Academic Coaching Videos
These videos will give you lots of information. If they answer your questions and you’re able to move forward, that’s great! If you prefer to work collaboratively or have questions about tailoring strategies to your specific circumstances, please make an appointment or stop by drop-in hours.
Set Yourself Up for Success
The 3 Best Things You Can Do for Yourself This Semester
The three best things you can do for yourself this semester.
Number one, make a semester planner. Write down all of your assignments for the entire semester in one place.
You’ll want to find your syllabi.
Use a visual format and know that carefully reading your syllabi yourself, and physically organizing your work offers cognitive benefits.
There are a lot of ways to do this. You might already have a system that works for you.
Great. Hard copies on paper apps, and online versions all work.
If this is new to you, start with our Middlebury specific semester planner on our website.
The details. Capture all deliverable assignments on your planner.
When you’re done, double check your work. You can now see where your work hotspots are and what your workload will look like each week.
Whatever you do, don’t just make it and forget about it.
Put it somewhere you can’t help but look at. Cross off assignments when you’re done for a dopamine hit.
Celebrate your accomplishments, starting with the semester planner.
Number two. Create some routines that balance study and self-care.
More time on your work doesn’t necessarily bring better results.
Some things to try. Build on the routines of your classes shown here in yellow.
Then do regular assignments at regular times, shown in blue.
Research tells us that our brains benefit from familiarity as well as novelty.
You need both. Make sure you sleep, eat, move, connect with others—these orange spaces.
Notice that even with this good self-care built in,
it’s also important to leave space for absolutely nothing and for new and unexpected experiences, and for naps.
A balance of work and play helps you be the best version of yourself.
And so does leveraging the power of habit.
Number three. Build your network. Everyone needs one. Take a look around campus.
Start making connections and take advantage of all that Middlebury has to offer.
There are many academic resources available to you, including Learning Resources, the CTLR, your professors, advisors, deans.
Don’t forget other campus resources like the AFC, the Center for Student Success, Counseling,
the DRC, Center for Health and Wellness, the Prism Center, the Scott Center, and many more.
You need to be your best self to create your best life at Midd.
AI and social media can give you tons of information, or you can connect with Learning Resources staff to work through these suggestions together.
Remember that it is powerful to talk to another human being.
Share your story and come away with workable solutions tailored specifically for you.
We know executive function strategies. We rely on experience and science backed research as we partner with students.
We know that information is one thing and implementation is another.
We know that strategies, which sound simple sometimes, are not.
A quick recap. Make a semester planner, create some routines, and build your network.
Want more? Check out our other videos and consider doing a favor for your future self with these tips.
Here’s how to connect with us. Have a fabulous semester!
What Do You Do When You Can't Do Work?
What do you do when it is the middle of the night, you have a deadline, and you can’t do work? Watch the first two-minute video in this series to get motivated, then choose your path forward by watching video two or three.
It's the Middle of the Night—Start Here
It’s late. You have an imminent deadline and cannot do the work.
What should you do? You need to regulate before you motivate.
Try one of two things. Breathe or move.
I know you are thinking I don’t have time for this, but these few minutes will actually allow you to be productive.
To breathe, you want to sit comfortably or lie down. Take slow, deep breaths.
In through the nose, out through the mouth. Make your exhale longer than your inhale.
Don’t just do 1 or 2 breaths and stop. To feel a true benefit, try 6 or 8 breaths.
This kind of breathing triggers your parasympathetic nervous system and shifts your brain into a more relaxed state.
You can now access the more solution focused part of your brain.
Of course, for some people this won’t feel comfortable and that’s okay.
Instead, move. You can also move your body and get your heart rate up.
Do some lunges, stretches, or walk outside. Even a few minutes can be beneficial.
Exercise increases blood circulation in your body, which means an increase of oxygen in your brain and improved brain function.
For some, this won’t feel comfortable, and that’s okay too.
We just suggest you attempt one of these strategies to your comfort level.
