As for determining whether to keep a separate folder or binder for each subject, ultimately, the choice is yours. If you tend to get lots of handouts that need to be filed for each subject or repeatedly find yourself adding to your set of detailed notes, then it might be worthwhile to keep a separate folder or binder for each of your subjects. This way, all of your notes and handouts will be carefully organized and you can avoid having to resort to cramming all of your many papers inside!
Out With The Old And In With The New
Apart from needing to decide on how you plan to organize your work throughout the year, it’s also important to spend some time organizing last year’s notes. As you enter high school, the workload is known to become increasingly complex and the amount of notes and handouts you receive will likely grow as well. With each year that you progress forward along your academic journey, you will no doubt notice your teachers building on the material and skills that you learned during the previous year. For this reason, I highly recommend holding onto your old class notes. While some students do, others admit to throwing out their old class notes or even confessing to tearing out pages as a means for stress relief following their end of year exams. I was not one of them. In fact, ever since my kindergarten teacher sent me home with my first finger painting, my mother has made it her mission to create what looks a lot like a shrine to commemorate all of my work from school!
While it’s certainly not necessary to keep notes from as long ago as your primary school years, it can serve you well in the future to organize and hold onto the notes you take in high school. Keep your notes for at least one to two years in case you need to refer back to them in the future. Set aside as little as one afternoon during the holidays to sort through your old class notes and file them somewhere safe. If you have typed your notes, it can be useful to have them bound and neatly organized into one book that you can easily flip through. Folders make for convenient storage solutions for all of your loose handouts, while you might like to keep your old notebooks organized in a set of magazine racks or line them up next to each other in your closet.
Getting A Head Start
Another important part of preparing for a new school year involves familiarizing yourself with your class texts. Use your spare time wisely during the holidays and consider opting for one of your class texts as your book of choice for the month. Make it an enjoyable exercise by setting aside some time each week to sit on the couch curled up with a cup of tea, or for those of you who are fortunate enough to spend your holidays somewhere warmer, by the pool or lying on the beach. Reading your texts in advance will give you a competitive edge, freeing up your time during the semester and allowing you to focus less on the specific outcomes in the book and more on analyzing the characters and key underlying themes throughout the story!
I’ve always had a love for performing; getting up on stage, singing, dancing and acting in front of crowds of people. It’s no wonder I spent most of my teenage years pursuing a career in dance. Somehow, I continually managed to schedule my jazz, ballet and tap classes around my increasingly demanding school calendar. Looking back, some of my most treasured memories from school involved performing. In fact, one of my mother’s favorite stories to tell at the dinner table involves my first ever performance at my school soirée. I was six years old at the time and my class was asked to put on a short dance. Being my stubborn self and also unable to control the music and rhythm that was coursing through my little body, I decided to scrap the choreography my teacher had taught us and showcase my own dance moves halfway through the performance. There I was, bopping and grooving to the music, heading towards stage left and moving further and further away from my classmates! Lucky for me, the event has been documented in a series of photos, so that I will never forget it.
From my debut solo-esqué performance in first grade, to later choreographing the dances for my middle school play, being involved in different events was something that played a significant role in shaping my school experience. Every semester, the excitement and feelings of anticipation would resurface with each new application that was pinned on the school notice board. Sometimes, I was eager to make a specific role, however no role was too small to me. In fact, one year I was assigned the role of a lobster in a dance number that my drama teacher somehow viewed as an artistic take on the ten plagues in the story of Moses and the Pharaoh… Whatever the opportunity, my friends and I always jumped at the chance to be part of the school plays and one year, we even collaborated to write the script!
I didn’t just see these events as a chance to showcase my talents. They were opportunities to spend time with my closest friends and even form bonds with other students; students that I wouldn’t have normally socialized with during my lunch breaks when my friends and I would sit on the benches and catch up on the latest news and dare I say, gossip. Sometimes, when rehearsals ran late into the evenings, we would all walk down the street and grab a bite to eat for dinner. Suddenly, age and gender didn’t matter anymore. That girl in the year below me whom I failed to take notice of, suddenly became one of my closest friends, while that boy in the year above me who I thought couldn’t possibly have known who I was, began showing a genuine interest and striking up conversations. I liked how sharing a common interest could always break down social barriers and lead to lasting friendships.
The Benefits Of School Spirit
The start of a new school year brings with it new and exciting opportunities! While it’s easy to forget when you’re staring at a pile of textbooks that are stacked up on your desk or feeling their full weight as you pick up your school bag, there is more to school than homework, studying and grades. School is meant to be fun! Your teachers want you to enjoy your final years of school and take with you positive memories that you will look back on and cherish. Sounds crazy right? Perhaps it is because there is such an enormous focus on getting good grades in order to get into a desirable college, that from time to time, extra-curricular activities and opportunities to show school spirit unfortunately get overlooked. Your time at school is limited, so make sure to take full advantage of everything your school has to offer. There are many opportunities to get involved and show school spirit, from performing in school plays, joining clubs and attending matches or games, to forming committees, entering competitions and hosting charity drives and school fêtes. Getting involved in a range of activities will benefit you in many ways and help to shape your experience at school. Ultimately, it’s up to you to take personal responsibility for how you plan on spending your final years at school. The choices you make regarding how you spend this time are a reflection of your overall perception of school and have the potential to influence your attitude towards your studies.
Apart from taking pride in your school, taking advantage of all the opportunities that it has to offer outside of the classroom can also help you achieve a healthy work-life balance. Take it from someone who once had fallen victim to retreating into a little study cave for months on end only to reappear when that final assessment or exam was over! Re-directing your attention towards something other than your homework and exam calendar will remind you that there is more to school than what you learn in class. Allowing yourself to take even a little time out to do something besides studying will also help to keep you from getting burnt