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Writing Center

Keep Writing by Students for Students

Keep Writing is full of resources to help you meet the new demands of writing for your virutal courses. These resources were compiled by the student staff of the Writing Center. They listed struggles they and their peers have experienced, and this page is their gesture toward a shared persistence. 

Important Campus Resources
Communicating and Emailing Resources
Calendaring and Time Management Resources
Space Management Resources
Wellness and Mindfulness Resources

For those interested in knowing they are not alone, you can also see the shared student challenges that prompted this page. If you have challenges to include or resources to share, please send them to writing@csusm.edu. 

Campus Resources

Communicating and Emailing

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Calendaring and Time Management

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Space Management

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Wellness and Mindfulness

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The Challenges

The Keep Writing resources were gathered and prompted by listing out the shared struggles with shifting to alternative modes of learning during the events of COVID-19. Here are those challenges:

Challenges with Home/Work Environment

  • My home is very noisy, which makes it hard to work.
  • I am working in a household with people who need quiet workspaces for meetings all day.
  • my family (siblings, parents, etc. ) often distract me from being productive.
  • my kids are distracting me and I end up working on my assignments late in the night.
  • I do not have a permanent/comfortable workspace

Challenges with Motivation And Focus

  • I miss working with my friends in class; working with others motivates me.
  • I am having trouble being productive with any additional time I have.
  • I am easily distracted on my computer.
  • I am easily distracted by my phone.
  • I was most productive when I worked in the library, but now I cannot.
  • I am struggling to stay motivated since there is no in person classes and I have to decide when to do my assignments on my own time.
  • I tend to put off assignments for a later time, when it would not be the case if I were physically in class.
  • I am motivated by deadlines and face-to-face meetings; now I am feeling lost.
  • I lose motivation thinking my peers my will exploit the situation and possibly cheat on exams.
  • I get bored/distracted sitting at a computer all day.
  • with so many of the recent changes, I have other priorities that require my attention more than my schoolwork (income, family, health, etc.)

Challenges with Scheduling And Organizing

  • I am having trouble following my original class schedule.
  • I am having trouble following my modified class schedule.
  • I can’t keep up with all the forum posts I now I have to write and respond to.
  • It's hard to keep up with what the professor is teaching now that we can’t come into their physical office hours or ask questions in class.
  • It’s hard to stay organized with all the emails I have for my classes.
  • It’s hard to keep up with what’s going on in class. (lecture/class schedule..)
  • It’s hard to keep track of different assignments on various online platforms (zoom, teams, cougar courses, emails)
  • I receive too many emails from my professors as it adds to my anxiety because I feel I am not able to keep up.

Challenges with Instructor Communication

  • My instructor is not answered my email yet.
  • I don’t want to bother my instructor with an email.
  • I have not received feedback on the previous assignment(s).
  • My instructor’s emails are confusing and unclear, so I don’t know how to prepare for class.
  • Instructor sends too many emails instead of one with step-by-step instructions.
  • I have so many questions for my teacher with this online transition that it’s too hard to convey that in an email and I would rather discuss these questions with my professor in person.
  • I have so many questions for my teacher with this online transition that it’s too hard to convey that in an email and I would rather discuss these questions with my professor in person.

Challenges with Technology And Learning Tools

  • I only have access to reliable internet a few times during the day.
  • my internet provider is spotty, there are times I lose connection.
  • I don’t have a good mic and sound setup.
  • I don’t have a good headset.
  • My computer overheats before I can finish my homework.
  • I don’t have access to the materials I used to for my classwork (cameras, labs, etc.)
  • I don’t have access to the books on reserve in the library anymore.
  • I have to share my laptop with my family members, which makes it difficult to complete my own work.
  • I don’t have access to a printer/scanner anymore and need hardcopies.
  • with the online transition, i’m having trouble downloading the right software required for some of my classes because my laptop is outdated (i.e. zoom, respondus lockdown browser).

Challenges with Privacy And Boundaries

  • I don’t like showing my face in the video chats.
  • I don’t like my workspace being visible in video chats.
  • My classmate seems to only complain, and we cannot get work done.
  • I feel anxious emailing my instructors and classmates.
  • I do not know what to do with my growing inbox and notifications.
  • My classmate messages me and asks for help too often
  • I don’t want to receive an excessive amount of notifications from my peers.
  • I don’t like making phone calls to my classmates/professors because I do better face-to-face. Telephone communication is harder for me than chat and text.
  • I feel anxious having to video chat my peers and professor because I prefer face to face interaction.