[scar12346]

Guilty.. Definitely guilty. But I cannot get myself to study. I have absolutely no idea how I got to 9th grade. I just magically got here. And it's not that I am barely making it. I have about 5 classes that I will finish with an "A" or "B" and I have never opened my book.
Am I the only one? Is this normal???
How do I start studying and doing homework? Especially homework because it's hurting my grades and the relationship between me and the teachers.

I don't think that is all that unusual through middle school and even the first year or so of high school. I always say I got through school by osmosis until about 11th grade when I started hitting some very advanced courses. The time will come when you will inevitably be faced with a course that will force you to start actually studying. Hopefully when that happens you will rise to the challenge.

If you grades are starting to suffer, it is because that challenge has begun and you haven't changed your habits to meet those requirements. Time to set aside time each night to take inventory of what you need to do as homework, what upcoming assignments/tests are on their way, etc. Osmosis doesn't work forever.

[Pepi]

Хех, още един съотечественик като мен, бродещ из тия форуми. Как е, приятел?

A mandatory translation so that I don't get punished by the mods for writing something that most will not understand: "Hey, another fellow countryman roaming around these forums. How's it going, bud? "

Only dropped here to say "Hi".

[scar12346]

Originally Posted by Pepi

Хех, още един съотечественик като мен, бродещ из тия форуми. Как е, приятел?

A mandatory translation so that I don't get punished by the mods for writing something that most will not understand: "Hey, another fellow countryman roaming around these forums. How's it going, bud? "

Only dropped here to say "Hi".

Hehe hey

[DesigningWoman]

No one is born with great School/study skills. Everyone has to learn what works for them to get their desired grade.
For instance, I want top grades. So I try to figure out what has to be done when and at what pace to achieve that result. I have plenty of friends who are B and C level students. They do what they need to do to get those grades. I use a paper planner to pace myself and keep track of assignment due dates, but I know plenty of people that use free online services like Google calendar to keep track.
Try and be honest and realistic with yourself. If you struggle with writing, you will need more than two hours the night before the write a term paper.
It is time to start working on these skills. If you want to go to college or votech after high school, you will have to have these down. Stress is a huge trigger for mental illness flare ups. Waiting until the last minute to try and get something done or sweating if you passed a class is definitely stressful. Passing becomes a huge deal in college where failing can have immediate financial repercussions.
Even if higher Ed isn't in your plan, Learning to plan, organize, pace, accomplish tasks, and study is integral to surviving post high school in whatever you decide to do from waiting tables to brain surgery.

[scar12346]

Originally Posted by DesigningWoman

No one is born with great School/study skills. Everyone has to learn what works for them to get their desired grade.
For instance, I want top grades. So I try to figure out what has to be done when and at what pace to achieve that result. I have plenty of friends who are B and C level students. They do what they need to do to get those grades. I use a paper planner to pace myself and keep track of assignment due dates, but I know plenty of people that use free online services like Google calendar to keep track.
Try and be honest and realistic with yourself. If you struggle with writing, you will need more than two hours the night before the write a term paper.
It is time to start working on these skills. If you want to go to college or votech after high school, you will have to have these down. Stress is a huge trigger for mental illness flare ups. Waiting until the last minute to try and get something done or sweating if you passed a class is definitely stressful. Passing becomes a huge deal in college where failing can have immediate financial repercussions.
Even if higher Ed isn't in your plan, Learning to plan, organize, pace, accomplish tasks, and study is integral to surviving post high school in whatever you decide to do from waiting tables to brain surgery.

But see, here is my problem. I cannot for the life of me plan out what to do with study. I will sit down and open the book, and then stop because I have no clue what to do. Do I read the thing? And even so, most of the things we have on tests are not even in the book and are just said in class, wait no, passed on to the class from the teacher. And then my mental illnesses will trigger because I am actually doing something so now I will be going to drink water, make a sandwich, shower, think about my life, go outside to walk the dog that I don't have, exercise, eat, regret eating, call a friend, regret calling a friend, it will hit me that I have not drank my pills in about a week, go out to buy pads because my period is in 5 days, think of how miserable my life has gotten, get depressed, drink something, drink some more, get drunk, and realize I am so damn exhausted because I haven't slept in like a week, start yelling and the nothing because I am hearing something, lock every door 20 times because paranoia hits in, and make a DIY project that looks like crap.. I don't know if studying is a massive trigger for my ADHD and depression and everything else I would not like to talk about, but it always happens, so I just stop studying all together cus.. I skip those stuff.

[avlady]

I was the smartest one in my grammer school class for 8 years. i'm not bragging as you'll see. i don't know what happened but i almost failed out of college, also not doing good in high school, but able to at least get into college. i lost the ability to get things done,on time too.i went back and took online courses and did get a associates in arts in 2004. i do need only 2 courses for a bachelors. i just can't think of going back even for the small amount of courses i need. plus the loans needed too. what i really want right now is a part time job, or job from home. my disability hinders everything. i don't drive a car so transportation is out of the question too.i did sell avon and mary kay but transportation was not so good. with all my heath problems i'd probably have to work from home anyway. oh well, maybe someday!!!

[DesigningWoman]

Scar12346

My suggestion would be to talk to your school counselor or adviser. They can at least point you to resources for planning and getting started studying.

