“Senioritis” is a playful term spoken among high school students. As the end of the year approaches, seniors and students of other grades suddenly find themselves feeling burnt out and without motivation to work hard on their schooling. However, after the ‘re-charging’ period of Winter Break, it is now the perfect time to take some steps to make this the best semester yet!
1. Never neglect your mental health.
While good grades are important, it’s crucial that we don’t lose sight of our mental health by overworking ourselves. Everyone is different when it comes to how they care for their mental health. Some people favor spending time with friends and family, while some favor spending time alone in the quiet of their own room. You can also participate in some activities that make you feel content. Some can be relaxing at home, listening to music, finding a hobby, and more! It’s important to find things you enjoy in life that are based outside of school.
2. Find a new study technique
It can be refreshing to switch things up every now and then. It helps to find a new study method that may suit your needs much more. Every person is different in how they learn how things become successfully sustained in their head. For some people, it can be visual learning: watching YouTube videos, being taught firsthand during a one-on-one session, and personally watching an educator perform the subject. For others, it may be reading and reviewing, reading book materials, making a list of vocabulary words, and reviewing them each day. There are many more studying techniques to discover, and find which one is most fit for you!
3. Make a study schedule
Things feel much more simple and organized when you have a plan for when you want to study, and work, and include free time for fun activities! It’s important to gather information on all homework, assignments, tests, and more. A very reliable source may be a physical book planner. As you go through each of your classes throughout the day, take note as the teacher talks about your upcoming work, projects, and quizzes, and write what date the assignments are due. Once you have a clear idea of what it is when it’s time to make your schedule! This can be done on a planner as well, or whatever suits you the best. There are two approaches you can take with your schedule, a very detailed one, or a plan on the vaguer side. You can write the time school ends, when you want to begin work for each class, break times, times for friends, family, hobbies, etc.
4. Make Flashcards and Study Guides
One studying method that people find helps them the most, is creating flashcards to review and practice their recognition. This is a very helpful study technique if a student is in a class that has many terms that are expected to be learned quickly.
5. Be consistent
Studying will not be very effective if the student doesn’t stay on track with studying frequently. If someone studies once a week, it’s not going to be as productive as studying for 30 minutes each day would be. Studies show that students can retain and recall information more by using the spacing technique. The spacing technique is a method where the student chooses a specific amount of time to study for each day. Consistency is key!
At Saugus High School, Gianna Cannistraci is a student who has some studying habits of her own! She has experimented around with what technique she finds that suits her best. Cannistraci says that one of her favorite studying methods is reviewing a quizlet. She makes a quizlet on her own, writing the term and definition. Not only does putting in the information for the quizlet help her, but also reviewing the terms on multiple occasions helps her with the recognition. “Another tip I would recommend to students is to study a week in advance, but also review everything the night before, because it helps me keep the information fresh in my head!” Overall, there are many different studying habits one can try as the new semester starts. Everyone is unique, it just takes a little experimenting to find the method that works perfectly for you. Remember, this is a fresh start after winter break, so make this one count!
