Gearing up: Creating your long term semester plan

Welcome back students!  The first week can be hectic and feel quite overwhelming after attending your first two days of classes.  You go over the syllabi and realize that there is a lot to do between now and the end of the semester.  One tip that will help is creating a long-term semester plan. 

Instead of sitting there and worrying about all the assignments when reviewing the syllabus in class, you will want to take this information and enter it in your planner.  This can be done electronically with something like google calendars, or if your teacher is a Canvas wiz, it will be done for you on Canvas. You can even synchronize these Canvas calendars to any electronic calendaring system you might use on your phones or tablets. 

To start, enter scheduled dates that extend beyond the current month.  This can include test dates, lab sessions, times to meet with your counselor, spring registration periods, days classes may be cancelled or any event that may take place this term.  Then create a master assignment list.  With each syllabus you receive, due dates will be provided on them for each course.  Enter these due dates for each of your assignments and projects. This can be a reality check to assess how busy you will be during the term.  In your planner, it is also a good idea to include significant nonacademic events outside of school, such as birthdays, doctor appointments, concert dates, anything else you see yourself doing during the term. 

Now that you have these items in place of your long-term academic planner, it is a good idea to look at some of the assignments and assessing which of those may require additional planning.  For example, you have a major term paper and presentation, and you think, well, I have about 10 weeks before that’s due.  In this situation, you will want to break it down to form prior due dates so you don’t find yourself doing most of it 9 weeks in.  This will avoid procrastination. If you don’t have the habit of creating a long-term semester plan, now is the time to do so.  This is one of the most effective tools you can use for yourself, even if you are not the planning type.