Hello all,
This summer I’m taking Biology H at my district’s summer school program. The program’s director/teachers estimate about 4-6 hours of homework each night, with daily quizzes. This class will be the first class going on my high school transcript, and will also be the first time I’ll have experienced rigor. My middle school usually gave at most 30 minutes of homework each night. One of my older friends took this class, and her mom claims that she was up until midnight everyday finishing homework and studying.
The first day of class is next Monday, do you guys have any tips or suggestions regarding this?
You’re a smart kid. The 4-6 hours is probably (hopefully) an average, but good study habits should cut that significantly. I’m not too great at study habits in general (lol), though, so I can’t give you a ton of advice on that front.
I had two major keys to success in H Bio:
-Read and take notes on the textbook chapters Figure out a good method and stick to it! Unless you’re graded on a specific type of notes (rip), you should definitely use your own preferred method.
-QUIZLET QUIZLET QUIZLETTTTTTTTTTT!!! PM me and I’ll send you a folder with my frosh bio vocabulary, direct from the textbook. Use the Learn feature until you know the vocabulary very well.
Between the two methods, I had something like a 95 test average and a 100 on almost every vocabulary quiz. (The one I didn’t ace, I got a 57 on. I didn’t use Quizlet!)
If you need more resources, try Crash Course, Bozeman or Khan Academy sped up to 1.25. (For KA, it saves a ton of time, and it’s hard to notice the difference in speed.)
Good luck! PM me if you have any questions!
4-6 hours is a rough estimate. A student can take 12 hours to do homework while another may only take 3 hours. If the average is around 5 hours, that really isn’t bad at all. I know you can get straight As in middle school by showing up and breathing the air, so you may not be used to doing a lot of work, but you’ll get used to it fast.
Tips
BE PRODUCTIVE. Turn of your phone, get your cat out of the room, stop doing homework in your comfy bed and sit up at a proper table instead. It’s hard to get into a “flow” when you have 20 million distractions around you.
FIND STUDY TECHNIQUES THAT WORK. Okay, I hear it all the time, “don’t cram and study till 3 am the night before the test!” Yes, but personally, I’ve never regretted cramming because I always end up being overprepared for a test. So try several study habits and find one that works for you.
STUDY GROUPS DONT ALWAYS WORK. The biggest issue with study groups is that when you have a question, you ask a person first before looking it up yourself. Now, if that person you asked happens to be “confidently confused” (a person who is completely wrong but thinks they’re right), they can completely mess you up.
PREPARE FOR THE WORST. Treat every test as if you need a 120% on it to pass the class. The better you do throughout the semester, the more wiggle room you’ll have for mistakes later.
Sounds rough. I just completed my 8th grade year and it was a breeze for me as well. I always did all of my actual school work on the bus in the mornings, to freshen up my just-now-awoke self, and I can’t even recall the last time I studied for a class (lol), so I don’t have much to give in terms of tips and suggestions.
Based on the things I have previously read online, eliminate any potential distractions (electronic devices and such). Also, make sure your study-area is comfortable, but not too comfortable, say, the coach or the bed. Make sure the room isn’t blazing hot or freezing either, and I speak from experience. Not too long ago, I took the SAT, and the testing room was FREEZING COLD, and no jokingly felt like the middle of Antarctica, which threw me off. Regardless, I think I did okay, but I could’ve done better. Lastly and most importantly, don’t overwork yourself. Believe it or not, this can actually stress you out even more than you already are, and make you do WORSE. Good luck 
Believe it or not my cat is in my room right now, and boy is he a huge distraction… XD he’s always sitting on my arms and keyboard and nudging me. Thank you all for the suggestions, @Alllviiinnn @incompletenam @awesomepolyglot ! It would be great if you could send me the link to your quizlets, @awesomepolyglot .