After being in high school for a year or two, you may feel like you have got the hang of it or you have flown right through it, that it has been so easy that you have not had to put in as much effort as you know you can. However, once junior and senior years are approaching you are going to have to settle down and start to focus on colleges and what you are going to have to do outside of school. Things will start to matter even more than before and since these are things that all high schoolers are worried about or even just thinking about, here are some things that are sure to help you make the last two years of high school enjoyable and more comfortable to navigate.
After sitting down and talking with a junior year English teacher, Mrs. Lasater, and then talking to a senior year teacher, Mrs. Crownshaw, here are some of the things that I asked and that they replied might help you be the best student you have the power to be.
What is something you want to tell rising juniors that are scared about the Junior Exit?
I would tell students are nervous about the junior paper not to be nervous, because the actual writing of the paper is supported by the classroom teacher, and it’s a step-by-step process. Probably the most challenging part of it is choosing a topic, because so many subjects are open so just happen to your passion and interest and hobbies or real-world issues that are of concern that you would like to research. Once you get past the topic selection the actual topic writing is not difficult at all, plus there will be informational sessions done and you will be given websites. A lot of teacher support in the process of writing the paper is done in stops so it is not all thrown at you with an end result. You will do it step-by-step and keep up with the class and will be monitored that way, so it’s less daunting that way
What’s something you see a lot that juniors do that you wish they didn’t?
So what I come across is that students don’t read. They don’t like to read or they are turned off by books that they feel are required for school, and it shuts them down on their ability to read outside of school and they really need to keep up with reading nightly, on weekends, daily, even on summer breaks and winter breaks. This would greatly help their vocabulary and help their processing skills, and the only way to become a better reader is to read more.
I proceeded to ask: do you think that the love students have for reading gets damaged because of the things they have to read for school?
Yes, I have asked and they have said that they are not interested in any of the books that they need to read that are assigned and reading is a chore to them and I remind them that reading for pleasure doesn’t require doing anything but just reading. You don’t have to take notes and annotate; sometimes just pick up a book and read it. Also they haven’t tapped into books that interest them which is why we tried to go through what may captivate them.
I proceeded to ask: do you feel like technology is one of the reasons why students don’t enjoy reading as much as they used to?
Yes, I have a love-hate relationship with technology--closer to hate and love--and I feel like it has killed the old-fashioned interest of opening a book, turning the pages, curling up with a book; everything is done through texting. Screens have just made it very impersonal and technological-issued. I do feel like that love for books is gone.
I asked her if she feels like with all the tablets, phones, and Kindles out there that provide books and books online if kids don’t really want to open paper books and don’t feel the need to look through a book?
Yes, and that’s why I require students to buy and bring in books to read because I feels like students are looking at a screen all day long from the phone to the Chromebooks to the TV, then they go home, and they’re on screen and it’s bad for their eyes and their brain and they just don’t interact well with the text they are reading if it’s not a physical book.
In your opinion, what sets juniors apart from the other grades?
It is my favorite grade to teach. I feel like they are mature, unlike ninth grade, and I feel like they haven’t checked out yet the way twelfth graders come in with senioritis, so I feel like 11th grade they still care, and they care about their classes, and they care about testing, and they’re looking towards the future and doing college. I love the syllabus that goes with it because American Lit is my favorite, so I think that it’s just the perfect area to teach for me personally, because of their maturity level and the content and where they’re heading and they all still care at this point and they are still motivated. They are still excited about it. It kind of tapers off a little bit. Twelfth grade and sophomores are okay too, I just don’t like World Lit as much.
What advice would you give students for their lives to help them in and out of school?
Read! Absolutely to read. It’s not done enough; they don’t take the initiative on their own, they wait to be assigned books. Go see shows when they can, even if it’s just a local theater. It doesn’t have to be big Broadway shows with expensive tickets; any kind of performance be it school or community. Performances are good because it’s literature brought to life on the stage. I think it gets some curious, like the musical Hamilton--everyone’s buzzing about it and now kids are interested in history where they weren’t before where they didn’t really care or had no bearing. Just keep the love of theater performance alive and literature to read.
What’s the biggest thing you wish students knew that you think could help them succeed in school?
