It is so important now more than ever to stay on top of your assignments and tasks. I can't imagine how overwhelming it might be to try to stay on top of all of your in-class and online/virtual work in addition to all of the other new responsibilities you may have. If I could just say this,

YOU GOT THIS!! YOU CAN DO THIS!! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!

I have put together a few organization ideas for you, but the internet is full of great resources. Ultimately, you need to find a system that works well for you. But my hope is this will help give you some ideas to get you started.

General Organization

• Use your school agenda to stay on top of work!

• Use a color coding system in your agenda or with your binders/folders/online folders

• Actually have binders or folders and make sure each class has its OWN binder

  • Use binder organizers to separate by date or by unit/topic

  • Hole punch and keep neat

  • Use pockets for specific things (don't just shove random pages in there)

• Get a highlighter, colored pens, pencils, paper clips, a hole puncher, stapler, clasp rings (for making flash card sets), glue/tape etc.

• Set up your Google Drive so you have a folder for creating or downloading all of your work. You can do one folder for each class and create sub folders within the class for specific units, projects, etc.

• Download Google Chrome Extensions from the web store to make work easier

• Use these nifty organizer sheets found here if you don't like using your agenda

• Make a Google Doc or a Google Sheet of all of your student accounts, teacher's contact information, teacher office hours, etc.

• Create a clean area that you do your work at.

• Make checklists. Make separate lists for "Things to Return to School" "Things to Submit or Complete Virtually" "Things to Remember to Do" or make a list for "Things to do Today" "Things to do by the end of the week" and "Things to do by the end of the month"

• Set up alarms, timers, etc.

• Block out outside distractions and yes, maybe even your cell phones if you're at home!

Study Tips

• If you know you have a test or quiz, make a study plan for yourself 2 or 3 days ahead of time. Don't just wait for the classroom review game or the study guide.

  • Go home (or stay home) and do a 10-20 minute summary of everything you've learned in each of your classes.

  • Write down questions you still have

  • Review notes or presentations to help you.

• Find your studying niche!

  • Make your own flash cards

  • Quizlet and other online tools like Kahoot, Gimkit, Sporcle

  • Phone Quizzing (call a friend and quiz them or have them quiz you)

  • Turn each of your notes into a test question and write the correct answer

  • Read your notes out loud

  • Review completed classwork and read the feedback provided carefully

  • Fill out the study guide

Notes and Reading Comprehension

• If you are reading a text, take your time! A great way to fully comprehend what you are reading is to use these skills

  • Underline, highlight, circle, or write in the margins (online tools can allow for this to work as well).

  • Look at the headings of each section. Pay attention to its organization. When you've finished reading the section, you should know how to describe what the section heading says. For example, if the section is titled "Plant Nutritional Needs", you can turn this into a question and answer it by saying to yourself "What are plant nutritional needs? Plant nutritional needs involved...".

  • Find one sentence in the whole section that you think best explains what the section is talking about. Underline it.

  • Circle words that you are unfamiliar with or vocabulary words that you believe are important for comprehension of the text. Define them in the margins or find the definition within the text.

  • Write a summary of the text (section or whole) in your own words without looking at the document. See how far you can get and look at it when you need guidance to keep writing.

  • Highlight where you found your answers if completing a worksheet.

• When taking notes, follow the guided notes sheet closely

• Write down relevant stories, examples, or explanations even if there is not a line to write it. If those examples stand out to you, that's probably how you'll remember it for a test!

• Without guided note sheets, don't write down every single word. Read what the presentation says or listen to the general ideas the teacher is sharing. For example: In a lesson about photosynthesis, you might see a slide that looks like this:

  • "Photosynthesis is the process by which plants take in Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from the air, Water (H20) from the soil, and convert this with the presence of light/heat to create glucose (plant sugar) and a by-product of oxygen (O2) that is released into the air"

  • But you can just write down this "Photosynthesis is CO2 plus Water plus light = glucose (sugar) and oxygen (a by-product)". See how much simpler this is and how easily you can understand it when it's written in your own words? If you focus too much on getting every word, you're only seeing the words, not understanding them.

• As you go through your completed notes, make a check mark next to concepts you understand well, make a circle next to those you need to review, and make an "x" or a "?" next to those you don't understand. This will help you when you're reviewing it later so you can skip over information you know best in order to focus on what you are struggling with.

Your Supervised Agricultural Experience project is a semester long project that in the past, has been expected to be completed at home. See more about SAEs by clicking on the page or wait until Mrs. Moyer teaches about SAEs in class.

The basic idea is to bring together what's called the Three Circle Model of Agricultural Education. Essentially, it's structured like this:

• Classroom/Lab=content knowledge (what we do in class)

• FFA=youth leadership organization for agricultural advocacy and student growth and development (intra and extracurricular opportunities for students)

• and SAE=hands-on or real world learning experiences (direct application of skills learned in class or skills in agriculture).

Students are still expected to complete an SAE. The only difference being that they may rely on in-class time more often for updating their SAE project records on theaet.com. Here are some of my tips for staying organized with your SAE.

• Be present and thorough in setting up your account in-class when presented to the class. Ask questions as soon as you are stuck. DO NOT wait until the last minute to ask how to add a journal entry or log into your account!

• With that said, WRITE DOWN YOUR LOGIN AND PASSWORD

• If you have access to internet, you can easily hop on and update your records anytime.

• Whether or not you have internet access, some students are more comfortable with keeping a written journal of their SAE records and adding everything in at the end of the week, every other week, or whenever they have wifi available.

• If you are using a written journal, keep track of the following items at minimum:

  • Journals (what you did)

    • Tasks or skills you are completing

    • Date(s) you've completed them

    • How many hours you've spent working on it

  • Finances (income or expenses)

    • Date of purchase or income

    • Name of vendor you purchased from (ex. PetSmart) or who paid you (ex. my neighbor, Sally)

    • Keep pay stubs if applicable (employment)

    • How much you earned/paid (keep a receipt on hand or write down $$)

    • What the name of the item or service is (ex. Dog Food or Lawn Mowing)

  • Pictures

    • Document your SAE with pictures, or collect certificates, examples of work (hard copy or digitally), or other resources

• Keep an SAE folder or keep a separate place for your SAE notes in your ag binder

• Record due dates for SAE checks in your agenda or planner

• Review checklist items provided by the teacher (visit SAE tab for this checklist) to remind yourself of exactly what is due and when

• If you have questions or are struggling, please reach out to me ASAP! Too many students wait until the last minute and scramble... don't let that be you!