We discuss the difficulties students face studying from home and some possible solutions, with tech expert Robert Cairns of StunningDigitalMarketing.
Highlights
How to work around distractions
Tips for staying organized and productive
Useful apps and programs
Data storage and cybersafety
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To get more help with your assignments, book a 20 minute consultation with us and start your journey to reaching your full potential on the page, and in life.
Both the written, visual, audio, and audiovisual content of this post has been created by and is the intellectual property of Lisa Pfau and PFAU Academic Writing. Please do not replicate any of the above content without our consent. However, please do feel free to share this post and its authorship widely.
Please let us know what’s on your mind in terms of your education during Covid-19.
What kind of support do you need? What are you struggling with? What worries to do you have about your future? How can we help?
Over the next few weeks we’ll be rolling out a number of podcasts to attempt to reduce student stress levels and increase positive thought process. We will be also offering a number of Q&A sessions with our academic coaches to try to answer some of your questions about changes in secondary and post-secondary education academic standards and processes during this unusual period. In particular, what does Covid-19 mean for your academic and professional future?
If you have any topics that you’d like us to cover, please add in comments below.
We look forward to connecting and working to together to support you through this difficult time.
Most people think of poetry as an abstract art form reserved for only the most accomplished literary masters, but that is not the case at all. Poetry is one of the most accessible written forms. It is around us everyday in in our thoughts, snippets of text, broken conversations, and of course, song lyrics. Whenever you put your headphones on, you are listening to poetry. Can you decipher the meaning behind the lyrics? Do you enjoy what you’re hearing? YES! Otherwise, you wouldn’t listen to it.
Anyone can write a poem. Poetry is both an art form that has fluid flexibility and rigid structure. You can decide what kind of poet you want to be, or use a combination of different forms depending on what you prefer. The best part about poetry, unlike a research essay, is that there is no right or wrong way to do it. As someone who spends her days editing and “correcting” other people’s work, I find poetry liberating. It allows thoughts, feelings, and words to flow out of my brain through my pen onto the page. I don’t need to worry about making a mistake. I don’t need to hold back my intensity. I can just put it all on the page and let it sit there to digest.
Practicing poetry helps me to clear my head, release my emotions, and generate creative thoughts. When I was starting a research paper, I would sometimes make up a little rap on the topic to release some of my stress. Through that process I would no doubt also generate some ideas as to how to start my paper and have released enough tension to be able to put those thoughts down on the page. Poetry is a wonderful practice to help to improve your overall communication skills and confidence. The more you do it, the more easily you can combat writers block or being tongue tied and respond in the moment. So, rather than buy into the literary mumbo jumbo, why not give it a try?
Join us on Saturdays from 3:00pm to 4:30pm for a poetry workshop with Christie Wong, which explores various forms, techniques, genres, and methods of tapping into your creative selves. It is a wonderfully inspiring, yet practical class that provides you with information and exercises to improve your writing practices outside of the classroom.
Poet, artist, and teacher: Christie Wong
For more information, go to our events page. For daily tips and inspiration, follow us on social media – @pfau_academicwriting (links on headers and footers of the page). We look forward to helping you to reach your full potential on the page, and in life.
We will be closed Tuesday, December 24th to Tuesday, January 14th. I will be checking emails intermittently while away, but will be off the grid for most of my trip.
I wish all of you a restful holiday seasons full of friends, family, and experiences that bring you joy.
Friendships comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
The third event in our Valuable Life Skills Student Speaker Series we will be discussing the impact of our relationships style and that of others on overall quality of life and academic performance. Relationships can provide support, care, encouragement, and opportunities for growth. Or, relationships can cause stress, trauma, hurt, and pain. Thus, it is important to reflect upon our communication and attachment style in relationships, and how that impacts both ourselves and others. Our guest speaker, seasoned student, and qualifying psychotherapist, Jill Gilbert will provide participants with some insights into how you might be able to improve your own relational realities.
OUR SPEAKER
Jill Gilbert, MA, PhD, RP (Qualifying)
Jill is a therapist with a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Guelph. Jill believes that the root of depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns are entrenched in our social relations. Our relationships have the power to both harm and heal us; thus, it is essential to be able to identify, cultivate, and engage in healthy transformative relationships. Jill’s own experience in Grad School deconstructing and reconstructing support systems propelled her towards the Toronto Institute for Relational Psychotherapy to train to become a psychotherapist who can help others to develop and expand their healthy relationships with themselves and others. Jill has an affinity to students as she spent so many years within the post secondary system, and has a particular understanding of the struggles many students face on a day-to-day basis. Jill currently practices near Ossington station, in Toronto’s West End, while completing the final years of her training.
