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- Finish any summer assignments. Many teachers require you do some reading or writing during the summer months. You may not feel like it because it is the summer and your time feels like your own, but teachers do often count your summer work toward your first quarter grades and rely on students having a baseline of knowledge so everyone is ready to roll when classes begin. Also, summer work often is a gauge of whether or not you will be able to handle the work in the class; it’s better to know that immediately than after the school year has begun.
- Get your brain back into “school mode.” During the summer, it seems as if our brains almost shut off. While you don’t need to know the quadratic formula during July and August, forgetting everything you learned the year before will make the next year quite difficult. Take some hours out of the last few weeks of summer to get your brain back into “school mode.” Whether you do that by reading a book, reviewing last year’s notes, or doing a set of math problems a couple of times a week, it will definitely make the transition back to school a whole lot easier.
- Make a good first impression. Teachers will make a year-long impression of you within the first two weeks of school, so make sure it’s a positive one. Arrive prepared in class with summer assignments complete. Have your planner ready. Choose your seat wisely: You don’t have to sit front and center, but try not to choose a seat in the back row. Show your teacher you are ready to be an active participant, not a passive observer.
The students who get off on the right foot are those who are ready to step proactively into the rush of a new year, bypassing those who wait until the first day of school to brush out the summer cobwebs.
Michelle Sagalyn is founder and president of Successful Study Skills 4 Students, LLC.
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