High School Homework Help: Planning Your Time Wisely

High school students are notorious for not managing their time wisely, especially if they are not involved in after-school activities like sport or a job. Students need to learn how to manage their time if they are going to succeed at home and in their classrooms. With a few tips, all students can learn to get their homework done and maximize their time in class, too.

• Use time in class to complete homework: Many teachers give their students a few minutes at the end of the hour to ask questions or start working on their homework. Unfortunately, too many students take this as an opportunity to socialize, when they could use it to get started on their homework. The students who use that time are able to ask questions and get help before they take their work home with them. The ones who do not use the time wisely lose out on that time.


• Create a homework space at home: High school students are easily distracted by technology, especially their smartphones. If you can set up a quiet spot to work on your homework, you are more likely to get your work done, especially if you make the space free of smartphones.


• Reward yourself with technology time: Smartphones are not a right, but a privilege. Instead of taking away mobile phones when homework is not completed, it is a better idea to reward students when their homework is completed. So, for every 20 minutes of homework completed, you get a 10-minute smartphone break. Once homework is completed for the night, then the phone is given back.


• Find 20 minutes to read each night: Studies show that students who read 20 minutes every night read over 1 million words over the course of the year. Reading is the number determiner of success in school and life-in-general. Text messages and emails do not count. The reading needs to be novels or non-fiction books that can be read like novels.


• Do your homework as soon as you get home: Grab a snack and a glass of water, then sit down and get your homework done. Directly after school is the best time to get your work done, because the lessons are still fresh in your mind. If you do not have a quiet place at home to work, ask a teacher if you can work in her room at the end of the school day. Make sure you have a snack with you to keep your cells nourished so you can work to your best potential.