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Tips for Surviving Online School

Since most of us are online due to COVID-19, I decided to make a short infographic (thanks to Canva) on how to make online learning easier. I'm on the same boat too but I made online classes into a way I can somewhat enjoy. I hope this helps for anyone who needs it!

princesshamlet-deactivated20210

blackout poetry, hamlet act 5 scene 2

chewbacca

Spike Lee talking about Green Book after the 2019 Academy Awards

kaijutegu

How to e-mail your professor to ask for things, if that’s something that makes you anxious.

Midterms are approaching, and one thing that I’ve always noticed in my own students is that some of them are really anxious about e-mailing me to ask for things. This is frustrating for both of us, because I can’t help them if they don’t ask for it, and they can’t get what they need if they’re too anxious to ask for help! So, I’ve written up a bit of a guide with some advice.

Generally, the types of e-mails students are anxious about are requests for things like extensions or excused absences. I’ve been a TA/head lecturer for six years now and have gotten literally thousands of student e-mails. The fact is, your professor isn’t going to dissect your e-mail for every little tonal shift. Don’t worry about it! I give you official permission to not over-analyze the e-mails you’re sending to your professor/TA/whomever asking for a couple extra days on that paper! Just be polite, honest, and succinct. Generally, student e-mails are read very quickly, unless there’s extenuating circumstances or the request is unusual. The format I suggest to my students and that I often use when I’m contacting someone for the first time professionally goes like this:

Greeting Introduction, if it’s a big class or you don’t know the professor well. Description of problem/Question. Steps you’ve taken so far to correct your problem. Where you’re at now. Query about further steps. Thanks, Your name (first and last)

This is just a skeleton- you don’t necessarily need every single part. But it is good to let your professor know what you’ve done to fix the problem on your own- whether that’s getting notes from a friend, taking things to the writing center, etc. Not all problems have an obvious solution, but if you’ve done something, letting them know shows your instructor that you’re taking ownership of the situation.

A formal e-mail like this also helps you judge their response to your situation. If you’re overwhelmed and having emotional distress, that’s not something that every professor is sympathetic about, unfortunately. If you don’t have a good gauge on how they react to students, keeping your e-mail very task-oriented without giving too much away about your emotional state can be healthier for you and will lead to better outcomes re: the thing you need.

A couple of good tips:

- Check your syllabus for your teacher’s absence policies. Many universities and/or departments require documentation, and if you can provide this ahead of time, it’ll be easier for you.

- Talk to the person who has the most direct contact with you in the class. This means that if you have a TA who leads your section, ask them your questions before the professor or head lecturer. Most likely, the TA is the one who’s handling the direct permissions for excused absences or extensions. If you’ve gotten to know your TA a bit, they can advocate for you for things like permission to take a test earlier or later.

- If you need to make arrangements for alternative test dates, always go earlier if you possibly can.

- Don’t make up fake excuses or exaggerate; honesty is important, and professors have seen some very creative lies. By now, we’re good at detecting them. I once had a student who e-mailed about a car accident and attached a photo of a car with a smashed headlight as “evidence.” The picture was the fourth result on google for “car with broken headlight.” Had the student just asked for what they wanted, they may have gotten it; instead, all they did was infuriate their TA and give me a good example of why you shouldn’t lie about why you’re missing class.

- If you have a disability that affects your work or your ability to attend classes, your school should have an office of disability/disability resource center. In the US, disabled students’ accommodations are protected by the ADA, and getting a letter of accommodation will ideally ensure that your needs are met. If your professor pushes back against your accommodations (unfortunately, that happens sometimes), go back to your DRC and let them know, because that’s a violation of federal law. Remember that learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and mental illness are all protected by law- you can get accommodations for any of those conditions!

- Always end your e-mail with a question. The question mark flags the e-mail as something actionable, something the person can answer immediately. Just seeing the ? makes your e-mail something to deal with now rather than later.

