How to Keep Track of Assignments in College

Where should all your deadlines live?

In one place. Five syllabi, a learning system and a few emails is five places to forget something. Pick one list, a planner, a calendar or a notes app, and copy everything into it.

For each item, write the course, what it is, the exact due date and time, and how much it counts. The weight tells you where your effort should go when two things land in the same week.

How do you build the list in the first week?

Collect every syllabusDownload each one from your learning system, Canvas, Brightspace, Moodle or Blackboard, and look for the schedule or assessment table.
Copy every dated itemAssignments, quizzes, labs, midterms, the final, and recurring things like weekly readings or discussion posts.
Mark the heavy weeksScan the list for weeks with two or more big items. Those are the weeks to start early.

When should reminders go off?

A reminder on the due date only tells you that you are late to start. Set one far enough ahead to do the work: a few days for a problem set, a week or more for an essay or a project.

Then add a daily habit: look at what is due in the next seven days each morning. When a professor moves a date, change it in your list right away so you never work off an old schedule.

Can Dash keep track of assignments for you?

Yes. Text Dash a photo or PDF of each syllabus, or sign in to your learning system on its secure page, and it saves every assignment, quiz and exam with its date and weight. It texts you a heads-up before each one, and you can ask "what's due this week?" any time.

Questions students ask

Is a paper planner or an app better?

Whichever you will actually look at every day. The system matters more than the tool: one list, every date, checked daily.

Should I trust the dates in my learning system?

Mostly, but compare them with the syllabus. Some professors only put dates in one place, and announcements can change them mid-term.

What if I already missed the first few weeks?

Build the list now from today forward. Then check whether anything already past can still be handed in late.

Dash at your school

Key dates, learning systems and offices for hundreds of campuses, from each school's own site.

University of Toronto The University of British Columbia Université de Montréal Université Laval York University University of Ottawa Université du Québec à Montréal McGill University Humber Polytechnic Seneca Polytechnic University of Alberta University of Calgary All campuses →

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How do you keep track of assignments in college?