Tag Archives: Granville Sawyer

GradeUP! Challenge #23: Three Secrets For Successful Studying

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Good diet, adequate rest and regular exercise are as important to your performance in class as studying and understanding course material. Numerous studies tell us that you can’t think of these practices separately – like a three-legged stool, they support each other and you. Lack of rest robs you of the ability to process and understand what you’re studying and the ability to recall during tests. So, pulling that all-nighter won’t help you, it can only hurt you.

I learned this the hard way, I once stayed up until three in the morning studying for a math exam. I was alert the whole time pumped up on adrenalin and caffeine, but I wasn’t learning anything. I got a seventy-six on my exam. I could have gone to bed at ten thirty and done that!

Staying up late wasn’t the only mistake I made.The sugar and caffeine I consumed kept me awake alright but they also caused me to “crash” later, just about the time I was taking my exam. The tiredness and fatigue came over me so quickly, I almost fell asleep in the test. This is definitely not the way to go. You’ve got to put the right foods in your body to work for you or you’ll  pay the price at the worst possible time.

The last critical piece here is exercise. As little as fifteen minutes a day can help keep you refreshed and ready to study productively. An uninterrupted cycle of study and work with no chance to stretch your muscles and get your blood flowing  wears on you down. Every hour you keeping going becomes less productive; you accomplish less, learn less and are less prepared to use what you once knew on your tests. Taking time for brief period of exercise is time well spent.

Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your study time now and in the future:

  • Plan your preparation for final exams now so you have enough time to study and stay healthy – be honest with yourself about what you can do, not what you hope you can do.
  • Schedule in study breaks so you have time to eat a healthy meal and walk around a bit to loosen up your muscles and refresh your mind – you will learn and retain more of what you study.
  • Remember, you can’t study or work all day and all night and expect to be successful at either – that’s just wishful thinking.
  • Use the study techniques I shared with you throughout the GradeUP! Challenge – they’re all available on the GradeUP! Challenge Week-by-Week page.

A Special Thank You

To thank you for your participation in The College in Four Years GradeUP! Challenge, I am offering a free E-book version of College in Four Years: Making Every Semester Count, from Wednesday, April 22 through Friday, April 24. Click this link or simply log onto Amazon.com, search College in Four Years by Granville Sawyer and download the kindle edition for free.

I’d like to know what you thought about what I’ve shared from the book during the GradeUP! Challenge. Be it good or not so good, I’d greatly appreciate your leaving a review on Amazon, and if you’re a member, Goodreads. To leave a review on Amazon just click the customer reviews hyperlink just under the book title and that will take you to a page where you can leave your review. For Goodreads just access your profile, list College in Four Years as Read and leave me a review.

Thank you in advance for your review and for your participation in the GradeUP! Challenge. If you would like information and intermittent news about my upcoming events, giveaways, webinars, new resources or books, I invite you to join my Email List.

GradeUP! Challenge #22: The Gut Check

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©Jenn and Tony Bot on flickr
©Jenn and Tony Bot on flickr

The final series of GradeUP! posts are to get you ready for your final exams. I’m going to start with a way to test your understanding and readiness for any test, any subject, anywhere, anytime. I call it the “Gut Check” because it’s all about what you feel and not what you know. This may sound like an unusual  approach to test prep but trust me – there is no better way – the gut always knows, let me explain.When it’s time to be tested on what you know, you want to believe you’re ready, but how do you know? You’re probably thinking; study, take the test, get my grade, then I’ll know. Don’t rely on just want you think about your level of preparation, you need to know how you “feel” about it, that’s the Gut Check. Here’s how it works:

  • Once you think you have prepared well for a test, find a quiet place where you can sit comfortably and close your eyes.
  • See yourself in the moment of the test with the exam in front of you.
  • See your hand come down and write your name on the test.
  • Don’t think – just feel.
  • Does your heart start to race?
  • Do your palms get sweaty?
  • Does your butt pucker up a little?

All of these responses are triggered by the same emotion – fear.  Whether you want to know it or not, your heart and your gut are telling you the truth: you are not ready. You can’t think your way around fear. If you don’t work harder to get ready for your tests, you will go into your exams unprepared, nervous and unable to use what you do know. Be honest with yourself and use the Gut Check to know you’re ready for your finals and all tests in the future. If you want the truth, ask your heart and your gut because they will always be honest with you.

Look through the GradeUP! Challenges for information on how to prepare for a test if your Gut Check says you’re not ready. All previous GradeUP! Challenges are available on the GradeUP! Challenge Week-by-Week page.

GradeUP! Challenge #20: Take the Long View – For Now and the Future

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By Joshua Sortino
By Joshua Sortino

In GradeUP! Challenge #19: Plan For a Big Finish I gave some advice on planning for a strong finish this semester. However, unless your graduating this semester (if you are, congratulations), there’s more than a semester to plan for. So, I’m taking off my professor hat and putting on my academic advisor hat and we are shifting our focus to the long view.