Join us at PFAU: Academic writing, editing, and coaching experts office for a light meal and enlightening discussion on Tuesday, February 26th from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. The address here is 300 Bloor Street West (Room 34 of Bloor Street United Church).
This past week we were very fortunate to have Boyan Lepoev come in to chat with us about living on a student budget.
Boyan Lepoev works as Investment Analyst at Bridgeport Asset Management, a boutique investment management firm in Toronto. Previously, he was Market Risk Manager at the Bank of Nova Scotia. Boyan holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, a Masters in Finance degree from Queens University and a Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University. Most importantly, Boyan learned the hard way the importance of staying on a tight budget while paying his way through school, and is now though these lessons he is now the proud owner of a house in Toronto, as well as, enough savings to continue to travel the globe and explore culinary adventures on weekends with his girlfriend and friends.
Boyan, after experience as an immigrant and long-time student, believes that the most important thing about living on a budget is to actually create a structure that provides guidelines for daily choices and behaviors that can minimize wasted cash, and maximize savings. Managing your money well will help you to be able to invest in supports and services that can help to enhance your student experience and career development throughout your student experience, rather than rushing to find a job penniless the day after graduation. During his talk, Boyan provided us with 7 areas where you could reduce your daily expenditures as a student.
o Living alone is an excellent way to learn independence, but it is also needlessly expensive, especially in Toronto. A more adventurous alternative is to find a rooming house or enter into a roommate arrangement. Not only it is potentially 30-50% cheaper, but living with others is also likely to positively impact one’s social life.
– Transportation:
o Toronto is a very large city, but has adequate transit system (just ignore the delays). For the cost of a $3 ticket, one can traverse the city for more than 2 hours or $116.75 for a student monthly pass. Add some healthy walking or cycling and most areas in the city and the GTA are open for you to explore. Compare this with a typical $20-30 uber ride or leasing a car ($200+ in lease and another $250 insurance/month)
– Food:
o Toronto has an amazing food scene – foods from across the whole world are available for you to buy, typically stuffed with salt, sugar and a variety of preservatives. Cooking, on the other hand, is more economical and healthy. Whereas a typical budget meal would cost $10, home cooked food averages below $4 per serving. Moreover, knowing your way around the kitchen will make you more independent and it is attractive to the opposite sex.
– Banking:
o Today’s society is rapidly moving away from transacting with cash. Instead, we use mobile payments and plastic cards. While more convenient, cashless payments make it really easy to overspend, so always keep an eye on your statement. A great way to do this is with tracking apps, such as MINT.
o Moreover, the “banking” we do is not free unlike cash – the banks are here to make money from you. Utilize the 21 day “grace free” period for credit cards, but be careful to pay the full balance by the due date or face 25% interest rate. Financing a larger purchase with a line of credit is often cheaper (6-13% interest rate), but interest accrues the moment you use the money. Even bank accounts do not come free – “all-inclusive” accounts cost as much as $30/month while a no-frills account could be free, but charge per transaction. Find what works for you and makes the bank the least amount of money!
– Tuition:
o It is surprising how many people do not know about available stipends and student loans. There is also hidden money on campus or in the community, so if are studying something unique or from a particular regional or ethnic group research possible grants, bursaries, and scholarships. Research OSAP – even with the government changes, they will remain interest free while in school and you can negotiate your payment schedule with them after you graduate.
– Books / school supplies
o It is probably safe to assume things have not changed over the last few years and universities still profit immensely from textbook sales. While certain courses necessitate a brand new book for some special software, other courses only require a recent version. Hit the second-hand stores, your school forums or your peers. A second hand book would cost a fraction of the price. A favorite of Boyan’s is www.abebooks.com.
o Everyone has different needs, but there are couple rules of thumb I like to follow. Do not buy things you do not need/won’t use more than few times – try and borrow them instead. Utilize second hand virtual marketplaces such as Kijiji and Facebook to find items you need on deep discount (including small electronics which get obsolete quickly).
Boyan meets Pfau-pfau and imparts important advice.
Boyan’s keystone piece of advice is not to spend to impress someone else; instead, spend on what will make your life easier, happier or more adventurous.
I
thought that this year I would do something a little bit different and write
you a Christmas letter about all the changes that have been happening at PFAU: Academic writing, editing, &
coaching experts over 2018.
