okay so i know a lot of people have probably already gone back to school but i still have like 2 weeks of my summer left so i'm gonna share my advice :-)) especially if you're going into 8th grade because i just got out and if i had the advice that i'm about to give y'all, my year would've gone much smoother. so i'm gonna try to make this rant organized and whatnot.
SUMMER WORK :
okay so for those of you who have summer work, as in you have to do math packets or english work or read a book, do everything you can to get that packet in advance. if your teacher offers to sell you the books or if your school library or local library has the book, GET IT AS SOON AS THE REQUIRED BOOK IS ANNOUNCED ! so many other kids in your school and kids from your city will be trying to get that book so if you get it from the library, you absolutely have to call in or get the book as soon as possible.
& if the teacher offers to sell you the book, ask your parents for money to buy it because reading the book and doing whatever you're assigned is literally the easiest thing in your summer work, and you want to have the rest of your summer to yourself so just get it done.
if you have packets or assignments for other classes, print them out ASAP on the school website or ask your teacher about them and do that ASAP as well. i know people who spend their ENTIRE day before school starts doing packets and doing journals and that's not what you want to do, and that is not how you should be starting your school year.
also, bring all your summer work in on the first day because the teacher will probably want it. if you don't have it on the first day, then in the teacher's eyes you've already messed up and it just makes you look unorganized. so double check and make sure you have everything.
MATERIALS FOR SCHOOL :
it should be pretty easy to buy the right things for school. like i know seniors talk about how they don't bring binders and all the stuff necessary for the school year because they'll never use it but to me it's like ...wyd? idk i like to feel like i'm set for the year, that if i need to take notes, i won't be struggling and having to ask people for sheets of paper.
also as the school year continues, you need to constantly reassure that you have enough material. a binder should last year long and so should a backpack, but if you're low on pencils, stop letting people borrow them. if you're low on sheets of paper, don't wait until you're down to one sheet of paper because when you get to geometry class and you don't have note taking material, you will be stuck. especially if you're in an honors class because the teacher is not going to slow down the class for you lmao.
don't lose your pencils, basic stuff that everyone should know. also, if you plan on bringing a purse to school rather than a backpack, you cannot lose that bitch !! bring it with you everywhere- because with a backpack you can be like "hm, that's weird, i don't feel straps on my back, maybe i should go back to my last class and get it." but with a purse i feel like it's a different story.
and if you're gonna bring a purse, be fancy hoe! bring some gum too, some hand sanitizer, a planner, extra pencils, sanitary napkins, all that. you can obviously do the same with a backpack but like ;) come on ;) which is more fun lmao.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS :
omg y'all have no idea how important first impressions are on teachers mannn. like i know there are teachers who are DIFFICULT but DO NOT GIVE THEM SASS holy shit there are some children at my school that SASS TF out of their teachers and some(not all) of them have horrible grades lmao so like even if you're not doing so well in class, stay kind to your teacher.
TIPS -
1. On the first day, don't be a suck up like if you really wanna bring an apple or something then do that, ngl I did that with my Humanities teacher in seventh grade and I KID YOU NOTTT my humanities teacher and I are legitimately friends like no lie she told me she was one of my favorite students like I had such good grades in her class it was great.
2. If you don't get something in class, ask your teacher immediately like raise your hand and get that shit right immediately and write that fucker down. If you don't have time to do that during class, meet your teacher after school like literally they will be seriously so grateful that you did that.
3. if a teacher offers extra credit, take it because not only will your teacher know you're dedicated in the class but if you're struggling at the end of the year, go talk to your teacher and they will probably bump you up because of that extra credit you did. like literally this happened to me with my math teacher and i ended up passing my algebra class with a B+ & i didn't have to go to summer school.
4. be respectful in class literally if the teacher is talking or if there's a time where you're supposed to be silent, don't talk because you'll probably miss things and on top of that, the teacher is likely to call you out. if you do it repeatedly, you'll end up losing the respect of the teacher and they handle your grades so literally don't call out in class when unneeded or talk when it's not necessary.
