A Guide to a 4+ School Year

Welcome to The Stand’s official advice column, where The York School’s journalists share all the tips and tricks that can help you navigate life at The York School!  Starting school is, without a doubt, incredibly crucial to setting the tone for your next academic year.  We all end our years striving for excellent grades and loads of motivation in the coming school year.  Establishing strong academic foundations early on in the school year is the perfect way to ensure your best effort is put into every assignment.  Here are some tips from students who are simultaneously trying to follow these guidelines along with you!

1. Go To Extra Help: 

• Extra Help could not be a more generous act of kindness from our teachers, offering up their free time to assist us with our questions.  Attending Extra Help sessions is essentially tutoring where the teacher is there to work out all the questions that have been lingering in your mind before a test, and it is the perfect opportunity to inquire about any last minute concerns before big assignments and or tests are due.  

• If Extra Help is not available at a time that works for you, email or speak to your teacher to try and set up an appointment, or rather, talk to the learning strategist, Ms. Thornton, about other potential study strategies!

2. Read More!

• Especially in language-oriented classes, reading on a frequent basis, even something small such as a newspaper article or a magazine, can make the class much more engaging.  

• This is because it is easier to draw parallels between the content you read in your spare time and the material in class.  Ultimately, being able to connect with content can make it easier to write reflections, think critically about your units and participate in class discussions.  

3. Blackboard is Your Friend: 

• Circling back to Blackboard when it is time to review for a test can be extremely helpful.  Teachers put all the content that they teach in class, even from the very first lesson of the year, on Blackboard and is perfect for unit reviews.  There is also direct access to previous Google Assignments and feedback as well as course information for each class. 

4. Get on a Healthy Sleep Schedule:

• Sleep is what keeps our lives balanced, and without it, there is hardly a chance that you will repeatedly be able to produce any exceptional work this year.  Getting at least eight hours of sleep allows for maximum focus during the day and allows you to work most efficiently.  Center your evenings around your sleep schedule and get all your work done before the night ends! 

• Consistency in grades is very dependent on sleep.  Your ability to be present in classes will expand the more sleep you get every night, and consistently going to sleep and waking up at reasonable hours ensures that your brain will be able to retain information during class and when doing homework and studying.  

5. Be Kind To Yourself:

• Remember that not every day is going to be one hundred percent productive and finish all of your homework and sleep for more than eight hours!  School can be challenging and setting a flawless expectation for yourself is unrealistic and can lead to much more stress, which will eventually come in between you and your goals.  It is important to make exceptions and to accommodate for yourself when you feel you are getting burnt out.  School can be challenging but we hope these tips can remind you that you are capable of a wonderful academic school year!