How To Stay Organized For Online Classes As A Highschooler

Hey guys! I can’t believe it’s August already, and we all know what August means… back to school. You might already be doing online school, go to public school and have had your classes transferred to online, starting online school for the first time, etc. Chances are, you’ve had at least some experience with online classes in the past 6 months and let’s be real, it’s hard to stay organized. Seeing someone every day and them asking why your paper is late is different then a “friendly reminder” email to let you know that you’re late. This will be my second full year of online school (+ I took 2 online college courses over this summer) so I’ve learned a couple of tips for staying organized and having a successful school year. Here you go!

Actually Go To Class And Participate. It can be easy to just skip classes in online school, especially if you’re getting a good grade. But go to the class! I’ve found that when I go to my classes and actually pay attention, I understand the content much better. Another thing is, when you’re on your computer, distractions are literally happening everywhere. It just takes one click on the email inbox or one quick trip to Pinterest to ruin your concentration and therefore, ruin any chance of you learning anything in class.

Wear Something Nice… At Least A Nice Shirt. Hehe, no judgement if you put on a nice sweater or top and do you hair, but are wearing big sweatpants and cozy socks. 😛 I’ve totally been there, and honestly, it’s kind of great in a way! Not only will you look cute if you have to get on your webcam, but it’ll add a sense of “I’m going to be productive” to your day, since after all you did get ready and aren’t wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

Plan Out Your Week On Sunday. Or on Monday morning. Oftentimes with online school, you have a little bit more of responsibility and control over your schedule. It’s up to you to get things done! I literally couldn’t survive online school without my planner! I have all my classes for the week written in, the times, any due dates, etc. Another nice thing about my online school is that it gives you a daily to-do list, and you can view your week schedule and even month schedule all from the same page!

Respond To Emails & Don’t Be Afraid To Email. If a teacher sends you a reminder email or any other email (even though, yes, it is kind of a hassle to check a million different school emails) make sure to respond as soon as you can. This will show them that you are engaged and being responsible. It also will prevent them from making a phone call to your parents. 🙃

Reach Out To Friends & Study Together. Depending on the current situation where you’re living, you could get together in person or online. It’s always nice when you have a friend to go over tricky problems with you. (especially if you guys are in the same class)

Log Into Your Class Regularly. Sometimes, even though there is a plan and schedule for assignments, the plan might change and if you’re not logging into class every day, you could miss the change. It’s not that hard! Just log in and check on things each day, even if nothing is due.

Establish A Routine & A Schedule. I don’t know about any of you, but I crave routines. Literally, I crave them. So this one is obviously essential for me, but I think it can really help anyone, honestly. Decide what’s most important to get done in a day and decide when you’ll start and then stop doing this thing. For example, you’ll spend from 9:00-10:30 on Algebra, 10:30-11:30 on social studies, 11:30-12:00 on lunch, then after lunch you’ll go running for an hour.

Do The Same Amount Of Work As You Would Do In-Person. I know there is this whole idea that online classes are easier and you have to do less work in them. Haha, no. Other than commute time, not much really changes time-wise going from in-person classes to online classes. To keep your grades up, you’ll still have to do the work, as you would in an in-person environment.

Try Different Locations. The fun thing about online classes is that you can literally do them anywhere you have wifi. So, go ahead, get outside and do school or go to Starbucks and do school, really the possibilities are endless!

Alright you guys, that’s all for today! If you guys liked these tips, make sure to like this post, follow my blog & comment down below!

❤ Hannah