The close of the school year always comes with lots of questions, but many students can count on at least one certainty: the end of the year is crunch time. Projects and assessments are coming in one form or another, and students will need to dig deep to find the motivation to finish the year strong. So, what’s our best piece of advice to be sure you’re ready? Start preparing now.
First and foremost, plan for the inevitable. From the first day of the unit, you can likely plan on there being a unit test, even if you don’t know the exact date. So, rather than scrambling to study everything a few days before the final exam, start preparing from day one. If you don’t already have a set of on-going review habits, here are three steps to get you started:
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- Get Clarity: Review class notes the same day you took them. As you do, identify portions of your notes that are unclear or ideas that you don’t fully understand. Then, get clarification by emailing your teacher, reaching out to a friend, asking a tutor, or checking out an online explanation. Reviewing early and clearing up questions will ensure that you’ve got the correct information from the get-go.
- Prioritize Information: Get in the habit of looking over the previous day’s notes and annotating them. Underline, highlight, or add symbols depending on your preference, but find a way to make it clear to your future self which ideas are most important. Consider circling any particularly helpful examples. Ongoing review of previously learned concepts will help keep them fresh in your mind.
- Make it Your Own: Once a week, go back to all your annotated notes and summarize them in a single page. Include the vital information from the week, but put it in your own words. Include a few questions that you think your teacher might ask about the content from that week. Pro Tip: Share this sheet with your teacher and have them confirm that they agree with your assessment of the key points. Not only will these one-pagers give you a head start on creating your subject study guide, they’ll help you find deeper understanding of the material by reviewing concepts and synthesizing the information.
If this seems like a lot of work for one subject, think again: research shows that by engaging with new material regularly, your retention will increase by about 50 percent! That means there will be less work to do when it’s time to get ready for that test.
Now that you’ve front loaded as much preparation as possible, add due dates to your calendar as you learn about them, and work backward. List out the steps you’ll need to complete to meet the due date and plug those into your calendar, too, starting with the last step. For instance, when writing an essay, try to have a draft finished a few days before the essay is due so that you’ll have time for revising and proofreading. With meaningful mini due dates on the calendar, you’re less likely to procrastinate and more likely to turn in your best work.
If you need additional help fine-tuning your study strategies or planning ahead, prioritizing, and managing your time, reach out to our executive functioning team. We’re here to help.
Looking for more end-of-the-school-year tips and tricks? Check out our webinar to discover strategies for minimizing anxiety and avoiding exhaustion during this final academic push, and skim our blog on finals strategy for even more tailored guidance.
