Whatever your goal is, getting high marks in high school should be at the top of your priority scale. Remember, having good grades not only shows your academic quality, but also confirms that you are a diligent student, understands the material well, and is mature. Although it is not as easy as turning the palm of the hand, achieving maximum value can actually be achieved by everyone as long as they are willing to commit and improve their organizational capabilities.
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Part 1 of 3: Making Life Neat and Organized
Step 1. Define a specific area for study
To improve your academic grades, you will first need a dedicated study space that is quiet and able to help you focus. If necessary, create your own fortress! Trust me, a good study environment will help create the right mood and mindset to read the material.
- In fact, you can study anywhere, whether it's at home, the library, or your favorite cafe; most importantly, make sure the area is comfortable, quiet, and able to focus on you.
- Make sure your study environment is free from distractions. If you are often distracted by the internet, make sure your computer or laptop is turned off when you start studying. If you often feel disturbed by noise, try to find a quiet study room away from crowds.
- Make sure your study environment is comfortable. If you are studying at home, try sitting in an ergonomic chair. If you want, you can even put plastic plant pots in your study room to create a comfortable and calm impression.
Step 2. Establish a good study routine
A student who is academically successful will generally always set aside time to study every week. Of course you don't have to spend hours each day studying; instead, try to schedule three to four study sessions each week or adjust to your needs and rhythm.
- Instead, study every day at regular intervals. That way, you'll have more time to study, review, and absorb the material. After all, studying regularly will also save you from the problems that come with the habit of doing the Overnight Speed System or studying the entire material in one night (which will prove to be ineffective for any student).
- Keep your routine. Making a study schedule will mean nothing if it doesn't become part of your routine. By turning your schedule into a daily routine, sooner or later your mindset will definitely change for the better.
- Make sure each study session has a clear goal. For example, specify that you will review material for one week over the weekend. On Tuesday, you have to study a new chapter in Maths and read reading material for English class. Meanwhile, on Thursday you have to study new material for Biology and History class. Set specific goals for each study session to help you focus better.
Step 3. Attend class regularly
In fact, this is the most important factor to achieve maximum value! Remember, catching up on notes, material explanations, assignments, and reading material due to absences will make it difficult for you to understand the material and work on exam questions later.
- As a high school student, attending class should be at the top of your priority scale. Therefore, try to always get up early and arrive at school on time; Don't be absent if you don't really have to!
- Always attending class, of course, holds real benefits for you. Remember, what is learned in class is generally a complement to the material already in printed books. In other words, your teacher may explain a material more comprehensively, from a different perspective, or use other examples that can help you understand the material better.
- Realize that studying before class will make it easier for you to focus more in class. After reviewing the material to be taught at least once, you will definitely feel more familiar with the material and understand it faster. As a result, your study time at home can be reduced, right?
- If you have to be absent in one or two classes, make sure you ask your teacher or friends for the remaining material. If you want, you can even borrow your friends' notes and ask them to help you catch up.
- Always remember that taking notes yourself is much better than borrowing your friends' notes. In fact, a study showed that students who used to borrow their friends' notes actually scored lower than students who used to take notes themselves.
Step 4. Keep all your notes and assignment sheets neat
Even though some students are able to memorize every material and responsibility in their heads, not necessarily you can do it! Therefore, try to create an organizational system that can help you live your daily life more easily. For example, don't hesitate to invest in buying an agenda, folder, binder, or other document storage system.
- A notebook is the perfect tool for jotting down material. Try buying notebooks in different designs and colors for different classes. To make it easier for you to access them, save the entire notebook in a binder.
- Binders are also the perfect tool to improve your neatness. Try dividing a single binder into several large sections; for example, set aside one section to store unfinished assignments, a section to store completed assignments, and a section to store exam sheets. Some types of binders also have a plastic bag that you can use to store your notebook. Again, try buying different colored binders for different lessons to make your learning process easier.
- The daily agenda will help you keep track of every class, assignment, exam, and due date. In fact, there are many sample agendas available at stationery stores; some even have a function to remind you of your responsibilities each day. If you have a lot of responsibilities, try buying an agenda that allows you to plan your day by the hour.
Step 5. Manage the time well
Having good time management is very important to maximize your study activities. Therefore, try to make your daily life more structured while continuing to learn to know and practice your abilities. Undoubtedly, after that you will realize a significant increase in academic value.
