San Ramon Valley High School
Ready for Finals? Here Are Some Tips! By Shelby Falahat, Junior Reporter
F
inals. A stressful occasion for all high school students. Every year, students at San Ramon Valley High School wonder, “is it possible to be successful during finals without the hassle and worry?” Though the month of December is hectic, I have accumulated tips throughout the years that reduce the pressure of finals and ensures successful results. As a Senior at SRV, I have experienced three years of finals, and have the following tricks up my sleeve:
Final Hacks: 1. Begin to prepare for finals in advance. I suggest beginning with your most difficult subject first, and then slowly progressing to simpler subjects. In my Sophomore and Junior year, I began preparing for my finals at least two weeks in advance to reduce my stress. 2. Don’t take finals lightly. In most cases, finals can determine a student’s grade for the semester. Borderline grades are greatly affected by finals, and I suggest putting the effort to prepare for them in order to end with your desired grade. 3. Keep old assignments, tests, and quizzes. By keeping such items,
students can utilize them as a study tool. Typically, most teachers create similar problems on the final, so it will benefit you greatly to use your past assignments. 4. Review old material every so often. If you find yourself not having any assignment one night, try and look at previous lessons to recall old lessons. Psychologically, once we learn a lesson, it is easier to recall or relearn the information, if need be. It always benefits high school students to have a review day, and I suggest taking advantage of those days as much as you can, especially in November. 5. Form a study group. One of my favorite ways to study is with a group. If you are focused, it’s a great way to learn content and clarify information that you are not comfortable with. In addition, you can learn study hacks from your peers and utilize those in your routine as well. 6. Organize your study materials in advance. If you have past work hidden in a drawer or folder, begin organizing your work in advance. By doing so, you can determine if you are missing any key study materials and gather the items in advance. In any scenario, being prepared reduces stress and allows studying to be more effective. 7. Make Quizlets/Kahoots. At SRV, most teachers utilize either Quizlet or Kahoot in order to prepare for exams. With these websites, you can create personal study guides in order to learn content for any class. By using these study tools, you not only learn the information, but have fun doing so. In addition, games allow students to focus on their work for a longer period of time, which is extremely necessary during finals. 8. Attend teacher led study sessions for additional final preparation. In some cases, SRV teachers host final review sessions to further prepare their students. I recommend attending a session or two if you are lucky and your teacher offers such a program. If not, you may use Khan Academy or Crash Course as a study tool. Both websites explain various topics with great detail in simple terms, which allows students to easily comprehend the lesson. Crash Course is most useful for History, Anatomy, Psychology, Philosophy, as well as Biology, while Khan Academy is useful for Math, Chemistry, and Physics. In addition, Khan Academy offers practice tests to determine what students grasped after reading or watching their articles or videos. Good luck SRVHS! Have a great break!
Shelby Falahat is a senior at San Ramon Valley High School. She loves writing as a tool to express herself as well as learn about the world around her. She also has a passion for working with children. Recently, Shelby has had the opportunity to work at Kumon, which has allowed her to teach young students math and reading. In addition, she loves to travel with her family across the globe.
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