SELF CARE should always have high priority

Self care looks like...

• • Self-care manifests in many forms, which includes your daily routines (ex: showering, prayer, exercise). It includes healthy eating, regular exercise, adequate sleep, socializing, and mindfulness, among other things,

Self care means:

• • Taking the time each day to show your body the respect it deserves for facilitating your privilege of attending higher-level education. Practicing self-care includes taking the time every day to connect with your body, identify feelings/needs, and act accordingly. 

Self-care does not mean:

• • Regularly staying out late to socialize and not getting a sufficient amount of sleep.

  • Eating poorly by choice or because “time did not permit it”. 

  • Missing class regularly.

  • Consuming recreational drugs excessively (includes alcohol as alcohol is a drug).

Emotional regulation tips while transitioning to online/remote learning from Dr. Hollenstein of Queen’s University:

https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/accepting-anxiety-covid-19-looms-0

• • Distract yourself with leisure activities to reduce anxiety

  • Displace the focus from yourself (acknowledge that other people are facing similar challenges) 

  • Seek + provide social support; talk about what is weighing on your mind 

Studying Techniques for Online Learning: 

** The following resources have been taken from York University's Learning Skills Services at https://lss.info.yorku.ca/online-learning/  ** 

Tips from York University:

https://lss.info.yorku.ca/files/2020/05/YorkUOnlineStudyTips_Updated05-01-20.pdf?x62843 

1. Managing your time 

   • Stick to a routine: try to wake-up at the same time every morning, have meals regularly, engage in some kind of physical activity daily 

   • Balance your time between schoolwork and leisure. Take time for enjoyable activities and socializing with friends/family 

   • Divide your tasks (e.g, assignments) and work on them one step at a time

     • Start well enough in advance; avoid cramming!

       • If you have 6 hours of coursework, space it over a few days (e.g, 2 hours a day for 3 days)

     • Do not look to far ahead; focus on one step and then move forward 

   • Study at the time of day that works best for you

2.  Your study space 

• • Pick a quiet space, free of distractions where you know you will be more productive 

  • Avoid studying on your bed or couch. This will diminish your motivation to study 

  • Set-up at a spacious work station (e.g, a large desk) where you can spread out your materials

  • Have all of your materials with you from the beginning (e.g, pens, pencils, paper, etc.)

  • Bring water and snacks with you to keep you hydrated and energized

  • Step away from your study zone when you take a break

3.  Active Participation

• • Find out when and how you can communicate with your instructor and peers

  • Stay engaged during class and outside of class: respond to questions, complete discussion activities, try practice quizzes 

  • Establish trusted contacts with classmates. Exchange information to communicate them if necessary

4.  Motivation

• • Intrinsic: Why did you pick the course? Why is it interesting? Find reasons to be excited about the course.

  • Extrinsic: Set breaks and rewards to motivate you. 

  • POMODORO TECHNIQUE: work for a set amount of time (e.g, 1 hour), and then take a set break (e.g, 15 mins) as a reward for your hard work

More online learning tips:

https://lsa.umich.edu/content/dam/rll-assets/rll-docs/Study%20Habits.pdf

• Be patient with yourself, your instructor and your classmates! Problems (e.g, technical difficulties) may arise for all of us. 

Organizing yourself:

• • Know ahead of time when/how to access your classes (e.g, Zoom? What’s the meeting ID?)

  • Keeping track of changing due dates and examination dates

  • Know how to get extra help if you need it

    • Virtual office hours

    • Emailing instructors 

    • Online question forums 

Avoid multitasking:

• • Everything will get done in due time, do not overwork yourself juggling more than you can handle all at once. 

  • When multitasking you may:

    • Lose track of where you left off on one task

    • Get distracted and make errors

    • Exhaust yourself when switching between tasks

    • Compromise what gets encoded into memory 

      • Your brain has to divide its resources to more things at a time

  • Avoid multitasking by:

    • Focusing on one thing at a time

      • Setting aside a designated time to do each individual task 

    • Taking breaks to reset between tasks

      • (remember the Pomodoro method) 

During any given class:

• • Close any distracting tabs open on your personal devices

  • Continue to diligently take notes

For pre-recorded lectures:

• • Watch at a normal speed (as if you were attending in-person)

    • Continue to take-in as much information as possible 

    • You won’t miss-out on important material 

Create a visual timetable/organizer

• • Enter important dates/information to help you keep track of upcoming deadlines/test dates/events

  • A visual aid will serve as a nice overview of your commitments

    • You won’t miss anything

    • You can cross items off your timetable when they’re complete 

Keeping in-touch:

• • Schedule study sessions with friends or peers over the phone/video call

  • Motivate each other to avoid procrastination

  • Reassure one another when in-doubt

    • It doesn’t hurt to get a boost of confidence from a friendly figure 

  • Create a group chat where you can communicate about class assignments and seek clarification about projects

    • Share and compare notes/insights from your classes 

    • Ask for someone to be a back-up note taker if you anticipate that you are going to miss a class 

Creating Structure and Routine for yourself: 

https://advising.virginia.edu/resources/coronavirus-homestudy/

1) Planning your time

• • • Keep referring back to your syllabi; look out for updates/changes to due dates from your instructor

    • Set reminders on your personal devices or use sticky notes

    • Determine roughly how much time you will need to devote to coursework from each class

      • Each week, plan what you want to do from each class; spend the appropriate amount of time on each task

      • Decide on a good time of the day to work on your tasks

      • Try to stick to your plan but do not be discouraged if you do not get it all done!

