High School can be challenging , but online high school is a completely different animal. There are many benefits to online learning like flexibility, but that can also derail you if you give into procrastination like a lot of high school students.

Here at CalPac, we’ve been in the online education game for over ten years! We have learned a few things along the way, and most importantly we have seen the strategies that students who are successful employ everyday in an online learning environment.

Here are some tips to help you navigate virtual high school so you can say you ‘nailed it’ at graduation:

Take Responsibility for Your Education: You are in charge of your learning!

Your job is to complete your school work every day. Take responsibility for your work and be honest with yourself, parents, and teachers! While sometimes it can be tempting to make up an excuse, your teachers are truly here to see you succeed. If you come to us with honesty, we will do our best to help you solve the problem, it is never too late to turn it around!

Don’t blame technology! If your CalPac provided school computer is not working, reach out for help and notify your teachers immediately, CalPac’s tech support team is here to help you! If the problem continues, find another way to login (a personal computer, library, or friend’s house) and complete work until the problem is fixed.

Attend School Every Day and Make Your Time Count!

While you are not required to sit in a classroom on a campus everyday, you are required to attend your live sessions and complete your coursework every week. You have the flexibility in choosing when you do your school work throughout the school week, but you should have work completed each school day. If you must miss a session, please notify all of your teachers.

Attend all of your live sessions and homeroom meetings, complete work daily, and keep your activity log up to date. Just like in-person school, missing any of these things will only put you behind and decrease your ability to do well in your classes.

Try Your Best Every Day

No one expects you to be perfect. What we want is to see that you put your best work forward, take your time, and show that you genuinely care about your lessons and assignments. This also means that all the work you create is your own. Don’t use someone else’s work or copy your work from the internet– this goes for tests and quizzes too! If you are struggling with an assignment, reach out to your teachers, it’s what we are here for!

Set goals for yourself and Follow Through With Them

Setting goals helps you stay motivated and focused. It also breaks down larger tasks into smaller pieces so that you can accomplish them easily. Choose goals that are realistic and that you will be able to do.  Keep them challenging enough, but not too challenging that you give up. Work with your homeroom teacher to come up with goals that will help you succeed in your classes.

Stay in Touch With All of Your Teachers – Communication is the Key to Success!

Open communication is the only way your teachers can help you. It is your job to reach out to them if you are struggling, have questions, or need help. Remember, your teachers cannot read your mind!

Check your email daily for important messages from teachers and respond. Keep track of your teachers’ office hours and reach out to them during those times. If you try to contact your teacher after their office hours you will have to be patient until they respond. Use email, phone, and live session rooms to make contact. You should be contacting all of your teachers at least once each week to check in.

Stay Organized and Manage Your Time: Organization and Time Management Will Keep You on Track

The best way to stay on track in your courses is to stay organized. It is your job to know when your assignments are due for each class and what time your live sessions are. Use your assignment calendar to help you, and create a weekly one of your own.

Make your weekly Schedule before the week starts. Creating your own weekly schedule will help you accomplish your academic goals and keep you on pace in all of your classes. Cross off completed work as you go. Once you create your schedule share it with your homeroom teacher too.

Figure out what time you work best each day and base your schedule around that. Look at the assignments, tests, and quizzes that are due for the week and include them in your schedule.

Schedule your more challenging classes at times that you work the best. You may decide that block scheduling is a better fit for you than doing each class every day. You may also find that it is easier to do all of the week’s work for a class on that class’s live session day. Experiment with different schedules and figure out what type works the best for you.

Allow time for and plan for outside school commitments and appointments to keep you from falling behind.

Take Notes and Review Them: Note Taking Helps You Prepare and Review for Quizzes and Tests

Take notes on your course work either by hand or in your e-notes section of your courses. Taking notes makes you a more effective learner and active listener, and is the best way to review and remember the material in all of your classes. It is also what you will need to show in order to get retakes on your quizzes, so make sure you save all of your notes!

Find a form of note taking that works best for you and practice using it. Make sure you have enough notes of good quality to help you review for tests and quizzes.

Ask for Help When You Do Not Understand or Start to Struggle

Your teachers are always there to help. Each of them has office hours for tutoring and can schedule individual appointments with you. If you need help understanding a topic reach out to your teachers and come to your tutoring sessions. Remember – there are no dumb questions and all of your teachers want to help you find success!

Make Friends BUT Don’t Let Them Get in the Way of Your School Work

Making friends is part of any school experience and you have to get creative when your school is online. Take advantage of opportunities to meet new people in your online classes, but don’t forget to do your school work too! Set times for friends after your school work is complete.

Keep Your Parents Involved

No, there weren’t any bribes from parents to say this. Your parents want you to succeed in school and get good grades, so let them be a part of your education too! Talk to your parents about your education goals and ask for their advice on how you can make them.

Include your parents when you plan your weekly schedule and check with them about any appointments or commitments you have that you will have to plan around.

If you follow these strategies you are sure to be successful at CalPac and will develop the skills necessary to complete assignments, stay on pace, and become a responsible independent learner!

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