Tips for Success in Your Virtual Classes
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, more virtual classes have been offered to accommodate LIM students. Some people really love virtual classes. You get to stay home, and who doesn’t love staying in bed for Zoom calls? However, virtual classes can be challenging to stay organized because you’re missing the in-person classroom environment. I find that going to classes on campus or studying in the library allows for a more productive environment. I personally love virtual classes, as they have helped me to have more flexibility for clubs, jobs, and free time. However, I do find it hard to stay organized and be productive. In my 3 years at LIM, I have tried many different methods to maintaining the madness of having a full schedule of Zooms and virtual classes. I am here to help you get into a productive headspace and stay organized in your virtual classes this semester! Below are my top 4 tips for success in your virtual classes.
Organize Your Canvas
First things first, you want to make sure your Canvas is organized. Start by downloading the Canvas app to your phone and adding Canvas as a bookmark to your favorite search browser (Google Chrome works best for canvas)! After you have your Canvas set up, here are some tips for organization.
Organize your homepage in order of your classes
You can click and drag the blocks for each class and organize them how you like. I have found that organizing them based on when I have the class helps me to keep track of which class I have next.
Turn notifications
This is super important for staying up to date on your classes. In the Canvas app, you can turn on notifications based on announcements from professors, updates to your class’ modules and grade updates. Personally, I have it set up so that I receive notifications on grade changes and announcements from Professors. The app sends a pop up notification to my phone and emails to my outlook inbox. That way, I never miss an update!
2. Organize Your Assignments
After you’ve organized your Canvas, you’ll want to make sure you have a way to keep track of assignments. There are many different ways to keep track of assignments, and everyone is different. You might like to write down assignments on paper, or you might like to have everything digital. If you’re like me, you have a mix of both!
Purchase a Planner
Planners are a great way to stay organized as you can find one that fits your needs and aesthetic. Writing things out by hand is a great way to remember things. If you like color-coding, using fun pens, and stickers, this is a great option for you!
Click here to shop some cute planners from The Strategist!
Sticky Notes on Computer Desktop
This is one of my favorite ways to stay organized for virtual classes and any other activities/jobs that I do. In high school, I used to love writing everything down on sticky notes. I would have different colors for each class, but I would often lose them or forget where I stuck them. But with computers, this is no worries! If you like staying organized digitally and love the look of sticky notes, you can use the Mac stickies app or Microsoft Sticky notes for PC. These apps allow you to create digital sticky notes that stay on your desktop/home screen. You can customize the size, color, and fonts! I organize my sticky notes by font and color to indicate if a class is completely online or hybrid. I also have my stickies in order of when I have my classes each week like my canvas shell!
Set Reminders & Calendar Events
This is a great way to keep track of when things are due and help you to plan out assignments and projects. You can use your calendar app to set events like when you have zoom classes and when assignments are due. When setting each event, you can add reminder notifications leading up to the due date. You can also use your reminders app to make lists of assignments for each class. For each reminder, you can set it to send you a notification on a certain date and time. Between the reminders app and calendar, you can keep track of everything for your virtual classes.
3. Organize Your Notes
Make a Notion’s Page
Notion is a fun way to organize your notes and assignments. You can customize your own page or use a template! You can add photos, calendars, and text blocks to make your Notion page work for you. As for notes, you can upload files including word docs, PDF’s and more to your Notion. I found a great template back in 2020 that is perfect for students. I was able to add it to my free Notion account and then make it my own by adding pictures and fun gifs.
Make folders on your desktop
If you decide to use the stickies app for your laptop, you can create folders for each class and put them under the sticky notes. In this folder, you can add any files you need for the class, images, pdfs and more. You can write your notes in a Word doc or Google doc, download them to your desktop, and then add them to the folders!
4. Organize Your Projects & Papers
Create an outline
Whenever starting a project or working on writing a paper, creating an outline is super important. You can plan out the project/paper from start to finish by writing down tasks and ideas. Set up a doc via Word or Google Docs with the outline and due dates for each task you come up with.
Use Google Slides/Docs
Google Docs and Google Slides are great programs for staying organized when working on a project because it automatically saves your work, and you can easily share it with others. You can also create folders and share them with others if needed! Before you go to submit an assignment in Canvas, I recommend moving your work into Microsoft. Microsoft documents tend to work better with Canvas. You can download Google Slides into Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Docs into Word Docs. I always use Microsoft’s spell/grammar check for all writing before submitting as well to ensure I am submitting my best work!