5 Simple Study Hacks Every Student Should Know

 

Sunday nights are the perfect time for a routine refresh, especially as we head into exam week. Middle School English Teacher Crystal Spillyards shared five tried-and-true hacks to make homework, studying, and daily habits more manageable, efficient, and enjoyable. Lay the groundwork for success with these simple yet powerful tips.

1. A Nightly Checklist 

A nightly checklist isn’t just a to-do list or homework planner; it’s a simple tool to set students up for success the next day. 

“Kids might think, ‘making a checklist could take a while,’ but it really only takes about two minutes,” said Mrs. Spillyards. “If your child oversleeps and needs to just jump out of bed, they can grab everything in one place and have peace of mind that they’re ready for the day.” 

The idea is for everything to be in one place, ready to go. For students, this can be a powerful stress reliever. Taking a few minutes to decide what tomorrow looks like reduces the pressure of making lots of small choices in the morning time crunch. This simple hack saves time and clears mental space so the day starts right.

While running through the checklist each night might take a little extra time, it can save you and your children energy and effort the next day and in the long run. Ultimately, with consistent repetition, a written nightly checklist will become a subconscious routine.

Examples of nightly checklist items include: tidying your study space, laying out sports equipment, charging your iPad, and preparing a mid-morning snack.  

2. Time Quadrants

Mrs. Spillyards’ number one piece of advice for students who are behind on coursework? Stay current. 

However, this isn’t just a reactive strategy for when they’re behind. It’s also a proactive opportunity to get ahead and stay ahead. Mrs. Spillyards used the quadrant method with her own St. Mary’s daughters and often shares it with her Middle School students as they strengthen their time management skills. 

“If you have an assignment on your mind, you often want to work on that right away,” Mrs. Spillyards noted. “But, when you put it into a quadrant, you might see something more time-sensitive that needs to be done first.” 

To make your own quadrant at home, start with a piece of paper or a whiteboard. Label each of the four sections as “homework due tomorrow,” “tests and quizzes due tomorrow,” “homework due later,” and “tests and quizzes due later.”

Taking a few minutes to sort assignments into these buckets helps create visual cues for students, redirecting focus to tasks that need to be completed first. 

3. A Sunday Checklist 

“Students get home on Friday, put their backpacks by the door, and usually don't touch it again until Sunday afternoon,” Mrs. Spillyards said. The weekend decompression often catches up to students quickly. Come Sunday afternoon, utilizing a Sunday checklist can bring confidence for the approaching week ahead.

Examples of Sunday night checklist items include: Double-checking tomorrow’s class schedule, packing any special items for classes, grabbing items for extracurricular activities, and ensuring all homework is completed and put in the backpack.  

4. Evening Review

Have you ever remembered learning something, but when it comes time to recall it, your mind goes blank? This is where bedtime review makes a difference. Taking just five minutes every night to go over material could be the game-changing difference in a test or quiz. 

The information you absorb before bed is often prioritized in memory, making it easier to retain ("The Impact of Sleep on Learning and Memory"). 

Mrs. Spillyards uses a visual metaphor with parents to hone the importance of this practice: “Nightly review is like tracing a circle in the sand. If you trace it once, the circle is light. But, the more times you trace, the deeper and more defined the circle becomes.” 

Here are a few methods you can use for easy and speedy evening review sessions with your child:

A Quick Brain Dump: Jot down key points from what they learned that day in a notebook or on a whiteboard.

Flashcard Review: Go through 5–10 flashcards from subjects they’re working on.

Teach It Back: Have your child talk about a concept aloud as if they’re teaching someone else (even if it's just to stuffed animals or the mirror).

Highlight and Reflect: Reread notes and highlight the most important takeaways, then have them write down one thing they want to remember tomorrow.

Visual Recap: Create a quick mind map or diagram of the material in a simple visual format.

5. Write it on a Whiteboard

Using a whiteboard enforces learning by providing a flexible surface for reviewing while making repetition engaging and memorable. Continuous writing and erasing help students retain information by actively practicing it multiple times in quick iterations. For example, when helping students with Spanish, Mrs. Spillyards will prompt a student with a word in English and ask the student to write its Spanish translation on their whiteboard. This simple cycle of repetition builds confidence, strengthens recall, and makes learning feel interactive.

Additionally, you can practice in a similar way, simply on paper.  Mrs. Spillyards recalled, “One student had a quiz on the rules of forming tenses. It's not hard, but you have to memorize it. The only way to practice is by writing it out. So, I gave her a piece of paper and had her draw two rows and three columns. She wrote the rules in the boxes, came to me, and we checked them. When we practice repetition, it clicks in their brain. Simply by learning to do it, I've seen a student get A's.”

Want to try these hacks at home? We’ve given you a head start with the downloadable resources below. Here’s to a great school year ahead! 

Nightly_Checklist.pdf

Sunday_Checklist.pdf

Time_Quadrants.pdf

Crystal Spillyards has been teaching at St. Mary’s for four years. She plays a pivotal role in building lasting academic habits, especially in Middle School, where she leads after-school study skills classes on Mondays and Thursdays. These sessions prepare students for upcoming tests and equip them with lifelong learning strategies. Middle School students who need one-on-one guidance have support from Mrs. Spillyards, Learning Specialist Yari Torres, and Counselor Andrea Peredo. Their guidance helps girls see material differently, often discovering new methods for absorbing and retaining information.