It’s important to begin by working directly with your body to regulate your emotions.
Once your brain gets out of flight or fight mode,
accesses more oxygen, and receives signals that you are safe, it can shift into a more thoughtful, solution-focused state.
Positive self-talk and other strategies have a chance to be effective.
Once you’ve regulated your body, you can think about doing your work.
Next step. Choose one of the next two videos in this series.
Here’s how to contact us. Thanks for watching.
It's the Middle of the Night—Get It Done
Work. Break. Repeat. Get it done. Say you’ve breathed or moved.
You’re calmer and more alert. What is next?
Although it might seem like you need to run a marathon, it’s best to approach your work as a series of sprints and rests.
Set a timer for anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, the amount of time you can work steadily without getting distracted.
Then take a short break to breathe, move, or rest and back at it again.
Research tells us that people are more productive when they take frequent, regularly scheduled breaks.
Work. Break. Repeat. It’s okay if work periods need to get shorter as the night wears on.
It’s also okay to take a nap, as long as you set an alarm and can get yourself up again. Or take a walk.
Talk to a friend. Have a dance party.
This time out, followed by even a semi productive work session is much better than hours of staring at your work like a zombie.
A break can also be about a snack and something to drink.
We understand that some of you won’t be able to bring yourself to take a nap, or a longer, rejuvenating break.
At least take time for something. And another thing,
Avoid perfectionism. Embrace self-compassion.
Now is not the time to strive for perfection.
It’s time to get the project done. Something, however imperfect, is always better than nothing.
Research shows that the best way to get back on track when you’re feeling derailed
is to speak to yourself with kindness and compassion rather than criticism.
You can even give yourself a mantra. This is good enough.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. I can do this.
Hopefully you’re able to complete your project and then get some real sleep.
If you hit a wall and simply can’t continue, do not skip class the next day and avoid your professor.
Email what you have. Ask about your options.
But don’t put yourself through this again. Change something up. Meet with someone in Learning Resources to figure out how to do that.
I urge you to take one action after watching this video.
So start working. When you get distracted, take a break.
Repeat. Here’s how to contact us.
Thanks so much for watching.
It's the Middle of the Night—Hand It in Late and Communicate
Hand it in late and communicate. Say you have breathed or moved, but you have still got a long way to go.
Ask yourself, do I really have the capacity to keep working?
Can I do my best work right now? Does the project absolutely have to get done tonight?
Look for a late work policy on your syllabus. Weigh the pros and cons.
You are not in an ideal situation here, but maybe your brain is done for the day.
What if a good night’s sleep is more important than five points off your grade?
Say you make the call. You’re not doing the project tonight.
But before you go to sleep, email your professor.
Do not just not hand in your project.
Communicate. Here’s an email template incase you want to pause and take a screenshot.
Respectful formal tone. State the facts.
No need to sugarcoat it. Offer a brief explanation if you can, and take responsibility.
Choose only what fits your situation, of course. Make sure you double check the syllabus.
Then propose a course of action. Say you want a meeting.
Offer some specific times. But maybe you only want more time.
You don’t have to offer a new due date, but if you do,
make sure your proposed date is reasonable given the demands of your other classes and priorities, and sign off.
Now you can go to sleep. But the next day, if you have class, talk to your professor.
They may not have received your middle of the night email, so it’s a good idea to check in.
And then you still have to do the project and you don’t want to put yourself through this again.
So consider signing up for a Learning Resources appointment. We can connect you to other resources.
Break your project down into smaller, more manageable chunks.
Discuss focusing strategies specific to what you’re facing and more.
Now go and do two things. Number one, write that email.
Number two, go to sleep. You need it.
Here’s how to contact us. Thanks so much for watching.
You're Behind in a Lot of Work
Get started by watching Step 1. Then continue through this series of three-minute videos to move forward.
Step 1: You're Behind in a Lot of Work
So you’re really behind in a lot of work. It happens. But you’re ready to jump back in and don’t know where to start.
