge and I was never able to submit my best work this way. My grade was always affected tremendously because of this. My homework average was highly affected by the fact that I always procrastinated. I prefer process over product because it is most of the time what I still do. I end up doing this because it is what is more convenient at the time but I need to change it because it never works out in the end for me.

2.28.17: Test-taking strategies

Doing the Dr. Felder's checklist in chapter 17 of "A Mind for Numbers" really showed me things that I can improve on to improve my test scores. The first one that I noticed that I was going to need to change was actually understanding what I was reading in my textbook. I just go through and try to find the major points when I read a chapter in a textbook and only take away a small amount of information when I should be taking away a lot more information with just a little bit more effort. I realized that I needed to put in that little bit of extra effort to make sure that I am taking away what I need to. I can do this by thoroughly reading through the material and taking my time as opposed to rushing through it like I normally do. I can also take good notes that I will be able to look back onto later. Another thing that I noticed was that I needed to get more sleep the night before a major test. The night before an exam, most of the time, I worry so much about the exam that it prevents me from going to sleep easily. I just need to calm myself down and feel confident for the exam coming up instead of cramming a lot the night before and worrying myself to death. That also brings up another issue that I have with preparing for a test. Even if I study a lot overtime, I force myself to sit there and try to go over every little thing the day before to make sure that I know it. I just need to follow the 5 day test prep and do what that sheet says and not try to spend a very long time the night before scaring myself even if I know the material that I am going over. Those are the three main things that I realized that I need to change when preparing for an exam.

3.13.17 Opinion on Group Projects and Professor Communication

To start off this journal entry, I would like to start by saying that I do truly believe that group projects are a great idea if all of the group members actually put in the work. Working with a group is a type of experience that I do believe that everyone needs to have a good experience at least once in their life. When everyone works together towards a common goal, it is always awesome and very fun in my opinion. But on the other hand, when you're in a group that wants to put in the minimal work and you have to pick up their slack, it is very terrible. I hate when this happens. I have to say that this most of the time happens when I work in a group with people that have very differing grades from my own. Most of the time, if I work with someone with a much lower grade than me, they never want to put in the effort that is required from both of us. I also find myself sitting back and letting the person who has the highest grade do the majority of the work because I believe that I can't complete the caliber of work that the person with the higher grade can. So honestly group projects are a great idea if they are planned out and set up correctly, but they can also be a complete catastrophe if they aren't. I believe that professor communication is a very important thing to have to be successful. I believe this because for one thing, it starts you with networking very early, which could help you receive a good job in the future. Also, it could easily help you receive better grades. This could happen because by getting to know your professor, you will get to know what they look for and what to do to make sure that you are doing exactly what they want you to do. This will also help you get communication skills critical to have when you are in a job setting in the future. By starting to talk to your professors (your higher ups), it will help you to be able to feel comfortable with talking to and building a relationship with your future bosses.

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