{"id":43236,"date":"2020-11-26T07:18:08","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T12:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=43236"},"modified":"2020-11-24T08:00:25","modified_gmt":"2020-11-24T13:00:25","slug":"experiencing-the-learning-strategist-an-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2020\/11\/26\/experiencing-the-learning-strategist-an-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiencing the Learning Strategist: An Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A couple weeks ago, one of my friends had an appointment with a <a href=\"https:\/\/studentlife.utoronto.ca\/task\/meet-with-a-learning-strategist\/\">learning strategist<\/a> at the University of Toronto, and was talking to me about how helpful it was. I had never really heard of this service, so I thought I\u2019d look into it more and ask my friend about his experience.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/IMG_5026-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"A picture of the University of Toronto St. George campus \" class=\"wp-image-43238\" width=\"350\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/IMG_5026-768x1024.jpg 768w, http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/IMG_5026-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/IMG_5026-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/IMG_5026-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/IMG_5026-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Learning strategists are people who can meet with you and give individualized support for your academic success. The friend that I was talking to has ADHD, so for him, the learning strategist was a great way to get personalized recommendations on what study plans and strategies may help him. Learning strategists specifically help students a) develop new strategies for studying and exam prep, b) manage time and stress, and c) improve their academic skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/studentlife.utoronto.ca\/task\/meet-with-a-learning-strategist\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2020-11-23-at-11.06.04-PM-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"A picture of the Student Life learning strategist website\" class=\"wp-image-43239\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2020-11-23-at-11.06.04-PM-1024x575.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2020-11-23-at-11.06.04-PM-300x168.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2020-11-23-at-11.06.04-PM-768x431.jpg 768w, http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2020-11-23-at-11.06.04-PM.jpg 1302w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Talking to my friend, I asked him a few questions about his learning strategist appointment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What were you expecting when you first booked your appointment?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Honestly, I wasn\u2019t expecting it to be that helpful. I\u2019ve heard a lot of the same study advice and none of it has really helped me, especially because I have ADHD and therefore unique problems with getting work done. Still, I wanted to give it a try.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So what happened at the appointment?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I met with the learning strategist on Zoom and he started by asking me to go through my courses and explain my thoughts on them, the challenges I was facing, and my strengths. After going through my courses, I was really impressed that the learning strategist was able to instantly understand and summarize the main problems I wanted to work on. He then went through a bunch of individualized, unique strategies that I\u2019d never heard of before.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>That\u2019s great! So have you been finding the advice helpful?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Yes! The advice was very unique and felt personally tailored to the weaknesses I wanted to work on. I also learned new strategies which I\u2019ve since implemented and have been helping me a lot.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Can you give an example of one of these strategies?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Sure! It\u2019s called the Pomodoro method. Basically, you time yourself working for 25 minutes and after 25 minutes you take a 5-10 minute break. After 4 rounds of 25 minutes, you take a 30 minute break! I\u2019ve found that when I do the Pomodoro method, I work super intensely during those 25 minute-periods because they're short enough that I know I can work productively the entire time. It feels a lot more attainable than sitting down and trying to work for hours.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2020\/11\/giphy.gif\" alt=\"A gif of dancing tomatoes\" class=\"wp-image-43240\" width=\"400\" \/><figcaption>Yes, Pomodoro as in tomato (apparently the creator originally used a tomato timer)! Creds: giphy.com <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, it seems like the learning strategist is a great place to go if the usual study tips aren\u2019t helping and you want more individual attention and support.&nbsp;To <a href=\"https:\/\/studentlife.utoronto.ca\/service\/learning-strategist-connections\/\">book an appointment with a learning strategist<\/a>, contact your faculty or college registrar. You can also book an appointment through CLN! If you're looking for additional academic help, there are more resources, like workshops and helpful information, on the <a href=\"https:\/\/studentlife.utoronto.ca\/department\/academic-success\/\">Student Life<\/a> website. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-summary\">\n<div class=\"entry-summary\">\nA couple weeks ago, one of my friends had an appointment with a learning strategist at the University of Toronto, and was talking to me about how helpful it was. I had never really heard of this service, so I&hellip;\n<\/div><div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2020\/11\/26\/experiencing-the-learning-strategist-an-interview\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Experiencing the Learning Strategist: An Interview&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2020\/11\/26\/experiencing-the-learning-strategist-an-interview\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Experiencing the Learning Strategist: An Interview&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":374,"featured_media":43238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6669,65,1,70,58,66,82,67,68],"tags":[826,35561,1266,25333,1766,25507,35605,6156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43236"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/374"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43236"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43244,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43236\/revisions\/43244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}