- Set your priorities. Always prioritize your academic education if you want to achieve maximum grades. If you want, try making a “to-do list” every day or at the beginning of every month; in other words, try to arrange your responsibilities in order according to their priority scale.
- Make a daily schedule. Take advantage of tools such as an agenda book to organize your daily schedule. For example, try scheduling difficult and important tasks to do in advance, especially when your focus is still good and your activities are not prone to distraction. In addition, you can also arrange a schedule to do difficult tasks when your energy is at its best.
- Keep distractions away. Avoid things you know will annoy you like your email, cell phone, computer, etc. If you want, you can even divide each task into small groups; every successful completion of a small group, give yourself an attractive prize.
- Avoid doing many things at the same time. Even if you think you can do it, scientific research proves that this habit won't help you. In fact, someone who is used to doing many things at the same time is more prone to forgetting, making mistakes, and taking longer to get things done. These things happen because they have to divide their focus on many things. As a result, their valuable time is lost and they end up not completing any of their tasks on time.
- Work on a big project right away. Remember, long-term time management is also very important to maintain your grades. In fact, most high school students have a tendency to procrastinate. As a result, at the last minute they have to rush to finish their assignments and get low grades.
Step 6. Form study groups
Have you ever heard the saying “two heads are better than one”? The same saying applies in your learning process. To help you understand concepts better, try forming study groups that allow you and your friends to teach each other the material and absorb it better.
- Most importantly, make sure that all group members are equally committed to studying hard. Avoid study groups that are unstructured and have members who are reluctant to commit.
- Hold regular learning activities. Make sure all members are actively involved in it; in other words, don't tolerate members who only want to contribute to easy questions. Make sure you and your friends can rely on each other when facing difficult material.
Part 2 of 3: Improving Study Routines
Step 1. Record the material well
Generally, a student will start reviewing and studying material from his notebook. Given that you have a tendency to forget material quickly, try to always review and review the things you have noted down. In fact, research shows that without review, students tend to forget 47% of material in just 20 minutes. In general, humans forget 62% of the things that happen every day. To facilitate the learning process, make sure you record the material neatly and regularly; in addition to improving your daily test and quiz scores, doing so will also help your brain to stay active in remembering every material studied.
- Quality notes will not contain all of the teacher's explanations. Instead, quality notes will only feature key words or phrases that are important that students need to remember to understand concepts better. Remember, any information that is repeated periodically by your teacher or written on the blackboard is usually important information and you must remember it.
- Don't include complete explanations in your notes; instead, try to summarize it in the form of pointers or short sentences. Always remember that you should always be able to return to your notes to fill in the forgotten blanks.
- Also note down important facts, details, or explanations related to the material you are studying; Include any important definitions. Again, information that your teacher notes on the board, puts on a PowerPoint sheet, or keeps on mentioning by your teacher is most likely important information and should be included in your notes.
- Review and revise your notes within 24 hours. During this time, mark information that is difficult to read or understand; if necessary, write your question at the edge of the page. After that, compare your notes with your reading material or theory book. If after that you still have unanswered questions, ask your teacher to help explain them again in the next class.
- Consider taking notes by hand instead of typing it on a laptop. Taking notes with a pen on paper forces your brain to sort, summarize, and select the most important information. In other words, your brain will be required to think actively about your teacher's explanation in front of the class. Research has also shown that students who take notes instead of typing on laptops are shown to be able to remember information better.
Step 2. Be diligent in reading books
Apart from being diligent in attending class, increasing the frequency of studying and reading is likely the most important thing you should do to achieve maximum academic grades. This is where the role of the notebook is needed! When studying, be diligent in reviewing the material you have noted, summarizing it, and making an outline if necessary. Look for the most powerful methods to help you understand the material more effectively.
- Try re-notes and outlines. Just rereading your notes is useful; however, it's a good idea to start applying more active strategies to understand the explanations and concepts of the material. For example, try summarizing notes in your own language and/or reading the material aloud; Doing both is effective in activating other parts of your brain.
- Use mnemonic techniques. Mnemonic techniques like wordplay or rhyming words can help you remember information better. For example, it will be easier for you to remember the names of the five largest lakes in America through the word “HOMES” which is an acronym for Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. You can apply the same pattern by creating songs to remember information.