As
some of you already know, we moved into our own private office space at Room
34, 300 Bloor Street West in February 2018. This space allows PFAU to have
multiple students and tutors working at the same time. It also provides privacy
and consistency for students. Most of all, I hope it creates an overall feeling
of warmth, welcome, and calm that is often lacking in our hectic lives on
campus or starting up new careers.
We
have also hired a couple new tutors and
editors over the past year or so, including: Lief Strong (ESL Expert),
Ebony Rose (Law School application process coach), Diana Sparling (technical
editor), Christie Wong (Art History & Psychology tutor), and Patricia Huang
(student intern). We are hoping to hire more tutors, editors, and coaches in
2019 to meet the growing subject specific tutoring and standardized exam
preparation needs of our clients. Feel
free to refer any friends or colleagues to me that you think might be
interested in joining our team.
I recently got over my fear of social media, and have started posting daily content on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I’m also active on LinkedIn, YouTube, My Google Business Page, and of course our website blog. You can find us and follow us by searching for @pfau_academicwriting or Lisa Pfau on any of these sites . My goal is to provide comprehensive tips and support to students and young professionals of the classroom. Plus, it’s kinda fun coming up with inspiring, yet funny content. Looking forward to engaging with you as part of the online community.
Finally, after a long-time in the dreaming stage, PFAU is going to offer a series of student events that are geared towards helping to resolve practical issues that many young people face, such as: financial literacy, budgeting, mental wellness, stress relief, and finding a job after graduation. There are currently four event series scheduled each month between January and May 2019. If all goes well, we hope to continue these mini-events into the following academic year. Our first event will take place on Wednesday, January 16th from 6:00pm to 7:30pm in our office space (see EventBrite for more details). So, please come out and gives us your feedback. Subscribe to our blog or add us on social media for regular updates.
Have a
wonderful holiday break and I look forward to hearing from many of you in the
new year!! J
Recently a well-known and prize winning American poet was accused of plagiarism by her contemporaries and her reputation completely sullied. Plagiarism is a major academic offense, and a very common mistake made by 1st Year Undergraduate students. In order to avoid a failed assignment or scary encounter with your Professor, there a few things that you can do to protect your academic integrity:
When in doubt, cite: Although you can be penalized for citing too much (ongoing debate among Law students), that is a far better offense than citing too little or not at all. You will not be kicked out for being honest about your unoriginality. Thus, if you think that the ideas that you are using in your essay are based upon someone else’s, make sure to cite the article or book that you got them from. Citations are not just for quotations, but paraphrasing as well. Paraphrasing means taking someone else’s words or ideas and putting them into your own. It is often taught in lower grades that paraphrasing can be presented as your original thoughts, but once you get into university and college paraphrasing without a reference is a serious offense. The main idea of a book, the argument/theory in an academic article, or a discussion by your Professor in class needs to referenced. Generally any evidence you are using to prove your point needs to be cited. If you are still unsure about whether or not your are plagiarizing, Turnitin.com has an interesting quiz where you can test yourself. Your analysis of the data is where you have a chance to be creative and present some original work of your own. In other words, you take other’s information and thoughts and provide your own opinion about them. If you are really creative, maybe someone else will cite you one day!
Consult a Style Guide: Another thing to watch out for when referencing material in your essay is the referencing style. Different faculties and departments use different referencing guidelines. The Social Sciences, for example, tend to use APA/ASA style, while Historians prefer Chicago Style and the English department sticks to MLA. If you are confused about the difference between these different referencing guidelines, it is best to consult a style guide and confirm with your TA/Professor. You can usually find reputable style guides in your university or college bookstore, or else online with a quick Google search. Look for one’s that have been published by or reviewed by academic institutions to determine their accuracy and relevance. One of my favorites is OWL Purdue. I find it easy to follow and comprehensive. I also really like how they give you the citation format for both in-text and bibliography, as well as a real example of what the citation would look like when input into your essay. it is a resources I suggest to all of my First-Year students.
Take detailed research notes from the start: Many students avoid putting in citations because they find it tedious, or have lost their references. They read books and articles and know the main ideas, but haven’t noted exact page numbers or even the source while doing their research. Then, when it’s time to write the paper, they remember the content, but not where they have gotten it from. At this point, citing sources seems like a big pain in the butt.
The best way to make citing easy is to take detailed research notes that include the authors name, date, text (if you are using the same author more than once), and page number in one notebook/document that is solely dedicated to your research essay. Every time I write down a quote or paraphrase an idea while reading a text, I write down a simple citation in brackets after each note, even if it’s from the same author and on the same page. It is unlikely that I will remember those details later when I’m writing up the paper.