- Boomerang is a free* tool for Gmail that can: o Schedule your e-mails, so if you’re writing an e-mail at 3 AM and you feel weird about your instructor seeing you’re up that late, you can set the mail to send at 8 AM instead. o Attach read receipts that tell you when the e-mail was opened, if you’re worried about it not getting read. o Score your e-mail on how likely a response is based on subject length, word count, question count, reading level, and advanced features you can pay to unlock including positivity, politeness, and subjectivity. *Mostly free- a lot of the basic tools are free, but some you have to pay to unlock. I’ve never used any of the paid features.

How to Use Boomerang

The screenshot below shows you how Gmail integrates with Boomerang- if you install it as a browser extension, it automatically generates the buttons. No special work required. There’s also an app for iOS and Android. I wrote this e-mail using the template that I’ve provided at the end of this post; it’s short, polite, and gets the message across clearly. For initial contact e-mails, you really can just fill in the blanks.

The little blue envelope in the bottom center-right is how you turn on the read receipt feature. Your recipient will not be notified that you got a read receipt, so don’t worry about that. The green bar in the bottom right is the respondable score, and the red button on the bottom left is how you schedule your e-mail to go out at a scheduled time.

This is a screenshot of how the respondablity is graded. There’s sweet spots for different aspects of the e-mail. It can tell you if your e-mail is too wordy or too concise to be helpful, based largely on statistical estimates. It’s not always right! Some e-mails need to be wordier or more complicated than others! But it’s a helpful guideline.

Copy and Paste (and then edit) (unless your name really is [Your name]

Finally, a template that you can just copy and edit to your heart’s content. Don’t be afraid to talk to your professors- even if they are brusque or don’t give you the response you want, polite communication wherein you outline your problem and your solution is a really worthwhile skill to develop. And the more you communicate with your teachers, the more comfortable you’ll feel. So don’t be afraid! Reach out to your instructors whenever you need something!

Dear [Name],

My name is [Name] and I’m in your [Time] [Course title and course number] class. [Brief explanation of problem], and was hoping that I [brief description of solution]. I currently [steps you’ve taken- pages written, are you getting notes from a classmate, etc.], but need [state exactly what you need]. Is there any way I [proposal for solution]?

Thanks, [Your name]

This isn’t the ONLY way to word an e-mail, of course, and if you’re comfortable with your style, don’t change things up! But if you’re feeling lost or unsure or just want a guide, I really hope this post helped!

theyuniversity

How to Pull an All-Nighter Effectively and Still Do Well on Your Exam

danielyang

thisisjennn:

FOR ALL YOU STUDENTS THAT ARE BAD TRIPPING LIKE I AM

ofminervas

hello !! ok so today i want to share some of the things i’ve learnt in my years of being a languages student, particularly regarding vocab & grammar. i personally love learning languages and there are many obvious benefits, communication being one of the fundamental ones.

tbh vocab and grammar are probably the backbones of any language - they play a huge part in developing your translation, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.

pt i: vocab

have a list. the simple act of writing is one of the most effective ways to retain information tbh ! it’s good to keep a seperate section / notebook / document for this so everything’s in one place & i personally like to keep prescribed textbook words and words i look up during translations / exercises in seperate places as well, for the sake of organisation. also you can flick back through later and feel accomplished :-)

flashcards. write the word in your language on one side and the translation + relevant grammar info on the other side, and use that to test yourself. quizlet + anki are great online flashcard tools !

mnemonics. short [or long!!] phrases / acronyms /stories are super useful, especially with words with multiple meanings or words which look annoyingly similar.

word / pictorial association. ok word association is obviously easier in languages of the same family because so many words look / sound similar but pictures are great too, especially for more visual learners.

this article contains some excellent tips for studying a language with a different alphabet

pt ii: grammar

make up chants / songs [hand gestures can help!!]

look for patterns.

take the french present tense -er verb endings: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent.

