Got Syllabi?
You’ve survived your first week of college classes and have been inundated with what seems like a million different rules and requirements. You have four, five, maybe six or seven syllabi sitting in front of you. Now what?
Professors hand out syllabi as an integral part of the class.
The syllabus will often contain a timetable of assignments, when major projects and papers are due, and when tests will occur, as well as instructions for assignments, grade requirements for the class (e.g., how much of your grade is based in attendance or based on your quiz scores), the professor’s office hours and e鈥恗ails address, and required (and optional) books for the class. The professor is going to expect you to read and refer to the syllabus when you have questions about the attendance policy or due dates.
You’re a busy college student, though. How are you supposed to remember what’s in all of these syllabi?
Well, the point of the syllabus is that you don’t have to remember anything that’s in it—you just have to be able to turn to the syllabus when you have questions. There are some things you can do to make it easier for you keep up with due dates and homework listed in your syllabi.
Highlight important dates
Take some time at the beginning of the semester to go through your syllabi and highlight the due dates for important assignments (like paper and projects) and tests. You can often do this step during your first class as your professor goes over the syllabus.
Highlight important information
You might want to highlight, circle, underline, or star some important information that you’ll want to be able to find at a later time. This might be the professor’s e鈥 mail address and office hours, the attendance policy, assignment descriptions, and any other requirements that seem important to you.
Transfer assignments to a planner or online calendar
It’s a lot easier to keep track of your assignments and homework if they’re all in one place, so choose a scheduling method that works best for you. You might copy down your homework and due dates into a paper planner or put them into your Google calendar. It’s best to do this as early as possible and make it a habit to check in on your planner (it doesn’t do you any good to write everything down in a calendar and then never look at it again).