School closures got you down?

Has your school closed? Are you now trying to suddenly manage the stress of these times on top of building a teaching environment at home from scratch?

Not to worry - here are some tips to help soothe the stress:

1) Teaching and learning in a new environment is difficult at the best of times. One way to help is to simulate the classroom as best you can. Find a quiet place, with a proper not-too-comfortable desk chair and desk at a proper height. Be sure everything you need for studying is at arms reach (read: water bottle, snack, pens, pencils, notepad, school books, etc.). Make sure you have sufficient lighting, and NO streaming or video games nearby :)

2) Tackle one subject at a time, giving yourself breaks in between. This is another effort to simulate classroom structure, but also allows your brain to focus on one kind of learning at a time.

3) If you come across a question or problem you can't answer, flag it, and keep going. It is better to keep your momentum, get to the end of your lesson, and go back for questions, than it is to stop what you are doing and wait until you can get an email back from your teacher. You can also reach out for help from family, friends, good ole Google, or your friendly neighborhood tutor :)

4) Organize virtual study groups. Just because school's out doesn't mean you can't "see" your classmates, and help each other through the lessons. A few web-hosted platforms that are great for groups are Google Hangouts and Zoom. Both free, both allow groups, and screen sharing. A great way to host a study group and get some interaction at the same time.