Report Cards – How Do I Get Better Grades?

By Stuart Ackerman

     Most students know the typical suggestions for getting good grades.  They hear it time after time, “study hard, write down notes, pay attention etc…”

     As a veteran teacher, I have found five other ways you can improve your grades.

Here are five unique ways to get better grades.

1.    Find Previous Tests

If you have a new teacher, ask him or her if you could see one of his or her older tests (obviously not the same one you will be writing).  It can be from a different subject and even a different year.  See what kind of tests your teacher likes to give.  Does your teacher like to give multiple choice or essay questions?  If your teacher likes to give essay questions, then what ‘keywords’ does he or she use (e.g. compare and contrast, explain, describe)?  Obtaining a test from your current teacher will give you more insight as to how to study for the test. 

2.    Time Management

Studies show that students retain more information when they study in small chunks as opposed to longer periods of time.  Set specific times for yourself and stick to it, even if you’re not finished. 

If you are consistent with the breaks, you’ll be consistent with the study time as well!

Get the hardest and most undesirable work out of the way first; otherwise you will spend too much time on it later on as it will steal your time away from you.

3.    Several Calendars

That’s right.  Three calendars.  Get a weekly, monthly, and yearly calendar.  The weekly calendar is perfect for when you have a test next Thursday and a report next Friday.  By ‘seeing’ the next week, you will be better planned.  The monthly calendar is good for being prepared for exams, major projects, and mid-terms.

Yearly calendars are great for maintaining your motivation.  You should copy all the studying you have done on the weekly and monthly calendar to the yearly calendar.  This way, you will be able to ‘see’ all the work you have done throughout the year.  This is a great psychological advantage!

Imagine, it’s January and it’s winter time.  You are tired and you don’t feel like doing homework or studying any longer.  So, you look at your yearly calendar and realize that you’ve put in tons of work over the past few months.  It would seem like a waste to quit now, wouldn’t it? 

4.    Energy Levels

Everybody has down times and peak times.  What are yours?  Perhaps you have extra curricular sports after school and other sports or lessons in the early evening.  Then when do you plan on doing your work? 

It’s important to know the time of day that you have your energy and the time when you are tired.  Maybe from 5:00 to 6:00 would be a good time to study before you go to karate class which starts at 7:00.  Or perhaps you can squeeze in 45 minutes right after school.  What you must do is determine the best times to study, and stick to that schedule.  There’s no point on saving homework for 8:00 after you’ve had baseball practice and swimming lessons.  Find your time!

5.    Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligence

What kind of learner are you?  Are you audio, visual, or kinesthetic?  Is your dominant intelligence verbal, artistic, intrapersonal, or mathematical?  There are many free online tests you can take to get an idea of your learning preference and type of intelligence.

So, let’s suppose that you are a visual learner (you learn best by watching).  Then, you should try to study by using visual aids such as mind maps, diagrams, and pictures.  Or perhaps you are an auditory learner who is dominant in musical intelligence, then you might consider remembering math formulae by writing them into song lyrics.

Regardless of your learning style and type of intelligence, you can find ways to study that’s best for you.

     Clearly, the pattern here is to study smart.  Make studying cater to your lifestyle and skills and take advantage of some of the resources that at your disposal.  Persistence, hard work, and some self knowledge will help you get better grades in school.

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