It is time to preregister for next semester. Here’s a step-by-step checklist that takes the long view by planning for the upcoming semester and the rest of your time in college:

  • First, you need to know where you are right now so get whatever documents you need from the registrar or on-line system to see what you’ve taken, the grades you’ve earned and what courses you have left to take;
  • If there are any errors (what you have verses what’s on file with the registrar) or there’s something you don’t understand, deal with it right now – don’t assume it’s a “glitch” in the system, it’s not;
  • Use the information on file with the registrar to plan courses you’ll take next semester and every semester all the way to graduation;
  • Make sure that when you’re scheduling courses, you plan to take them when they’re offered and that you’ll have completed any prerequisite courses you need to take;
  • Take this plan to your advisor to confirm you did it correctly and then register for next semester – don’t put it off, classes fill up;
  • Update your plan anytime something requires rescheduling of courses and be sure to check on how a change in one semester effects your plans for later semesters – keep your plan current all the way to graduation.

Following these steps means you’ll never say, “I didn’t know I had to take that course,” or “I didn’t know this course wasn’t offered this semester. I need it go graduate!” Or, my favorite, “OMG the curriculum changed – didn’t it?!!”

By taking the long view of your college career, you’ll know where you’re going, how you’re going to get there and when you’ll arrive. You’ll also know:

  • When you’re graduating so you can let others know well ahead of time; and
  • How many courses you have left to take and how much money you’ll need to take them.

Don’t let things you do today based on poor planning or no planning come back to haunt you in future and, cost you time, effort and money. Plan for now and the future – that’s the long view, the smart way to finish your degree.

All previous GradeUP! Challenges are available on the GradeUP! Challenge Week-by-Week page.

You can learn more about planning your college career in Chapter 8 of College in Four Years; Making Every Semester Count.

GradeUP! Challenge #19: Plan For A Big Finish

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Calendar © Mike Hyde on flickr
Calendar © Mike Hyde on flickr

Midterms are finished – you’re over half way to the end of the semester. It is time to update your plan for success this semester to ensure you finish strong in every class. In GradeUP! Challenge #2, I talked about using the syllabus to develop your game plan to be successful in each class. Now use that same syllabus as the basis to update your plan for a strong finish in every class. Follow these steps:

  • Look at your syllabus again to make sure that it is still correct and up-to-date including dates for remaining assignments and tests, especially when the final exam will be given. By this time in the semester, dates and assignments could have changed;
  • Check to see if there are any study/review sessions you can attend and/or if there are extra credit assignments you can do to improve your grade if you need to – don’t wait until a week before the semester ends;
  • Use the worksheets I discussed in GradeUP! Challenge #11 to update the grades you need on tests and remaining assignments to get the final grades you want;
  • Write your plan down with a list of things to do and dates to have them done – this does not have to be a long document – it may be just a few sentences or bullet points or notes on your syllabus – enough so you know what to do when and how well you need to do it. Writing down your plan builds commitment to it;
  • Stick to your plan and check your progress every day/week – don’t put what you wrote away and not look at it again – check it every day if you need to – every time you complete something in your plan, confidence in your success will grow and your grades will improve!

Update your game plan for a strong finish in all your courses.  You still have time to make it happen in all your classes!

All previous GradeUP! Challenges are available on the GradeUP! Challenge Week by Week page. You can learn more about getting the help you need to do better in your classes in Chapter 6 of College in Four Years; Making Every Semester Count.

GradeUP! Challenge #18: There Are No Shortcuts to Success

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© Stephen Coles on flickr
© Stephen Coles on flickr

Every achievement in college isn’t academic. Throughout your college career you are also being evaluated on your success as a person and that evaluation is just as important as your academic performance. Every day you interact with people and in the process you are creating your personal reputation; how you manage yourself and your life establishes your level of integrity and forms a lasting impression of the person you are. You never know when someone’s opinion of you will help or hinder your success in college and in life. Once you show people who you are it is very difficult to change their minds so don’t put your integrity or honesty on the line by trying to cut corners, finesse or cheat your way to success. That behavior rarely, if ever, works to your advantage. Even when you think you’ve gamed the system, one way or the other, you lose.

Donna, a former student of mine, learned this important lesson in a computer programming class. Several of her classmates hired a developer to write a particularly difficult programming assignment for them and asked her if she wanted join them in purchasing the program and turning the solution in as her own. Even though she was having a difficult time with the assignment, she said no. When her classmates turned in the assignment, the instructor clearly identified the professional’s work and failed all of the students who turned it in as their work. Donna didn’t do all the programming correctly, but she was the only one who ended up passing the class!

