How to Use a Semester Calendar

Friday, July 18, 2025

Staying organized during a busy semester can be a game-changer for your academic success, mental clarity, and even your social life. One of the best tools at your disposal? A well-thought-out Semester Calendar. Whether digital or physical, having a big-picture view of your time can help you stay ahead of deadlines, reduce last-minute stress, and make room for fun.

In this post, we’ll walk through what to include on your Semester Calendar, why it’s so beneficial, and how to use it effectively.

Your Semester Calendar should be more than just a list of due dates. It should reflect all the important events and obligations that make up your life this term. Here’s what to add:

What to Include on Your Semester Calendar

Review Syllabi for Academic Deadlines

Start by going through all your course syllabi and marking down major assignments:

Research papers
Midterms and final exams
Presentations
Group projects

These are your non-negotiables and should be the first items added to your calendar.

Other Important Campus Dates

Don’t forget extracurricular activities and personal interests. Include:

Networking or career fairs
Club events or competitions
Performances (theater, music, dance)
Sporting events (games you’re attending or playing in)

Application Deadlines:

Mark deadlines for:

Internship applications
Scholarships or fellowships
Study abroad or graduate program applications

These tend to sneak up quickly, so keeping them visible helps you avoid a last-minute scramble.

Travel Plans

Whether it’s a weekend visit to a friend or heading home for a family event, add it to your calendar. This helps you avoid accidentally planning a big study session during the same weekend.

Benefits of a Semester Calendar

Now that you know what to include, let’s look at why it’s worth the effort.

All important dates in one place

No more flipping between planners, apps, or syllabi. With everything consolidated, it’s easier to manage your time effectively.

A bird’s-eye view of your semester

Being able to see the entire term at once helps you prepare for what’s ahead and prevent things from piling up.

Plan for “tough weeks”

If you notice three big deadlines falling in the same week, you can plan—start assignments early or adjust your other commitments.

How to Use Your Semester Calendar

Having a calendar is only helpful if you actually use it. Here’s how to make it a tool you’ll rely on all semester long:

Place it where you’ll see it daily

Hang it on your wall, keep it in your planner, or make it your laptop background. The more visible it is, the more useful it becomes.

Use color coding for clarity

Assign different colors to various categories—blue for classes, green for clubs, red for personal events, etc. It makes your calendar easier to scan and more visually engaging.

Update it regularly

Treat it like a living document. As new due dates or events come up, add them right away. That way, nothing slips through the cracks.

Bottom Line

Creating and maintaining a Semester Calendar might take a little time upfront, but the payoff is huge. It’s a low-effort, high-impact way to stay on top of your responsibilities, reduce stress, and make the most of your college experience. So, grab your syllabi, some colorful pens, and start mapping out your semester today!

Written by: Jordan Yanoshik, Associate Director of Academic Support and Learning Specialist for Students with Disabilities

Overcoming Writer’s Block

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

We’ve all been there. Whether you’re sweating to come up with a witty one liner for an Instagram caption or writing those dreaded first few sentences of a final paper, regardless of the task at hand, the feeling of your mind going blank when you need the words to come feels all the same: torturous. Writer’s block comes for us all.

For many of us, it’s a manifestation of our perfectionism and the pressure to have paragraphs flow out of us fully formed as if already copy-edited by a full writer’s room. Whatever may be at the root of this “freeze” response, we have some practical tips to help you move forward, one word at a time.

Tip 1: Skip the introduction.

Start writing wherever it feels easiest. Writing doesn’t need to be a linear process. Besides, you don’t even know who the paper/chapter/book will be yet, so how can you know how to introduce it to someone? You can come back to the introduction at the end of your writing process, which will help you construct a more accurate introduction, anyway.

Tip 2: Talk to someone about your ideas.