and the imperfect tense -er endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

not too different right?? learn to spot these similarities + use them to your advantage !

repetition is key. sounds boring but repetition is one of the best ways to drill things into your brain; whether it’s verbally, mentally or just by writing out the entire table. i often repeat things over and over to myself whilst doing everyday activities like washing the dishes and it really helps.

learn the exceptions to the rule. because there are always exceptions. just learn them. i do recommend making summary notes or flashcards for harder concepts simply to gain a better understanding and also because you can look over them quickly & easily

also just !!! practice !!! often things make much more sense in context, so practice by doing exercises and translations

pt iii: general tips / links

read !!! reading exposes you to so much more culture + vocab and grammar in the way that it’s used in a day to day context

similar to above; watching tv shows / movies and listening to music is super fun too + develops listening and therefore speaking skills

practice practice practice. whether it’s just going over vocab or scanning through a text or listening to music or writing a short passage, try to engage with your target language on a daily basis. trust me, it helps a lot.

find a partner !!! learning new things with friends is so much less daunting + you can study together and motivate each other and maybe even travel together one day

apps / sites like duolingo, memrise, omniglot, babbel, bbclanguages and 101languages can make language learning more fun + engaging

+ some youtube channels !

each language is unique so for more specific resources, check out some of these masterposts: japanese, latin, spanish, chinese, italian, korean, french, swedish [etc]

remember: learning a language is hard. adapting your brain to understand a whole new set of words and rules is hard. it’s supposed to be hard. but it’s ok to make mistakes. it’s ok. you got this. and in the end, it’s so rewarding - knowing another language is a skill you’ll have for life. good luck + i hope this was useful !

- joanne

studyquill

58/100 days of productivity ⋅ thursday december 7 2017 black pen ⋅ brush pen ⋅ highlighters ⋅ paper

babbushka

Life lessons from a snail

greenstudies

Getting back on track after being sick

Because I just recently got over a pretty bad flu, here I am with some advice. I get sick pretty often, thus I have experience with coming back to work mode. Here are a few tips how to get back to your productive self:

Get enough rest first -Really give yourself the much needed time to rest. Try to wait with work as long as possible so you are sure you can handle it.

Start off easy -Have a day in which you get done the simpler things. Bonus points if those things will help you feel better, like cleaning your room after some time…

Get back to your routine as soon as you can -Your routine will help you jump back quicker.

Fix your sleep schedule -During sickness our sleep schedules get really messed up and that can affect you for a long time after getting over whatever illness you had. It is important to go to bed early and wake up early.

Catch up on the most urgent work -Now you’ve gotten the easier more basic tasks out of the way, it’s time to get down to the business.

Schedule the hell out of your day -Even if you’re not leaving your home yet, set a certain times to start and finish things.

Take regular breaks -I mean it. Don’t push yourself too hard.

Get a lot fo fresh air -Nothing makes me feel better.

Be social -You’ve been closed off in your room for some time. Go hang out with someone.

I hope I was helpful, especially during this flu season and have an amazing month!

dropkick-rose

📚9/100 days of productivity📚

13 hours till my law history final, I can’t wait to go to bed after the exam. Until then, one more sleepless night ahead🌃

Today is far more aesthetic than yesterday, not the best, but we’re getting there, wish you all success on finals 💫

linceestudies

My mom made some fresh orange juice 🍊

It doesn’t always have to be coffee, right? (lol who am I kidding, I had four cups of coffee later that day…)

grandearianaarchive-deactivated

I learned that you go through things, you deal with them and that’s what empowers you and ultimately makes you a happy person.

americanhorrorstudies-deactivat

day twenty-one/thirty of productivity

★ 11.21.2018 ★ i made myself a vanilla chai tea latte from scratch! it turned out DELICIOUS. if you want the recipe let me know! now i’m working on finishing my autobiography!

how are you spending your day?

☆ old fashioned - panic! at the disco | 12:16:12 p.m. | 70 •F ☆