INTM 3555- BuJo 101: How to Get it Together Using the Bullet Journal Method
Class Meeting: Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm in CAB 318
Office: CAB 306
Available by appointment. See the scheduler to the right to make an appointment. Check the locator on my door if you stop by my office and would like to know if I'm available.
Email: ssthomas@lagrange.edu
(use subject: INTM 3555)
Phone: 706-880-8298
Twitter: @SocialPsySteph (Class hashtag: #INTM3555)
Please see the course calendar at the bottom of the page for assignment dates.
Text
Carroll, R. (2018). The bullet journal method: Track the past, order the present, design the future.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychological Sciences
306 CAB
LaGrange College
There are two copies of this book available in the LaGrange College Library. Students are welcome to use these copies or purchase their own.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525533338/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_GD3cEb94EQET1
Course Description
Learn a fun and creative way to organize your life and stay on track. This course will teach you the basics of the Bullet Journal Method as developed by Ryder Carroll. Bullet journaling is an organizational method that combines planning, journaling, and creativity in a personalized approach to help you learn how to “track your past, order your present, and plan your future”. This course would be especially useful to those students who are currently in need of an organizational system or those that have a system but are looking to add creativity or new techniques. This course will combine areas such as artistic expression (e.g., calligraphy and sketching), mindfulness and introspection (e.g., assessing goals), and task management and setting priorities (e.g., creating daily task lists).
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Course Objectives
The goal of this course is to familiarize students with the concept of bullet journaling. Through reading, watching videos, browsing instagram and pinterest, students will learn about which journal spreads work for them. By the end of the interim term, students will have created an organizational system that they can take with them and utilize in the coming semester of coursework.
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Course Requirements
All graded activities should follow the LaGrange College Honor Code and should be your own work. Unless otherwise noted, all work receives an individual grade; thus graded items cannot be completed with the input of others.
Class Participation
Attendance: Attending class is very important for students to be able to do well in the course. Thus, attendance will be a part of the overall grade for the course. Students are responsible for all content covered in class and are required to attend all class sessions. Early in the semester, you should get contact information from one or more of your classmates and set up a "buddy system" for the purposes of letting you know what was covered in class, any changes to the course outline (including information regarding deadlines for various assignments), and giving you copies of any handouts in you should miss a class session. Given that the Jan Term is so short, all class meetings are vital. If a student misses a class session, they cannot earn the daily participation points for that day. In addition, students must arrive ON TIME in order to receive the daily participation points. Students arriving more than 20 minutes late for class will not receive the points for that day.
If a student has a chronic illness, are on an LC sponsored sports team, or have other situations that may cause the student to miss class or to cause the student to fall behind in class work, it is the student's responsibility to notify the instructor at the beginning of the semester or as soon as the conflict arises. Students should not wait until an assignment deadline to let the instructor know that of an ongoing problem that is interfering with the student's ability to keep up in the course.
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Reading Questions: At the beginning of the term, all students will be randomly assigned at least 3 readings for which they will be responsible for submitting questions/comments to the instructor. Students are required to read all readings, but are only required to submit questions/comments for their particular readings. All submissions are due by 8 pm the evening before class.
Those who are assigned readings will lead small group discussions on that reading the day the reading is due. Leaders will use their own questions, questions from their group members, and/or questions provided by the professor to lead their small group through a discussion of the reading. After the small group discussion, the leader will report to the class as a whole what they discussed and open it up for comment/question from the larger group.
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Journal Spreads: Throughout the term students will be asked to create different kinds of journal spreads. Students will present these spreads to the rest of the class. In order to create these spreads, students will need to purchase some journaling supplies. The first few class sessions will be spent discussing different supplies so students can decide what types of supplies the would like to purchase. Students should wait until after these sessions to purchase their materials. The basic supplies that all students will need to purchase are a notebook and a writing utensil. These can be as simple (a plain $1 notebook and a pencil) to as extravagant (an LT 1917 hardcover notebook and a fountain pen) as the student desires. Again, options for these will be discussed in class.
