How can I study more effectively?

Question

I'm a freshman in high school and am in all honors classes and am having trouble keeping up.

Answer 1

The transition from junior high to high school can take some time and can be stressful. Try to make sure you are organized. Use your assignment notebook. Prioritize your assignments. Don't let yourself fall behind. It's easier by far to keep up by doing something every day than to try to try to do a lot at one time. Do some homework every day, but be sure you're getting a little exercise every day, whether walking to school, sports, bicycling. It clears the brain and allows you to better focus. Avoid distractions when you're studying--turn off your cell, unplug the landline phone, turn off IMs, turn off TV. Some people find music is a distraction, but others find it makes a good background for studying as long as it's not too loud. Set a time limit, whether 1 1/2 or 2 or 3 hours at a time. NOT 4 hours. You need a break where you watch TV, talk on phone, do something physical.
Lots of people find To Do lists help, and love checking off or lining out completed tasks. That is a physical representation of progress. Creating flashcards to aid your study is very useful, particularly with vocabulary, facts, foreign languages.

At the end of this semester, think about what you have and haven't accomplished, and the stress upon you. Talk with your parents and your advisor/dean. It may be that you should take one of the classes as a non-honors class. My daughter changed from Honors Biology to college prep Biology as she just couldn't deal with the expectations of that teacher and was totally stressing out. Unfortunately, the 2nd teacher had a chip on her shoulder and gave her and another former Honors Biology transfer student a really hard time. It was right to get out of that one honors class even if the regular class didn't work out as well as hoped.

Answer 2

Check these links:
http://www.studytips.org/
http://www.how-to-study.com/
http://www.studygs.net/
http://www.adprima.com/studyout.htm
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/study.html