Although we all wish it was still summer, that season is long gone now and it’s time to get our grades up. If you didn’t like the way your grades turned out first quarter, there is still plenty of time to turn the year around.
1) Organize: Go through your binders and file away papers you are unlikely to need anymore, so that you can start fresh. (Don’t throw anything out though!)
2) Self-reflect: Look at your first quarter assessments fro each class to look for patterns. Locate what brought your grade down and make a plan to fix it.
3) Talk to teachers: As crazy as it might sound, your teachers want to help you. If you have any questions or concerns, set up a meeting. He or she can explain and review class material, and give good study tips that are particular to the class.
4) Don’t procrastinate: No matter how many coffees you drink, no one can study effectively after midnight. Even if you want to finish the last 3 minutes of your movie, or feel an insurmountable urge to stalk pictures – fight it. Finish all of your work first, so when you’re lying in bed on Netflix or Facebook, you will feel so much better, and your grades will benefit, too.
5) Use “Self Control”: The “Self Control” app, available to all Apple computers, allows users to block addictive (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Netflix, etc.) for a set period of time. This app forces you to do your work. It may seem like torture, but studying with distractions is simply a waste of time. Your test results will thank you. Just click download.
6) Put your phone away: A constant phone vibration will interrupt your train of thought and result in poor studying. We cannot absorb the complex material that we learn in high school if we are distracted every thirty seconds from texts from friends.
7) Share study strategies: Friends can introduce you to a new studying technique, one that you never thought of. Additionally, if you can’t teach your friend the material, you don’t know it well enough yourself.
8) Talk to your parents: Parents have all been there, done that. They know what types of studying works and what doesn’t. Ask them for advice and listen to it, even if it seems old school or plain crazy.
9) Use your free period: Although it’s nice to get a break to chat or eat, free periods are a great opportunity to get homework done. Go to the library or learning center and plow away. This will give you more time to study, relax and rest, or exercise after school.
10) Start weekends wisely: Before jumping into plans for the weekend, assess your workload and what is coming up next week. It is not necessary to be a social butterfly all weekend or every weekend – use some time to catch up, get ahead, and make sure you understand the material you learned the past wee