It is also a good idea to add any materials that you are think relevant to your bibliography immediately. Many university/college libraries have software, such as RefWorks, to help you to organize your research materials and automatically generate bibliographies. Most libraries also provide free courses on how to use the library system and citation software throughout the year. You can usually find this out by consulting your university library information desk.
Don’t risk your academic integrity! Cite any and all ideas that you believe not to be your own. Referencing others work gives credit where credit is due, as well as, helps you to engage in the ongoing academic conversation in a respectful and professional manner.
We all know that feeling of relief after running around outside after a ball as a child. The sweat is dripping down our brow, we’re catching your breath, feeling light and free as if you have accomplished something. Well, you have. You have pumped your body full of endorphins and released it of cortisol and adrenaline. This process prevents you from becoming that kid who acts out in class or talks back to your parents. The whole point of recess is to let kids blow off steam. So, we know this about small children, yet once we become young adults, we seem to forget this it. It’s no wonder we’re all so stressed out!
Stress has been linked to heart disease, asthma, obesity, headaches, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, depression & anxiety, gastrointestinal issues, premature aging, and even premature death. According to Harvard, movement has a positive impact on both your physical and mental health; when you feel good, you perform well at work or in school. Stanford University has found a positive correlation between a positive attitude towards studying and academic outcomes. In other words, when your body and mind are in good shape and you feel positive about your studies you are more likely to study well than when your body and mind are riddled with stress.
The problem is not that we don’t know the benefits of exercise; but rather, that work, life, and school take time away from a much needed recess. Here are a few tips on how to integrate exercise into a busy lifestyle:
Walk Don’t Drive: The Washington Post reveals that individuals who live in neighborhoods that require them to drive are significantly more like to be obese than those who take public transit, bike, or walk. All those seemingly negligible jaunts on foot to the bus stop, running errands, or meeting a friend are start to add up. You may not realize it, but a 10 minute walk to the subway stop on each end adds up to 40 minutes of walking by the end of the day. That is A LOT more movement than getting into your car, driving to class, and walking from the parking lot to your next lecture. Walking saves your money and inches on your waist, so why not give it a try?
Make Exercise Social: One of the reasons that I enjoy group exercises classes or intramural sports is that I get chance to meet new people and socialize. Going to exercise becomes more focused on looking forward to seeing friends than burning calories. If you do not like classes, you can always ask a friend to become your gym, jogging, or walking buddy. By making exercise social, you are getting both the benefits of exercise, as well as connecting with people. Killing two birds with one stone.
Do Something that you Like:
Instead of getting into the latest fad, why not just choose an exercise that you enjoy? Something as simple as taking the dog for a walk each evening gets you moving and those endorphins pumping. Or, maybe you like playing a sport, like badminton? You can find lots of intramural options and drop-in classes at your local campus (U of T, York, or Ryerson), or free games at local community centres.Oxford Research demonstrated that enjoyment of an activity is a major motivating factor in starting and continuing physical activity. It’s a lot more fun to do something because you like it than because ‘it’s supposed to be good for you’?!
Invest in a Locker: The biggest improvement I made to my workout protocol was to invest in a locker at the gym that I attend. The locker totally eliminates the excuse that you forgot your gym clothes or shoes or water bottle or whatever. It also makes going to the gym that much more convenient. I don’t have to carry everything along with me, and at the end of the session, I can leave all the heavy gear like shoes and shampoo in my locker so I can truly relax after the work out.
Cultivate a Positive Body Image: Going to the gym because you want to lose weight is a valuable goal; however, it can make you focus more on appearance that the overall physical and mental benefits of exercise. Olmsted and MacFarlane seem to suggest that high sensitivity to body appearance doesn’t correlate to high instances of exercise, but actually has the opposite effect. A focus on appearance can result in frustration once you hit a roadblock and are not getting the results that you hoped for. I find that I’m more likely to exercise when I focus on the fun, stress relief, and benefits to how my body feels; rather than, how it looks. I can’t escape aging, but I can make it a lot more pleasant by keeping active and making time for wellness.
Even though your regular gym session may be the first thing to go out the window as things get busy and finals approach, it is probably the last thing you should give up. A short session is better than no session. It will clear your head, improve your mood, and help you to manage the stress of finals.
**All blog content is original created by Lisa Pfau and Patricia Huang. Please respect our intellectual property rights and do not copy any of this content without our prior permission. However, please do feel free to share widely.
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