Ask someone to listen to you talk through your ideas for your writing assignment. It could be your roommate, your mom, the person trapped in line with you at the post office, anyone who will listen to you for just 5 minutes. They don’t need to be familiar with the topic, and they don’t even need to listen very closely. The act of trying to communicate your ideas to someone else will force you to attach words to hazy ideas which will bring clarity to budding connections.

Tip 3: Record yourself in a voice memo talking about your ideas.

If the idea of talking to someone else about your half-baked ideas makes you want to crawl out of your skin, we get it. Another way to do this is to record yourself talking about the assignment. Then listen back to the recording and take notes as if you are listening to a lecture. As you are taking notes, try to rearrange any facts or arguments to build a more logical flow.

Tip 4: Every time you sit down to write, force yourself to generate 5-7 sentences.

A professor (thank you, Dr. Campano!) once gave me this tip and it has stuck with me ever since. Every time I sit down to write, I force myself to get something down, no matter how poorly worded or nonsensical it may feel at the time. The goal is to just get SOMEthing written so that you have a starting point from which to move forward. It always feels better to see a few lines of text rather than to be haunted by the vision of a blank page.

Yes, writing is hard. But it’s something we all do all the time in our everyday lives as we compose text messages, emails, and social media captions. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, we are all expert writers, navigating many different contexts of writing. Take heart in this knowledge and if you need to write your essay as if you’re composing it one caption, one text at a time, so be it! Every word gets you one step closer to completion.

Written by Ayoung Lee, Associate Director and Graduate Writing and STEM Specialist, Weingarten Center

Coping with Test Anxiety

Monday, May 19, 2025

Understanding test anxiety

Test anxiety is more than just feeling nervous before or during tests. It is a psychological state marked by intense stress, fear, and apprehension experienced by individuals in anticipation of or during tests or evaluations. Some common causes of test anxiety include fear of failure, perfectionism, past negative experiences, lack of confidence, and pressure from others. Left unaddressed, test anxiety can have a significant impact on academic performance and general well-being.

Symptoms of test anxiety can vary from person to person but there are several common indicators across various domains. Physically, individuals may experience increased heart beats, shortness of breathing, trembling, stomach upset, and muscle tension. Cognitive symptoms can include negative thinking patterns such as excessive self-criticism and unrealistic expectations, difficulty concentrating, and heightened focus on failure. Emotionally, test anxiety may lead to feelings of fear, irritability, self-doubt, or excessive worry about performance or outcome. Behaviorally, individuals might engage in procrastination, withdrawing from social interactions, or seek excessive reassurance. Being aware of these symptoms is crucial in identifying and addressing test anxiety effectively.

Strategies to reduce test anxiety

There are various strategies you can employ before, during, and after an exam to mitigate test anxiety.

Consider trying these strategies to build confidence before an exam. First, become familiar with the test format and style of questions that you will be asked. Old practice tests are great for this! Next, schedule study time out over several weeks – do not try to cram a day or two beforehand. In fact, the day before an exam should be time for review, not initial learning. Self-test by summarizing the gist, recalling specific details, making comparisons, etc. Rework difficult problems and ask for help early if you get stuck. Lastly, if you can teach the material to someone else, you can be confident that you have learned it.

You can also prepare your body physiologically for an exam. Getting a good night’s sleep the night before and exercising on the day of the exam might help. Avoid drinking too much caffeine beforehand. And, finally, try meditating or listening to music to calm your nerves.

If being around other test takers makes you anxious, here are some more ideas to try. Don’t arrive at the testing site too early and avoid small talk with classmates who may also be nervous. Hearing other students stress out about the exam could add to your own anxiety. Try to sit alone or near the front, so you aren’t distracted by what other students may or may not be doing.

During the test, try one or more of the following strategies. Start with easier questions to build confidence before tackling more challenging ones. Visualize a friend or another supportive person being there with you. Use realistic self-talk (e.g., “this one test doesn’t define me as a learner” rather than negative self-talk (e.g., “I’m going to fail this test and this class”). Sensational grounding techniques, like focusing on senses in the present moment, Progressive Muscle Relaxation exercises, which involve tensing and then relaxing different muscle groups, and using fidget toys can all be helpful strategies for managing anxiety. They aim to reduce stress and promote relaxation by diverting attention away from anxious thoughts and sensations.

