Helpful Highschool Homework Hacks
- Fe Menna Barreto El Dib
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
New Walls students soon come to dread a certain pile of papers: copious homework assignments. Students turn this dreaded part of the day into their own routine to maximize efficiency. After a few months of school this year, students from all grade levels have figured out what works for them. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors take similar and different techniques with some long and short homework tasks:
“I clear the rest of my workspace and work on one subject at a time.” -Saara Lee (‘29)
“I declutter my brain and prioritize my assignments making sure my area is clean.” -Emonn Bowie (‘28)
Neila Wright (‘27) noted “making lists of your assignments and staying on top [of work].” This strategy makes sure homework doesn’t become overwhelming.
Similarly, Zach Daskal-Koss (‘28) makes a list of “easier homework [to get] done first,” adding on that, “when I get to the harder stuff I can take breaks.”
“If it is small things on memorization I use quizlet to [sic] active recall,’’ Cecilia Comar (‘28) added,“if there is a lot of content like history I repeat what I read to summarize and teach it.” Many academic studies on active recall have found that it increases long-term memory of information.
Taking different approaches for different subjects has helped overall performance for many. However, for general strategies Senior Felicia Ogundimu (‘26) went back to basics, “First, really silly but you have to understand you have work and you must turn it in.” Ogundimu thinks this mentality is crucial to finishing any assignments.
Dahlia Anderson, who is part of the junior class (‘27), reflected on her best strategies. “Set a schedule for yourself, do some planning beforehand and figure out what you need to do and how you want to break it up.” Anderson has additional ideas, “use timers to build in breaks and rewards, that way you can stay motivated.”
Ogundimu (‘26) explained one of her own successful strategies, “I do 25 minutes study sections and take a small break and grind for another 25 minutes.” This method is known as the Pomodoro Technique and helps enhance productivity and time management with short intense study sessions followed by breaks. The timer helps maximize time because students feel the crunch to get things done in a short amount of time, while also taking regular breaks to stay focussed.
“Communicate with teachers because they know you are trying,” Ogundimu explained, and added on that, “if you don’t understand a subject, get a study buddy!” Ogundimu again reiterated her point that talking to others can help the learning process and advocated, “go to tutoring or office hours.”
Senior Violetta Rohr (‘26) distilled that in order to succeed in high school, “your motivation has to come within yourself.”
Every student has a different way to find productivity and motivation, but for all Walls students, there are no walls to academic rigor.
