Already one quarter of the school year has
passed, and we are getting ready for the next, with the midterm exams coming up
along with Homecoming, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Each new quarter is a fresh
new start- a chance to get higher grades, try new activities, and put in as
much effort as you can! With this new page, it seems like you do not need
to do anything to prepare. However, there are a couple of things you can do to
give yourself a leg up to prepare for the exams and the lessons ahead.
1.
Evaluate the last quarter.
How much effort did you put into the last
quarter? Did you do all formative work, and all of the summative work? Did you
study? These are questions that you can be asking yourself. If you find
something that you could do better, like trading an hour of video games for
studying, or getting to school on time, or even just getting eight hours of
sleep, you can create easy ways to achieve this to make this an easier and
better term for you.
2.
Write down what you have learned.
Although it was just the beginning, there was a
lot of subject material that you have learned. It may not seem important, but
these topics will be on the midterm exams, though you learn them so long ago.
This leaves many people reviewing in the last week and forgetting what to
study. A way to resolve this would be writing down key themes from each of your
subjects. This would be the most important things to know, and it doesn't have
to be very detailed, just a sentence or two to help you remember. For example,
in US history I would write "The Colonies" and "The Great
Depression", and important figures during that time.
3.
Look at the Syllabus!
What better way to prepare for the new quarter
by seeing what you are going to learn? If you know the subject material, not
only will you not be lost in class, but you will know what is coming up. This
means you can also prepare beforehand, by reading or researching the main
themes and facts.
4.
Talk to your teachers
There may be things you are doing wrong or
should be doing that you do not even know about. Ask your teachers on how you
did in the quarter and what you can do to improve, from homework standards to
classroom etiquette.
5.
Make some goals!
Thanks to Skyward and Canvas, our grades are
always there to see. You may not have reached a grade level you wanted to, or
there may be a grade you want to achieve by the end of the year. A semester
grade consists of the two quarters plus the midterm exam, which means if you
know what your grade is this quarter, you can find out what grade you have to
get the next quarter and in the exam to achieve the grade you want. This end
grade will be a goal, and you can have certain goals leading up to it, like
studying every night or getting or completing all of the reviews, and getting
A's on the formative assignments.
In conclusion, don't waste time before the
quarter, or think there is nothing you can do. Make sure you do what you need
to do to have the best year ever!
