Advice from an ATYP Alum!

Hi ATYPers!

I’m Aurora, an ATYP alum for math and English, and a senior at Harper Creek High School and BCAMSC. I just wanted to share a few lessons I’ve learned that might help you in the year ahead.

First, and as I’m sure you already know, ATYP is a lot of work – probably more than you’ve had before. Success is all about time management and efficiency. When you get your work for the week, try to plan it out (see Ms. Nan’s post on planners), and start as soon as possible. That way, if you get stuck or something goes slower than expected, you’ll still have time to puzzle it out, go to help sessions, or ask your teacher. However, be careful to set time limits. Sometimes I would sit down to work, and if I didn’t have anything else planned, I’d spend way too long on one assignment. You may have heard that “work expands to fill the time available,” and I’ve found that’s very true – especially for essay-writing. To prevent this, I set reasonable time limits based on past experience. This minimized perfectionism, helped me stay efficient, and left room for fun, too!

Initially, I know the workload feels overwhelming, but ATYP has a strong support system. If you’re ever confused about an assignment, or need help in any way, I encourage you to go to help sessions. The tutors are super knowledgeable and fun to talk to, and it’s also great practice in getting comfortable asking for help. In college, many professors have office hours, which are very similar. You might not realize it now, but ATYP is excellent preparation for college: challenging workloads outside of class, heavy responsibility, and the need for independence.

While you’re in ATYP, try to make connections, too. This was a challenge for me, since I lived in Battle Creek and only had virtual classes, but I really wish I had connected with classmates more. I’ve since become close with some friends who were also in ATYP from BCAMSC, and we share a lot in common. ATYP definitely changes people – it made me more resilient, hard-working, and curious. Your classmates are great people to befriend, and the connections you make here can stay with you for years. ATYPers like you are very likely to be successful in life, and who knows – maybe one day you’ll meet up again with one of your classmates – it is a small world.

Above all, my best advice is simply to keep going. There were many times I felt overwhelmed, but it is all worth it. Finishing high school coursework while still in middle school is no easy task, but it makes high school much more enjoyable and gives you crucial skills for success in college and life – skills your regular classes may not offer. Be proud of how far you’ve come, and keep working hard!

Many thanks to Aurora for her words of wisdom!

MAKING A PLAN FOR ATYP

Welcome (and welcome back) ATYPers!

By now you’ve seen what your schedule looks like with ATYP classes and homework factored in and had a chance to think about how to plan your time.

How’s that going?

Some of you may have settled in and started to get a feel for how to plan and prioritize your routine to accomplish what you must, and some of you may still be wondering how to get everything done. Some of you may have used the time management system (that blank weekly calendar) that we discussed at orientation, some of you may have tried that and decided it doesn’t work for you, and some of you may not remember what I’m talking about.

We’re going to expand on that discussion of time management by discussing academic planners. We highly recommend the use of a planner (and we can send you the .pdf of a fantastic one created by Ms. Dekker-Black), but not all students need or want the same type of planner or even understand why they’re useful.

Why do we recommend using planners? What are the benefits? 

First, studies show us that writing things down makes them easier to remember. It also frees up working memory. In other words, when you write things down and create good reminders, you free up space in your brain that you can then devote to other topics. This is called reducing your  “cognitive load.” Planners also provide you with external cues, or reminders, of things like due dates. And external cues tend to be much more reliable than thinking I pretty much know when this assignment should be turned in. Because pretty much is not definite and almost guarantees that at least part of the time you will remember incorrectly.

According to Edutopia.com, the goals of planners are to “capture our to-do lists and activities, schedule our actions and represent time, and remind us of future tasks.” So when you are selecting a planner, you want to make sure you pick one that effectively helps you to plan and prioritize. You may have been given a planner before, used it for a week or two, decided you hated it, and never used it again. If this planner wasn’t designed for the way you think and plan, it was likely very frustrating. We suggest trying different planners for a week or two until you find one that helps you with those initial goals (capture, schedule, represent, remind).

At firstprintable.com/weekly-calendar/ you will find a wide array of free planner templates that you can choose from until you find one that works. Single page, two page, lined pages, empty boxes, spots for goals, non-academic activities, etc. There are sheets for students who are minimalists and sheets for students who like to write a lot. You can also Google free academic planner templates and plenty of options will appear. And you are not restricted to paper (although we confess that we find the physical act of writing down and crossing out to be helpful) – you can use Google calendars, MyHomework, or check out this article on other digital systems https://www.sunsama.com/blog/productivity-apps-for-students if you prefer a virtual option (some of these may cost money.

Another important role of the planner is to help students with the difference between DUE dates and DO dates. Especially for ATYP students, this is an incredibly important distinction. Being able to break assignments/projects down into smaller chunks so that they don’t try to complete everything at the last minute is a life skill that they can carry over into high school and college and beyond. If I put into my planner something that I can DO every day so that when my homework is DUE I am not overwhelmed…that understanding is priceless. (creatingpositivefutures.com/the-psychology-of-student-planners/)

You may find in the long run that your planner morphs into something that looks more like a to-do list. That’s fine. You may find a system that looks absolutely nothing like anything we’ve described. That’s fine. Dr. Kelly likes to have a weekly calendar on one side and a list of goals on the other that she can then prioritize her tasks for the week. Also fine. You do you. But do it every day or week until it becomes a regular habit, and don’t forget to put some fun things into your planner so you schedule time to relax and be a kid.

 Until next time,

Ms. Nan