It’s nearly the end of October! You know what that time means. Yes, it’s about mid-semester time. You’ve officially made it through half of your semester courses and a quarter of the way through your full-year courses.
Truly, the first four to six weeks of your courses are the most important, and you’ve made it through them. By now you should be in a rhythm of studying, class work, and help from your teacher.
If you’re still feeling a bit out of step at this point, you probably need to re-examine where you are and make adjustments to make the rest of the class as smooth as possible.
To help, here’s a mid-semester checkup list:
___ 1. Determine where you are in your classes. Count your units and make sure you’re finishing each chapter on schedule. If behind, catch up now before you get even further behind. Divide your remaining units by the weeks left in your semester or school year. Then get studying!
___ 2. List your problem areas. Struggling with math equations? Procrastinating on that essay project? You probably already know what your hard subjects are. List them out on paper right now. Decide what you need to be successful: more teacher help, more parent help, more time and effort, or tutoring support.
___ 3. Make sure your schedule is working. When you started classes about a month and a half ago, you likely drew out a daily class schedule to keep you on task. (If not, stop right now and make one.) Review your class time with your parents and ensure its working. Adjust it if necessary.
___ 4. Preview remaining lessons. Get a heads up on what’s coming in your classes by looking ahead a few chapters. This allows you to see lessons in context of the whole course. Concepts not mastered now could trip you up later if you don’t understand them. Be ready for harder work as the year progresses.
___ 5. Review progress with your teachers. Take a time out on studying and give your teachers and advisor a phone call. Talking directly with each of them will help you know how you are doing so far as well as what you need to work on. They can give you valuable advice and encouragement!
___ 6. Stay on task with projects. Taking a class with lots of projects or labs? Stay on task and don’t skip them. This could come back to bite you if you put them off until the end of the year. You’ll then be stressed and rushed trying to finish them at the last minute. Work progressively throughout the year on these.
___ 7. Take care of your body. Tiredness and lack of motivation can creep in around mid-semester. Counteract it by taking proper care of your body with good hygiene, proper amounts of sleep, and balanced nutrition. Eat full meals and cut back on snacks and caffeine. Go to bed on time and eliminate late-night cramming.
___ 8. Focus on your goal. Is your goal to get to the end of the year or to get a 90% in science? Whatever your goals are, keep them in your line of sight. Aim at achieving them with all the little steps you take each day to get to where you want to be!
___ 9. Keep it in perspective. Is the world going to end if you don’t ace that test? Sometimes excess stress happens because we have too much pressure on ourselves. Remember what’s really important in life and don’t let schoolwork dominate your world.
___ 10. Pray and reflect. Take a minute to breathe. Pause and still your busy life by spending time in thought about how far you’ve come and where your path is going. Ask God for guidance and wisdom as you tackle daily challenges and thank Him for leading you in your journey of learning!
Mid-semester checkups are useful wherever you go to school, whether at Ignite Christian Academy or at another school. To ensure your success, you need to review where you are periodically, and mid-semester is a great time to do so. You can still make up lost time at this point, or you can review and master concepts if you’re already ahead.
Print off the above list. Take time to evaluate and get your mid-semester bearings. Than charge on ahead toward the second part of your semester!
As always, happy learning.
What do you do to keep yourself motivated and on task at mid-semester? Share with us!