5 Organization/Study Tips
(Things I Wish I Knew as a Freshman)
1. Make sure to always write down your homework! I know the feeling; your teacher is rushing at the end of class, and you just want to pack up your bag and get to your next class, but don’t forget to write down your homework every day. It is very easy to forget small details, or even the entire assignment, if you don’t write them into your agenda. Personally, I do this every day even if the assignment isn’t due the next class. I highlight the work that I have to get done that night, and then cross it off when I am done. This guarantees that I get all of my homework done and helps to get me into the routine of organizing my school work.
2. Take good notes! When taking notes, always highlight important words and all words that are defined. If you want, you can use different colors: one for definitions and another for other difficult words that aren’t defined in your notes or other important things to remember. It is okay if you don’t get every word down or if you use abbreviations. While writing your notes, use sticky notes to flag the pages that you know you will have to go back and study. Good note taking is an important skill to learn and get used to throughout high school.
3. Rewriting your notes is very beneficial! Studies have shown that physically writing out something helps you to learn it better than if you were to take a picture and read it or type it out. This is something that has definitely helped me throughout high school. It also helps if you like your notes to be super neat. I find that it is easier to write quicker in class to get all the information down, regardless of how messy the notes are. At home, I then rewrite my notes slower to process the information and take that time to make them neater as well.
4. Flashcards are life savers; use them! I cannot stress enough how much these have helped me throughout high school. It might sound dumb, but I find that there is no better way to memorize, especially vocabulary, than using flashcards. If you don’t want to keep going out to buy pack after pack of flashcards, however, you can download the StudyBlue app. This allows you to create different classrooms in which you can use flashcards and other study tools. I also find this very helpful, especially when you have free time in school and don’t want to pull out a bunch of flashcards. If you take the bus, you can always use this app for one last refresher the morning before your test. This app is also great because you can add your classmates to the classroom you create via email so that they can use the flashcards you’ve made as well.
5. Organize your binder! Throughout high school, you will receiving countless papers, and it can get very difficult to keep track of them all and keep them in order. Over the past three years, I have found ways to organize my school supplies that work great for me. There are several teachers in Coginchaug (shout out to Mrs. Jacob and Mrs. Anderson) who make binder organizers for their courses that they require each student to use. After having both of these teachers in the past, I have found that I like the way this organizes my binder. Instead of having an actual organizer in my binder and writing down the name of every paper, though, I just like to number each paper I get and keep them in order that way. I then separate each section/unit the course covers so everything is in order. This makes it so much easier to keep track of all the papers you will receive.
