Visual Learners Guide to Time Management

Hey guys! I’m back with more strategies this week. If you missed last week’s blog update, just scroll down the blog page and you should find our older posts. Anyway, this week I decided to go back to an older strategy you guys might remember from the beginning of the semester. This strategy is a Time Management strategy called the Target Planner. I’ve used this strategy before to help me organize large projects such as my CLS interview Project, and my Acting performance project. This week I used this strategy in my WRT 105 class and my ART 253, or Survey of Film History. In my WRT 105 class, I have an essay due this up coming Tuesday, so what I did is made a Target Planner that chunked the essay into smaller tasks. At the center of my Target Planner is the due date of the final draft, along with my writing portfolio and reflection. I dated that “November 1, 2011.” The next ring after that was labeled “Reflection and Portfolio Due, this is the date I selected to gather my portfolio materials and write the reflection. The rings before that are Labeled “Final Draft edited”, which marks the day I plan to edit my final paper, and “Free Write” which is the days I plan to just write everything I’m thinking down on the paper”. The final and outermost ring is labeled “Organize Thoughts” this is where I will be brain storming ideas for the paper and organizing what exactly I what to say with the information I have. I found this strategy to be very effective for me. As a visual learner it is important that I am able to visually see the work I have to complete and by the dates they need to be completed by. I chose The Target Planner strategy because it had a perfect combination of Visual appeal to help convey what I need to do and organize it in such a way that I can use it to accomplish a large assignment, such as this research essay. Since my course is analytical based, it is up to me to decide what I should write and what I should want to say about a piece of writing. For this project I needed to watch the film Blood Diamond and pick a scene that interested me that I could write about and analyze. The essay is really the only grade I have in my WRT 105 class, so it is essential that I do well on it, so I think the Target Planner was a good choice in Strategies for this project because it gave me a visual way to approach the essay.

I also used the Target Planner in my ART 253 class, which is also my Survey of Film History course. Since I am a visual learner, I find the class pretty interesting. We’re taught by my Professor giving a Lecture along with showing power point slides, which really appeals to my visual senses and helps me learn better. The Materials I need are the notes I take, and the films my teacher assigns outside of class. For me, the best way for me to learn is by listening to the teachers lecture, and following along with the power point slides. Since I’m given notes for the class, I am able to focus on what my professor is saying and learn more about the subjects we’re being tested on. There’s really only two main ways we’re evaluated in the class, ones through the Journal responses we write about each film we view, and the other is the exam we’re given. Unfortunately, on Monday, I have an exam on everything we’ve covered since the last test. But! This is not a problem; I found I could use the Target Planner as a way to organize how I will go about studying for my upcoming exam. At the center of my Target is the date of the exam, which I titled as “Test”. The outer ring of my target is titled “get notes from girl in class” which I labeled as “Oct. 28 – 29^th” This is the time when I will get the notes from the girl who takes them in class. The next ring is titled “Review Notes with friends and textbook”. I date this as “Oct. 28 – 30^th”, during which I will be reviewing all the notes I’ve received from the lecture and compare them with the textbook we were assigned for maximum learning efficiency and understanding. The ring after that, which is also the one just before the test date is titled “Make additional study Aids,” in which I planned to use some other strategies I’ve previously use such as the Q and A map, and 20 Minute test prep. After I made the Target Planner I felt much more confident with taking my exam, I also felt less stressed and more prepared for the week ahead. I think the Target Planer is a very effective strategy. It reduces stress, organizes large daunting tasks into smaller more approachable tasks, and visually shows what you need to accomplish by date. I chose this strategy because I am a visual learner, and as a visual learner I needed a way to visually see how I would go about accomplishing the task of studying for my upcoming exam. I think this strategy proved to be very effective, both in my WRT 105, and my ART 253. I recommend the use of this strategy to all of those who feel overwhelmed by a large task. Don’t worry! With the Target Planner, you can get it done!