Source
r/UMD•
Head-Command281

Managing Classes That Don't Always Use ELMS/Canvas

Discussion

So, it turns out a lot of my classes are gonna use more than just ELMS to give out assignments and stuff, and It looks like there will be a lot on my plate every week. I usually used the dashboard on ELMS to manage my workflow, but that itself doesn't look like its enough to manage my week to week assignments and events now.

So I was wondering what kind of apps do you use to plan when to work on what and allocating time throughout the week.

Posted Jan 22, 2022, 11:12 PM UTC

67
Any_Key4973•

I use Simple Elephant brand paper hardback planner books. I used to use apps but when one spontaneously deleted everything mid-semester and I was a mess so it was back to good old paper. I like this brand because it's dateless - you write in the dates so you can start it whenever you get it and not waste a bunch of pages. It also comes with some stickers to mark paydays, doctors appointments, or other plan-ahead things. And they stand up to a whole year getting bashed up in my backpack and thrown around my desk.

8
Head-Command281OP•

Thanks, I’ll try to make like a small journal to keep track of stuff.

1
nutintheface•

Not a huge fan of instructors just subcontracting their job to MacMillan and not even doing a good job of fitting their course to that solution. You can definitely tell the difference between professors who have a plan for how they want you to learn stuff-- like Dr Kocher who had everything on his ELMS page clearly laid out in the order you should approach it, with modules you could minimize after each section and keep track of what you needed to do-- and whoever was running BSCI 160 with like three different websites for homework, two subscriptions you had to pay, an awful online textbook, and sophomores writing borderline-illegible quizzes on ELMS, which was already just a maze of links and shifting semester schedules and madness.

There's a stark contrast between the professors who care about their subject and the random PhDs who get coerced into lecturing for a couple semesters on some random subject they're not interested in.

7
nbsoftwareNeuro ‘24•

It’s frustrating, but your best bet is to create a Google Doc with all of your classes on it and break down exactly where your points come from in each course. This has been massively helpful for me in keeping on top of courses outside ELMS and making sure I don’t miss anything. Basically, read the syllabi in detail and create a list like this:

[Class name]

  • Discussion post (Wednesday @ 11:59pm, 5pts x12)
  • Quizzes (Sunday @ 11:59pm, 20pts x8)
  • Midterm (…, 100pts x3)
  • Final …

You can refer back to this whenever (I used this as a crutch in addition to my calendar for the first couple of weeks and added anything to my calendar that I might forget).

6
Head-Command281OP•

I see, this is definitely better than fumbling around trying to find the syllabus when I need it, for 5 different classes. Thanks 🙏

2
artsyandsciency•

I currently use Notion for academics because I like having a cute little digital dashboard, but before that I had a Google spreadsheet where I would input my assignments/exams with their due dates, links, and notes to myself about it. It took me ~4 hours to put everything in from all my syllabi, then I just organized by date and added headers to separate out the weeks. Neat and relatively straightforward. As far as events/managing my time, I tend to stick everything into Google Calendar with a color system that differentiates between what I'm using the time for. I hope you can find something that works for you!

5
Helenlefab•

I use MyStudyLife to keep track of things. You can input your schedule, exams, and assignments. Works pretty well for me

3