Remember:

  • When you cut corners to get through college, you only hurt yourself.
  • You also miss gaining the knowledge you would have if you hadn’t cut corners. You can’t be sure when or if you’ll ever be presented with the opportunity to learn that critical information again.
  • Cutting corners sends a strong message to anyone who knows what you did. One seemingly small decision can make people assume that you will lie, cheat or steal to get what you want, in any situation. Trust me, someone will know  what you did and that incident will be the basis for what they believe about you and share with other people.

If anyone asks you to lie, cheat, steal or do anything you’re uncomfortable doing, don’t do it!  Don’t convince yourself that what you’re going to do isn’t really that bad. If it’s not okay then it’s not okay, okay?

All previous GradeUP! Challenges are available on the GradeUP! Challenge Week by Week page.
You can learn more about getting the help you need to do better in your classes in Chapter 6 of College in Four Years; Making Every Semester Count.

GradeUP! Challenge #14: Knowing The Art Of No-ing

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When to say noMillions of you are headed back to campus for the final weeks of the semester. During the first part of the semester you may have experienced how challenging time management and staying focused is, and will be, throughout your college careers. Through personal experience and conversations with my students, I’ve learned that mastering the skill of setting priorities and learning how to say “No,” can help you manage your time and sharpen your focus with great results. How well you deal with requests from other people for your time and effort will determine how successful you are at staying on course to graduation. This is especially true for if you’re doing well in school. Everyone wants a bit of your brilliance so you have to be careful not to burn yourself out.

Jill, a student of mine who was doing well came to see me just before the end of last semester. She flopped down in a chair in front of my desk, exhausted and stressed.

“I just can’t keep up with everything. It’s just too much,” she said. “I’m taking 15 hours to stay on track to graduate in four years, it takes a lot of time to do well in all my classes. I’ve made many friends that I like to go out with a lot. Then there are extracurricular activities I’d like to be involved in. There just isn’t enough time for everything I need to do, want to do or other people want me to do. Now, I don’t know what to do. ”

I told Jill, “I understand. I’ve got more to do than time to do it as well. Each activity or person outside of your course work wants just a little bit of your time but all of those little bits add up to more time than you have to give. The first thing you must remember is that your classes comes first. That is your priority; it is what you’re in college and paying for. Your education ensures your future. Plan any other activities around that fact. During each semester, I want you to plan each week in the semester by what you need to get done in your classes; then refer to that plan before committing to anything else. You’ll see right away which weeks your study load will be lighter than others – those are times you’ll have more time to play. You’ll know in advance when you’ve got two papers due, a research project and an exam, that’s when you’ll  have to say ‘no’ to any one and anything that tries to knock you off track.”

“That’s easier said than done,” Jill said “my friends can be pretty persistent, sometime they wear me down.”

“Then you’re going to have to learn how to say “no,” empathetically or emphatically.”

“What does that mean?” Jill asked.

“The empathetic no lets your friends down easy, ‘I’d love to go with you but I just can’t. I know you’re going to have a great time and I really wish I could be with you but I have to put this time in to pass this class.’ The emphatic no is just NO – you pull this out when the empathetic no doesn’t work.”

Jill laughed, “I’m going to have to use the emphatic no a lot.”

“Not necessarily,” I said. “The beauty of having your study schedule mapped for the semester the way I suggested, is that you can actually see where you can move some things around so that you can do other things, and still get everything done. That’s knowing when and how to say no.”

“I’m going to use this,” Jill said. “Thanks, Dr. Sawyer! Or should I call you, “Dr. Know.”

“Is that ‘k-n-o-w’ or ‘n-o,’” I asked.

“Both,” she said as she left my office smiling.

GradeUP! Challenge #11: Predict Your GPA to Predict Your Future

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Zoltar by Jonathan Reyes
Zoltar by Jonathan Reyes

Your Grade Point Average (GPA) tells how you’re doing in college; it is the ultimate indicator of whether or not you’re competitive. The final grade you make for a class matters because its impact on your GPA. It’s your GPA that determines what your future is going to look like.

You are competing with the students in your school as well as with students from all across the U.S. and all over the world. In the U.S. alone, there are 3,000 four-year degree-granting institutions, add another 10,000 institutions of higher education globally and you get some idea of how wicked the competition for internships, jobs or graduates school is. If you don’t have at least a 3.0 GPA, some employers and programs will not even consider you – anyone with a 3.0 or higher may have a better shot at the life you want.

Before the end of every semester, estimate your GPA to figure out if the GPA you want is within your reach. You don’t need final grades in your current classes to estimate the GPA you’re going to end the semester with. I developed a Grade Point Average Estimator© that is available through this link or  at www.granvillesawyer.com/resources that can estimate your GPA whenever you want.

