Success in school takes many forms, but good grades are undoubtedly the most common measure of academic achievement. Educational experts like Victor Restis and others say that there are some ways to ensure that students get better grades.
1. Get up early
Getting up early is part of the daily grind for many working adults. So why not “rise and shine” early when school starts? Put, if you start your day earlier, you will have more time at night to do assignments, prepare for tests, or just review lessons learned during the day. It’s a simple concept, but many students tend to stay up late and wake up later. Everyone feels tired at some point (especially after partying the night before), but it will be hard for you to get good grades if you retire late and rise with the rooster.
2. Be prepared
Bad things happen when we least expect them: we forget our lunch, miss the school bus, and sometimes even an important assignment gets misplaced under piles of dirty clothes on our bedside table. This may seem like a joke, but people tell this kind of story all the time because these events truly do happen. You can avoid such bad luck by simply being prepared for everything that comes your way every single day.
3. Eat breakfast
It is easy to eat breakfast in the morning when your schedule starts early, but skipping this meal can leave us hungry and irritable before lunchtime rolls around. Not eating breakfast will negatively affect the quality of our academic performance because we simply won’t be able to think straight when our stomachs are growling at 8am just before Math class begins. This may lead to frustration and even anger, which in turn will impact academic success negatively, so plan ahead by organizing your daily activities and meals accordingly.
4. Pay attention during classes
This one sounds obvious enough, but is it really all that simple? The truth is that many students are disengaged in class, either because their minds are elsewhere or they simply allow the time to slip away while surfing the web or chatting with friends. Therefore, you need to remember that what your teacher tries to convey during a particular lesson may seem obvious to others, but it might be new information for you.
5. Read your notes and textbooks before class
Studying on the fly usually doesn’t allow us to retain all of the important facts presented in lessons, so learning by doing should come only after we read our notes and textbooks at home. This simple step will make things much easier for you when you try to re-write your notes (or study guides) during classes; this tactic also help reinforce important concepts, which in turn will improve your grades.
6. Participate in class
It is true that you are not expected to be the next American Idol contestant when attending classes, but even just raising your hand once or twice for simple questions can help you get better grades without too much effort on your part. Being well prepared for discussions and debates also helps increase our chances of scoring high on tests because we understand what was being taught in class; by asking relevant questions (or offering good answers), you will stand out among other students in your class, which in turn might make an impression on the teacher who will base his/her final grade largely on student participation (in addition to tests, homework, etc.)
