You are in high school. That is a big feat. Staying focused and studying would come easier for you. You may not know many people at first but give it time. The work in high school builds on what you learned in middle school, giving you more advanced knowledge of many academic subjects.
Teachers and tutors are available for extra help if your work is overwhelming. You have the independence that you had in middle school. You would also have more extracurricular activities to fall back on. Do not lose sight of what is most important. You cannot stop slacking off and relying on God’s plan to pass your exams.
In this article, you would learn the 20 best tips for high school students in 2024 and why they are important. These aren’t just tips that will help you in high school but life in general.
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Are High school tips for students useful?
You may overlook these tips, but in the long run, you would find that they are important in helping you research, listen, collaborate, lead, become more creative and innovative. These tips would ensure that you put in consistent and prolonged time, effort, and hard work into activities, classes, and subjects that matter.
Taking these tips seriously can help ensure that your high school experience goes by more easily. They are also useful because they would lead you away from mistakes which most people make during their high school journey.
Read: Tips on how to study for finals | College & High School
Why do I need High school tips?
The transition from middle to high school can be pivotal for many students, but with adequate preparation and the right attitude, it can be a smooth and enjoyable step up.
Students can look forward to diverse classrooms and teachers, more elective class options, and a host of extracurricular enrichment opportunities to participate in.
While high school can be a rewarding and enriching growth opportunity for students, it’s important that they get started on the right foot.
The proper preparation will ensure that students don’t enter high school intimidated or overwhelmed but rather excited and prepared.
20 Best High School Tips for Students
1.Take a break from social media
It is essential for you to know that on your go-to high school, you must make time for your studies. This would include taking breaks from social media, turning your notifications off, setting time limits and prioritizing your own self-care, and making time for your studies.
Constantly checking your social media accounts every time a notification pops out will only distract you from finishing or even starting. It would interrupt your thoughts and you may find it hard to recall ideas you previously have in mind.
Thinking twice about this? You should know that you can very easily reconnect with your friends but reconnecting with your teacher after you have educational problems is not easy at all.
2. Find a peaceful spot to study
High school can be quite the place. With students everywhere, there is never a dull moment. You must however find peaceful spots to steal away and study once in a while. This may include libraries, coffee houses, local parks, or even a friend’s house. Wherever you feel peaceful to study, embrace it and use it as often as you can.
You can also find a spot at home that is peaceful and that only you know about. If you can’t find a peaceful corner at home, try to go to a coffee shop or a park near you for a change of scenery. In finding a peaceful spot to study, ensure that it has great lighting for the sake of your eyes and concentration. When the place has great lighting, you would concentrate better.
3. Be engaged, take notes, and listen during discussions
In high school, you must take notes as the teacher is teaching. By taking notes, listening during discussions, and adding your inputs, you would become more engaged in the happenings in class.
Taking notes on its own helps you concentrate and listen effectively. Selecting what to note down is a way of ensuring you understand what is being taught.
By being engaged, taking notes, and listening during discussions, you would get knowledge that you probably would not get anywhere else.
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4. Use colorful highlighters to organize information
You are in high school now. Using a highlighter in organizing your information is one of the best tips you would get. Highlighters are necessary to emphasize key points from your lectures and books. Highlighting text is an effective a reliable way to study if it works for you.
It would help you to pick out the most important points whenever you have the time to go through them again.
Research by Nishimura and Kuwahara from Kyoto Institute of Technology found that using a highlighter pen improves students’ learning efficiency by speeding up reading while promoting retention.
The act of choosing what to highlight could be an essential determinant of the efficacy of the highlighting.
5. Make use of your extra time wisely
High school comes with a level of independence. It would be best if you were wise enough to know when to use your time wisely. If you have a class two hours away from another, you should consider going to the library and finishing your homework while waiting for your next class.
This may create the impression that you are overly studious, but look at the bigger picture.
By doing everything you need to do, you can have time to yourself when you get home. who cares? You get much free time after class, unlike your classmates who still have to take their activities home.
6. Use a planner to track your homework and other tasks
A planner is like a to-do list. You can use a planner to schedule your tests and homework. A planner can also help you to track your progress in these tests. You can download a study planner or even buy a book and habitually add things you are meant to do to it. In using your planner effectively, ensure you- pencil in study time for your upcoming quizzes and tests.
Failure to do this might lead to your forgetting you even had to write the test or homework in the first place, and break larger assignments like essays and research papers into steps. In using a planner, you would find you would get things done faster and with ease.
7. Have an organizational system in place
You are in high school. Be organized. Being organized helps you do things faster and easier.
In ensuring you are organized, you must separate your hardcovers and paperbacks, attempt arranging your books by color, do not be afraid to stack your books so far as you know what stacks are there, display your favorite books in front, organize your books by genre or subject, group together the books you haven’t read yet.
Doing this lets you easily find what you are looking for when you need it. This tip would help you not just in high school, but in your life as a whole.