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Missed Class: To make up an absence, a student must have an excused absence. An excused absence is determined by the instructor and may include an illness that requires the student to remain at home/in their dorm room, a death of someone close to the student, court date during class time, school-sponsored event that occurs during class time, or other events at the discretion of the instructor. To notify the instructor of an excused absence, the student must turn in an absence form (this can be found on Connect). If documentation is available, that should be submitted along with the form. This form will not be accepted electronically. Only one undocumented absence will be counted as excused per student. After that one, all missed classes must be accompanied by written documentation to count as excused. To designate a missed class as excused (whether it has documentation or not), the student must submit an absence form on the day they return to class to be able to make up the absence and receive full credit. The student must then arrange to make up the missed participation as soon as it is possible, but definitely within 1 week of the original participation date. If no absence form is turned in, the participation cannot be made up and the student will receive a grade of "0" for that participation. If the participation has not been made up within one week of the original participation date (unless prior approval has been obtained by the instructor), the participation cannot be made up and the student will receive a grade of "0" for that participation. The instructor will not contact the student to determine if a missed participation is excused. If no contact is made by the student, it is assumed the missed participation is unexcused. Zeros will be given for participation when it is determined that the absence is unexcused. Please note the following examples of unexcused absences: absences due to vacations or leaving early before a scheduled break, except under extenuating circumstances, work schedules are not considered an excuse for missing a class. Once answers to a graded item have been distributed in any format (orally, online, returned work, etc.) the graded item may no longer be made up and the instructor will provide the student with other options to make up the missing grade. Twitter participation cannot be made up as these assignments involve reflecting on class discussion. However, students may drop two excused Twitter assignments from their grade. If an assignment is assigned on a day that a student is absent but is not due until a later date, the student is still responsible for completing this assignment on time unless prior approval has been obtained by the professor.
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If you are absent during a day you are a discussion leader, you MUST have written documentation for your absence. If this happens, you will be assigned a new reading to replace the one that you missed. If you do not have written documentation for the absence, you will not earn the points for that day.
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Final Project
At the end of the term, all students will make a presentation to the class where they show off the journal they have created and discuss what they have learned about the journaling process, in particular, what they have learned works and does not work for them.
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Overall Grading
The different types of assignments that you will encounter in this class will each contribute a unique amount of weight towards your final grade in the class. The following table lists the percent of your final grade that will come from each of the designated types of assignments.
This course is graded on a "Pass/Fail" basis.
The following factors may also affect a student's grade:
Grades may also reflect class behavior, and those students who behave in a way deemed disruptive by the instructor may have their grades reduced and/or be referred to Student Judiciaries. Likewise, students that are active in class discussion may have their grades increased.
Academic misconduct. Any student who cheats or plagiarizes will be given a grade of “F” for the assignment and will be referred to the Honor Council. Cheating includes, but is not limited to: wearing earphones or hats to the test session, attempting to or leaving the classroom with a copy of the test or answer sheet, looking at another student’s test or answer sheet, or using a phone during the exam period. Plagiarism involves any attempt to pass off work from another source as your own. This applies to both tests and assignments.
Extra Credit Opportunities
Finding Errors
To encourage the reading of all class materials, I offer extra credit to the first person to notice errors in any class documents. If you spot an error (this can be as simple as a misplaced comma or a misspelled word), please send me an email with a screenshot and explanation of the error. Each found error will earn you extra credit towards the Participation portion of your grade. This not only encourages deep reading and attention to all class materials but ensures that the class materials are continually improving.
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Maintaining a Good Learning Environment in the Classroom
Phones
Please silence your phone and put it away during class. Yes, I can see you texting, tweeting, and snapping even when you put your phone under the desk or try to hide it on your desk. This not only distracts other students around you but also distracts me from my lecture. If I see a phone out an inappropriate time, I will call you out in front of everyone and your grade WILL be negatively impacted by repeated issues. In addition, please do not wear headphones during class. Once class begins, headphones should be removed from your head/ears and put away.
That said, I would like for you to bring a mobile device to class as we will use them often for participation via Twitter and polling.
Laptops
On most days, you will not need a laptop in class. Students will be able to create journals using paper and pencil and thus, a laptop will not be necessary. However, if a student prefers to create an electronic journal, a laptop or tablet will be needed daily for that. In addition, there will be certain days when we will watch YouTube videos or browse sites like Instagram and Pinterest. On these days, students may want to bring a laptop if they prefer that over their phone.
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Please use polite email etiquette and don't email me about these issues or your email may be deleted. In general, my email responses will be very short (1-sentence). I am not trying to be rude, just efficient as I get many emails in a day. If your question requires a lengthy response, I would suggest scheduling a meeting with me instead. For all email responses, please permit at least 24 hours before expecting a response (e.g., you are unlikely to get a response to your email the night before an exam). In general, emails may not be answered over the weekend, holidays, or after business hours.
