I am loving Ranking Priorities.........

Hey everyone I am Karima,

I am ready to show you how I learned this week. Well this week was very busy and it seemed like I had no time. But best believe I had to find the time because on my agenda, school is my life and in order to be successful I needed to do all my assignments. So I brought L.A.M.E. into the picture again because this truly helps solve the problems.
                                              L.A.M.E. means.......

Learner 

                 Action

Materials

                        Evaluation 

First, I found what kind of learner I was

Second, I put how I learn to action and figured out what is the best way for me to learn 

Third, I went through many different trails for learning strategies to see which one I was interested in

Fourth, Then I found the strategy that helped me learn and I made great use of it

                         ......GET L.A.M.E IN YOUR HEAD, this is truly good medicine.....

Remember, "If you continue to do what you have always done, then you will continue to get what you have always gotten." - Dr.Blumin

I find myself using this quote and L.A.M.E more each week because these sayings really do have me thinking about how productive and am I really getting all that I need out of my classes.

I chose Ranking Priorities this week. When I looked on the calender this week for the homework I saw ranking priorities! Right there I thought to myself, wow I really do need that. So I continued to do the homework and when I got to it I read to see how this was going to turn out since I had so much to do in only one week. First, I listed everything I had to do this week and it wasn't in any particular order. Then, I started ranking them from A to C with a circle around the letters, meaning A most important and C least important. Finally, I did the same steps and as well as the numbers; which 1 means most important and 3 least important. To spice my paper up because it looked so dull, I used highlighter colors orange, yellow, and green. I colored the circles in and coordinated them by how important and the number. I made C orange, B yellow, and A green to make it clear what was the most important. Oh wow I really learned from where my priorities fell on the list. 

On the list I used general things I had to do as well as the school work. I used this strategy for all of my courses including CLS, WRT, and AAS and I found that from now on I will do more of this. Now I can use this like a shopping list which makes the process easier and quicker.

Ranking Priorities List 1 





* In the next picture, I made a new list of all the Priorities and combined the numbers and the letters so this will be clear to me.

Ranking Priorities List 2

I chose this strategy because I needed to find a way to be productive. What better way to be productive, then to list out all the things you need to do and see what is really important. Well this really helped me and I will continue to use this strategy. I am a person who can follow a list of things to do better then it being on a calender, so I took full advantage of this strategy. This makes me see what needs to be done in an order that I am familiar with. This week I enjoyed this strategy because I could rate to it and it was short and to the point.

Remember what helps for me may not help for you so find what fits you and go for it.

Fritter Finder!

After the first few weeks of getting settled in and get into school mode again, time was unfortunately slipping by and it was one of my top 3 things to do. Luckily fritter finder came to save my days to help. Frittering your time away can happen so easily so, the Fritter Finder itself is used to help you do productive things when you have time whether it be a short or long amount. It visually shows you whenever you have free time and how long you have.

For me, I made my own calendar similar to the schools because I was able to make sure there were blocks specifically for when I don’t have class as apposed to printing the schools which doesn’t leave me much or any space when free and because this so helpful visually, I thought it helped me more.

I colored in, brightly, the blocks on my schedule when I did NOT have class, that way it stood out to me when I didn’t and could plan something productive to do based on the amount of time I would have. I also wrote the amount of time I had during that non-class time so it could just look at the block and see how much time I had. I make lists of things I needed to do for the week, so putting my to do list together with my fritter finder gave me ideas on when I could do those things or just looking in your agenda works just as well!

I am a visual learner so the planned out weekly calendar with bright colors is so helpful. L.A.M.E comes into this which stands for Learner, Action, Materials, and Evaluation. The action was making the Fritter Finder, using my Fritter Finder to my schedule and with the time I was not in class I use that to do work and things I need to do. Material was my Fritter Finder calendar and my weekly assignments. My over all evaluation of this is so positive, this idea helped me be more successful with my time and things I needed to do.

It’s more helpful to me to simply look at my Fritter Finder and know I have time to do things that I need. Also it opened my eyes to actually doing something I need to do instead of just sitting and chatting or facebooking, etc. With the Fritter Finder you feel a little more settled knowing that there is this time to do things and not having to wait until the end of your long day to fit all your work and errands in. It’s a nice visual aid to always have handy!

First Post/ Time Managment! :)

            Hello! I’m Hannah, a freshman at Syracuse University, undecided in the College of Arts and Sciences. I’m so excited for this blog because not only will it help me become a better student, but it can help the readers as well! After an incredibly stressful week full of procrastinating, I realized I needed to manage my time a little better to become more organized. This is where both the Fritter Finder and L.A.M.E come in handy. Fritter Finder is a time management tool, used to show when you should be doing homework. First, you print out your schedule and highlight all of your free time. After highlighting, you write in what courses you will work on. This little technique is wonderful for my schedule, since I hate doing homework at night. Since I’ve been in classes for about a month, I’ve been able to predict the times and days I should be doing homework for each class. On Mondays, from 9:30 to 11:30, I work on WRT 105 and SPA 101.  From 2:10-3:30 I work on PSY 205 CLS 105 and see if I have any more WRT homework. On Tuesdays from 9:15-11:30 I work on SPA 101 and WRT 105.  On Wednesdays I work from 9:30-11:30 on CLS and SPA. During my break in between CLS and WRT, I work on PSY 205. On Thursdays from 9:30-11:30 I work on CLS and PSY. L.A.M.E. stands for Learner, Action, Materials and Evaluation.  I’m a visual learner, so I colored in my schedule. For action, I looked at the schedule and followed it everyday. The physical schedule is the material I use. For the evaluation, I think the schedule works really well because I know in advance what I’ll be working on when. I will definitely be using the Fritter Finder the entire semester! 

