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Reflection

I have learned so much from the class both about myself and strategies in general. I realized that I was not aware of so many resources that could be very helpful to me. I wish I would have taken this class earlier because a lot of things would have been essential in my first 3 years. Now going into my senior year, I don’t think I will need to use them as much but it is still good to know. I think a online resource I learned the most about is Google. Surprisingly Google has much more to offer than someone thinks. Whether it’s the Google Calendar where you can use the calendar or make a to-do list or just searching Google, there are many things I didn’t know about it.

I learned that I am more of a procrastinator that I thought. I often think of excuses for why things don’t get done if they aren’t that important. Another thing I realized is that even though I do prioritize my to-do lists, I often put things on my list that shouldn’t be there just so I can cross them off. It is a bad habit because I know those are easy and fun things so I will do them. I need to push myself to do the harder things first which will lead to less procrastination. I never wait until the very last minute so I didn’t think I was a procrastinator but I realized that I have more of a problem than I thought. My goal this first semester is to really be conscious of when I am procrastinating and limit it. A positive thing I learned about myself is that I have pretty good time management skills. I believe this is easier for me to do than others because I am a student-athlete so I don’t have as much free time as most so I must use it wisely. I am very proud that I have these skills and I don’t even realize it. Sports have always been in my life so managing my time for school and sports is now natural to me.

The most meaningful experience in this class was probably doing the time tracking assignment. It taught me that I do have more free time than I might think. It also showed me the important of eliminating the time wasters or at least limiting them. You don’t realize how much wasting a half hour a couple times a day will add up. By eliminating time wasters, your day can be more efficient leading to finishing everything early and ending with more free time to relax and do whatever you want.

In the future, I will definitely be using what I learned about searching Google. I will use this information both in my professional life and my personal. I will now be able to find things a lot faster with more reliable sources. Honestly I am not very efficient in searching Google now. If it isn’t in the first choice then I most likely won’t find the information. I now know the keywords to look for and ways to change my search to enhance what I am looking for. I will also be sure to use the study tips and different note taking strategies that I learned in this class for the rest of my academic career. I will try different ones to make sure that I am using the one that is most effective for me. Overall, I really enjoyed this class and it was very beneficial. I will be sure to recommend this to people in the future.

Online Sources

When writing papers for school or posting online it is important to be aware of who your audience will be and what point you want to get across through your writing. For example, writing a history paper is different than writing a research paper both the format and content. One thing in common with no matter what kind of paper you are writing is the credibility of the source. It is important that you are using a reliable source because it will help enhance your topic instead of damaging it. For example, Wikipedia is frowned upon unless just trying to access basic information. Using it in a paper is not recommended because it is usually not reliable or accurate. When trying to search for information online, it is important to know that there are scholarly searches available that are better for certain information than the normal google. Google scholar and university libraries are two sources that I was never aware of until after I took all my writing courses. It would have been very helpful to have known about these sources to help me write a better paper, using better sources. Finally don’t forget to cite your sources! You don’t want to get in trouble for taking someone else’s work because you didn’t cite your sources. A good resources that I use for an autobiography is easybib.com. Using this site will make sure your sources are cited properly and you can avoid any problems.

New Study Tips

Check out this video:

http://youtu.be/mPTh8OEBwEo

This video is about how to study effectively. These are tips that I have never heard before so I thought it would be very useful to share. The 3 tips they talked about are tips for writing an essay on a test, creating a mnemonic when needed to remember things that have something in common, and finally tip to remember a lot of information at a time by speaking. For an essay test, they recommend the Black, Red, Green method to underline things to make sure you put in your essay. A mnemonic is something we use almost everyday and can be very effective to put into your studying. Finally speaking the information helps you retain it easier.

This video helps my studying because it is something that I haven’t heard before. There are always people telling you the most effective ways to study but these are things that I haven’t heard before. The tip that I like most is the speech. I have never thought to make a speech with my notes. Now that I think about it, it is the same as listening to songs and remembering the lyrics. I will definitely implement this study tip into my studying for my next test that is alot of memorizing. Studying the same way over and over again can get very boring so these tips can help change up your strategy and give you a different approach to studying.

Online Resources

Taking notes is an important skill to have in order to make sure you take in all the material taught in lecture. Your first step is to figure out what kind of note taking approach works best for you. The one that works best for me and also seems to be the most popular is printing out the PowerPoints before class and then taking notes directly on each slide. This approach limits the distraction of needing a computer and helps me stay engaged in the lecture.  There are a variety of different resources online that can help you learn. These things include podcasts, videos, and online lectures. If you are ever confused on a topic, try looking up a podcast that has a how-to because these are usually very useful. They can help you learn something new or just look at the topic through a different lenses. After lecture is you are still very lost try going online because there are lectures or videos on almost ever topic that can be a complement to what you are learning in class. If you have any trouble finding any of these about your course material, try asking your professor because they are most likely to be aware of additional resources.

Learn To Read Online

To be a successful student in college it is imperative that you learn how to read effectively online. There are so many people that are unable to read things efficiently online because they just don’t know how. It is very easy to get distracted by Twitter or Facebook online but it is important to limit this. Do whatever possible to eliminate these distractions so all you have to focus on is your reading. Even though you are reading online, you can still highlight and take notes. These notes can be either written down or even also taken on your computer which ever you prefer is fine. Reading actively is a strategy that can improve your comprehension and understanding. Another important aspect is to realize that it is often very essential to actually click on the supplemental links and images because they are part of the reading. I would suggest this especially if you are confused after finishing the reading because you might have missed something important in the links that will complete the reading. Finally to be successful you must know how to study! Cramming the night before like most everyone did in high school isn’t going to work anymore if you want to excel in school. You can definitely slide by with a C by doing this but I most definitely DON’T suggest it! If you work hard in both reading and studying, there is a very good chance you will be a successful college student.

Things To Know For College

Communicating properly online is important to know how to do but most people don’t know how. Of course the majority of people communicate online but few have the proper netiquette.  One of the most useful tip that people need to know is the know when to pick up the phone. Online communicating isn’t for every situation. Sometimes conversations need to be had over the phone or even in person yet people still resort to an email. There is nothing worse getting an email from someone about something that should have been told over the phone. This is both important for your friends but also your professors. Another important thing to know about online communicating is to be as specific as possible. Not being specific can lead to misunderstanding, whether it is planning a group meeting or let a professor know what you have requested, be specific! Working as a group is a crucial element that you will need in college. It is hard to learn other than gaining experience but it is still important to be aware of the different approaches that can work. A main approach is to not be stubborn and take the “my way or the highway” approach. It is important to collaborate and hear every group member’s perspective. Using all the different perspectives will enhance your group’s project and be very beneficial. In addition no one will want to be in your group again if you don’t respect other people’s opinions.