Have you ever wondered what you can do to cause you to have the best school year ever? Or maybe you want to get better grades in that class you just can’t get. How about you’re trying to achieve a goal that you set over the summer, such as meeting and talking to new people. Well continue on through this article to obtain how you can achieve all of these things and more.
To start out these tips and tricks we are going to give the spotlight to some students that go through greenwoods hallways just as you do!
*Disclaimer* The opinions expressed in this article are not those of Greenwood Middle/High school or the Paw Print.
Anonymous- I suggest talking to new people, staying out of drama, keep everything organized, and make sure to ALWAYS have extra pencils.
Grant Schaffer- “Don’t copy and paste, that’s plagiarism.”
Spencer Watts- “Be happy all the time because we can spread God's joy by being joyful.”
Sarah Pennay- Be nice and don’t treat people bad also make sure to study for all of your tests.
Anonymous- “A tip I would give is to stay organized throughout the year to help you stay focused and on task!”
Emily Hixon- “I think students can make this year productive and successful by working hard and always giving their best.”
Being productive during and after school
The first tip I can give you is to start doing all of your school work no longer than an hour after you get home. Yes, it is important to give your mind a short break by getting a snack, a drink, and maybe clean up your room a bit (read on to learn about how cleaning your room affects your concentration) but it is best to get your work done right when you get home since your mind is still fresh and in “work mode”.
If you are busy, take your down time as study or homework time! For instance if you are going to sports practice and you have 15 minutes to spare in the car, instead of going on your Instagram or Snapchat work on your school work! While your doing this work your brain will work faster. The reason for this is because your brain prefers shorter work sessions than two hours doing nothing but homework.
This tip causes miracles to happen when it comes to homework, but I can almost guarantee that you won’t like it. You have to actually turn off your device, but I promise that it is for the best! Most teens are basically controlled by their phone which means that they have shorter amounts of time to do their homework since every notification that pops up taunts them until they give in and check what it is. By turning your phone off, those pesky notifications won’t pop up at all to try to get you on your phone. A random study reported that students who turn their phone off for 1-2 hours report getting their schoolwork done 2-4x faster than students who don’t.
The last thing I can suggest is that you clean your room in the mornings or keep it clean. The reason for this is that a cluttered messy room causes you to have trouble concentrating on what's important at the time (school work). The mess isn’t only found in your room, it can also be on devices or in your mind. The reasoning for this is because everything in your room/ on room device/ on your mind is competing for your attention, and I can almost guarantee that something else is going to be more interesting than your school work.
Make a to-do list. On this list you put the most important things first and the not so important things that aren't urgent last. You can do this with a planner, or even something as simple and cheap as a notebook or loose leaf paper. Just remember not to overwhelm yourself and reward yourself every so often.
Make sure to keep things realistic. If you set a goal that says you want to be valedictorian this year, but you haven’t gotten the best grades in the past years then that probably won’t happen. Instead set a goal like getting honor roll or even just getting 100% on the next test coming up. Either way set yourself achievable goals.
So, since the hours 3-6pm are the most wasted hours of the day. Challenge yourself to see if you can change that this year and make this year a productive year.
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