By Ben Nguyen

This guide is designed to keep you (and me) in shape during e-School at GVHS, which (if you have a really bad work ethic like me) will save your grades throughout the school year. Some of these tips may seem a little outlandish at first, but following these will help maintain the atmosphere of school while sitting in your desk at home:

• Ask questions more often during lectures! By speaking up and talking with the teacher during class (even if it’s just to confirm something you think you already know), you’ll put more effort into the material and guide your teacher to more material in the direction of your choosing.
• Take a shower, eat breakfast, & maybe dress up before coming to online class as you would for regular school. This really helps set up your mind into “academic mode”, reducing the desire to slack off. 
• Block anything which could distract you while listening to the teacher – I use the Blocksite extension on Chrome. (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/block-site-website-blocke/eiimnmioipafcokbfikbljfdeojpcgbh) Personally, I’m going to block Reddit and Youtube while listening.
  • Side note – try putting on light music on Spotify during a lesson, preferably an instrumental. It helps clear the mind and focus, especially when my surroundings are a little loud (see below).
• Try the Pomodoro method for studying (try this site – https://www.tomatotimers.com/). Essentially, this method gives you a short definition of work (pomodoros), followed by a small break; after a couple of pomodoros, you’re allowed to take a longer break. Stuff like this (as well as doing stuff to combat eye strain from looking at the computer) will keep you at your peak for a long time throughout the day.

That’s it! Try these tips, and I promise you’ll end up a little bit better for it. See you guys later in e-School!