2) Schedules and Boundaries

• • • Discuss boundaries/schedules with those you live with

    • Be aware of everyone’s schedules. Honour each other’s privacy/school-related commitments. 

    • Avoid being disruptive to those you live with while they are working. 

    • Determine how you will share technological resources with family members or how you will resolve technical problems when/if they arise

    • Remind those you live with when a class is about to begin

3) State of Mind

• • • Be an active, respectful participant during class!

      • Do not be shy to ask for clarification  

    • Mute your microphone/stop video if needed during a class (e.g, if there is background noise; if you have to step away for a break)

    • Get dressed in appropriate attire and look presentable 

    • Before class begins, reflect on what you would like to ask/say to your instructor during class

Helpful tips for online exams: 

https://lss.info.yorku.ca/files/2020/03/Tips-for-online-exam-1.pdf?x62843 

1) consult the exam guidelines and instructions from your course instructor ahead of time

2) stable internet connection 

• • • • Notify your instructor immediately if you are having technical difficulties

3) keep track of time while you write (budget enough time for each question)

4) academic integrity

• • • • Be aware of the rules

      • Do not look at notes or collaborate with peers if it is not permitted

        • You’re only putting yourself at risk of a zero

5) organized space: 

• • • • Set-up on an adequate surface (e.g, a desk); clear your surroundings

      • Have all supplies prepared (e.g, pencil, eraser, calculator) 

https://www.lib.sfu.ca/about/branches-depts/slc/learning/exam-types/open-book-exams  

Coping with open-book exams:

• • Types of questions:

    • Instructors will likely ask application/thinking questions where you will have to apply the content. 

    • Answers will unlikely be found directly in your notes/textbook

    • Avoid taking on the mindset that open-book exams are easier. They are not supposed to be

      • Instructors actually have higher expectations

  • Preparing:

    • Learn/know all of the content well; don’t rely on your notes/textbook

      • You have limited time to look through your resources

    • Organize your resources (e.g, notes) to find information easily 

    • Write key information on sticky notes 

      • Have them arranged in front of you

      • Stick them to important pages of your notes/textbooks

      • Make them colour-coded if it helps

    • Create a summary of important concepts you think will be covered on the exam

      • Come up with some practice questions for yourself

      • Do practice questions that your instructor may have provided

      • Re-do questions from homework 

  • Things to keep in mind

    • 1) Time is scarce! 

    • 2) Paraphrase and simplify where possible (it will save you time and energy)

    • 3) Review at the end if time permits

STUDYING TECHNIQUES

• • Apps: 

    • Android: Forest, Brain Focus Productivity Timer 

    • iOS: FocusBooster, Pomello

Distributed vs massed practice

• • Spacing studying over a period of time is a much more effective learning strategy than studying all material in one session.

ABC study model

• • Let A, B, and C be different courses

  • Alternate between courses A, B, and C and resist the urge to focus on one course exclusively.

CONCEPTS RELEVANT TO STUDYING AND INFORMATION RECALL

State-congruent recall

• • Recall is improved when body is in the same state at retrieval as it was at encoding

  • Solution: If you’ve enjoyed a coffee while you memorized material, make sure you have one at retrieval!

Mood-congruent recall

• • Improved recall when same mood at both retrieval and encoding

  • Solution: Regular exercise and mindful relaxation techniques help alleviate stress and anxiety

Context-congruent recall

• • Recall is better when you recall in the same environment that you encoded in

  • Solution: Come to empty classroom on the weekend before the exam to study. Rooms are generally unlocked and empty!

Self-referential Effect

• • Researchers discovered that relating concepts to oneself or to salient personal life experiences will facilitate greater recall.

  • Solution: Tie concepts to your life experiences or refer them to yourself in some manner.

Deep level processing

• • Elaborating on prior knowledge to network concepts and known concepts and/or ideas.

  • Solution: Regularly quiz yourself on concepts, try to imagine situations where they would / would not apply, ethical concerns, etc.

Essentially, the rule is “the more neural resources you can apply to forming memories, the stronger the memory will be”

• • When handwriting or typing notes, quietly whisper or mouth the words

  • Due to the magnitude of processing required, visual memory is generally superior to auditory or tactile memory.