Immediately after a test, try to put it out of your mind and do something completely different to recharge. When the test is graded and returned to you, use this as an opportunity to reflect on your use of study strategies. What study strategies helped you get questions right? Why did you get some questions wrong? At the Weingarten Center, we call this process, exam analysis, and we would be happy to guide you through the process during a learning consultation.

Resources at Penn

To discuss your approach to studying for exams, schedule a Learning Consultation at the Weingarten Center:

Attend a study strategy workshop through the Weingarten Center to learn about a variety of study and time management strategies.
For content specific tutoring, attend drop-in sessions for popular math and chemistry courses or register with Tutoring at the Weingarten Center to be matched with a regular tutor. (Note: tutoring services are for undergraduate students only.)
If you think you may have an underlying condition that interferes with your ability to study or focus during an exam, meet with Disability Services at the Weingarten Center to determine your options. You may be eligible for academic accommodations, such as extra time to take the exam or access to a distraction reduced alternative testing location.
Check out Wellness resources on Mindfulness Workshop and Self-Care tools.
Whether you are facing clinical anxiety or looking for guidance to manage anxious emotions, Student Health and Counseling is here to support you. Our services include individual therapy and medication treatment, are tailored to help you on your path to wellness.

Co-Written by:

Julianne Reynolds, Associate Director and Learning Specialist for International Students, Weingarten Center

Mia Tian, International Specialist and Staff Therapist, Student Health and Counseling

Are You Ready for That Exam?

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

What does it mean to “know” something? Knowing something involves more than just recognizing familiar material. That’s why simply re-reading course material as exam preparation might lead to a false sense of confidence. True comprehension comes from being able to recall material from memory and explaining it in your own words. Testing yourself by recalling content and teaching it to others are effective ways to gauge how well you know something. Ultimately, your exam readiness hinges on your ability to remember information and apply it in different situations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4LzgPN1AZQ

Use these strategies for optimal exam preparation:

Understand the exam format. Know what’s covered, whether it’s cumulative, and what materials you can use during the exam.
Test yourself on the material. Summarize, recall details, and compare information. Wait at least 30 minutes between reading something and self-testing to enhance memory and interrupt forgetting.
Say your answers aloud. When testing yourself, say your answers aloud in your own words. Doing so forces you to give a full answer and not be satisfied with a vague answer.
Take practice tests. Practice tests will not only give you a sense of the type of questions you’ll find on the exam, but you can also practice working under exam conditions and identify content areas you need to study more. However, practice tests from previous semesters can’t help you judge if you’ve studied enough for an upcoming exam because the content might be slightly different this semester.
Get feedback on your answers. Double-check your answers against source materials.
Create a comprehensive Q&A study guide. Mimic exam questions to practice retrieving information.
Space out your retrieval practice. Test yourself regularly throughout the semester for better retention. The day before an exam should be time for review, not for initial learning.
Mix up your practice. Solve problems out of order and vary problem types. This approach will help you become better at reading context clues, looking for commonalities between problems, and applying knowledge to new situations.
Teach the material to someone else. If you can teach it, you know it well.
Overlearn. Study beyond initial mastery to prevent forgetting.

Written by Julianne Reynolds, Associate Director and Learning Specialist for International Students, Weingarten Center

Intentional Study Breaks

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Do you ever find it hard to get back to work after taking a break? When we feel tired or stuck during work, we often take unplanned breaks – checking our phones, and scrolling through social media. These types of breaks are difficult to come back from. Motivation may be low if we’re tired, and activities like checking social media have no clear stopping point, so it’s easy to lose track of time. Instead, take pre-planned study breaks for specific durations. For example, work for 30 minutes, then take a 5-minute break, followed by another 30-minute work session. Or work for 90 minutes, then take a 30-minute break, and repeat. Plan activities for each break that fit its duration, like eating an apple in five minutes. Remember to stay active during breaks and avoid screen time. Think of activities that will rejuvenate you. It could be something quiet and meditative, like coloring in an adult coloring book, writing in a journal, or listening to music. Or it could be something more active like cleaning your desk or going for a walk or a run. Check out the examples below and create your own go-to list of intentional study breaks.