You need to figure out what you have to do. You can’t think well when you’re stressed and overwhelmed before you can motivate yourself to do work.
Get regulated. Take 6 to 8 deep breaths.
Move your body. Talk to someone. Eat something. Take a nap.
Watch this video for more tools or justification. Self-care is a necessity when you need to do work, not a luxury.
Next, you need a clear sense of what you have to do, what to prioritize, and a rough plan.
This video will cover step one what You have to do.
Take some time to look at the big picture of what’s going on with your work.
Some people like to write things down by hand. Others prefer working with digital tools or apps.
All can be effective. Middlebury specific planners can be downloaded from the CTLR website, and hard copies are available in our office.
If you have overdue assignments, we recommend starting with the project planner.
Get everything listed class by class. Focus on deliverables.
Anything you need to turn into your professor. Give each class a different color.
Estimate how long you need to complete each task. It might look something like this.
Then use one of our Middlebury specific semester planners to map out remaining upcoming assignments.
Some prefer our one page planner, others want weekends listed. List blog posts,
problem sets, essay drafts, exams, etc. Again, focus on deliverables only and color code.
Use your syllabus from each class and read it carefully so you don’t miss anything.
Some people prefer to skip the project planner and put all assignments overdue and upcoming on the semester planner.
Again, your choice. You might think that your Canvas calendar already does this.
Your Canvas calendar is helpful, but not always 100% reliable.
The process of manually organizing your assignments also offers cognitive side benefits,
like helping you to regulate and getting you more closely connected to the realities of your workload.
These CTLR planners will give you an idea of how to answer the all important question.
Where can you realistically make up the overdue work while keeping up with current work?
This will be an important tool for discussions about extensions with faculty.
You might feel overwhelmed by this step, and that’s okay.
Take some deep breaths or a movement break. The key here is to download all of the tasks out of your brain into an external place.
This will free up cognitive capacity so you can focus on actually getting your work done, which will be covered in our next videos.
Remember that you don’t have to do this alone. Work with a trusted person.
You can always connect with Learning Resources staff if you’d like a partner in this process.
Now go and actually do step one before starting the next video, which is step two,
prioritize your assignments. Here’s how to contact us.
Thanks for watching.
Step 2: Prioritizing Your Assignments
So you’re really behind in a lot of work, but you have a complete list of assignments from video one.
Now what. This video will cover Step 2: What to Prioritize.
You might already know. In that case, identify your top 2 or 3 assignments.
Some things to keep in mind if you’re unsure. Look at your list and think strategically.
What percentage of your grade is each assignment worth? Usually, formal lab reports count for more than weekly blog posts.
How much time will each project take? Sometimes you need to begin with the bigger assignment, even if it takes longer.
Sometimes you need to complete smaller, lower stakes assignments first to build momentum for the larger ones.
Which tasks are more overdue than others? Or should you keep up with current work instead?
Which classes pose an extra challenge or carry extra weight?
If you can now identify your top 2 or 3 assignment priorities quickly and easily,
great. We suggest you check in with your professor to make sure your priorities align with theirs.
If this process takes longer than a few minutes, it’s even more important to connect with your professor.
Watch one of the next two videos about in-person and email connections.
Then, move right along to making a plan. Don’t forget that you can talk with staff from Learning Resources about this process
and thanks for watching.
Step 2: Prioritize Your Assignments—>Connect with Your Professor
So you’re really behind in a lot of work of work.
It happens, but hopefully you have a complete list of assignments from video one.
This video is about connecting with your professor so they can help you figure out your assignment priorities when you’re behind.
There’s a lot here that you can apply to other communication with professors too.
Students are sometimes reluctant to connect with professors, particularly if they have overdue work.
Please keep these two things in mind. First, ignoring a problem you have in a class won’t make it go away.
Your professor is quite aware that you are behind in your work. You take responsibility for your learning when you engage with your professor.
