New Year Goals

The goal that I have for this class specifically this semester is to work on finding the best way to study for the tests that I have in this class. Last semester, we took a VARK questionnaire to find out how we study the best, and I found that aural, or listening, was in fact the best way that I studied; however, I will endeavor to find additional, more specific tactics to study for this class, and try new studying techniques that I may later apply to other classes in the future. My action plan for this goal will be first to keep track of/underline/highlight important terms and things that will for sure be on the test during class, when we take notes for the first time. Next, I will review my notes when the test date approaches by picking out certain terms or concepts that I don't understand or remember and take notes on those specific terms. Then, I will enlist in the help of a peer to go over the list of those terms that I didn't understand previously, and highlight the terms that I still feel are not as solid in my mind yet. The remaining terms will be far less in number than the first list of terms that I wrote down, and by focusing on those problem areas before the test in addition to browsing over the topics I covered before, I will be able to achieve greater success in my studying for this class.

The goal that I have in general spanning the entire semester would be cutting down on the amount of time that I spend procrastinating. In general, this year has probably been the worst for me in terms of procrastinating, and I feel that my sleep, stress levels, and maybe even a part of my grades have been suffering because of it. The action plan that I will set for this particular goal would be to first cut down the time between getting home and starting my homework to 30 minutes, because I have found that the longer that I spend not doing homework, the less that I want to start it. Then, when starting my homework, I will make sure to keep a glass of water next to me to keep me hydrated and focused when doing my work. To cut down on potential distractions, I will make sure to keep my phone away from me while doing homework by giving it to my sister to safe keep; additionally, if I have to do any homework on the computer, I will try to find website blockers to keep me from being distracted when I don't feel as motivated to do work.