6 ways to improve your grades

The new school year is here! If you’re anything like me, chances are that you’ve either been thinking or googling how you can get better grades. This to either make an impression on your parents/ family, yourself or that guy/girl that you like. If you’re a straight-A student it means that you’re obviously doing something right, you might not even know what that something is, but I would like to advise you to keep doing it. But if you are a student who’s been having a hard time keeping his/her grades up or just someone who would like to improve their grades, you just might find a few useful tips in this blog. Here are 6 ways to improve your grades:

1. Pay attention

Pay attention and ask questions. These are two things that are easier said than done. I too find myself struggling sometimes to either pay attention in class or find the courage to ask questions. When it comes to paying attention, it’s either an internal or external problem.

Internal possibly being the lack of motivation. External possibly being having too many distractions in class like your friends, your cell phone, or both. You could also just be having a hard time understanding the teacher. In order to be able to pay attention in class, you’ll first need to identify for yourself what the main thing is that distracts you from the lecture. Is it an internal or an external problem? Once you’ve identified the cause(s) you can spend some time looking for the solution. And finding a solution for a problem shouldn’t be too hard looking at the era of information that we’re living in.

For example, if it’s your friends that are distracting you, you could consider not sitting next to them during the lectures that you find difficult to understand. If you lack motivation, it would be helpful to make a list of 6 reasons why you’re going to school and what it is that you’d like to achieve. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves why we started with something in order to get the motivation we need to continue.

2. Ask questions

Like many people, the reason I hardly bother to ask questions in class sometimes is that I always seem to find a way to convince myself that I’ll understand it later. 50% of the time it turns out that my classmates didn’t understand the lesson either, and that I’m not able to figure it out by myself. That scenario usually ends with me getting angry at myself for not asking the teacher to explain it to me one more time. After all, that’s what he gets paid to do.

The truth is that every student has their own personal reason for not asking questions in class when they don’t understand something. I told you mine, now it’s time to ask yourself what yours is. Like I said before, when you can put together what it is that you’re afraid of, you'll have an easier time finding a solution for that problem.

Once I discovered what my reason was I tackled the situation two ways: I either ask my friends to ask my questions for me (silly right), or I talk some sense into myself by telling myself that teachers are here to help us understand things and to answer our questions. They’re even getting paid to do so, when I remind myself of this, asking questions becomes a tiny bit easier.

3. Start on time

Ever been in a situation where you convince yourself daily that it’s not the right time to start studying yet, and then BOOM! No that wasn’t a bomb….that was you, visualizing how your brain might explode because it’s 24 hours before the exam, and it’s way too much to cram into your head in one night. Some might say that it’s easier to convince yourself not to study than it is to convince yourself to study.

The key to getting a good grade is starting on time, and no, that doesn’t mean that you have to start studying intensely 6 weeks before the exam. What it means is that you have to take some time daily (an hour or two) to read your notes or your textbook. You’ll find that when you do start studying intensely 2 or 3 weeks before your exam most of the things are already in your brain. And of course, it is of utmost importance to UNDERSTAND, and not just MEMORIZE, your notes. Because if you memorize the lesson instead of understanding it, there’s a pretty big chance you’ll get a black out, or forget the answer to the question that’s worth 20 points, and you don’t want that.

4. No coffee or energy drinks but water and a healthy meal/snack

Often we tend to make it a habit to either drink a lot of coffee / energy drinks, and eat a lot of junk food, or hardly eat at all (mine used to be the latter). I mean what kind of influence could the food you eat possibly have on your grades? Well, the answer to that question is a lot! A lot of influence! Way more than you’re willing to admit.

The Food Research and Action Center stated that students who eat a complete instead of partial breakfast work more quickly with fewer maths, and number errors than those who don’t.

Healthy eating also contributes to better performance on vocabulary and visual skills tests. You can improve your recall, your test scores, and your grades by eating right every day (Livestrong.com).

I personally gave it a try and I kid you not, my grades were higher compared to the period where I hardly ate healthy during my study week. I’m not saying eating right will make your grades rocket sky high, but it will give your brain the extra boost that it needs to excel in its performance.

5. Don’t just THINK about a schedule….WRITE it down and live by it

There are 3 types of students:

· The student that makes a schedule, and lives by it

· The student that convinces himself that it’s enough to have the schedule in his head,

· The student that gets super motivated one day, writes down his schedule and doesn’t once carry out anything that’s on it.

Which one are you? What helps me is writing down which subjects I’ll be studying on which day. That way I have a clear overview of what I need to do each day. I usually, also write down how much time I want to spend studying each subject. When you write down what you have to do it gives you something to fall back on when you’re distracted or overwhelmed, and you don’t know what to do next. If you’re the student that can’t work according to a schedule you should consider giving your schedule to a friend, or family member that you trust, so they can fulfill the role of a human alarm clock that constantly reminds you of what you have to do next and when.

6. Talk to God about it

Finally……talk to God about it. Now my final point might confuse you, or seem silly, but this is something that works for me. I believe that God is the giver of knowledge and that He will bless you with the knowledge, and wisdom that you need if you ask Him for it. And I’m not saying that if you don’t study for a test, and you say a quick prayer you’ll automatically know the answers to the test, God doesn’t work that way. In fact, Jesus teaches us that he who doesn’t work won’t eat; this word also applies to your tests because if you don’t study you won’t pass.

As a college student, I’ve had many moments where I didn’t know how to go any further, or how I would be able to pass the test that 80% of students usually, fail. I’ve always found my strength in God, and in knowing that He is with me, and for me. I do my best to include God in everything that I do, and up to now, I’ve had ZERO regrets of that. Just in case you were wondering, including God in your daily activities doesn’t mean that you won’t ever fail in anything. A loving parent helps their kid to succeed, but also gives them the room to make mistakes, learn from them, and become a better person.

This was a short list of 6 things that could help you improve your grades. Keep in mind that these are things that have worked pretty well for me for a bunch of years now. Feel free to give them a try, and don’t forget to be creative. Ultimately you will have to discover how well these things work for you. Feel free to keep me posted on your progress.

Au revoir,

Ruth Constant