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by Denise Richie Sy, Grade 11 Paul and Timothy Daniel Uy, Grade 12 Hudson Taylor
The many differences between Senior High School (SHS) compared to Junior High School (JHS) may intimidate some incoming SHS students. With our school’s emphasis on excellence and the Asian stereotype of working hard in one’s academics, each strand is filled not only with challenges but also with pressure to succeed. SHS students may feel discouraged and dismayed when encountering the extremely bumpy road towards success but fear not as it is possible to navigate and overcome this road. There are many ways to deal with these challenges, and one of these is to hear advice from our fellow SHS students.
This article will walk you through some of the tips on how you can overcome the challenges, both in a face-to-face and online set-up. We want to encourage and inspire you so that you can do better, be productive and enjoy your stay in the SHS Department. Here are some practical tips that would surely help you become exceptional students.
Track Your Learning Progress
You can start beforehand by identifying the terms and concepts that you need to know, especially in Science subjects. Write them down. This will help you summarize the lesson. Taking down notes also gives you the advantage of knowing your priorities. A helpful way to visualize all these is to make a concept map. It will allow you not only to identify the needed terms and concepts but also to connect them and see their relevance. Ask yourself lots of questions (whats, whys, & hows) to easily know what you need to cover or look into. Doing all these things will easily allow you to identify what you lack and the improvements you need to make.
2. Make a Plan and Set Goals
After determining your progress, the next step is to make an effective plan. You must start by properly identifying your goals. Setting your goals may sound easy, but doing it right will lead to immediate results. It is necessary to be specific with your goals, as being specific will help you create a detailed plan and allow you to track the progress you’re making. Accompanying it with a general timetable will allow you to stay on track and not lose sight of your goals. You may write these down in your journal or on a piece of paper. Anything works as long as you are able to keep track of your achievements!
Now, we move on to the most difficult part: accomplishing your goals by following your plan. An issue that hinders many from effectively carrying out their plan is their struggle with time management. Improving this is important as it is the key to managing your academic workloads and your personal time with your family and yourself.
3. Manage Your Tasks Well
A major key to efficient time management is proper task management. There are many things you can do to streamline your workflow to be more productive. The first thing you should do is to list all your tasks and identify the most difficult ones in order to know which tasks to do first and in what sequence to accomplish them. Large, difficult tasks always seem overwhelming and discouraging, but an effective way to deal with this is to break them down into smaller tasks or steps. This will not only allow you to properly gauge the difficulty and duration of the task but can also give you a foundation on which to base your workflow. You will be able to spend or use your time more productively and it will be less likely for you to be distracted when approaching these smaller tasks individually as they seem shorter and less overwhelming.
4. Shift Your Mood Before any Work Session
Speaking of productive time, a good way to get into it is to make sure that you completely shift your mood before any work session. Starting the session feeling tired will only make it more challenging to stay focused and accomplish something. Do something that gets you fired up and ready to accomplish tasks. This could be anything from listening to specific songs to get into the mood, or reading an inspirational text -- anything that will allow you to completely shift from whatever you are feeling (such as fatigue) into a more active or motivated state that will allow you to stay focused. We recommend listening to songs or music without lyrics so that you are still focused. Here are some links to some of our favorites while studying:
- https://youtu.be/WYYj2DUPHGI
5. Plan Breaks Well
Efficient time management is not just about productive work sessions, but also about strategic breaks. Most people overlook the importance of breaks, but they are essential in any workflow since we all need time to pause from any activity. To ensure that you use breaks to your advantage, you must also plan your breaks together with your workflow. Having regular periodic short breaks will allow you not only to have time to rest but will actually allow you to work longer since you are able to regain your focus and energy. You can spend your short breaks resting your eyes, making a drink, reviewing your progress, and doing other light tasks that can calm you without distracting you too much. Having longer breaks after completing multiple work sessions can help you further recharge and stay motivated by doing tasks such as exercising, reading, meditating, and even tasks that reward you like playing games or taking short naps.
6. Have the Right Mindset
Last but not the least, it is especially important to have the right mindset. Please, do not put too much pressure on yourself. Don’t compare yourself with anyone else either. We’re all unique with different ways of studying, maintaining high grades, and coping with challenges. Some methods may work better for you, while others would do better without them. Try to find the methods and ways that suit your study habits or lead to the best results. Only compare yourself to your previous self, and this will allow you to purely focus on improving and decreasing the unnecessary pressure on yourself.
With all things considered, studying in any preferred strand will be really challenging as you will be stepping into a new department and face challenges to become a better version of yourselves. We’re all human beings after all and failing is really part of our learning journeys. We’d like to encourage you — whenever you’re feeling down and these challenges haunt your mind — to accept them and continue to do your best and use these trials as your stepping stones to greatness. Lift your head up!
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Article Images provided by Denise Richie Sy and Timothy Daniel Uy
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