Submitted By: Alexis Butterfield, VP of Public Relations
Is online school stressing you out? Attending all the zoom meetings, teaching new information to yourself, and sifting through the numerous amounts of emails can get overwhelming and difficult at times. Virtual learning is extremely hard and getting down on yourself is not the way to go. I have four tips to help keep you organized and your grades up when battling the struggle of online school.
First, hold yourself accountable for your assignments. It is a lot different not being in a physical classroom with other students and a teacher giving you constant verbal and visual reminders. Being accountable means not procrastinating, not cheating, and truly wanting to learn.
Second, treat online courses like a real course. The time to complete work of an online class can vary since there is not a set schedule. Be disciplined and motivated to want to work on learning, as well as following through with the plans to accomplish it.
Third, try to eliminate possible distractions. At first this may sound like little siblings running around the house, dad watching the sports network on television, and mom banging pots and pans. However, one of the main distractions we all have in today’s society is our cellphones. When we hear the buzz of a notification, our instinct is to pick it up and check it. I encourage shutting your phone off and finding a quiet place alone when completing homework.
Finally, make a study schedule and stay organized! What I mean by this is setting a specific time you will do a certain subject and complete it at said time every day. This helps develop a “class schedule” similar to what a student would have in the true classroom. If possible, I highly recommend working ahead on assignments when you can, to ensure low stress before due dates. Times when you study may vary depending on when you are most productive and that is okay! Not every method of online learning works for everyone. It is important you find the one that aids the most in your success as a student.
Elementary, middle, and high schools all seemed to have switched to remote learning in a blink of an eye when this pandemic hit, but we are the leaders of tomorrow! We can make the best of this, even though this may not be the ideal way of learning. As the famous Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible until it is done.”