I think they get so stressed and they put so much unnecessary pressure on themselves that I wish they knew this year won’t happen again, so to take time and kind of appreciate it and be seventeen and go to parties and relax on the weekends and have fun with friends and yes, study! But I think that sometimes they lose sight of being a teen and some other aspects of life that are important because they’re stressed from taking too many AP or college courses so I wish I could tell them to just appreciate the moment because it’s not coming around again.
Do you have any study tips or habits you’d like to share?
Yes, I do actually give this advice to a student of mine and he said it’s been very helpful. I suggest that when students go home that they tend to do their work immediately unless they have a practice right after school. I think too many kids wait until eight or nine o’clock to start working and after eaten and showered and you’ve had a 12 hour day you start shutting down, and it’s hard to start working at that time, so I would suggest that students go straight home after school and get as much as early in the day as possible. Also work on time, don’t procrastinate, don’t cram, just kind of pace yourselves, look at the teachers' websites to get assignments that are due upcoming in the next two weeks, maybe time management, and use an agenda and keep tabs on what to do and stay on top of it.
What’s something you want to tell rising seniors that are scared about their senior exit and what’s something they should do over the summer to peeper?
Get organized! You really just have to have your dates, when you have to have things due, when you have time every day, when you have to assign time every day, when you are going to work on your Senior exit project. Stick to those dates, don’t procrastinate. Also, a big piece of advice: if you’re planning on doing a service learning experience you need to do it over the summer; it’s much easier! Or, at the very least, arrange it at specific times when the semester starts to get that service learning experience done.
What’s something you wish seniors knew about college and how it’s going to be after they leave high school?
Having had three children who could successfully navigate their way through college, some of them more efficiently than the others, students just have to know once they had college they're on their own. They’re the ones who are responsible for everything. Professors will not chase you down, they will not nag you for late work, they won’t even comment on your absences or anything; the only thing that will happen will be that at the end of the semester you’ll have a big F for the class. And they don’t care! They will not mention it; you have to take control, especially on what’s in your life. The important thing is that you make new friends as well because a lot of students go to the same college with just their high school friends, they room together, and that stops them from meeting other students. They don’t join any other clubs; they don’t really explore what’s available at college, so another piece of advice I would give is do not room with a friend; find someone new.
What’s a common thing that you see happens with seniors you wish they wouldn’t do?
It’s generally known as senioritis. As soon as a seniors get his or her college place it’s like it’s a huge obstacle that they’ve overcome; they’ve been offered a place and suddenly they just kick back and they forget that every single one of those colleges will be checking GPAs. They have hundreds, if not thousands, of students on the waitlist and they can withdraw that offer and can give someone else who is on the waitlist your place. So just keep doing what you’ve been doing all your high school career just for those last couple of months to make sure that you actually do retain that spot in the school and don’t lose it.
Do you have any study tips or habits you’d like to share?
I like to always be somewhere quiet and very often will just listen to some form of either jazz or classical music to get me in the zone I always make sure that I have a snack with me or drink when I’m working as far as the biggest help to me is to actually hand write information that I need to learn so it might be typed document that I have to write but I will always hand write it first and One thing I used to do in college, not every night but a lot of nights I would go back through Notes of that day I just read it through I wouldn’t even say it back to myself I just read through might take like a minute maximum or two minutes but it seems to help because the next day that that information was there it was basically the last thing my brain had to deal with so it was there when I woke up
What’s the biggest thing you wish students knew that you think could help them succeed in school?
I think it’s finding a balance; students either have a 100% social life and no academic life or it can go the other way. They ignore the activities in college and just focus on academics. You need a balance for I think a healthy happy college life. Also be adventurous! Join clubs that maybe in high school you would’ve never joined just to see what’s out there.
What advice would you give students for their lives to help them in and out of school?
One of my favorite quotes is from Oscar Wilde, and he said, ¨Be yourself because everyone else is taken." I really agree with that; don’t try to be someone you’re not. On a on a more serious point, use the time to explore all those possibilities in college because you’ll never get that chance again; just be brave!
She finished it off with telling us that it’s a very exciting time for seniors and that you enjoy it so in the future they can look back and think about how wonderful high school and college was.
Overall both teachers and most teachers want their students to learn and to enjoy the time they spend in high school. Teachers know that at this point in a high school student's life they are stressed and have a lot on their plates ;they aren't here to give you more--they want to help! Rely on your teacher and enjoy the time you have as well as make sure you keep your grades up and use your time wisely.