How do I get through jr. high without stressing?

Question

I was really looking forward to jr. high, but now all this homework and projects is makin me REALLY nervous. How can I get through jr. high without stressing out, getting my hw done and still having time to play with my friends?! Help!

Answer 1

Ryan,
I have great hopes for you because you have wisdom to ask for advice and support. Asking is an important requirement for “not stressing out” and for success. Know that there are people who can help you. If you just give in to the chaos of Jr. High as others have suggested, you are missing an opportunity to grow, at one of the most challenging times of your life. You can go into the Jr. High experience kicking and screaming or you can enjoy the rush of it. It helps to have a strategy and be organized. Time management skills help keep you balanced between social and work periods. Whether your parents set boundaries for you or not, learn to set them for yourself. Be proactive. Attitude and confidence are good keys.

Friends are very important. If one of your goals is to have time for play with your friends, schedule that, but be aware that with age comes responsibility for setting priorities. Plan a reasonable time to get homework done first – just do it. Then you are FREE to be with your friends. Get them to support you in achieving your goals. You will set a good example for them too. If you have trouble with a subject, ask your teacher or parents to help you understand. If it takes too many hours to get your homework done each afternoon, talk this over with a teacher advisor or principal. Ask them what is reasonable for grade.

Think of yourself as the CEO of your life – you are! Think of teachers as your valued and trusted advisors whose job it is to help you be successful. Respect their expertise and let them know you are engaged in education, but also make them work for you. If you don’t understand something in a subject, don’t let them brush you off with quick answers. Good teachers are glad to work with you. Empower yourself and demand that they provide what you need to learn and still have a social life. Also, find out if your school provides tutors or programs if you need them. Get some homework done in Study Hall if your school has this.

It sounds like you may be stressed because suddenly subjects are harder or more pages to read. You could learn to speed read and comprehend better. If your elementary teachers had prepared you better, Jr. High would be just another step, rather than a huge difficult leap. Some teachers do not challenge students enough, because they are afraid of “turning off students to education”. Some projects are to make a subject more “fun” but you don’t actually learn from them. If you really want a good education, sometimes you have to demand it and not just assume teachers will spoon-feed it to you bit by bit with lots of sugar. Ask teachers to “scaffold” you, until you “get it”. Fill in the gaps between what you don’t know, what you do know and what you need to learn. Don’t let ideas about being “uncool”, because you have an interest in learning, deter you. Since when is ignorance “cool”? If you embrace this challenge now, you will be the one with the cool car, cool house, great job, bigger toys, longer vacations, and sharp, successful friends.

There are a few tools to get you up to speed. It helps to know how you learn best: by seeing (visual – reading, diagrams or pictures) hearing (auditory – hearing someone explain), or doing physically (kinetic – the action of writing, or creating something). Let the teachers and parents know this and if they don’t provide you with something that addresses your learning style in each subject, develop something along those lines for yourself.

If you find a subject boring, trick yourself into believing that it is interesting. For example, history is stories about people and how countries developed. Make yourself believe that this is just as exciting as the fiction you enjoy. Find a handle and connect something hard to something familiar and enjoyable, like history of sports or science about dogs. Ask questions: who, what, where, when, how, and why? Request a syllabus (teaching plan) for each subject so you will know ahead what is coming up. Set little goals for yourself that lead to your main goal, and then celebrate your accomplishments. Enlist your parents in your game plan. Ask that people encourage you for the specific things you do. Not just “Good job”, but “You have written your book report in a clear way that makes me want to read the book too.” or “It looks like you have mastered these equations.” This way you will know what works and what needs to be improved. Ask for honest feedback not just compliments.

Know your rights and privileges. If you are having problems of any kind, most schools in the US provide counselors, who will listen to you and help you or refer you to someone who can. Do web searches to find out your legal rights in your state. (I assume that you are in the USA, since other countries call Jr. High by different names. Please translate, if I’m mistaken.) Some communities have more limited recourses, due to funding. Since you have access to a computer, you are much better off than many of these areas. “Knowledge is Power” Don’t be afraid to go outside of your comfort zone or to make mistakes, but always stay within your safety zone.

Jr. High is one of the most dynamic social and educational changes, due to different classrooms for different subjects and just growing up. Take it easy on yourself and do 100% of what you can. Let teachers and parents know that you are doing your best. Talk with your friends and support the best in them. Sit down with someone, with a schedule and estimate how much time you need for each subject. It will be harder and harder to get to sleep as you get older, but you still need it. Relax and slow down before you go to bed. Eat well, drink water, and take care of yourself. Just schedule what is reasonable. Typically, things will get easier about the second year of high school. Remember that you are cared for by others, you are competent and do several things very well, you have the freedom to make choices that affect you and deep-inside, you are a good person. You can get through this and the payoff is well worth it. I wish you all the best.

Answer 2

Get used to stress. It will be with you from now until retirement.

What you can do to make things way easier on yourself is establish a routine. For example, get home, have a snack, do an hour of homework, check your email, another hour of homework, then go hang out, dinner, finish and homework, bed. Or whatever your personal task list would look like.

Do things ahead when you can, like laying out the next day's clothes the night before, or doing a major project or report 30 minutes a day starting the day it's assigned, so you don't have to rush to do it at the last minute.

Answer 3

Sorry to hear that you are dealing with a lot of homework. When I was in Jr. High from 1996-1998....I attend school functions, study groups, and PRAYED! My school days weren't very hard but I was in all Honor Classes. So you know that I had a lot of work to do. I love homework to a certain extent. I tried not to make a BIG deal out of it and just relax. If you relax then you won't feel pressured to do things. But you also have to be responsible enough to know that your studies come first. HOPE U FIND A WAY TO BECOME LESS STRESSED!

Answer 4

One idea... my teens really floundered when they hit Jr. High. Too much, too fast, and they just could not keep up. Are there any good charter schools in your area? My kids now go to a 'First Amendment School" called CityAcademy (cityacademyslc.org). It is based on a non letter grading system and includes hands on learning.
Both are doing quite well now.
Good luck!

Answer 5

you're gonna stress, it's a part of growing up!!
just do the best you can, things will all work out in the end!!
Good luck:)

Answer 6

Check out ( http://www.reducingstress.net )
They have great information and help for when you are stressed.

Answer 7

sorry to tell u this, but THERE IS NO WAY!!!