Now that Labor Day has come and gone, most students are back to school or will start soon. Let’s talk about some school survival tips!
Starting off mornings on the right foot
If you are not a morning person, communicate that with your family. Explain to them what mornings feel like to you, and agree on a code word or phrase to remind them how you feel in the morning. I always told my mom, “Too early.” She knew to ask me yes or no questions that could be answered with a nod or shake of the head. No one wants to get yelled at in the morning, and no one wants to yell. Open communication is the key to solving this problem.
Tackling the locker situation
If you are in middle school or high school and have a locker, ask your parent to buy you a combination lock. Your parent could help you with it, there are instructions included with the lock, or search YouTube for a tutorial. The locks are easy to open once you attempt it a couple of times. At school, always remember to lock your locker! There are schools where if you don’t, you will come to your locker and see that the lock has been placed backwards. That is not fun, and it almost guarantees you to be tardy to your next class.
Class schedule smarts
Once again for middle school and high school students, memorize your schedule and make sure you know where your classrooms are. If you are tardy a certain number of times, you will get a detention or even a fine. Detentions take away from relaxing at home. If you have a lot of detentions left at the end of the school year, most schools will have you serve them during your summer break. Who would want to do that? And fines take away hard-earned money. No one wants to part with their hard-earned money!
Strategies for that first test
For all grade levels, study hard for your first test or quiz and work hard on homework assignments. If you do not get a grade you approve of, relax. Tell yourself it is only the first assignment or test. Study the assignment or test to see where you can improve next time. If you are not sure, ask your teacher how to improve. Your teachers appreciate when you take the initiative to get good grades. You have plenty of time to get that grade up.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions!
Finally, ask questions of your teachers, no matter what those questions are. The main part is to understand their expectations of you. If your teacher was not clear on something, ask a question to clarify. If you do get in trouble for something, learn from it and move on. Do not yell at your teacher, which will only result in more problems for you. If you feel like you should not have gotten into trouble, talk to your teacher about it later in private. Take a few breaths and clear your thoughts. Ask your teacher what they saw and explain what you did and why. Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Try and remember that in any situation that comes up during the school day (with peers or teachers), taking a minute to breathe deeply and gather your thoughts before speaking can really help!
By following these tips, you will start out on the path toward a wonderful school year experience!
