The end of the school year will be here before you know it. A common hazard students face as the weather warms up and school feels more and more like a slog is waiting until the last minute to study for final exams. Don’t let your student lose steam now! Final tests and projects can have a huge impact on grades. Below are some tips from our Academic Coaching team about how students can build a successful study plan to finish the year with strength.
1. Students should know their current grades.
This may sound simple, but many students, due to avoidance or a sudden flood of newly graded assignments, don’t know their current grades. To prepare for the end of the school year and final exams, students need to know where they stand. They should identify any missing work and speak to their teachers about turning in outstanding assignments or revising work if possible.
2. Students should assess each class’s final for difficulty.
In order to build a study plan, students need to know what the final exam or project will be for each class and then, they should determine how difficult each will be. For example, Chemistry’s cumulative exam (that will account for 10% of their grade!) will likely require a lot of studying in preparation. Maybe the French final presentation seems easy to other students but your study has struggled in the class all year. Students can rank each class’ final tasks using a numerical system to help them start to prioritize their efforts (1=a breeze, 10=super challenging).
3. Students should identify study materials.
What has the teacher provided for study materials for finals? Is there a study guide in Google Classroom? Have they suggested other online resources? Where are all those old Geometry homework assignments that your teacher mentioned that would be great review for the exam? Students will benefit from taking time to identify and collect all of the materials and resources that they could use to prepare for finals. This organizational step will help them identify if they need support from their teachers finding additional practice sets, locating resources, or generally knowing where to direct their efforts.
4. Students should plan across time and employ spaced repetition.
Cramming simply doesn’t work. The temptation to save studying for the night before an exam is strong when students have so many things competing for their time and attention. But, if they can map out a study plan that accounts for spaced repetition, their studying will be far more effective AND less stressful. Space repetition means that students are frequently practicing a skill or revisiting material for shorter intervals over an extended period of time. For example, for two weeks before the Spanish final exam, your student could practice their vocabulary flashcards for 5 to 10 mins every day. This recurrent practice is far more effective on long term memory than running through the same flashcards for two hours the day before the test. Students should write out what they plan to do to study on a calendar for the (at least) two weeks leading up to exams.
Effective preparation for final exams starts now! It isn’t too early for students to start looking at their schedules, collecting study materials, and anticipating where they will need to focus their energy. These planning steps can help your student conquer exams while reducing stress.