But first you need to seriously consider talk therapy. From what you said in this last post, it sounds like more than you don't know how to study and more like this is a big trigger/mental issue for you. Therapy can help with that. It took me eight years to complete college with the same therapist. With no therapy, I don't think there is any way I would have graduated.

Not to sound like someone's mom, but you can't avoid this. Being able to set goals and do the work to complete them is a necessity for adult life. Even if you don't want to continue school, every job requires this. I opened, unpacked, and repackaged office supplies and did light inventory as a part time minimum wage worker. Yes, I had to be able to handle challenges and complete planned objectives.

Applying for government aid, filing taxes, and organizing your appointments and med schedule, all require planning and sticking with it. I have a lot of experience with assisting others with government aid, welfare, food stamps, Medicaid apps and processes are complicated and difficult to manage.

There is no easy way to get or do anything. It sucks, but it is true for everybody.

[avlady]

I agree with DesigningWoman

[Miswimmy1]

Originally Posted by scar12346

Guilty.. Definitely guilty. But I cannot get myself to study. I have absolutely no idea how I got to 9th grade. I just magically got here. And it's not that I am barely making it. I have about 5 classes that I will finish with an "A" or "B" and I have never opened my book.
Am I the only one? Is this normal???
How do I start studying and doing homework? Especially homework because it's hurting my grades and the relationship between me and the teachers.

You are not alone. This was exactly me. I got to 9th grade and my life fell apart. In high school, you have more independence but higher expectations, too. Honestly - you need to just experiment what works for you: what motivates you? What time of the day do you get the most work done and are the most focused? What subjects do you need to spend more time on? What type of learner are you - visual, kinesthetic, auditory, etc.? You basically need to just try different ways of learning material - are you a note taker? Do you like to make flashcards? Do you like to make web diagrams to connect concepts? Do you like to listen to audiobooks (if you need to read a book for an English class)? Are you a person who likes to highlight or annotate? Sticky notes? Colored pens? It's all a matter of figuring out what works best.

[Nike007]

I was the same way as you. Not someone who would study, do homework. I would do projects, usually at the last minute though...

Anyways, half way through grade 11 and my god, homework and studying are SUPER important. Really. If your mental disorder(s), ADHD, whatever affects you in school, you can try for an IEP or 504 plan, wherever you are. Try doing what people here suggest (a lot of the above post are good, so I won't repeat them), but if you can't manage even listening to these suggestions and going through with it, then try for one. Without it now, I would be failing all my courses. Honestly. Hope you find something that works for you .

[coldwut]

I'm still learning how to study in college, but I do have some tips.

You should take notes on what you're reading. You can rewrite things or ask yourself questions if you don't understand something. I've found that writing helps me remember things.

Also, rewriting your notes can be helpful too.

And talking to a counselor shouldn't hurt as well.

[DesigningWoman]

For me, I found doing summaries and like you mentioned asking questions in my notes to be very helpful. I have a system of underlining important points. Exclamation points for very important, will be on the test info. By visually identifying via markers like punctuation it can make reviewing for a test much quicker and more simple.

[Rose76]

Don't come straight home after school. Instead, plan on going to somewhere like the library for an hour and a half. Make up your mind that, during that time, you will tackle some school work. You'll be free of distractions in a place like the library.

This worked great for me one summer that I had to take a hard course. I went from class to lunch and, then, to the library. I became my routine and I got to like it.

[DesigningWoman]

Originally Posted by Rose76

Don't come straight home after school. Instead, plan on going to somewhere like the library for an hour and a half. Make up your mind that, during that time, you will tackle some school work. You'll be free of distractions in a place like the library.

This worked great for me one summer that I had to take a hard course. I went from class to lunch and, then, to the library. I became my routine and I got to like it.

That's a really good point. Routine can really keep me on track too. I find working on long research papers in my apartment difficult. I get distracted easily. So I go to my Uni computer lab and work. It is very quiet. Just me and the computer. I work much faster. I get free printing too, big bonus.

[DesigningWoman]

Originally Posted by Miswimmy1

You are not alone. This was exactly me. I got to 9th grade and my life fell apart. In high school, you have more independence but higher expectations, too. Honestly - you need to just experiment what works for you: what motivates you? What time of the day do you get the most work done and are the most focused? What subjects do you need to spend more time on? What type of learner are you - visual, kinesthetic, auditory, etc.? You basically need to just try different ways of learning material - are you a note taker? Do you like to make flashcards? Do you like to make web diagrams to connect concepts? Do you like to listen to audiobooks (if you need to read a book for an English class)? Are you a person who likes to highlight or annotate? Sticky notes? Colored pens? It's all a matter of figuring out what works best.

Audiobooks are a great idea. Check your uni and local public library for your titles that are free audiobooks for check out. You can save some serious money that way. Make sure to mention if you want MP3s too. Our local public library has a service where you can checkout for free audio files to play on MP3 devices or smartphones. Just make sure to check if the recording if abridged. You never want abridged because that is more like the edited and condensed highlights of a long book. That could trip you up on an exam. It should list on the case. When it doubt ask the librarians, they can check in the computer library record for you. Publishing seems to be moving away from the abridged format. Still if you are looking for classics though you might run into it.