Follow the instructions on the College in Four Years Grade Point Average Estimator© to see what GPA you’ll complete your coursework with. If you’re not satisfied with the estimate – now is the time to make the changes necessary to ensure your GPA predicts the future you want.

GradeUP! Challenge #10: Never Give Up on a Class!

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by RSM
by RSM

Never give up in a class because you “think” there’s no chance to get the grade you want. With a few simple calculations, I’ve been able to show many students that they still have a realistic chance to get the grade they want – even when they were convinced otherwise. With hope for success, my students were willing to work with me because I offered them a chance for a better grade that they weren’t aware was an option. And, more times than not, they ended the class with the grade they wanted. These students upped their grades by improving a few aspects of their study strategies and preparation methods for tests using the very same strategies I’m sharing throughout the GradeUP! Challenge and, more comprehensively, in my book, College In Four Years.  Don’t assume what your final grade is going to be in a class until you:

  • Know where you stand in the class ; it can be inspiration and motivation to strive a little harder.
  • Calculate what grades you need going forward to get the final grade you want by using the How Am I Doing Worksheet I developed to help my students. Use the link above to go to the Resources page on this blog, click on the title of the Worksheet to bring up the form, read the instructions, then add your specific information to the blank Worksheet on page 2. It will automatically calculate your potential grade. Use the link above or access the Worksheet through my Resources page at www.GranvilleSawyer.com/resources/
  • Periodically assess where you are in a class by checking your grades and talk with your professor so you have time to make any needed adjustments.

Remember, you haven’t earned a grade until the class is over. Never give up. Stay informed, keep calm and carry on.

In my next GradeUP! post on Tuesday, March 10 – we’ll talk GPA.

GradeUP! Challenge #9: The Conundrum of College Camaraderie

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by Scarlet Ortiz on flickr
by Scarlet Ortiz on Flickr

One of the things that makes college life so special is that you will never be in a place where you have so much in common with so many people. Making new friends will never be easier;  there are many opportunities and activities inside and outside the classroom – more than you can possibly manage. There will always be someone to invite – or tempt – you to lose sight of your priorities. Put school and your objectives first. The fun you had with your friends, even  the money you made working a part- or full-time job, will just be memories when you graduate and start a career. However, your academic performance will follow you for years.

Be  honest with yourself about how much you can really take on and do well while you’re in college. Can you really work 30 hours every week and go to school full-time and make the dean’s list? Failing grades can be a sobering lesson. Seek help if you can’t accommodate it all. Share your concerns with anyone who can assist you – a parent, mentor or other anyone who is invested in or supports your success. Just be sure that those who support you do not confuse your college experience with theirs – your reality is what you and your support team have to focus on. Also give your professors as much information as possible so that they too can help you succeed.  Remember that:

  • Nobody is going to ask about how much fun you had in college or care how many friends you had. They won’t ask how much money you made on jobs to support yourself unless those jobs are related to your degree and make you better qualified for a position.
  • Many people – the ones important to your future – will ask what you studied and how well you did. What’s more, they will make pivotal decisions that affect your future, including job offers, based on your answers. Doing well in school is what’s most important. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

There is a lot  more information about how to stay focused on success in Chapters 5, 6 and 7 of College In Four Years: Making Every Semester Count.

Grade UP! Challenge #7: To Be Good With Numbers, You’ve Got to Get to Know Them First

Coaching, Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Success In College, , , , , , , , ,

black and white numbers

In GradeUP Challenge #6, I showed you how to create your own outlines to help you learn in a way that best suits you. Another reason to create personalized outlines is so that you read about and understand the underlying concepts before trying to use them to answer questions and solve problems. This applies to all classes and all levels of study.

A student I’m advising came to my office thoroughly frustrated because she was failing economics for the third time. She said she was able to answer questions on tests but couldn’t do the problems – even after doing the homework assignments. I asked her how she did the problems assigned. Here is her process:

  • Look over her class notes for understanding;
  • Try to do the homework problems;
  • If she couldn’t, she’d go to the part of the textbook that seemed relevant and read that for the first time;
  • Try the problem again;
  • Keep doing this until she got the problem right or gave up on it and asked the teacher to show her how to solve the problem.

After all this effort, she couldn’t even figure out how to get started with problems on tests. I told her she needed to use the outlining techniques that I shared with you in Challenge #6  to understand the concepts that the problems are based on before trying to solve them.  Here’s a the process:

  • Create your own outline;
  • Study sample problems in the chapter to understand how the concepts were used to identify and solve the problems before trying your homework;
  • Use this information to know what kind of problems you have and what you need to do to solve them before you start working on them – in other words, have a strategy for solving the problem before trying to solve it;
  • Use your strategy to solve the problem.

There is more in-depth information on creating your problem solving strategies in Chapter 19 of College In Four Years.