Learning Journal 1 – Week of September 16-20 Kimberly Ragbirsingh

This week is the third week of school. The content of the courses has started to pick up and we

are getting into real material that I need to study. From the beginning of the semester, I laid out a plan

in how I would structure my weeks in order to stay on top of my work. Every day, I wrote down the

things that I wanted to accomplish in each course and scratched them off as I completed them. At the

end of the week, I set out to write summaries of everything I learned in each course that week. This

gives me a great study tool come midterm and final test times.

I am extremely proud of myself this week because I have stuck to this structure and followed the

goals that I have set out each day. On Friday evening, after math class, I even completed the summaries

for every course. More than grades, I am really proud that I am sticking to my study habits and hopefully

paving the way for a great semester. I am hoping that if I can stick to my plan when the semester is light,

it will create a structure that I can follow even when the semester gets busy.

So far, I seem to be responding to math most easily. The content seems to come easily to me

and the teacher seems to be teaching in a way that corresponds with my learning style. Why she does

do problems in class, she does not call on people to read their answers out loud. This works well for me

because talking in class mortifies me, and when asked to do it, I can only focus on that and not the

material we are meant to be learning. This teacher gives us time to solve the problem on our own and

then compare our method to hers. I really enjoy this style of learning and hope that she continues it

throughout the semester.

What I do not seem to be responding well to is the teaching style of the Communications

teacher. This seems like it will be my biggest struggle this semester. Her lectures are very informative,

interactive and engaging, but she speaks too quickly, and sometimes I cannot keep up with what she is

saying. So far, it hasn’t been a problem as we are still doing introductory material, but I could see this
becoming a problem in the future. If it does, I think I will join a study group made up of some of my

peers, or ask the teacher for some one on one time to go over the material with her. By having a plan for

what I can do if things get hard in this course, I will be prepared and not be overwhelmed if I can’t keep

up.