Step 3. Complete your assignment
Make sure you do all the tasks and homework to completion. Always remember that the grade of an assignment is one of the biggest factors that will determine your final grade; That's why, losing even one grade of an assignment can reduce your final grade by 3, 4, or even 5%. As a result, getting an A is most likely just a dream.
- Rely on your agenda to remember tasks that need to be done. Therefore, make sure you write down all your duties and responsibilities in a special agenda.
- Prioritize upcoming tasks and make careful planning. For example, if you usually take a long time to do a math assignment, try spending more time on your next math assignment so that the results are more satisfying.
Step 4. Reward yourself
Learning is not easy; For that, increase your motivation by taking regular breaks and giving yourself a simple reward if you succeed in achieving a certain achievement. Doing so can make your learning process easier, set goals for you, and improve your study habits.
- For example, divide the material you have to study into small sections. After that, promise yourself to rest for 15 minutes after studying for 1 hour; use this time to daydream, check your email, or get some fresh air outside.
- Think of other prizes that are no less interesting. Do you really like to eat cookies? Why not allow yourself to have a cookie after dinner if you've managed to solve all the math problems? You can also reward yourself by playing a game for 30 minutes after studying each chapter in your Biology textbook.
Part 3 of 3: Improving the Quality of Life Outside of School
Step 1. Don't be afraid to ask for help
Be a proactive student both inside and outside the classroom. Don't worry, no teacher has any objections to helping their students' difficulties; often, they also have spare time to answer various questions related to the academic problems of their students.
- Meet your teacher outside of class, when they are looking free and not busy taking care of other students' problems.
- Some teachers even provide special time to serve the complaints of their students. If your teacher is too, make sure you note these special hours on your agenda; if at any time you need help from the teacher in question, don't hesitate to visit him at these hours.
Step 2. Keep your life balanced outside of school
Always remember that learning is not the only factor that can guarantee your success. Beyond that, you are also obliged to maintain a balance in your life, especially because an unbalanced life will actually make it difficult for you to develop. Always remember that you are an ordinary human being who also has emotional and physical needs, not a robot who has to constantly learn.
- Exercise and eat healthy foods. A good diet and exercise can not only maintain your health, but also hone your brain's ability to learn.
- Sleep is another important element to maintain a balance in your life. In fact, all humans need to sleep at least 8 hours every night to maximize their body functions. In addition to maintaining quality sleep, make sure you also avoid activities, foods, or drinks that force the body to stay awake longer.
- Having too much workload is prone to make you experience stress, anxiety disorders, and even depression. Therefore, get out of your house, meet your friends, and socialize with those closest to you. Find positive ways to lower your stress levels!
- Participate in various extracurricular activities. Having too many activities isn't a good thing, but at least joining a sports, theater, or debate club can improve your social skills and help you make lots of new friends.
Step 3. Define your goals
Learning and achieving maximum grades is really only the first step to realizing your long-term success. Try to think where that value will take you? Think about your future, then set specific short-term and long-term goals! Don't be afraid to be ambitious; Trust me, having clear goals can motivate you to maintain good study habits.
- No need to set goals that are too complicated. Having a goal as simple as “passing the next exam well” can motivate you to study harder. Some other short-term goals include becoming a class champion, being selected to join an acceleration class, or becoming a parallel champion this year.
- Some examples of long-term goals are deciding which university to go to, what major to take in college, and even the career you want to pursue.
Step 4. Learn to deal with failure in a productive way
Having the desire to achieve maximum achievement does not necessarily require you to be a perfectionist. A perfectionist tends to have unrealistic and difficult goals; if that goal is ultimately not achieved, a perfectionist will often punish himself. In addition, they also thirst for the approval of others; As a result, someone who is a perfectionist will be more susceptible to anxiety disorders, depression, and other emotional problems. Know your limits and learn to always get up after a failure.
- Failure is bound to happen at least once in everyone's life. Don't let the situation discourage you! Don't ever think that your life has failed just because you made one mistake.
- Instead, use failure as a space to learn and grow. For example, if you do poorly in math, try reviewing your mistakes and re-learn the concepts; after that, convey the difficulties you face to your teacher. If your essay score is bad, don't be afraid to ask your teacher for criticism and suggestions to help improve the quality of your essay in the future.
- Set high standards but still achievable. Remember, no one in this world is capable of achieving perfection. What's more, always remember that although the benchmark for your academic success is determined by the value of the lesson, what really matters and will have the biggest impact in your future is the material you have successfully studied and the quality of your learning process.