5 minutes

Stretch
Make a to-do list
Eat a healthy snack
Meditate

10 minutes

Dance in your room
Make a hot beverage
Draw, doodle, or color
Daydream

15 minutes

Clean your desk
Listen to music
Flip through a magazine
Write in a journal

30 minutes

Go for a walk
Listen to a podcast
Eat lunch
Take a shower

1 hour

Do a workout
Read for fun
Cook dinner
Call a friend

Written by Julianne Reynolds, Associate Director and Learning Specialist for International Students, Weingarten Center

Combating Procrastination

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Procrastination is an emotion management problem, not a time management one. Procrastination helps us manage the negative moods or emotions that the thought of doing an unappealing task might cause. These emotions may include anxiety, boredom, frustration, overwhelm, self-doubt, fatigue, insecurity, and resentment. Putting off a task that arouses such emotions in favor of a more appealing activity provides immediate short-term relief, but it compounds stress in the long term. The key to combating procrastination is to take emotions out of the equation; eliminate the option of doing the task at some future point when you imagine you’ll feel more like doing it and just do it now (or at least get it started).

When you find yourself procrastinating, check in with yourself. How are you feeling? Why are you avoiding doing the task? If you can identify the reason you’re procrastinating, you can more easily find the solution to help you stop procrastinating.

Not sure where to start?

Ask for help. Your course instructor and learning specialists are useful resources.

The task doesn’t feel urgent?

Start with a small subtask to get started. Allow yourself to stop after working for a minimum amount of time, such as 30 minutes.

The task feels complex?

Break it down into smaller, more manageable subtasks that you can accomplish in an hour or less. Set interim deadlines for major project milestones.

Not feeling motivated?

Reframe the task. For example, instead of thinking of it as something you have to do, think of it as something you want to do. What are the benefits of getting it done?

Schedule frequent check-ins with an accountability partner to help you meet your goals.

Having difficulty focusing?

Minimize external distractions, find a distraction-reduced workspace, and limit mind-wandering.

Strategize about the time of day you work on difficult, creative, or boring tasks. Plan to do these tasks at times of the day when you are most alert, energized, and focused. Plan to do easier, routine, or more fun tasks during times of the day when your energy is lower.

Is perfectionism getting in the way?

Try some realistic self-talk. (e.g., “This paper doesn’t need to be a masterpiece, but it does need to be completed,” or “This one assignment doesn’t define me as a learner/scholar.”)

Written by Julianne Reynolds, Associate Director and Learning Specialist for International Students, Weingarten Center

How to Use Practice Questions

Friday, February 23, 2024

Part Two of our two-part series on Practice Questions covers how to supplement practice questions, how to use practice questions, and where you can find practice questions.

How do I supplement practice questions?

Look for online resources like video explainers. Always look for specific topics. As you watch these resources, try to engage with them. One way I recommend doing this is by trying to summarize those resources after watching/reading/listening to them. This way you are not just passively listening to information but actively trying testing if you are learning the material.
Request a tutor or go to a drop-in tutoring session. Having done practice questions before and knowing your gaps can help as you will have a more specific topic or area to discuss with your tutor. Tutors can sometimes even show you resources they have used in the past both for practice questions as well as supplemental materials.
Collaborate with other students in your class. We all have different strengths, so you may find that one of your classmates really understands a topic that you are having difficulty with. Additionally, you may understand a topic better than some in your class and, conversely, you can help them in their challenges. Teaching others is a great way of reviewing material, especially material that you already feel comfortable with.

