Topic Six: Attendance and Timeliness

Attendance and Timeliness

Have you ever been left waiting for a friend? Did you become irritated and impatient? What about if someone canceled your plans at the last second? How did you feel? Many things can make someone late, but it is imperative to plan ahead so you are on time to your service learning site and future jobs.

Your employers and mentors depend on you to arrive each week at the same time and to stay for the duration of your scheduled shift.

Task One:


Here is a list of helpful tips that can keep you arriving on time all the time. Implement some or all of these time-savers into your daily routine.

1. Rise and Shine! Set your alarm clock for 20 minutes earlier than necessary. That way, you can either hit "snooze" in the morning, or have extra time to get ready.

2. Be Prepared! Have your clothes washed, ironed and laid out the night before so you can get dressed faster.

3. Multitask! Prepare your lunch for the next day ahead of time while making your dinner.

4. Know where you are going! Get directions to your service site before your first visit. Plan your route and know how long it takes to get there.

5. Expect the unexpected! Understand that not everything will go smoothly in the mornings. Give yourself enough time to deal with any potential problems that may arise, such as traffic jams, spilling something on your clothes or running out of gas.

6. Call ahead! If you are going to be late, make sure you have the phone number of the place where you are going. Call as soon as you know you will be late and give an honest estimate of how long it will take you to get there. Apologize for the delay and work harder the next time to get there on time.

7. Save your absences! Always reserve your absences for when you really need to take them. If you miss work, school or your service learning because you take a vacation day, your boss, teacher or mentor will be less sympathetic to you needing to also take a sick day. Be sure you need to be absent before you miss a scheduled responsibility.

Task Two:

Understanding where your time goes:
Keep a time log of how long certain activities take you. Write down each thing you do in the mornings before coming to school or to your service learning site. Determine which of these items could be done faster or at the same time. You may find you waste time in ways you do not even realize.

Task Three:

Blog post

I. Discuss a variety of ways you can implement time management into your daily life.

II. What would you do if you became overwhelmed with obligations?

III. Give your blog an appropriate title.

Task IV. Blog Post - Service Learning Weekly Journal

I. Write a two paragraph blog post that discusses your experiences thus far at your service learning placement. Be sure to write using complete sentences, proper capitalization, and proper grammar. You may want to include some of the following in your journal:

• Does your personality type you discovered today in the survey agree with the type of work you are doing in your internship/service learning?
• Knowing your personality, do you think you will have any challenges in the career you want to pursue?
• Discuss any positive experiences you've had in the last week.
• Discuss any negative experiences you've had in the last week.
• What do you look forward to in the coming weeks?
• A picture or visual that relates to your service learning.