Purpose Statement
1. The purpose of the "Time Management Overview"
is to orient students to planning behaviors, use of time management tools, and
to enact action plans to be fully prepared for assignments and tests. The
purpose of the time management tools is to build in success by providing
students with practical ways to plan, monitor and make realistic adjustments in
time use.
2. The "Course Outline" can be used by both instructors or students
for in-class work by listing the day's topic and reading assignment, reminding
students of work to be turned in, highlighting key vocabulary words, and by
generating concept formation and questioning to facilitate memory and learning.
A teacher-made course outline is provided as an example for instructors
(through the weblink); students can print out the blank form and fill it out
before and in class as the instructor emphasizes certain ideas, concepts and
vocabulary words.
3. The "Time Traveler's Guide" allows the student to do long-range
planning using the course syllabus in order to get a good idea of when to begin
each assignment, including estimating time for reading and reviewing.
4. The "Project Planning Guide" allows a student to think through the
steps of a long assignment, such as a term paper, to order the sequence of
actions to be taken, determine a beginning date and monitor progress.
5. The "Long Term Planning Form" allows the student to put major
assignments from all classes on one sheet, thus consolidating essential
information from several syllabi and creating a gestalt, or larger picture.
Description of
Activity
Individuals differ in their temporal orientation and need
for temporal referents. These tools are intended for those of us who need to
write things down to gain a sense of control, responsibility, precision,
accuracy, organization and to facilitate memory and timely action. After
discussing and demonstrating each of the tools, invite the students to
experiment with them, and then select the tools of most benefit, or adapt them
for specific purposes. (See "Options" for other uses.)
1. Time Management Overview: A one-page list of things to do, to use, and to
consider to enhance planning behavior and time management for success.
2. Course Outline: A basic outline of day-by-day actions to do and essentials
to study to be fully prepared for class, tests and assignments.
3. Time Traveler's Guide: A form to use to list all major assignments in the
class, to estimate how long each will take so one starts early enough, and to
encourage one to coach or monitor oneself to get done in time.
4. Project Planning Form: A form to help analyze steps of lengthy tasks,to plan
when to begin each part, and to monitor progress toward completion.
5. Long Term Planning Form: A simple blank calendar form to be used for
recording all important assignments of the term in one place, drawing from
course syllabi and any of the other planning forms in use.
Materials Needed
See examples by linking to webpages below. Print out from
the webpage or contact Gerry Lewin for a copy at lewin@sbcc.net or (805)
965-0581, ext. 2343.
Make an overhead of the blank forms to be demonstrated in class. Note: When
first distributing the "Time Traveler's Guide" and "Project
Planning Guide", copy directions on the back of the form.
Website = www.west.net/~ger/index.html. The Long Term Planner does not appear
below but will be available under "Organizational Tools" on the Main
Menu, as will the four linked below.
Application
All of the forms are designed to be used with your regular
class assignments and should only take 5-10 minutes to demonstrate (minimally).
Discussion can be shortened or lengthened depending upon instructor preference.
1. Time Management: Introduce the topic of time management with a general class
discussion appropriate to your subject area to establish students' sense of the
need for it. This can take any form, such as drawing from students' and your
own experiences re. what strategies they or you use, what are the consequences
of not having enough time, what are the problems inherent in trying to plan
time, and eliciting possible rewards of time planning. Hand out the "Time
Management Overview" and discuss the suggested aspects of time planning.
(If time permits, the other forms may be given out at the same time and
demonstrated later.) Check to make sure students have access to day runners and
weekly time use forms; if not, refer them to study skills books which provide
them (see list below) or to the Campus Bookstore. Encourage them to make an
inventory of time use.
2. Long Term Planner: At the end of the second week when students have settled
into their classes, distribute and/or refer to the "Long Term
Planner" and demonstrate on an overhead how to record important
assignments from all the course syllabi on the one calendar. Just a few minutes
spent recording hypothetical tasks along with a few examples from your course
will do. The form should be copied on both sides allowing for four months
planning, or it can be adapted to fit individual course requirements.
3. Time Traveler's Guide: When you distribute your syllabus, hand out the
"Time Traveler's Guide" and demonstrate how to use it on an overhead
using your own major course requirements. By talking aloud as if you were a
student, you can demonstrate how to estimate reading time and include it on the
form. The directions should be on the back of the form for easy reference.
Ease of use comes after experimenting with it. Don't be put off by the
seemingly complicated directions.
4. Project Planning Guide: As you distribute a description of a long-term
assignment, give out the "Project Planning Guide". Demonstrate how to
use it by writing on an overhead of a blank PPG (or prepare one in advance to
save time), following the directions on the back of the sheet. This is an ideal
time to teach students thoroughness by role modeling how to think through the
steps of an assignment using task analysis.
5. Options: You can include any or all of the time management tools as an
essential part of the class by requiring a completed form be turned in with an
assignment. To check if they understand how to use the "Time Traveler's
Guide", require that they turn it in at the beginning of the semester, or
bring it filled out to an interview with you or your department tutors.
Related Student
Services
1. The LRC module on time management skills teaches students
how to plan their time effectively.
2. If a student has financial needs, refer him or her to the Financial Aid
Office on the second floor of the Student Services Building. This may help a
student cut down working hours.
3. The student may need to meet with a counselor to discuss chronic problems
not addressed by use of time management tools, such as how to choose
commitments wisely, how to say no, how to learn concentration &
self-discipline.
4. Study Skills Books:
Bragstad, Bernice Jensen, and Stumpf, Sharyn M. A Guidebook for Teaching Study
Skills and Motivation. 2nd ed. Newton: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1982.
Ellis, David. Becoming a Master Student. 6th ed. Rapid City: College Survival,
Inc., 1991.
Kanar, Carol. The Confident Student. 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998.
Pauk, Walter. How to Study in College. 5th. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Inc.
1993.
Scharf-Hunt, Diana, and Pam Hait. Studying Smart. New York: HarperPerennial,
1990.
Links/Handouts
this
web page was created on 2/24/99 at 9:38:13 PM
and modified on 3/13/99 at 9:50:34 AM