1/31/17: What time management strategies did you use last semester? How well did they work?

Last semester I had terrible time management. There were multiple times where I ended up procrastinating to the point where I had to sit up all night in the library or study lounge typing a paper or completing a project. There were also times were I would forget to do an assignment and have to turn it in late or even completely forget to finish the assignment. I slept when I was tired and then just do my work around a nap or something else I was doing rather than completing my work first. I also never really started on assignments early. I also never really studied on my own aside from going to tutoring sessions.

Procrastination occurs usually when we're not comfortable. Reflect on what makes you uncomfortable, how procrastination has impacted your life, and what and why you prefer process over product.

Being in a non-productive environment such as my room or somewhere that isn't the library makes me uncomfortable when I'm actually trying to get work done because there are way too many distractions. I can begin watching TV or get a quick game of madden in or even climb in my bed or take a nap. Also, being tired makes me uncomfortable which in turn means I must take a nap before I can be productive which wastes more time that I don't have. Procrastinating and waiting until the last minute to complete assignments has a very bad impact on your grades as it forces you to turn in sub-par, or late work, or not even turn in your work at all. That is why I attempt, sometimes unsuccessfully, to plan out what I'm gonna do before hand and follow a process to make sure I complete the assignment.

Fill out Professor Felder’s checklist in Chapter 17 of your book, then discuss what changes you might make in your test preparation based on your responses.

To better help me prepare for my tests I should start with my homework. By doing it to actually understand rather than for completion would help me better understand the material. I also could benefit from working on the problems with my fellow classmates as well as comparing our answers. I could also benefit from outlining every problem and making sure I understand them all. I should also make sure that I understand every problem on the study guide as that is what I will be seeing on the test. It would also be helpful to outline every problem before attempting them as well as quizzing myself myself and classmates on the study guide material. I should also attend study sessions before tests. And lastly but not least, I definitely need to get a better night's sleep not only before the test but in the days leading up to it.

What is your opinion on group projects? Also, what do you think about communicating with professors?

Group projects have both a positive and negative connotation for many reasons. I believe that they are a good tool to build people and team-building skills. They allow people to tackle projects that would otherwise be too heavy of a work-load on one person. By splitting up the responsibilities of the project it can take a lot of the pressure of the individual group member’s shoulders. Group projects can also be very fun to do if the project is on an interesting topic and you have cool group members. These projects can spawn many friendships or at least acquaintances. However, on the flip side, group projects can be disasters. It usually is because in a group project you are reliant on other people. Whereas in most projects where you are responsible for everything, with group projects you are at the will of other individuals who are in large part responsible for your grade. The main problem with group projects is that if even one of the group members is lazy or just simply does not accomplish their tasks then everyone in the group suffers. That’s why a lot of times you end up seeing that one person ends up doing most if not all the group’s work which defeats the purpose of the “group project”. It has happened to me on more than one occasion. So usually group projects are either hit-or-miss depending on each specific group. As far as communicating or talking to professors, so far, I have had pretty positive experiences. All of the professors I have taken so far, even if I did not like their class, they have all been pretty helpful in their guidance of me.