Reaching out sooner is better than later. But later is better than not at all.
Secondly, you are worthy of your professor’s time.
Students regularly meet one on one with professors outside of class.
Learning doesn’t just happen three hours a week in the classroom.
The relationship between student and professor is an essential part of learning, especially in a college setting.
It’s a good idea to try to build and preserve those relationships, and you have options so you can figure out what works for you.
Number one, go to office hours. These are always posted on the syllabus and online.
All professors have them. If you have a conflict with their office hours or already miss them for the week, ask for an appointment.
Number two. Talk to your professor before or after class.
Just walk over and ask, do you have time to talk right now?
Number three, schedule a meeting and then show up.
And number four. If none of these options is possible.
Send an email instead. Check out this video.
So say you’re now meeting with your professor. Here’s some advice for that conversation.
Explain to the best of your ability how you’re experiencing the course and what is challenging for you.
Be honest and respectful. Take responsibility for your actions.
Then ask if they can help you figure out the best way forward.
Some topics of conversation. Should you prioritize working through the backlog first or do current assignments on time?
Ask for help on difficult assignments. Clarify what you need to do to succeed in the class.
You can even share your entire list of overdue assignments with them.
Repeat as necessary with other professors. Finally, make sure you leave the meeting with a clear sense of what the next steps are.
New due dates and times? Meeting next week? Consider sending a follow up email to confirm details.
Hopefully now that you’ve been able to talk to your professor, you’ve got your 2 or 3 priorities.
So move along to video three and make a plan.
However, if a meeting is impossible right now, send your professor an email to ask your questions.
Remember, the Learning Resources staff are here to work with you.
And thanks for watching.
Step 2: Prioritize Your Assignments—>Emailing Your Professor
You’re trying to get caught up and set some academic work priorities.
This video is about writing an email to your professor. A task that can be challenging, but is something you can learn to do. If you’d like,
watch the previous video for big picture ideas and advice about in-person meetings with professors.
Here’s a sample email for you. Next, we’ll break it down.
You want a respectful, formal tone. And then state the facts.
Offer a brief explanation if you can, and take responsibility.
Then propose a course of action. Say you want a meeting.
Or if a meeting isn’t necessary, only information is.
And sign off. Here’s that email again.
Now you have a template that allows you to practice self-advocacy, an important transferable skill.
You’ll want to pause here and send that email right now.
Hopefully with your professor’s input, you’ll soon be able to identify your top assignment priorities.
And while you’re waiting for a reply. Get a start on something.
Pick an assignment to do and move on to step three. Make a plan.
And remember that you can partner with staff from Learning Resources who can walk through this process with you.
Thanks for watching.
Step 3: Make a Plan
You’re still behind in a lot of work, but you’re ready for Step 3: Make a Plan.
Especially now that you have a list of your assignments and 2 or 3 priorities from our first videos in this series.
So when are you going to do this work? Writing it down actually increases the odds that it will get done.
You have options. Some students use one of our weekly planners.
Some take their current Google calendar or paper planner and make appointments with themselves to do specific pieces of work.
Others don’t want that much structure, and instead identify 1 to 3 goals for each day without specific times.
You’ll have to experiment to find the best system for you.
Whatever system you try, remember that you can’t work straight through day and night without some downtime for friends,
exercise, meals, sleep. You should not spend every waking moment on your assignments and get by with as little sleep as you can.
One hour of work after you’ve slept is likely to yield better results than three hours of work when you’re exhausted.
Look at the commitments and open spaces in this sample calendar.
Allocate some time for coursework shown here in blue and some for restorative activities shown in orange.
You need both. If you’re fortunate enough to have unstructured days to work with,
like during finals week. We recommend trying to work no more than 6 to 8 hours a day.
Some of you might think that you have far more to do than could possibly fit into that time frame,
and push yourself to do more, while others can’t imagine working that much.
Remember, the goal is genuinely productive work sessions in the least amount of time.
