High School Studying Tips

          High school students are always under a lot of stress from the workload and efforts required to do well in high school. Most times, this pressure cannot be completely eliminated, but it can be minimized with correct study habits.

          Below is a list of the most common studying habits that are proven to assist students to become more successful in high school specifically. Of course, following all of these studying habits for only a small amount of time (i.e. a few days) is no better than sticking with your old studying habits. The purpose of this article is to introduce and help you to slowly change your old studying habits into these new, good studying habits.

1. Stay Organized

         If you have trouble remembering homework you get from courses, try to write them down on a notebook or collection of paper regularly. It is very difficult to memorize all of the homework by pure memory, which is what many students often try and do. Writing down any homework, assignments, or tests can ensure you do not forget about them and fulfill the most basic expectation that many students fail to meet. A few tips to begin doing this is to write down assignments for courses that you enjoy, and slowly carrying the habit over to the courses you do not like as much.

2. Pay Attention In Class

          This is crucial if you want to succeed in high school. In order to begin paying attention in class, you must clear your thoughts. As a high school student myself, I know how distracting it is when you think about topics irrelevant to whatever the teacher is teaching, and even doing nothing but starting at the lesson will not be any more beneficial than using your phone. To clear your thoughts, it is necessary to understand the notion of respect. Knowing that, by paying attention to your teacher’s lesson, is a form of respect, you are more likely to pay attention and not let your brain waver. So the next time you feel like not paying attention, remember the effort that your teacher has put in to preparing a lesson for the class. This appreciation will naturally make you listen to the teacher talk.

3. Steer Clear Of Distractions

           The major distraction at hand is the cell-phone. Although it is a great help in many, even educational, cases, it is a great distraction to high school students. It is extremely important to understand that letting cell-phones distract you from your schoolwork is a terrible habit that requires a massive effort to change. The first step you can take is to remove your phone from your vicinity. If you see yourself unable to concentrate without checking your phone and even getting up to retrieve it, a good idea would be to have a relative lock your phone. It may seem outrageous, but getting used to not depending on phones will drastically change your perspective on the other aspects of your life, such as your school life. This is the same with other

4. Take Notes During Class

           Not everyone is comfortable with taking notes. I have this experience as well. And even when I do take notes, I do not see myself reading them more than once afterwards. However, in the process of just writing them down, I am reinforcing concepts into my mind that I would never have done if I were to just try and remember them. Think of taking notes as a reflection of what you learned. For example, if you write something down that, when you think about it, makes little sense to you, it brings your attention to the fact that you did not understand everything in the lesson, even though you may think you did. From there, you can ask a teacher, friend, or try and figure it out on your own, which is much more beneficial than trying to memorize everything you learn in real time. To begin this habit, you need to first do some note taking. So, in your next class, try writing down what the teacher says and think about what you are writing down, instead of blindly writing.

5. Ask Questions If You Don’t Understand

            Asking questions is heavily underlooked in student success. Yes, it can be trivial at times when, say, a student asks a “stupid” question. But, asking questions naturally make you more curious about something. And from this curiosity, embarrassing or not, there is a lot to be gained. You will be more willing than other students to engage in a lesson or homework assignment, which inherently increases your success in that course. So the next time you have a question, ask it, whether it be in front of the class or in private with the teacher. The goal is to just ask it. I thought about it as a mini goal/objective which I had to complete before I left the classroom.

6. Study With A Group

              This, like the previous point, is an underrated attribute to a high school student’s success. Working with classmates naturally encourages you to participate and be actively engaged with a course’s contents. Personally, I would call with a friend before every Chemistry test or assignment I had, and we would go over the material provided and do practice together. This fixes a few major issues. For one, I have more motivation to work in a socially active environment, which working alone cannot provide. Also, I have opportunities to merge thoughts and find out about material I somehow overlooked. There were many times that I learned something new from my friend when we were studying together, and it is definitely an experience that every high school student needs to have to realize how to be successful in school. My number one tip to get you started on this is to find someone who takes studying seriously (friend or not) and discuss your school work with them.

             Whether you choose to follow these or not, just remember that good study habits are not just beneficial towards high school success, but also a key factor in success in life.