Make the Most of Extended Digital Learning
School’s canceled! Once every teenager’s dream, this COVID-19 containment measure now has you realizing that you’ll be responsible for your own learning. You’ll still take final exams, and maybe even AP tests or IB exams. In other words, you can’t give up on school just yet. But learning is about to get harder: for the next few weeks, you won’t have the support structure of the classroom.
Different schools have different plans in place, but suffice it to say, you’ll be learning in a more challenging setting than you have before. The key is to set yourself up for success by recreating the structure school normally provides. School offers the benefits of a physical space, a predictable schedule, and a live instructor. Your goal is to approximate these benefits at home.
Here’s how.
MAKE PREPARATIONS
Dedicate a physical space. This can be a desk in your room, a space in the family office, or even a corner of the kitchen table. Wherever it is, consistency is important. You want your brain to associate that place with working, which means you shouldn’t make your bed your study spot. Your brain should associate your bed with sleeping.
Schedule your study. At school, you don’t work on Precalculus for a while and then take a look at Chemistry and then decide to read a few chapters of your assigned English novel. It would be so easy to prioritize the easy stuff and leave the hard or boring stuff for later (because when exactly is “later”?). Instead, plan to spend about an hour on each subject, just as you do in school. Use the Pomodoro Technique to maximize your productivity, working for 25 minutes and then taking a 5-minute break. Take a longer break (15-30 minutes) after 2 hours. Read, do practice problems, and watch related videos online. Mix the subjects up to keep your brain engaged – just make sure you hit all of them.
Schedule food, exercise, and fun. Just as you schedule your work, schedule your non-work. Eat meals in a structured way, meaning at the same time you normally would. (Don’t just mindlessly snack all day.) Schedule breaks for yourself away from screens and find time to keep your body moving. Make plans to connect with friends online in the afternoon or evening. The takeaway here is that if you have a plan for fun later, you won’t feel like you’re missing out on anything during the day!
STAY ON TRACK
Even if you have the day planned out, you also must use your time effectively. With little or no face-to-face interaction with your teachers, it will be more difficult to assess how well you’re doing.
Work smarter, not harder.
Get clarity on how you’ll be graded. Will you still be responsible for upcoming projects? Have any due dates changed? When is the next quiz or test and what will it cover? Your teachers might still be figuring this out for themselves, so it’s important to make sure you have the latest updates about what’s expected of you.
Ask questions. Your teacher might think they told you everything you need to know, but reach out to them if something isn’t clear. As you both navigate this new learning environment, communication is key.
Find an accountability partner. Collaborate with someone in your class. You can help each other digest new information and make sure that you’re both making progress toward your goals. During planned study sessions, leave FaceTime open but mute yourself. If you have a question or something to say, you can unmute to vocalize it, keeping disturbances to a minimum. Stay on track and don’t get distracted – until your scheduled social time begins, of course.
While the plan isn’t to maintain social distancing indefinitely, try to normalize this experience as best as you can. Create a routine and stick with it over the coming weeks. This will keep your mind sharp so you can jump back in when school resumes.
If you need help creating structure and finding accountability, reach out to us. We’d love to create a plan for building and maintaining study skills with you.
