5 tips to set your school year on the path to success

Hey everyone

Here we are ready to begin our first week of classes for the 2015-2016 school year.  Are you ready?

Here are 5 practical suggestions for having a successful school year:

1) Pray- make it a daily practice to pray for one another (yourself, tutors, fellow students, your family, and your friends).   We attend a 2 day program that starts each day with prayer, but may I suggest starting each day with a thank you and petition to the One who knows all and sees all?  If possible, pray together as a family before the day really gets going; before everyone goes their own way.  Setting prayer as priority will help set your heart and mind in the right mode for a productive day.  Not only that, but it builds community with those you are praying with and for.  From experience, it is impossible to stay angry or frustrated with someone if I start praying for them. 

 As a group of families, we are called to grow up in Christ so we need to daily ask God for grace and wisdom.

2) Set goals for daily/weekly accomplishments.  Cramming for tests will not promote long term learning....it will promote stress, however!  Early in the week, look at the assignments; plan out what you can reasonably accomplish each day.  For students this will take some parental involvement to establish quality study habits.   For adults, we still need accountability, so seek out someone who can help you with establishing reasonable goals and follow through.  While you are setting these goals, consider sitting down as a family to establish how school fits into other family commitments.  You might even include discussing what time you plan to get up each day.

A practical way you can see your goals being accomplished is to consider using a timer.

Set a timer for 30-50 minutes and work diligently while the timer is running.  Once that timer has gone off, give yourself a 10-15 minute break to get a snack, stretch/ exercise, etc.  You may be pleasantly surprised at how much you accomplish when you have a timed deadline to help you stay on track.  I even use this idea when I need to keep myself focused on a task at home like cleaning. By the way, time management is a skill we will all continue to develop.  The first law of Thermodynamics states that all things tend to become disorganized over time.  As Christians, God equips us not only to recognize disorder, but also how to establish order. 

3) Gather your supplies early.  For example, if you need to print an essay this week, do you have ink for the printer? Paper for the printer?  Procrastination often causes us to work in a crisis mode which leads not only to stress (hurts the body), as well as regrets (hurts learning).  Have you also considered how YOUR stress affects the family? Check out Ephesians 5:15-17 for some encouragement from God’s own heart concerning time management.

4) Designate a spot for your books and study. It can be frustrating to waste precious time hunting down a piece of paper, a text book or a folder that was misplaced.  Another practical recommendation would be to have at least 2 homework folders; one to take to class with  completed assignments to turn in and one that you keep at home to transfer returned papers.  Check with your teachers and tutors about what graded papers/quizzes/tests you need to keep…toss the rest.  Being able to keep a neat and orderly homework area will lend itself to a successful year of learning. 

5) Pack your bag the night before class!  Most forgotten books and assignments are attributed to forgetting to pack them.  Take time to pack your bag using your student planner or homework page.  Ask a parent to double check for you if needed. Funny how we usually don’t forget lunch, but we can forget a math assignment or essay. Wonder why that is?!  While you’re at it, go ahead and lay out your clothes and find that random tennis shoe under your bed.  

 

There are lots of practical ways we could discuss, but it boils down to setting our hearts and minds on the right things.