September in a Nut Shell

This picture pretty much defines my life the first five weeks of school, chaotic.

Two and a half weeks later and I'm back! September has been a whirl wind of a month.  The month has been filled with Formal Recruitment preparations, Sorority recruitment, meetings, establishing new semester routines, completing homework, studying, completing my first round of exams, starting  new field placement, a visit to Penn State, a wedding, and squeezing in a small amount of time to relax.  On top of all that, balancing my duties as Chapter President and taking eighteen credits has been quite challenging. Now that I am five weeks into the semester, I can finally say I have a grasp on my life again.  My blogging hiatus has come to an end, and I am excited to be posting again.  Some things to you'll find here in the near future include: mason jar recipes, a recap of Recruitment, more organizational tips, a glimpse into what I've been wearing lately and everything related to my favorite season, Fall. 

I hope you have a fantastic Tuesday!

XOXO

Assignment Sheet for Fall Semester

The Fall semester is always much more busy for me than the Spring semester. Due to this I like to make sure I begin each year really on top of things.  This is my fourth semester taking eighteen credits or more.  Managing six to seven courses plus labs can become a little bit challenging.  In order to prevent myself from forgetting any important assignments, I like to create a semester assignment sheet.  This assignment sheet contains all course readings, days of labs, days when classes are cancelled, online modules, exams, quizzes, homework assignments, papers, readings that go along with certain lectures and any other assignments.  The first week of classes I take the time to read through the syllabus for each class, and then I gradually compile all of the dates and assignments into one large document.  I know it's the third week of classes, so if you still want to create one of these it's still not too late! Below you will find the steps I take to turn six syllabus into one document.

One: Read through each syllabus 

Two: Order your syllabus in the order that you have your classes (example: 1st- MF 11am class, 2nd- MWF 1pm class, 3rd- MWF 2pm class, 4th- Tues/Thurs 9:30am class, etc.)

Three: Open up an excel spreadsheet or a word document.  I recommend using whichever one you are more comfortable navigating. Personally, I prefer to use word. 

Four: Create a table with four columns and lots of rows.  The number of rows will be adjusted depending on the number of assignments you have. 

Five:  Title the columns as follows: Due Date, Date Completed, Class, and Assignments.

Six: Begin by creating a row for each of the weeks. I usually include the week's dates and the week number in these rows.

Seven: Open up the first syllabus to the list of due dates and assignments.  Begin by entering all the due dates for week one for this class.  Once you have done this, then move on and complete this for each week of the semester.  

Eight: Repeat step seven until you have entered the dates for each of your courses.

Nine:  Bold any quizzes or exams. This will help them stand out more. 

I bring this sheet with me to every class.  If professors change any due dates, then I simply take some white out and adjust the due date.  As I complete each assignment I write down the date it is completed, and then I  use a highlighter to highlight that the assignment has been completed. This assignment sheet is helpful for planning out my weeks.  By referencing this sheet, I can easily view which weeks are going to be busier academically and when I need to start studying for quizzes and exams. 

If you have any questions setting up your semester assignment sheet, then feel free to email me!

Like these posts, view similar ones:Start of Spring Semester & Syllabus Organizational Tips

XOXO

The Essential School Supplies

Today I'm here to share with y'all my first post in the Bloggers Back to School linkup series. Nicole of Empire Styles and Cathleen of Classy Cathleen have collaborated to create this  wonderful link up. This week's topic is school supplies. I've said it before and I will say it again. I love school supplies. It's hard for me to go into my local Target without wandering down the office/school supplies isles.  I love to color code things and keep a neat calendar.  I like to keep my school stuff incredibly organized, which calls for certain school supplies. Staying organized in college looks a lot different than your high school organizational techniques. So how do I  stay organized in college? These items play a huge role in keeping my schoolwork organized. 

Agenda: This is where I write down all of my assignments, to do lists, meeting times/locations, and sorority events. My agenda helps me remember where I need to be and what I need to do on a daily basis. 

Folders: I have two folders. One that I use for my Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes and another one I use for my Tuesday/Thursday classes. I keep all of the syllabuses in these folders along with any papers I need for the week. At the end of each week, I empty my folder out and put the papers in my binder. 

Binder: I use one binder a semester. This binder usually isn't something that I bring to classes unless we are studying for an upcoming exam.  This binder contains all of my papers for each of my courses. 

Dividers: I place one divider for each class into the binder. I prefer to use dividers that have pockets in them because I can place papers that haven't been whole punched there.  At the end of the end of the week, I whole punch each of the papers and place them in their correct section. 

Notebooks: Since I don't bring my binder with me to classes, I use the notebooks to take all of my notes in. I usually write my notes during lecture and then re-write them when I am studying. 

Black Pens: I prefer to use G2 ball point pens for my black pens because they make my handwriting look more neat.  I like to use black pens for my lab assignments and to take notes. I also use them to write my to do lists as well. 

Highlighters: I use these for my agenda organization, for in class note taking and when I am studying. Using colors helps me remember what information is the most important. 

Colored Pens: These help to make note taking more interesting. I also use these to help me keep my agenda organized. I mentioned color coding at the beginning of this post, and these pens are basically what I use to color code things. 

Now that it's the second week of classes, it's time to start getting organized. I hope my list of school supplies helps you start your year off more organized than ever!

XOXO