How to Prepare for Success While Transitioning to an Online School?

by Ogburn Online School Accredited Online Homeschool

Switching from a traditional school to an online school needs a specific kind of mental set-up. The learning system adopted in case of online schools is pretty different from that of the traditional school. This system is pretty independent and self-initiated. Thus, students ought to be more responsible and motivated. Also, parents need to encourage their children in their efforts and provide proper guidance. Students shall feel more familiar with the online learning system if they start preparing for the transition beforehand.

Here are some tips to prepare for success while transitioning to an online school:

Build a positive attitude
All good things happen to you when you are positive. You can pass the test of patience when you are positive. To maintain positivity, you need to have faith in yourself. When you hold a positive attitude, your learning capacity gets higher. You shall not find that much difficulty in handling easy or tough subjects. This positivity can be instilled by surrounding yourself with positive minded people, be it friends, relatives or family members. It is a plus when your parents are positive in general.

Get into the habit of maintaining organization
Being organized and systematic can help you maintain your positivity. Everything is interlinked with one another, you see! When you have a specific room dedicated for your coursework, have properly labeled folders and files with your notes, have a neat place to study everyday, have proper light and space, have proper food to eat after regular intervals, have a proper designated time for sleeping etc., it shall be easier for you to study with a genuine interest. Keep your lifestyle as orderly as possible.

Shape-up a smart routine
Online schools liberate you by giving you the chance to build your very own unique schedule. Make a flexible and attainable schedule. Thus, in case any urgent situation or a family trip comes up, you can reschedule your daily routine accordingly. After all, the best part of online schooling is that you can spend quality time with your family without hampering your online course. Make sure your schedule is not too loaded. Keep it moderate based on your learning style and capacity. It should be humanly attainable at any cost. There is no point in building a schedule if you can never attain it even after giving your 100%!

You can take suggestions from your parents or any reliable close ones while preparing the schedule. Try getting a grasp of the syllabus and then build the schedule accordingly.

Set short-term and long-term goals
Set attainable goals for yourself, to make great things happen in your life. No matter how big or small your goal is, just list them all. Your goal might be to ace the upcoming class semester, to get a certain grade point, to achieve a certain score on the SAT exams, admission to a specific college etc. When you make a written note of these feasible goals, they get stamped on your very mind. When you re clear about your goals and purposes, you can give several shots at achieving the same. Remember, you are building the schedule to attain your own goals and not some generalized list of goals that your school has set up! So work harder for your own dreams.

Make the optimal use of your virtual resources
Online schools do not require you to buy textbooks or guides. This is because it comes with a comprehensive set of online tools and resources that suffice to your educational needs. However, to make use of these resources to improve your performance, you need to develop be a hands-on expert. You need to grow your technical expertise to make the best use of these incredible resources.

These online tools and resources are easy and smart. Each of these tools and resources has its own utility. The best part is that since these resources are online, you can avail them at any point of time. Be it an online library, online instructional tools, websites, audiobooks etc., you can avail these whenever you want. However, don’t forget that you have more efficient human resources as well, such as your online teachers. Take as much help from them as possible. You need to be an initiator here.

Stay ahead of your schedule
Prepare your daily schedule and practice staying ahead of it. At any point of the online course, you do not want to lag behind. This habit shall not only affect your performance but might even affect your confidence and personality in the long run as well. So, stay ahead of your schedule. This way you can do away with struggling at the last minute! Compartmentalize your big tasks into small, manageable parts. Set a deadline for each of these easier parts. Little by little you can succeed in completing the task way ahead of your actual deadline.

Lessen your screen time
Stay away from digital distractions! When you give in to your natural urges of spending more time on social networking sites or browsing through irrelevant websites, you shall soon find that you have gotten addicted to these distractions. In order to minimize such distractions and increasing self-control, you need to lessen your screen time.

Try doing the assignments offline whenever this option is applicable. Whenever online, keep a track of time. Make sure most of your screen time is productive. Whenever you need a short break, set a specific time for the break to make sure that the “online break” does not get extended at any cost! Lessening your screen time does not only save your time but also saves you from obesity, eye stress etc.

Keep in mind you cannot get frustrated in the midway due to some medical issue or failure. Consult with your elder ones who are thinking of you yet practical. It shall be beneficial for you if you get another point of view. Gather your syllabus beforehand and proceed with the above steps. Also select an accredited online homeschool to make your transition easy.