Considering our hybrid schedule, studying, taking notes, and overall being able to get things done is more difficult than it used to be. A lot of students find it harder to concentrate at home when there are so many distractions and things you much rather be doing than being on a google meet and or doing work. 

I’m sure a lot of students, including myself, are guilty of sneaking a quick glance at the internet or notes for the right answer during online quizzes/tests, all this because you know the teacher rarely can catch you doing it. However, when you’re in school, this is not tolerated nor is it easy to cheat. 

When you’re in school, you have to study and take notes, otherwise, you have a big chance of failing. So maybe I called you out, so what? Here are some extremely helpful tips on how to stay motivated to do school work, take effective notes, improve your concentration, stay in a school routine, best tips to get all A’s, and more. 

NOTE TAKING

I will present multiple different note strategies in order to urge you to find one that works for you, but first I will start with the ones that have been the most effective for me. First, I would like to say that writing in blue enhances your memory and the likelihood of remembering what you have written, so I would suggest using a blue pen to jot down notes.

Cornell notes 

This strategy of writing notes has been the best for me and has truly helped me get through school so far. In these kinds, you draw a funky kind of  “I”. There are four total parts of these kinds of notes and they are very straightforward. The first part is where you write the title and the main idea of notes, this will be located on the top of the line of your “I”. Don’t forget the date and the class! The second part is the keywords/sentences that will basically lead you through all of your notes. These are written to the left of your long line. The line in this “I” will be more to the left, and I will provide a picture to explain. The third part of the process of taking notes is tied in with the second part. It goes in order. For example, you will write the key words and then write the actual note, and then the key words, and then the notes, and so on and so forth. The last part is the summary which will be located under the whole “I.” It’s a short summary and I usually ask myself this question; if I were to explain this to someone else, how would I do it? That is then how I proceed to write it. 

For example; The size of a population is always growing and changing, this is because of immigration, births, emigration, and deaths. However, the population is also dependent on the availability of resources. An exponential growth is when there is a rapid growth in the population due to an increase of resources and a logistic growth is due to a population facing limited resources. 

              Example of the Cornell notes

Outlining 

This method I have used before and I have found it really useful when it comes to more simple note taking. For example, if you were quick jolting down notes for whatever class, I would highly recommend this type of note taking. The main idea of your notes will be set after the number one. For example: 1.) The basics of biology. After that, you would go on and write what explains your topic, when you reach another main topic, write the number two, and go on. 

1. Immigration

1. Countries
2. States 
3. Cities 

Color coded notes

The title of these notes are pretty self explanatory and although I’ve only used this method a few times, I still find it relatively easy to manage and it’s helpful. In this method you can write the notes anyway you want, however, you have to highlight your notes in color coordination. For example, pink is titles and headlines and blue might be for vocab/keywords. Green could be for the definition and or explanation of the vocab/ keywords. The colors are up to you, just as long as you understand it. 

Journalism- 

• The activity or profession of writing for newspapers, magazines, or news websites or preparing news to be broadcasted. 

Types of Journalism 

Opinion Journalism

Entertainment Journalism 

Sports Journalism

Business Journalism 

HELPFUL APPS

This section I believe may be the most important, and useful part. Fortunately, we live in a generation where technology is very advanced and most kids prefer to use it than writing down things. I, however, am not like that but many are. So, with that said, let’s jump right in. 

School Planner

This has been the best and most effective app I have ever used. There is so much to it that I recommend just downloading it and seeing it for yourself. However, I will explain some of the amazing features this app possesses. The first thing I thought was really amazing is that you can put your class in there, the room, what time it starts and ends, your teacher, your grade, and the grade you want to have. Then, it gives you your overall grade for all of your classes which I found really interesting. This app actually makes me want to do better because of this feature. If I have a goal, I am going to reach it and now I have something that reminds me constantly of my goal. School planner also has a timetable and an agenda, this is great because it actually can send you reminders about when you school work. Fifteen minutes before your class starts, it will remind you that you have to go. 

Google Classroom 

This one is quite obvious, but some kids have never used google classroom before, but now since we can’t go to school as often, google classroom is going to be one of the main sources where you see your assignments. Google classroom is helpful obviously because that’s how you’re going to get your assignments but to access those assignments, you can locate the “to do” button and all of your assignments will show up there. (You can then transfer these assignments to School planner.)