Other Administrative Details
All papers submitted in this class should follow the paper formatting guidelines found here.
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The course outline is a guide. The coverage of certain topics or participation in class activities may take more time or less time than was originally expected. The instructor reserves the right to alter the course outline at any time. Students will be notified in class and/or by email of any changes in the course outline. If given as an option, the student majority vote will decide changes in exam dates that may occur.
In the case of an emergency such as severe weather or an influenza or zombie outbreak, I may be obliged to make changes to course content, assignments, or other substantive elements of the class.
The syllabus may be corrected or amended if errors or omissions are discovered after the syllabus is posted. Corrections will be posted to the course Connect site and/or the instructor's Twitter page.
ADA Statement: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, LaGrange College consistently undertakes to provide, by every reasonable effort, assistance and appropriate accommodations to qualified students with disabilities. Students with disabilities are responsible for identifying themselves, and for providing documentation from qualified and licensed medical or testing personnel to Ms. Pamela Tremblay, Director, Counseling, and Career Development Center, located on the first floor of Smith Hall, room 127 (x8313 or 706-880-8313), as soon as possible. If you do not wish to employ the accommodations that are available to you, you will need to sign a statement declining the accommodations. Students with documented accommodations that they wish to utilize must speak with the instructor & present documentation by the end of the 2nd week of the semester.
Acts of academic misconduct (e.g. cheating, plagiarism) may result in course failure and will result in referral to the Honor Council. No electronic devices may be on a student's person, out, or in use during exams or other graded activities. If that rule is violated, it will be assumed that the device is used for cheating. The matter will be referred to the Honor Council. Unless told otherwise by the instructor, assume that all graded work uses only the student's brainpower and is closed book/notes/internet and is an individual assignment. During exams and graded activities, students may only have a pencil and an eraser on the table top (aside from any materials provided by the instructor). During exams, all belongings should be closed and stowed under the table. All notes/books must be in a zipped bag and placed under the table. You must turn in your exam if you leave the room.
Honor Code: “As a member of the student body of LaGrange College, I confirm my commitment to the ideals of civility, diversity, service, and excellence. Recognizing the significance of personal integrity in establishing these ideals within our community, I pledge that I will not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate these unethical behaviors in others.”
All tests, papers, etc... will be destroyed during week 5 of the following semester. Any questions regarding grades or assignments must be addressed before that time.
You are required to get permission from the instructor if you wish to audio record, video record, or take pictures of a class.
Important information from the instructor will be sent to student's via their LaGrange email account or via announcements within the Connect course site. Students are responsible for all messages and materials sent via these routes. Reminders and hints may also be sent via the instructor's Twitter account. Any changes to course policy, dates, or assignments will also be sent via email or Connect.
DropGuard: The faculty, staff, and administration at LaGrange College want students to succeed in every aspect of their college experience. One of the tools we use to help us in that process is called DropGuard. The DropGuard system allows faculty and staff members to enter information when they are concerned about students – perhaps because of absences from class or other activities, or because of irregular performance, and so on. If there are several indications that things may not be going well for a student, it’s possible that the student will be contacted by their advisor or by another campus official. Students may receive email notifications from DropGuard when the instructor notes a concern. If a student finds themselves in a situation where they could use some additional assistance, please set up a meeting with a faculty member or academic advisor. Naturally, academic support services are readily available in PACE, Tutoring Center, the Writing Center, and in the Counseling Center (study skills, time management, etc.). If students have specific questions about DropGuard itself, please feel free to e-mail: studentsuccess@lagrange.edu.
If you ever encounter an issue with an online assignment, please email me and you MUST include a screenshot that documents your issue. Failure to follow this guideline may result in a denial of your request for late submission of the assignment. As a note, technical errors are bound to occur, therefore, it is HIGHLY recommended that you do not wait until the last minute to complete assignments.
Responsible Employee Reporting Obligation: All faculty and staff share in the responsibility to create a safe learning environment for all students and for the campus as a whole. As members of the campus community, all faculty and staff (other than those designated as confidential reporters) are designated as responsible employees and therefore have the duty to report any instances of sexual harassment, sexual violence and/or other forms of prohibited discrimination. If a student would prefer to share information about sexual harassment, sexual violence or discrimination with a confidential employee who does not have this reporting responsibility, a list of those individuals can be found at http://www.lagrange.edu/about/security/sexual-harassment-violence.html.
*Instructor reserves right to alter schedule due to any unforeseen circumstances*
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Course Calendar
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