Productivity

Smell the Roses

By on February 1st, 2017

This post was written by Cheyenne, a student in the FLVS Creative Writing Club, for her peers with a passion for writing. 

Smell the RosesI can say, more often than not, that I prefer to schedule as much of my day as I possibly can.

There have been instances when I throw organization to the wind and let the day lead me as it pleases, without so much as a pause to think about how little I completed during my waking hours.

Eventually, it began to wear on me how much time I seem to waste, but how little time I have to be productive. I have become accustomed to writing down my itinerary – scheduling my day minute by minute – simply because I can no longer stand the thought of letting a minute go by, unnamed and unused, in my day without purpose.

I discovered quickly, though, how easy it is to make a schedule but fall out of pace with it. I cannot give inspiration a time slot; like the butterflies in spring or the cool breath of winter, inspiration will come and go as it pleases. It may not visit me at all on some days, and therefore, the time I reserved for writing goes unused. Continue reading


Got Notes? (Part 2)

By on November 5th, 2015

More sketchnoting tipssketch – note
/skeCH nōt/

Noun
1. A substantially awesome method for taking notes that is easy, fun, and does not require drawing ability (stick figures welcome!)

Verb
2. Combining doodles and notes and increasing your memory retention by transferring an idea from your head to the paper!

This definition summarizes some of what we learned in part one of this series. Continue reading


Got Notes?

By on September 17th, 2015

sketchnotingPicture this:
You are in front of your screen, you have logged into your live lesson, and your instructor is about to start.

He or she reminds you to “take notes!” You find yourself unprepared, so you either open a Word document (which by the end of the lesson remains basically blank) or you hastily gather a pen and a paper napkin left in your room from last night’s pizza. At the end of the lesson, you barely have a few notes and the main idea of today’s lesson eludes you like the ghost of Christmas past…

Sigh…sound familiar? Continue reading


Finding Work Life Balance

By on January 23rd, 2014

work-life balanceAlmost a year into my career at FLVS, I would consider myself a work-life balance guru. That has not always been the case.

When I first came to FLVS in early 2013, I had no idea how important work-life balance would become. Coming from a brick-and-mortar school, I was used to working hard for eight hours a day and then walking away from my work once I left to get my daughter from daycare. Imagine my shock when I transitioned to virtual education where the work followed me everywhere.

The phone rang often, even after hours. My gradebook was never empty. At times, my VSA data and student numbers felt overwhelming. Sometimes I felt like the work was overtaking me and that it was overtaking every aspect of my life. And worse, I felt like I was not able to put the students’ needs first since I was so overwhelmed. Continue reading