The Fritter Finder! :)

Fritter Sure Did Help Me.....

Hello to everyone! I am Karima Akins.

This week I managed to use L.A.M.E. Lame stands for Learn, Action, Materials, and Evaluation. These are the learning strategies that helped me tremendously in all of my classes. Yes indeed Dr. Blumin knows what she is talking about, I mean she is our professor. LOL. I took what she said and I used it in all my classes, but the class I needed help with the most I used these strategies and focused more on. The class that I struggled the most in is A Survey Of African American Music. I struggled because my professor just gives me readings and then he lectures us the next class. I found it had for me to pay any attention. My body was there, but my mind was some place else. Then once we got father into CLS 105 class, then I thought and I looked at my notes and used L.A.M.E. It all came back to me, I was so focused on not understanding a word he said instead of thinking in terms about what Dr. Blumin was truly talking about. 

                                                                 Fritter Finder

I focused on motivation. This is the key to success in all my classes. Without motivation then I would continue to not succeed. I had to motivate myself in order to expect a good grade. I will continue to try hard in that class and tell myself that this will pay off in the long run. This week I used time management, which means I used the Fritter Finder method to get my work done. When I did the fritter finder I didn't print out a calender, but instead I made my own. I found out that making my own calender left me more room to put in the information that I needed on the days. I followed this assignment step by step and I completed the highlighting for the time that I wasn't in class. After I colored in all the spaces, I looked at all the blue spaces and I had so much time that I wasn't in class for. So then I filled in the time that I was in class for and I was in class less than I wasn't in class. I thought and I said now how can I manage all my time? Then I used time management to fit in with the fritter finder. I wrote in all my important dates and I look at my calender everyday.       


I chose this strategy because I could see this clear and it involved colors. Since I am not a dull person, I chose this because it was the simplest way to understand when my assignments were due. I have to now get familiar with making these calenders so I can stay on track. I never really used a method to get my work done but now that I am in college I figured that I need to have a schedule. Wow, I am so amazed that I am staying focused and learning the key to success in my classes. Dr. Blumin states, "If you continue to do what you have always done, then you will continue to get what you always gotten."  I love this quote because its short and to the point. 

I also chose the Target Planner for my WRT 105 class. This is for an assignment and not for all the due dates in my courses. I did the planner, then I wrote the due date in the middle of the circle. Then around the due date circle I wrote the steps I needed in order to get the assignment done on time. As the days went by I checked off what I did and I felt so relieved to see that I had less steps each day. The target planner made me set goals for each day so that I don't have to do everything on one day. 

                                                                Target Planner

 
I chose the target planner also because I needed a way to get the assignment done. I needed to see on paper how I was going to do the assignment and the steps to getting it done. By making the target planner it motivated me to stay on track. It also showed me that if I didn't do the assignment on the right day then I would be behind which causes more work for me. 

How to create a Building Blocks to Finish Chart...Enjoy!

Hi there! My name is Gilmarie. I’m from Puerto Rico. I’m a freshman at SU majoring in writing and rhetoric. I decided to take CLS 105 to help me with my studies. So, far its been helping me to get organized and learn more about my professors through syllabus annotation. I think all the strategies we’ve been working on are great, especially the Building Blocks to Finish strategy. I will explain this in terms of L.A.M.E. ------>

Learner- I'm a visual learner.

Action- I decided the building blocks to finish is a good strategy since its all visual.

Materials- With this I was able to finish my 4-page essay on time for WRT 105, study for my quizzes (PSC, SPA, ETS) and do SPA homework.

Evaluation- It went well in all my classes but I remember writing the 4-page essay the night before in a hurry. This means, next time, I will write down on my chart to do the essay ahead of time, that way I won't be doing it the night before.

Here is how I did it: BUILDING BLOCKS TO FINISH!

1. I opened up Microsoft Word and I clicked on TABLES. There I made a chart.

2. On the first row I wrote down Course and then on the other blocks I wrote down half this week and the next week, starting with Wednesday, September 21 up until Thursday, September 29.

3. Right under Course, on the first row, I wrote down all the courses I’m taking. So, the first row is like this: PSC 121(blue), SPA 202(orange), CLS 105(yellow), ETS 107(green), WRT 105(pink), and CAS 101(purple).

4. Make sure you have a distinguished color for each one of your course rows.

5. Then, on the row of each course I wrote down all the assignments under their due date. For example, as you can see on my chart I wrote down on the CLS 105 row under Sunday, September 25 that the First TECH blog post is due.

First Attempt of a Building Blocks Chart

6 . After writing down when all of my assignments are due, I wrote down under what date I will be doing that task. So, for the TECH blog post I wrote down that I would do it on Friday, September 23 (which I am doing right now!).

7. When that is done, you must highlight the course row until the assignment due date. I just highlighted the row completely but I’m going to change it because it doesn’t look as focused that way.

8 . And that is how you create a BUILDING BLOCKS TO FINISH! J

I find that this is a great and easy way to see when your papers, exams, or homework are due. And if you’re a visual learner like me then it’s even better!

It is also helpful to have yourself organized by writing down when you will write the paper or study in advanced for a test because your disciplining yourself into doing what you have to do. That way you don’t procrastinate!

NOTE: This is useful because I wrote down that I would write this post today, Friday, September 23 and I just finished it. Wish you could see my happy face right now!

New and improved one:

Hope you enjoyed :)