Start your Semester with Notion (free template)
People, myself included, will have high levels of motivation when the semester begins. However, it also wanes fast when the workload gets heavy. I learnt my lesson and understood how important to be prepared and organised; to set up systems when the motivation was still there. It just makes life so much easier.
In this article, I will share how I use Notion to create a course homepage and explain its rationale. If you find it useful, feel free to duplicate the templates and share with others. (I fabricated those courses' details for fun and easy understanding, hope you like them.)
Step 1: Create pages for each course.
Step 2: Create a [reminder] page if there are any extra remarks.
Step 3: Set up the course homepage.
I recommended having four main parts:
Assessment/Homework
Submission Instruction
Course Information
Course Syllabus (It takes the most prominent area)
Assessment/Homework
Mark the due dates of your assessments and homework. Use /to-do list to create checkboxes. Use @ to create deadlines (and hand in time) and reminders.
Submission instruction
Read the course outline carefully. Look out for details such as how to hand in your work, and what are the filename/format requirements.
Course Information
Mark your instructor information, including email, office location and office hours. It is always better to have these details in one place. Embed PDF file of your course outline in case you need it.
Create related pages (/page) for each lesson. I choose to put all my class notes here and use /link to page at the course syllabus section because I want the course note page to align with the lesson title. It can be used as quick access too. Mark your textbook, if you are using ebooks or e-resources from your university library, embed them.
Course Syllabus
Mark all your lessons using @Date and /link to page. Of course, if you didn't create those pages (/page) at the course information section, make them here.
If your course outline includes the main points of the lesson, you should mark them down. Before the class or before you open the course notes page to jot notes, you can go through those points and give them extra attention.
Use /to-do list to mark the required readings. Check the boxes when you finish them.