Five calendar tips for nontraditional students

FIVE CALENDAR TIPS
for nontraditional students

These calendar tips will help nontraditional students find their way when they are first starting back to school.

1. Buy a personal schedule book and calendar. You don't have to get an expensive one, but do get a current one with plenty of room for all assignments.

You can also get an erasable calendar to put up on your front door, or just use your small calendar that will fit into your book back or purse. You will be surprised how much this calendar will help you with assignments and scheduling.

2. Write all your assignment due dates down on the calendar, and then work backwards from the due date to chop each assignment into manageable pieces. For instance, put "look up references" on your calendar so you can get that step done before your essay or report is due.

You will find that keeping up with notebooks and starting assignments early will really help you come "crunch" time. Then instead of cramming everything into one week, you will stay calm and collected and be able to study a lot more.

3. Put your class locations, room number, building and times on the front of your calendar. Also, put the teacher's name there. You will be surprised how much this will help. I know I did not memorize each teacher's name for awhile, and used my class location and time information every day.

4. Put at least one other student's name and contact information in your calendar, and note which class they are in. This will save your booty when you are sick or miss some inportant information in class.

5. (VERY important) Look at your calendar EVERY DAY. Do not ever forget a day. And look ahead in the calendar so you know what is coming up.

I hope this calendar guide is helpful!

Nontraditionally yours,
Elizabeth

Online classes and relationships

Computer classes...
Originally uploaded by betsyanne.

On-line classes (or distance classes) vs. in-class classes:

It is really fun to take on-line classes sometimes. It's also true what they say, though - online classes can be even harder than "regular" classes where you are actually sitting in a class. When I took online classes, that's how it seemed to me. Not that it's impossible, only harder.

One of the younger students didn't keep up with one of the online classes I took. It was sad, too, because it was a writing class and the person was really talented. The ones (like me!) who just kept shloggin along did OK.

I did enjoy getting to know people face-to-face. It made going back to school more fun. You do get to know people sometimes in online classes. Some teachers like to meet for the first time in person, and then have the rest online. Some professors are doing some classes online, and some not. The day classes are mostly traditional. I think there is room for both. If a person MUST only take online classes, he or she must know that they take a lot of time, and he or she must check online often for assignments, and PLAN AHEAD.

Your Calendar
It's so important to have a calendar and mark out your personal deadlines there. You can take an assignment and break it up in to smaller pieces. That makes it SO much easier when it's crunch time and the assignment, paper, or project is all of a sudden due the next week. Don't set yourself up for high blood pressure or an all-nighter. The assignment calendar helps SO much. It has saved me many a time.