My Semester Planner

So I have unit outlines, I have colour coded notes, I have reflective journals. I have a part time job that  I love, a casual job which pays well, I study full time, I have weekly placement plus my time with my family. But with all this and university, there are a lot of tasks, assignments and deadlines to keep track of.

But I have some help to take care of the university side of things.

THE SEMESTER PLANNER 

I am very lucky to go to a university where there is a special department for helping students perform academically. At ACU, the Office of Student Success (OSS) is committed to providing students with services to help them adjust to university work and provide a number of services which help alleviate some of the stress and pressure throughout the semester .

This semester planner is one of the organisational tools they provide to help students time plan and strategise how they going to work during the semester.

This little beauty keeps track of everything uni based for me. Using the unit outline, I look at each subject, written down the left side (in its associated colour), and then write when each assignment/task in the week it is due.

This document tells me:

• When the documents to due -  the capital letters "DUE" shaded in the colour code 
• How much time I have sectioned to plan/produce the assignment  - the straight coloured line preceding the DUE

• What else is due at the same time - the vertical column which corresponds to a learning week.

Under the 'Assessment Tasks', I used to just write what number assessment task was. But this semester, I decided to write 'what' it actually was. For example, instead of writing  assessment task 1 for EDLA, this semester I wrote 'presentation'. This way I actually know what task is due and don't have to uselessly look at my unit outline.

Writing the grade % is also handy dandy. I'm not going to say that it lets me know how much effort to  put in, because I do try my best with every assignment, but it does help to prioritise. Especially when a whole heap of things are due at once (see week 12!)  

When the week is over, I draw a black slash through each box in the vertical column, like so:

While I prefer the handwrite on mine, the OSS has thought of everyone and on their website, provide a PDF version, which I use, or a MS Word version, which can be edited and then printed.

I know I cannot be the only person at ACU who uses this  planner, but my course mates have left me wondering. Many have never seen this document before. Many are surprised when I pull it out. Some even ask where I got it from, or if I made it.

While the OSS is doing a great job, I think that there needs to be little more advertising about the great seminars and resources they provide so amazing tools, like the general semester planner, don’t go unnoticed be majority of the student body.

Does your uni have a similar service to the OSS?

Do you use an organiser like the semester planner for study?

Do you use something similar in the workplace?

I would love to hear how you keep an eye on your many and upcoming deadlines!

Comment, Tweet or Tumblr! The LMST blog is always listening!

Miss Tracy xx