Do not do this (no breaks). While it’s true that different people have different capacities,
we encourage you to be realistic about what you can accomplish in a day. When you exhaust your capacity,
you need time to recover. If you are stuck and spent, continuing to try to work will not be effective.
As you’re thinking about when to do which work. Here are some sample schedules, along with some things to keep in mind.
Study times are in blue and down times in orange, with six hours of work each day as the goal.
Some general principles to consider. Do difficult work at your most productive times.
Do assignments in the time blocks that make sense to you. If the work feels challenging,
be open to changing things up, not beating yourself up.
Obviously there are infinite scheduling possibilities here, not just the ones we highlighted.
You can mix and match and tailor these plans to honor how you work.
The most important thing is that you set an intentional plan for work and breaks, and attempt to follow that plan.
So go ahead and pause this video to write down what assignments you’re going to do and when you’re going to do them.
If you’re getting bogged down, connect with Learning Resources and we can help you move things forward.
For more info, watch the next video for tips on how to get the best learning outcomes in the least amount of time.
As always, thanks for watching.
Three Tips for the Best Learning Outcomes in the Least Amount of Time
You’ve reached the last video in our series, three tips to get the best learning outcomes in the least amount of time.
Hopefully, you now have a sense of what you need to do, what to prioritize, and a rough plan.
Our earlier videos cover this, but knowing this information does not guarantee that you can actually implement your plan.
Information is one thing, implementation is another.
How can you give yourself the best chance to get things done? Breaking up your time and your work is essential.
Here’s three quick tips. Make your work time more productive with short breaks.
Most of the time, two hours straight is too long to work without breaks, with the exception of some neurodiverse brains that can hyperfocus.
Try to get into a rhythm of work. Break. Repeat.
Set a timer anywhere from five minutes to 45 or really anything in between for focused work.
When your time is up, take a short screen free break.
Even, just look up for an eye break and repeat.
Your productive sessions will likely get shorter the longer you work, but even working steadily for five minutes is better than sitting and staring at your computer like a zombie.
Tip two. You can also break up your prioritized assignments into smaller, more manageable tasks.
Don’t think…I must write the entire paper or lab report now!
Think….write a rough draft of paragraph two.
Do problem 6a. Write that small goal on a post-it note and stick it to your computer monitor. You can put these small goals together and make a plan like these. It can be helpful to intersperse different kinds of work. We’re using the sample plans from the last video here.
And tip three. Research tells us that our brains benefit from familiarity as well as novelty.
Leverage this knowledge to your benefit. Try to create some routines for your work.
Maybe do assignments you regularly have at the same time and same place each week. And embrace novelty. You need to find the way that works best for you in the moment you are in. If you can’t focus on project A, switch to project B. If you’re sitting and staring, move to a different location. Try speechify to listen rather than read a text.
Try a tutor. Try a different time of day. Try just going to sleep for a change.
Don’t be afraid to shake things up. After working through these steps, you might find that it’s just not possible to do the amount of work you need to do in the time you have. You cannot break the confines of the space time continuum. Sometimes circumstances beyond your control interfere.
You can absolutely be a motivated, dedicated, accomplished student and struggle to complete your work or struggle to successfully use the process we’ve just described. Being behind in your work can be a painful experience. There are many academic resources available to you, including Learning Resources staff, your professors, your advisor, and your class dean. But sometimes what is going on for you cannot be addressed with academic resources only.
Other resources like CARE, Counseling, Parton, the DRC, the Scott Center may be useful as well. Your overall well-being is the most important thing here. We’ve covered a lot in this series, and if you’ve watched the videos and followed the steps, you have done an enormous thing. You are being intentional about how you engage in your academic work. But here you are, sitting between the end of this video and the beginning of your work.
What to do next? Take a short break to self-regulate. Come back to your work. Armed with these science backed strategies aimed at supporting both your productivity and self-care. And start with one thing in this video series that seems useful.
Here’s how to partner with us to do this work. Thanks for watching.