Kaylee Hanson ‘24, Feature Editor
As the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year comes to a close, schedules change, classes shift, and a fresh start begins. As this transition occurs, many students look to treat this new semester as an improvement on their last, academically, personally, or in any other way that makes the experience and stress of school more bearable. Starting off on the right foot is always the best option, as we venture into another 17 weeks of high school.
A blanket, widely accepted way to improve all aspects of student life is to get organized. This can mean a variety of different things, however; does this entail getting a planner and to-do list, or is a calendar the way to go? Should papers be itemized by subject, or content? How far should this reorganization expand out of the classroom? There are many approaches to organization, and each student will find which combination of strategies work best for them—but according to Teens Health, an organization dedicated to improving the well-being and school lives of teenagers, these are some good places to start:
- Organizing your things – The first step to staying organized as a new semester rolls around is to make sure that schoolwork is set up in such a way that it is accessible when needed, and easy on which to look back.
First, do not be so hasty to throw out old work from the last semester; keeping notes and graded material can make it easier to reflect on concepts full-year classes build on in second semester. Though these don’t have to stay in the backpack at all times, having them accessible at home will prove to be worth the paper.
There are a variety of ways to achieve this, but some of the most fruitful include first ensuring each subject has its own folder at the least; combining work into one folder at random may lead to harder retrieval later. Once this is done, further organization can be done according to class. For classes that use chapters or units, separate work by those markers. Further subcategories, like specific topics, can be grouped as well, but for simplicity, the chronological order of when work was received will also suffice.
The final pillar of physical organization to consider is other things to bring to school. A second semester is a great time to clean out a backpack or bag. The less shuffling through loose paper and random materials within a backpack that is spent, the better, as less class time is wasted, and less stress is put onto you to rifle through unnecessary clutter. Consider getting a pencil case, or checking/replacing materials in your pencil case, to streamline finding what is needed.
- Organizing your time – Often, organization is purely physical; however, learning to better manage and spend your time can lead to more efficient work time and more leisure time.
At the beginning of the week, generally, it is always good to have a calendar, planner, or to-do list; all three can be incorporated together, and many find one of the three fits their personal style best. But this leads to the question of what to write within these to-do lists and planners. Teens Health answers, recommending including “all [of] your assignments and when they’re due, the dates you’ll have tests,” as well as when you do these assignments and study for these tests. The notes on these don’t have to be complicated; taking it week by week for most assignments is a good balance for planning ahead while also not overdoing and overstressing preparation. As assignments and tests pop up in a week, add them to your catalog.
However, for those who play sports, time after school is somewhat limited. There is a careful balance between time for homework and time for practice for these students. CollegeXpress, a tool for students to help figure out college and high school life, offers a solution: “Think about taking a study hall so you can get some stuff out of the way during school and won’t have to worry about doing everything after practice. If you have the chance, start on your work ahead of time so you don’t have to stress out about doing it on a busy night.” This supports a forward-thinking time management mindset, where assignments are done before sports, not after. CollegeXpress also recommends avoiding “cramming,” or doing assignments all at once quickly—often after practice when the mind and body is exhausted.
- Better note-taking and studying – It is first important to consider that note-taking and studying will look different for everyone. Learning styles fluctuate greatly from person to person, and overall, trial and error will be an important part of finding what is right for you personally. There are, however, good points to try that develop that style that is perfect for you.
Note-taking is—for almost all classes—an extremely good method to better understand material. According to the Association for Psychological Science, “research shows that taking notes by hand is better than taking notes on a laptop for remembering conceptual information over the long term.” Hand-written notes seem to be the way to go, as they lead to longer retention and more involved interaction with a subject. Organizing these hand-written notes also varies from person to person, but generally, when getting notes off of a textbook or lecture, writing down the title of that particular subject, noting definitions and examples under that heading, and highlighting the concepts that are most unfamiliar and hard to understand will create notes that are actually useful later. By writing down only the information you are familiar with, you miss the notes you really need on the least understood topic. Also found to be helpful is using questions as headings and examples; this will prepare you for testing later on, and allow you to test your memory while re-evaluating the notes.
Studying is another complex topic to approach when improving your productivity. Again, different methods will work in various ways for every individual. As a way to start, however, the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences recommends “Get a good night’s sleep, Listen to calming music, Eliminate distractions,” and “Stick with an environment that works” as a baseline. From there, there are a variety of methods to internalize information, but generally, testing yourself periodically, with the use of practice questions and flashcards, instead of just re-reading notes or other passive methods of learning will be the most effective in committing information to memory. Math teacher Mrs. Anna Harrington gives her study advice to students: “For math classes in particular, I recommend finding a well-rounded study group that will hold you accountable to actually doing the work and learning. People that are from different hours than you, or someone you don’t sit by in class are great because then when you work together after school, you each have different experiences and perspectives to bring to the table.” She added, “But make sure you all are willing to challenge each other, compassionately, when misconceptions rise up in your group conversations and that you leave air space for group members to think through things. Remember that answer giving is not always helping your friends learn. You could also use Advisory Hour to study with your teachers.” Harrington continued, recommending, “I am a big fan of one-page study guides. And when I say one page, I mean one page – try to boil everything down to the front of one piece of paper in a way that helps you remember how you would need to be able to expand on those things during the assessment.”
School can very often feel out of a student’s control. In the whirlwind of information and assessments we experience throughout the first half of the year, the chance to change something to start off on a better foot will always be worth taking. And re-organizing your year is not just good for your peace of mind; Corewell Health, the parent company of a variety of hospitals across Michigan, said that getting more organized can lead to a variety of health benefits, such as lower stress, better eating habits due to more free time, and increased quality of sleep. There are tangible results to re-organizing your year—so, why not take those steps?
Lyon Life 