How do I use practice questions to self-evaluate?

Group questions by topic and track your confidence and how easy or difficult the question was.
Look at the results. How many questions did you get right and wrong? Are there any patterns that you notice? For example, there may be a topic where you got most questions correctly, but you felt they were difficult and maybe it took you a long time to complete them. This can indicate that you want to do more practice on that problem not because you are not getting the answer right but because you want to be able to get through those questions faster during the exam.
Track your progress. Once you start improving on a topic make sure to shift your efforts accordingly. You may feel that you need to continue to spend a lot of time on a topic because, at first, you didn’t do well. However, you should evaluate if this is the case as you could be using this time to work on another difficult topic. Practice questions can give us a more objective lens in this area.

Where can I find practice questions?

Your professor may give practice quizzes and questions on their canvas shell. Please note that you should be doing more questions than what your professor provides.
Most textbooks include practice questions at the end of the chapter.
Penn Libraries has a Supplemental Resources Guide that features books that provide practice problems for most STEM courses.
Ask your professor or TA for any resources they think are good for practice questions.

Written by Oscar Escudero, STEM Learning Specialist, Weingarten Center

Why Use Practice Questions?

Friday, February 23, 2024

Part One of our two-part series on Practice Questions covers why to use practice questions, when should you start using practice questions, and what is an efficient way of using practice questions.

Why use practice questions?

Professors tell us that, in STEM courses, practice questions are one of the most effective strategies to learn the material.
Practice questions can help us in two ways.
- One, they can show us if we understand the material from lectures.
- Two, they can help us identify any gaps we may have. If you consistently get practice problems wrong in a particular topic that you feel you understand, this is an indication that you may need to return to the material. Conversely, if you consistently get practice problems right this shows that you have a solid understanding of the material.
The best way to prepare for a test where you will be asked to solve or answer questions is to practice what will be given in the exam. You wouldn’t train for a marathon by just walking a few times before it.

When should I start practicing questions?

You should start to practice questions as early as possible. Starting to practice questions after lectures can give you a sense of what you need to study next.
You should do practice questions as many times as possible before an exam.

What is an efficient way of using practice questions?

Start with an equal number of questions per topic so you can gauge where your gaps are. Don’t worry about how much time you spend on each question but do set an amount of study time you will be spending studying overall. I recommend an hour to two hours per lecture as a good rule of thumb.
As you work on questions keep track of your confidence. If you notice that you are confident about a topic but are not getting the expected results, maybe you are making small mistakes and just need to pay closer attention, or you may be overestimating your understanding and may need to revisit that topic. If you find the opposite, try to assess what is happening. Are you guessing and being lucky or are you understanding the topic and underestimating your ability?
Avoid looking for the right answer immediately instead try to get to the answer by retrieving prior knowledge.
Once you identify your gaps go back to those topics and revise them again (we’ll discuss this further in part two).
Now that you know where your gaps are, try adjusting the number of questions. Do more questions on the topics that you did not do well on in the first round. This doesn’t mean avoiding questions on the other topics. You are just shifting your efforts where they are most needed.

Try to do a couple of practice exams before the real thing. I recommend you do one a week before the exam and one a couple of days before. This will help you get a feel of not only how you are doing with the material but also how to tackle questions in an exam format. You can visit the Penn Libraries’ Guide on Practice Problems in Math and Science for a quick tutorial on how to use practice exams.

Written by Oscar Escudero, STEM Learning Specialist, Weingarten Center

Active Reading

Thursday, November 30, 2023

One of the most frequently asked questions at the Weingarten Center by undergraduate, doctoral, and professional students alike is: “How do I manage the ungodly amounts of reading I am assigned?” Many of us have internalized the narrative about ourselves as a “slow reader” while others seem to have somehow unlocked the secrets to “speed reading,” as if human processing speeds can be adjusted like the dials of an audiobook app. And so, we trudge along, berating ourselves for our perceived deficiencies in reading speed.

