Finish Strong, it’s the Final Stretch Before the End of the Year!

As the end of the 2022-2023 school year comes to an end and the weather starts to warm up, students – especially high school students – should be careful and make sure to not let their grades, motivation, and productivity fall. It is also a crucial time of year if you have been slacking off to pull your act together before grades are final. 

Something that students can do to help with their productivity when it comes to doing school work is to make sure that they are putting themselves in a good learning environment. This could look like putting your phone or other distractions on “do not disturb” or turning them off completely. Another thing that can help contribute to a good learning environment for students is making sure that your workspace is organized. This can look like having a to-do list, keeping organized folders for each of your classes, and maybe even making your notes appear more interesting, especially for classes that you are less interested in and or don’t do as well in. Some ways you could do this would be highlighting and coloring in fun colors and or in a systematic way, writing in short bullet points in a way that makes sure your brain understands the topic, creating flashcards can also be helpful and even studying and perfecting notes with friends can be a good idea to make sure everyone understands the topic. 9th-grade student Katya Vladyko says that she has used many of these study habits in order to keep her grades up and balance school work with sports and spending time with family and friends. “I take a lot of notes, I make sure to get all the important formulas down for things I’ll need to remember, one thing I have also found to be helpful is taking the concepts I need to study and writing them down on flashcards”

Another habit that would be good to get into, especially if you are struggling or falling behind in any of your classes, would be to set up meetings with teachers to find a solution to whatever you are having trouble with. It is hard to improve or fix something if you are not willing to take the steps required to understand and fix the problem, which is why communication is vital during the entire school year but especially as the year comes to an end. Cavelero’s business and marketing teacher Jenifer LaCoursiere agrees with the idea that communicating with teachers is critical during this time of year, she says,  “It’s vital, absolutely vital. It’s so important to talk with your teachers. They are here because they don’t want to hurt you or penalize you with a zero or an F. They are here because they want to help students be successful.” She also said, “Look at everything that you have missing and prioritize them by the most points, so if you don’t have a ton of time you are prioritizing the ones that will affect your grade the most.” I think this is a really good tip for if you have fallen behind especially when it’s nearing the end of the year. 

In order to improve your drive, productivity, and overall performance as a student, you also need to make sure you are doing things outside of school, such as getting enough sleep, staying active, and having a good school/life balance. It’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle

because it affects how you perform in school. Studies have shown that having a good school-life balance can drastically improve how well students perform in school. So even though it is important to stay on top of your work right up to the end of the year, make sure you are not overworking yourself. 

All in all, make sure you are not slacking off or letting your grades slip in these last few weeks of school, take care of yourself, and communicate any issues that may arise with your teachers. Good luck!