Planning a personal curriculum for September

Summary

In this video, Ruby shares her process for creating a personal curriculum for the new year, reflecting on last year’s experiments with monthly themed learning. She outlines her September module on female Victorian education, detailing her focus on education reform, access to universities for women, and key figures of the era. Ruby demonstrates how she organizes her reading list, plans tasks, and sets internal deadlines to maintain accountability. She also showcases her methods for note-taking, literature reviews, and essay writing, emphasizing the importance of synthesizing and reframing information. The video offers practical strategies for structured, self-directed learning while keeping it flexible and engaging.

Takeaways

• 📚 Ruby creates a personal curriculum each month to explore topics of interest in a structured way.
• 🗓️ Last year, her modules included diverse subjects like juvenilia, tragedy, and UK birds, though consistency became a challenge.
• 🎯 For September, Ruby focuses on female Victorian education, narrowing the topic to 1860–1900 and education reform for women.
• 💻 Notion is used to draft and organize the curriculum, while a physical academic planner and folders reinforce accountability.
• 📝 Each module is broken down weekly with tasks like essays, literature reviews, and notes pages to synthesize and reframe information.
• ☕ Ruby emphasizes starting with preparation, like making tea, reviewing notes, and planning a reading list from Google Scholar.
• 📖 Recommended reading lists are used, but flexibility is maintained to swap out sources if they aren’t relevant or engaging.
• ✍️ Essays, literature reviews, and notes serve as informal assessments to deepen understanding and encourage further research.
• ⏰ Internal deadlines and printed work mimic academic submission requirements, helping maintain focus and structure.
• 🖋️ Ruby experiments with creative note-taking, using a numbered, indexed notebook and gold foil pens for personalization.
• 🎨 The emphasis is on synthesis over perfection—notes and essays don’t need to look perfect, but should aid comprehension.
• 💡 Personal curiosity is balanced with structure, combining independent study with accountability for consistent learning progress.

Q & A

What is Ruby's main goal for creating a personal curriculum this year?

Ruby's main goal is to create a more structured and consistent personal curriculum compared to the previous year, where she struggled to maintain her learning schedule due to other projects. This year, she plans to be more disciplined and organized, focusing on specific topics and using tools like Notion to track her progress.

What tools does Ruby use to organize her curriculum?

Ruby uses Notion to organize her reading lists, tasks, and goals for each module. She also prints out her reading lists and places them in a notebook, allowing her to engage with the material both digitally and physically.

Why did Ruby's personal curriculum fall off towards the end of the previous year?

Ruby's personal curriculum fell off towards the end of the year because she became busy with other projects, and her curriculum lost priority as a result. This led to a decrease in her consistency and engagement with the planned topics.

What is the focus of Ruby's curriculum for September?

For September, Ruby's curriculum is focused on Victorian women's education, specifically looking at the education reform in relation to women and how access to university education changed from 1860 to 1900. She is interested in studying how women gained access to higher education and the opening of women's colleges during this period.

How does Ruby ensure she stays on track with her curriculum?

Ruby ensures she stays on track by setting internal deadlines and creating a structured plan. She uses a physical folder to print out her work and track her progress, much like handing in homework with deadlines. This approach helps her maintain accountability and urgency in completing tasks.

Why does Ruby prefer using Notion for her curriculum planning?

Ruby prefers Notion because it is a versatile and dynamic platform that allows her to easily organize and adjust her curriculum. She appreciates its flexibility and the ability to rearrange tasks and reading materials effortlessly.

How does Ruby handle flexibility in her personal curriculum?

While Ruby creates a structured curriculum, she allows for flexibility by treating her reading list as a recommended list rather than a strict requirement. She can adapt the materials based on her interest and relevance to the topic. This flexibility allows her to stay engaged and avoid burnout.

What are some of the types of tasks Ruby assigns in her personal curriculum?

Ruby assigns a variety of tasks in her curriculum, including writing essays (usually around 1,000 words), creating literature reviews to synthesize research, and making notes pages that help her summarize and reframe the information she is learning.

How does Ruby select the readings for her curriculum?

Ruby selects readings for her curriculum by conducting academic research through Google Scholar and reviewing abstracts of articles and books. She adds the most relevant and interesting ones to her reading list. Occasionally, she also looks for university reading lists related to her chosen topic for further recommendations.

What challenge does Ruby highlight about self-directed learning?

Ruby highlights the challenge of maintaining consistency and motivation in self-directed learning, especially when other commitments or urgent tasks arise. She emphasizes the importance of creating structure and accountability to prevent personal study from falling behind.