This year my little sister is starting high school (year 7 in Australia). To help her out I decided to write a quick post with the advice I wish I’d been given when I was her age. I hope that it will make her transition easier, and hope that it will do the same for other students starting year 7. I don’t feel like writing a rambly intro today, so let’s get right into it:
Advice On School Supplies
There are some items on an average school-issued supplies list that will probably never be used, and other items not on the list that can be useful to have. These are some items I’ve found to be useful (and not so useful) over my four years at high school.
Good gel or fine liner pens: Most school lists tell you to get the most basic supermarket ballpoint pens available. In my experience, these just don’t cut it for the amount of writing you need to do in high school. My suggestion? A gel pen or fine liner with small nib and heavy ink flow. A grip can add extra comfort, but personally, I don’t find one necessary. Brand wise, I love Muji 0.35/0.5 gels, Staedtler Triplus fine liners, and Arline 400 fine liners.
Plastic document folders: These are so, so useful! Last year I had one of these for each subject (a different colour for each!) and used them to store a notebook and any handouts that I needed for the class. They protected my papers from damage and also helped me stay organised by keeping everything from the subject in one spot and letting me just grab one folder before class rather than multiple items.
White out tape: So much better than the liquid stuff. For one it doesn’t require drying time, and it also doesn’t run the risk of bursting and ruining your pencil case/school bag/notebook/uniform/etc.
Binders: These are so clunky! If you have one per subject then they take up too much space in your bag, and if you have one for everything then you have to carry all your materials to every class. Unless you just keep loose leaf paper in a slim binder (rather than notebooks), then I suggest using plastic folders instead.
Binder books: Just get normal notebooks. As mentioned above, binders are clunky and unnecessary. I find it better to use non-punched books, as they don’t have holes that get in the way of your writing. Or alternatively, just fill a slim binder with loose leaf and use that instead of multiple notebooks.
Advice On Class Schedules
One of the things I struggled with most when starting high school was remembering what class I had when and what room I needed to be in. The best way to stay on top of your schedule is to write it down. However I suggest using a digital program rather than pen and paper - your schedule is likely enough to change that you want to be able to make adjustments easily. You can write it in a word processing program, but I find it most useful to use an app. With a program such as iStudiez or My Study Life on your phone/tablet, you can easily schedule your classes and also add in homework due dates. Download one of these (or a similar program), and you won’t have any problems managing your timetable.
Advice On Staying Organised
The single most useful organisational tool I’ve found in four years of searching is a program called Trello. Available as both a desktop site and a mobile app, Trello has been a saviour when it comes to staying on top of tasks. The best thing about it, and what stands it apart from other organisational tools, is its great user interface. Trello, like many other programs, allows you to set lists of tasks to be completed. Like other programs, it allows you to categorise tasks and add sub-tasks. What makes it different from other programs is the way it allows you to organise and prioritise tasks. It has a simple drag and drop interface which lets you move tasks between lists with ease, and you can do the same to re-order tasks within a single list. This is super useful when it comes to sorting tasks by priority or setting up a running-order of tasks for the day. If you want to know exactly how I use Trello, just shoot me and ask and we can set up a screenshare to explain.
The best advice I can give you on taking notes is just to make sure you keep them detailed and up-to-date. A good, complete set of notes is so useful when it comes to studying for tests, and you really don’t want to leave note-taking to right before one. At year 7-9 level I found taking notes in class and from class slideshows to be adequate, but in year 10 it became important to take notes from textbooks too. This will vary school-to-school, but you can use these year levels as loose guidelines.
Spread. It. Out. I’m serious. You’re tempted to procrastinate? You’re tempted to study in one big block the weekend before the test? Don’t. Please. Trust me when I say it’s not nice to spend six hours in a day studying for the one test. Instead, study in short bursts, but study regularly. For a 7th-10th grader, I think it’s enough if your regular study regime is to simply summarise your notes at the end of each week, make flashcards, and give them a once-over study. When it comes near test time, you’ll only need a short study session to prepare. In this session I suggest you do the following:
Chuck the flashcards you know you’ve already memorised. Study the rest until they stick (<30 minutes).
Do a practice test or some practice exercises (I suggest Khan Academy for maths practice), focusing on the skills/question types you have the most trouble with (~1 hour).
Get together with some friends and use Kahoot to have a competitive, time-restricted quiz on the test content. You can find a pre-made quiz, or create your own for more focused study. For me, this is a really fun way to study and also the best way to make information stick long-term (~30 minutes).
Spread these activities out over the week before the test, and you are way less likely to feel overloaded than if you leave everything to the last minute. Â Â
Repeat after me: Do it before you have to. As much as it’s tempting to procrastinate, you’ll feel much less stressed if you don’t leave work to the last minute. Rather than completing only what you have to on any given day, I suggest you work until one of the following occurs:
You run out of set work to do.
It becomes too late to study (please stop studying at least an hour before bed and spend some time giving yourself a little TLC instead).
You become too tired out and feel you can’t work productively anymore (if you don’t have anything left due tomorrow then leave the work to another day, but if you still need to complete things then take a break or nap before getting back to it).  Â
Advice On Time Management
In lower high school, you’ll probably find that it is unnecessary to strictly manage your time, as long as you don’t waste it. By this I mean you will rarely feel you don’t have time to complete required work, as long as you don’t waste your time on pseudo-productive tasks like creating ultra-pretty presentations or copying your notes out. Just stick to the tasks that are actually required of you.
JOIN CLUBS! Clubs are a great way to have fun, get involved, and also meet people with the same interests as you. They provide a semi-structured environment in which to initiate conversation, rather than you having to randomly approach new people (which, if you are like me, is SCARY!), and also keep you meeting with your new pals on a regular basis. Once you getting chatting with someone you like, just invite them to sit with you at lunch and you’re off to a great start.
