DR. WALLACE: I'm 16, and I live in California. Our whole school just got sent home due to the coronavirus! COVID-19 has everyone scared, and now we have to do our schoolwork at home.

I'm worried both about my health and how I'm going to be able to complete my classes. I don't want to have to repeat 10th grade!

What can I do to make sure I don't fall behind in my classes at school? I'm worried that with all this chaos, plus all of the activity in our house that goes on every day, I could fail my classes and be left behind. I had been doing pretty well in school, as I've been getting mostly B grades in my classes, but that is because I always sit in the front row and pay attention. I also try to ask a question or two in each of my classes each week so that my teachers know I am paying attention and trying my best to learn the material.

Now there is no front row anymore! I'm stuck and home and am worried my recipe for academic success has been completely erased.

What do you suggest I do now? We are hearing that we may have to do our schoolwork at home for up to two months or more. I'm worried! - Decent Student in Despair, Rancho Cucamonga, California

DECENT STUDENT: First and foremost, stay calm and positive. Yes, you are in a new situation, but so are your teachers and your fellow students. I trust you will all learn together how best to study and learn remotely over the coming weeks.

One of the first things I would advise you to do would be to contact each of your teachers and ask what their expectations will be during this time of home study. Feel free to remind each one that you sat in the front row of their classroom so you could focus on the lesson. Specifically ask each teacher how they might suggest you replicate the same diligence and concentration at home. They might have some great advice, and at the very least, your teachers will know that you plan to approach your home learning quite seriously.

Second, create a schedule for yourself while studying at home. Don't randomly do your work at night or on the weekends. Perhaps you can discipline yourself to work at home on each subject at the very time of day you would have normally been in the physical classroom previously.

Third, consider setting up a regular, dedicated area in your home to do your homework. Don't do it one day on your bed in your room, the next day on the kitchen table and the next in front of the television in the living room. Select one good, functional spot in your home, and stick with it to do all of your schoolwork. Students attending a physical school with classrooms benefit from the routine and organization that it brings. Seek to replicate this at your home.

Next, keep track of the time you are studying each subject. If your classes were 50 minutes long at your school, for example, then study hard on each subject for 50 minutes at home. Get a timer or use an alarm on a cellphone to keep track of your time. This way, you won't spend so much time on one subject that you ignore another. Do your best during the allotted time and then move on. Once you've completed all of your "classes" at home, feel free to go back and add a little time as needed to any subject you feel you need to work a bit more on.

Finally, keep in touch with other students. Call them, text them and FaceTime them as needed to help one another out — just as you might do in person if you were in the school library studying together. Do your best to stay connected. If you can establish and maintain a new routine and fiercely stick to it, I trust you and your teachers will be very pleased with your results, and this will alleviate your fears of falling behind. Share any of these suggestions you find useful with other students, and be sure to ask them if they have any suggestions for you.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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