CREATE YOUR OWN ROUTINE

Putting yourself into a routine might be one of the most important things you can do for yourself. Yes, yourself. People who follow a routine everyday are usually the ones who have extraordinary grades, are able to manage time better, and their mental health is over the roof. I believe keeping yourself in a routine is beneficial for the body and the brain. Ever since one of my best friends moved away she says when she finally got herself into a routine, she felt so much better, relieved, and mentally stronger. 

Routines should be something that you should follow every single day (with an exception of the weekends, however, I suggest some kind of less strict routine on these days too.) With the right mind set, making a maintainable routine should not be hard. It took me a while to find what kind of routine went best with me and how I function, it could be the same for you, and you can totally make this your own! That’s the best part of it, no one else can make your routine different. Here’s a glimpse of what my routine looks like (for an actual in-school day.) 

MORNING ROUTINE

-5:30: wake up (my alarm clock is set to 5:00 so I can have some time to actually wake up) 

-5:30-6:00: Morning routine (you can make that yourself, mine is pretty short and simple.) 

-6:00: Wake my sister up for school

-6:05-6:20: Check to make sure all homework, take care of the animals, eat healthy breakfast, etc. 

6:20-6:45: Basically just my chill time before I will go outside and wait for the bus. 

AFTER SCHOOL ROUTINE

2:35: My bus ride is really long but when I get home I take a break into 3 or 3:30 before I start my homework. You’re going to need a break once in a while, and so you should take one everyday. 

3/ 3:30- Start homework (It’s really important that you get ALL homework done and that you find a day to finish up any missing assignments. This will help you because after you get everything out of the way, you will be so much more relaxed.) 

3:30-5:00: I do take a while to finish homework because I tend to get stressed easily so sometimes I will take a ten minute break every three assignments I finish. However, when all my homework is done, I can just chill until dinner. When my mother and father are both at work, I will make dinner and clean some extra. 

6:00: This when dinner is which will drag on to 6:30 or 7:00, after this, I do my chores. 

7:30-8:00: These times can vary depending on how fast I do my chores but usually it’s around this time. This is when I will start getting ready for bed and I will do just one more check to check my emails or see if there are any assignments I may have missed. 

8:00-9:00: This is kind of my other chill time, I keep my phone away from me and maybe read some. Sometimes I clean and or talk to my parents about my day. 

REMOTE LEARNING- everything is about the same except I wake up at 6:45 because class doesn’t start until 7:55 on monday and 7:30 on Tuesday and Wednesday. (Wednesday is a half day: school ends at 10:25 and until 1:55 is a working time.)

 I think it’s really important to keep your parents in your social and school life. I think it will definitely help them understand what’s going on better. I keep my parents constantly updated about my grades and basically everything. I have a really close relationship with both of my parents. So remember to keep your family  part of your routine! 

FIND MOTIVATION

I know that a lot of kids struggle to get their work done because of lack of motivation and it’s completely normal, I’ve been there too multiple times. I still do fall into a place where I just don’t want to do anything because I don’t have any energy at all. There are simple ways to get past things like that, and you might be unmotivated but you can have the right mind set. Here are some things that have helped me. 

Many times when I feel like I’m carrying the world on my shoulders, that’s when I’m the most unmotivated. I have no energy, I’m tired, I just want to lay in bed, I can’t think of anything I can do to make myself want to do something. It all is really stressful. 

Well let me tell you this, just because you feel like you can’t do anything doesn’t mean you can’t do something. My suggestion is when you feel like this, you think of the thing you want to do the least or just do something, and that helps. This is a little difficult because you have to fight against your mind and body’s will not to do anything. You will find that once you do something, you can do the next thing. Next thing you know, you’re way ahead of your school work and your whole house is clean.

The other way I recommend to break through your unmotivation, is watch a video about studying or scroll through pinterest on the topic of school. I’m not exactly sure why this helps me but once I find the right thing, I get this boost of overwhelming energy, and it can be the same for you. This, I believe, is the fastest way of any method. 

The last way I recommend is to work out. Yeah, I know, not something that you want to do, but hear me out. My little sister who’s currently in 8th grade is always unmotivated due to certain circumstances, and recently started to work out, and lately I have seen a drastic improvement in her. Now she actually can do her work, she talks more to people, she’s happier, and overall a nicer person. So not only does working out help your motivation, it can benefit you in many other ways as well. 

With everything being said, I hope you find that this article is quite helpful. I highly recommend that you use some of these suggestions and strategies to help you with school.