5 Important Time Managment Tips for Students

“Time is what we want most, but what we spend worst.”
– William PennMr. Penn hit the nail on the head with this quotation. As humans we beg, plead, bargain and negotiate for more time. However, if asked how we would spend it, our answers tend to come up short. As in life, time management in your education is paramount to your success as a student. Those students that master it, perform very well in their classes.Mastering your time management will be a necessity during your schooling (and with any schooling after that!). Students that manage to develop skill sets to better control their time will find greater success and less stress. However, just like any other skill, time management is learned.So here are a few Time Management tips for your education. If you are not using them now, put them into practice and see how much more efficient you become!Prioritize your tasks
Look at your day ahead and take a few minutes to figure out what NEEDS to be done THAT DAY! These should be things that directly relate to your current goal(s). If something does not correspond to your immediate goals, it has less importance. Something that is necessary to complete your goal that day has severe importance and demands your attention that day!Make a list
Knowing what you have to complete in your day keeps you focused and task oriented. Take 10 minutes before you go to bed and make a list (using the priorities from tip #1) of the tasks to be completed that day. Carry this list with you and refer to it often. When you complete a task, cross it off (it feels good!). At the end of the day you should have your list completely crossed off. If not, the tasks you did not get to will go at the top of tomorrow’s list.Concentrate on ONE task at a time
Attack your list one thing at a time. This one can be hard for many as we all have distractions in our lives. Try to avoid them at all costs. Close Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, turn off the TV and shut the door! By being laser-focused on completing that one task before anything else you will help keep yourself from feeling overwhelmed. Once that one is done move on to the next on the list.Dedicate time throughout the day
This is CRUCIAL! Plan your day in accordance with what needs to be done (I.e.: if you have an exam the next day you need to allow time for study). Everyday should be planned out before it starts. Take time for school studies, job, family and also time to relax (don’t forget this one!). Benjamin Franklin once said, “If we fail to plan, then we plan to fail”. If you do not plan your day, others will plan it for you. When that happens, you become less effective and you become one of those people that say “I just don’t have enough time”Build “time rewards” into your schedule
In order to make a habit of time management- you need to reward yourself for all your hard work. Put time allotments in your schedule that give you time to do something you want to do, not something you have to do. Take time to exercise, read a book and just generally relax.Going to school can be tasking. If you master your time, you make your education that much easier and more fulfilling. Implement a few of these tips into your routine (for our current students, do it immediately!). I guarantee you will feel less overwhelmed and in more control of your education, job and life.

Education – Tips For Teaching Learners Who Are Struggling

It is always concerning to a parent when they discover that their child is falling behind in the classroom. When this happens, it is best to systematically consider possible causes. One common cause of a relatively sudden decline in academic performance is vision or hearing loss. It may not occur to either teachers or parents that a child cannot now see the board, where they were once able to. The change might have been so gradual that the student does not realize it either. Even if they do, they may be reluctant to mention it to their parents, primarily because they don’t want glasses! So, if your child suddenly experiences difficulty, a vision and hearing assessment might be in order.If a child’s hearing and vision is adequate, it may be time to visit the pediatrician. These medical professionals can assist with identifying attention problems and can provide referrals for others who might be able to evaluate your child for a learning issue. Ultimately, a pediatrician can rule out any organic condition that might be causing your child to have difficulty learning.If everything checks out well from your child’s medical evaluation, it is wise to consider enlisting some one-on-one help, combined with an effective teaching system. Luckily, there are some effective strategies or teaching practices that can be implemented by teachers, tutors, and parents that can help learners who struggle in academic areas. These strategies involve setting up an appropriate learning environment, providing adequate support, and designing and implementing effective instruction.Setting Up a Learning EnvironmentWhen considering the best ways to set up an appropriate learning environment, we should likely keep in mind the things our mother used to tell us. Find a well-lit, well-ventilated location. Work or study at a table, where there is ample space. Do not attempt to tackle a reading assignment while lying on the bed or on the couch. Most importantly, find a location that is distraction-free. Attempting to learn the causes of the Civil War is difficult to do while watching a reality show on TV!Providing Adequate SupportWhen students are struggling with a particular academic task, the worst thing is for them to feel isolated. Many are reluctant to ask for help from the teacher. After all, when the teacher asks, “Are there any questions?”, is anyone actually going to ask one, in front of everyone? There are many ways to provide additional support to a learner. For example, the teacher might do a “progress check” from time to time during an assignment, to ensure that the learner understands the assignment. The teacher might provide a “study buddy” or “peer tutor”; often, children would much rather work with another student in their class rather than with the teacher or instructional aide. Parents may offer additional support to their child by monitoring homework sessions and helping students prepare for tests. They may seek the services of a private tutor for a couple of sessions each week.Designing InstructionWhen designing effective instruction, be mindful that very few students learn easily from information that is presented in a lecture format. Focus on teaching to a variety of modalities. For visual learners (which most children are), use pictures, videos, graphic organizers, charts, graphs, tables, and time lines. For auditory learners, use songs, music, lectures, discussions, and debates. Nearly every child can benefit from kinesthetic, hands-on activities. Isn’t it much more meaningful to learn about anatomy through frog dissection, rather than reading a chapter and answering questions about anatomy?Implementing Effective InstructionsBesides designing well-conceived instruction, some practices will make instruction even more effective. First, provide frequent breaks for students. There is no point in asking a student with attention difficulties to sit for a long period of time and to focus on a single task. At home, parents should help students break their study time into segments in order for students to be able to engage efficiently in a task. Teachers, parents, and tutors should assist students with focusing on essential information, not trivia. For example, when studying about the Abraham Lincoln, the most important information is related to his presidency and his influence on the outcome of the Civil War, not the name of the theater in which he was assassinated. In addition, one way to ensure that students will retain information is to review often. Rather than beginning to prepare for a test two days prior to it, students should be encouraged to do distributed practice – intermittent sessions of study for more than a week leading up to the test. This prevents “cramming”, and allows students ample time to learn the information well enough to recall it.Students who have difficulty often do not simply “pick up” on strategies or techniques that help them learn. They need to have these directly taught to them by teachers, tutors, and parents. These tips are easy to implement and teach to students. The best part is that not only students who have difficulty will benefit from these tips – all students will.