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8. Create a routine
In creating your routine, you would get to decide what should be in it. You can create a routine by setting small goals and breaking them into larger goals, laying out a plan, being consistent with the time you have set, making the routine fun, tracking your progress, and not being afraid to reward yourself as you go.
Waking up the same day every morning is an example of a great routine.
9. Have daily and weekly objectives in place
You can have daily and weekly objectives in place. To ensure you accomplish things systematically, you might even think about identifying your daily and weekly goals.
Utilizing this high school study skill is important because it allows you to practice breaking larger tasks into smaller ones, so you don’t have to keep reminding yourself to do them.
This would help you enhance productivity, manage stress levels and maintain reliable records.
10. Do not procrastinate–
This tip entails that you would not voluntarily delay or postpone something despite knowing there would be negative consequences.
After a long day, try to ensure you do everything you are supposed to do for the day. Leaving it for later takes up the time you can use for something else. You can beat procrastination by maintaining strong habits created through routine repetition.
11. Join study groups
A study group is a small group of people who regularly meet to discuss shared fields of study. Now that you are in high school, you should consider forming a study group with people with your interests.
In a study group, you can share talents, share the support system, compare notes, and even gain more friends.
12. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions
You are a teenager in high school. At this stage of your life, you would learn things that would take you through the rest of your life. Whether you have a question that delves further into a topic of study, or you simply don’t understand the new formula your teacher is introducing, bringing up your questions early is incredibly important.
Asking questions makes you interested and engages you in the topic at hand. In asking questions, you should plan your questions, know your purpose and speak your listener’s language. Make sure you listen carefully to the response given.
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13. Take advantage of the technology available
There is certain technology that would make your life in high school easier. You are a teenager. Taking advantage of the technology available can increase your productivity for better outcomes.
Many high school apps can serve as effective study methods. Some apps like alarms can ensure you wake up when you want and be audible to listen to books you are not ready to read and would prefer to listen to.
14. Consider your learning style
Due to diversity, everyone has their way of learning. There’s no general way how to retain and recall information. Everyone has their own learning style, and figuring out what style best works for you would greatly help in managing the cognitive demand of your subjects.
If you are a visual learner, you would learn differently from someone who is an auditory learner or a tactile learner who learns better with movement and experiences.
15. Get to Know the People in Your Classes
Making friends and networking is a big part of high school, though few students think of it that way. The truth is, your peers are your network, and they can be very helpful to you, both now and in the future. You should try as hard as possible to make friends in your class.
You never know which day you might need help from a classmate.
Considering the previous tip on having study groups, you can get people together more effectively if you have friends in your class.
16. Buy the Right School Supplies
Be sure to buy the right and necessary school supplies for the particular classes you’re taking. Being underprepared and lacking essential supplies would make you miss important experiences. In most high school classes, you’ll find that teachers will give you a rubric and a list of required supplies at the start of the semester.
Use these important tips the teacher has given to get the right supplies to aid your studies.
17. Get Enough Sleep
As a high school student, you probably enjoy staying up late, going to parties, and gist with friends until late at night. You should know that you need your brain to be active and sharp, and you can do this by getting at least 6 hours of sleep every night.
High school is different from middle school in that there are more quizzes, tests, pop quizzes, and situations in which a student’s preparation matters.
If you’re handed a pop quiz on a day when you’re groggy and spend the night binge-watching your favorite shows, you’ll have a much more difficult time performing well.
18. Figure Out a Plan for Your Next Four Years
If you have a plan for the next four years, you will ensure that every day counts towards achieving that goal. One great way to keep yourself on track and ensure that each semester of your high school career has meaning and purpose is to figure out your four-year plan.
You can ensure that this plan works by choosing the subjects that interest you most, which subjects you naturally excel in and may want to pursue in honors or advanced classes, and what type of university or career path may suit you down the road.
19. Take Classes Over the Summer
A summer class is important because it has smaller classes than your usual high school class, and it is a great time for you to take on classes you dread. It can be a great time to free up future semesters for more advanced classes.
Is summer school a bad idea? No. it would take up the time you would use for more fun things, but in the long run, it is worth it. It can put you many semesters ahead of others.
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20. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
High school can be a competitive place, especially when you attend a high-ranking high school with a lot of really smart people in it. No matter the people you see around you, you should always focus on yourself.
Every student is on a different path, and the most important thing is that you do your best and excel in every aspect you can.
Comparing yourself to others won’t help with either of those goals unless you find that comparison as a great personal motivator.
Conclusion
Being in high school should excite you as it is a bigger stage of your life. You would be more independent and freer than you have ever been. Use this opportunity wisely to make the most out of your life.
These are the years that will form who you will be as an adult and what path you may pursue beyond high school, so go in with a positive attitude and remember the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.
These 20 best tips for high school students in 2024 are a great guide to help you start.
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