How to start off a new semester on the right foot

It's now a few weeks into the fall term, and by now, students should be well organized with what they have to accomplish. Being organized and managing one's time is crucial to success. It is important to plan out the entire term and each week. Knowing everything that needs to be done at the start of the week will help students plan their time more wisely.

For the students who have me as a tutor, I spend the first week planning out the term and getting them organized. I use 2 tools to help with this process: a course chart and a term schedule. The course chart includes important information from each syllabus for each class, and summarizes all of it in one chart. The term schedule lists what is due for each class each week.

The course chart is helpful for several reasons. From the first day, students become familiar with everything that is expected from them. They have to learn their professors' names, where their offices are, and how to contact them. The students become familiar with the number of tests, the assignments, the projects, and the weight of each in the final grade. Also, they are made aware of specific policies for each professor, such as late assignments and attendance. Even if students never look at the chart again for the rest of the term, they do not have any excuses for not knowing what is expected of them. My students usually remember what is important, or they remember where to find it.

The term schedule is the most referred to chart throughout the term. Former and current students ask me for them. We look at this chart every day. It keeps us on the right track throughout the term. The chart is organized by week, and lists each assignment, test, or task for each class that is due that week. I have a master chart with all of my students on it. It keeps me organized. I can look at it and know a certain student will want extra time with me the week before a test or a paper is due.

Completing these charts is the first task of the term. Within the first two days of the term, they are finished. By the third day, we are ready to get busy because we know what to do and when to do it.