School this year is, well… different. My school is fully virtual with live classes for the first part of the year. In other words, I will be staring at my laptop for 5 hours every day. Whatever your situation is, the changes this year are definitely going to take some getting used to. But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn to become an A+ online student!
Even though practically everything will be different this year, the goal is to keep things as normal as possible. You may be at home, but try your hardest to pretend like you are at school.
Get ready for the day
While it may seem tempting to leave your pajama pants on for a zoom call, resist the urge! The most important thing you can do trying to be a successful online student is get ready for the day as you normally would. If this means starting up the morning routine you haven’t done since March, start it! Put on real clothes, make your bed, eat breakfast, and start your day off right. Wearing pajamas and waking up 5 minutes before school starts will only leave you feeling tired and unproductive.
Use a real work space, not your bed
Of course, none of us are going to be using the uncomfortable desks that we always use in school, but that doesn’t mean your bed is the next best thing. To be a successful online student, find a suitable desk, whether you have live classes or not. Getting–and staying–out of your bed is so important to be successful in these strange times. To keep myself from jumping back into bed, I make my bed first thing in the morning. That way, I won’t want to mess it up during the day by laying down again. In my last article, I mentioned how to choose and decorate a study space. Click here to read all about it!
Eat breakfast
Everyone was told to eat breakfast even when they were in school, and still most people didn’t. Now more than ever it is so important to have any breakfast, big or small. Online school, especially if live classes are required of you, can become tiring, slow, and boring. While most people may be used to staring at their phone all day, staring at a zoom call or google meet is very different. A breakfast beforehand can keep you more engaged and awake when you have to be sitting for a while. If you don’t usually eat breakfast before school, start small and easy. Even just eating a piece of toast is better than nothing.
Click here to see my article about super easy, make ahead breakfast muffins!
Snacks
Depending on how long you have to be online each day, you may have short or no snack breaks. It is so important to keep yourself full while being online in order to stay alert and active. Some easy and healthy snacks are dried fruit, nuts/trail mix, crackers, or protein cereal. If you have time to run to the fridge, fruits, vegetables, and cheese are also great options to keep you full. If you aren’t working near a kitchen, try making little snack bags each morning. I made a bunch of snack containers in advance for my first week of school.
Wake up at the same time… every day
This tip is for those who have different classes each day. Whether you have class first thing in the morning or not, you still want to wake up at the same time each day (except weekends of course). In my case, I will still be waking up in the morning even if I have study hall first period. No one likes waking up early, but keeping your body on a schedule will make it easier in the future. If you want to go even further, going to sleep at the same time each night will also help put a sleep schedule in place.
Take notes & study as you normally would
While it may be tempting to slack on your notes and studying, try your hardest to keep up with everything you did before school went virtual. Good study habits are not easy to develop, and you definitely do not want to lose the ones you had from previous years. Try to stick to what you have done in the past when it comes to studying, even if it seems unnecessary. As for notes, do the same thing… you may end up needing them in the future.
Have a first day of school
This tip is optional, but if you love the first day of school, don’t let Covid-19 stop that. Wake up early and get ready, pick out your outfit the night before, eat a special first-day breakfast and take the first-day-of-school pictures if that’s what you love doing. Things may be different during the school day, but that doesn’t have to change your first day traditions.
I recently read an article that said you still want to “sit in the front row,” even if you are on a zoom call. Hopefully these tips really help you do just that. I hope these tips and tricks help you do a little better through whatever school format you may have this year. I promise, after some time, you will become an amazing online student!