We suggest reframing those narratives you hold about yourself.

Many of us have been socialized to believe that reading should happen the same way regardless of genre, whether it’s the latest young adult romance novel or an academic research paper: start from the first word on the first page and continue in a linear fashion until you’ve soldiered through to the last word on the last page. This is not only time consuming and inefficient, but also a very passive way of reading.

The problem is not your natural reading speed but how you’ve been socialized to read.

A revelation about reading at the collegiate or graduate level: you are not expected to read every word of every assigned reading (really). However, we do recommend re-reading that sentence again, word-for-word, until it really sinks in. Some of the skills you are expected to build in college and graduate school is to read selectively and to develop the skills to quickly, and efficiently distill a large amount of content into useful takeaways for further application or analysis. In other words: how you approach academic readings should be different from how you approach reading for pleasure.

Below are some tips to help you reframe how you approach your academic reading to both maximize efficiency and learning:

- Preview the reading: Start by taking a look at the headings, titles, sections or chapters, relative lengths of parts, and prioritize your reading accordingly. You don’t have to read the sections in order, and you might choose to skip entire areas altogether.

- Read with a purpose: Before you start reading, identify the piece of information you are expected to glean from the reading, whether that be a new concept, theory, perspective, or answer to a particular question, etc. You should be able to get a general sense of this by perusing your syllabus. Then read as if you are on a quest searching for that specific piece of information.

- Synthesize the reading: After you’ve completed the reading, make quick notes to distill the main takeaways in your own words. You will especially want to think about how that particular reading is in conversation with others you’ve been assigned in that class.
  - - Pro tip: These notes should be useful in helping you decide whether you want to use that reading as a potential reference in a future essay assignment, so be mindful of that as you take notes.

Some of you may bristle at the idea of not reading every assigned reading to completion; it can be hard to fight that deep socialization and many years of habit. But we challenge you to let go of this notion that there is virtue in word-for-word reading. We recommend that you try out this selective active reading strategy with your elective classes or other classes that are lower in your priority list. You will quickly find that there is only a marginal benefit to word-for-word reading, and that your overall improved wellness and time is worth the effort of selective, active reading.

Of course, there is nothing stopping you from reading more deeply and closely, especially for topics you find particularly fascinating. We encourage you to follow your intellectual curiosities as they arise. After all, that is one of the greatest delights of life as a student: discovering entirely new intellectual passions. But you might find that you do not have the time to pursue these new curiosities if you’re too busy trying to read every word of every reading in every class.

Written by Ayoung Lee, Learning Specialist and Fellow, Weingarten Center

Making a Case for Study Groups: Establish Safety and Value

Friday, May 7, 2021

In the last installment of this series, we addressed 3 of the most common challenges that study groups face:

study groups turning into study group socials
uneven distribution of work
unclear expectations

In this post, we will address these challenges from an asset-based perspective and through this question: what factors contribute to the success of effective study groups?

Interestingly enough, Google was also interested in this question. Already convinced that team effort yields the most productivity, the tech company conducted a large and extensive study to discover what characteristics every successful team had. Find out what Google learned by watching the video below:

Psychological safety. Every successful team figured out how to establish a sense of psychological safety for every member. Google broke this characteristic down into two other components: balance of speaking and social sensitivity. Considering these two components when we think back to the common challenges of study groups, everything starts to make more sense! When everyone does not feel like their contributions are or will be valued, study groups are not as productive. If the team does not practice social sensitivity, does not establish a culture of care, it is unlikely that team members will feel comfortable with making mistakes and troubleshooting challenges.

As we move forward from the social-psychological characteristics of successful study groups, we encourage you to use the Group Contract in your first study group session in order to set clear expectations and maintain a culture of care. Next time, we break into the cognitive ideas of growth mindset and metacognition to help facilitate meaningful interactions between group members and course content.

By Staff Writer: Gabriel Angrand, STEM Learning Specialist