Will my plan to raise my grades work?

Question

I'm going to be a freshman this up-comming year and have always struggeled with school. I have a hard time even getting C's. My plan for this up-comming year its to take notes every day in every class and to prepare for a test to make flash cards out of index cards. What other ways can I help myself and do you think my plan will work? (Do not say get a tutor because my school doesnt offer a tutor program and I live in a small town where almost everyone lives on a farm and has no time to tutor me anyway)

Answer 1

yah ur plan should work. but its all pointless unless you understand what is going on. my suggestion is to (likeyou said u were going to do) take notes but dont just take them for the sake of being organized. read them over before you go to bed. or before ur next class.. that way you know what u wrote..also if u took the notes and u have no idea what is going on. stay back after class and ask ur teacher about it. or go at lunch. (its better to pass ur classesthen to hang out with your friends 24/7<<believe me ur realy friends wont call u a browner)

if u want to make flash cards. that doenst seem like a terrible idea. what you should do as well is make a little test of your own..(this is after ur done with ur flash cards and u think u have everything packed down) and see how you do on those. i woud also just talk to your teachers and let them help u make notes.

i like ur idea of wanting to get on top of things. u'll do well trust me :) just believe that u can do it. =D

good luck xox

Answer 2

So in most classes, tests and quizzes determine the majority of your grade. What you need to do is be prepared for these. That doesn't mean you just read the chapter and say "oh yeah, I know that...and that...and that..." You need to ask yourself real questions, and come up with your own examples for concept questions. As you go along in high school, the questions teachers ask are not going to be a simple regurgitation of what you read in the book. They require critical thinking, so if  you truly understand a concept, you will be able to answer them and do well on tests and quizzes. Make up study questions and answer them out loud instead of in your head. For example, if the question is asked "What are 5 food groups and their functions?" you should be able to answer that outloud without looking in the book or just thinking "oh whatever I know that already". Also, for this same question, you might want to dig down deeper to prepare yourself by making a list of foods in each food group. You have to understand concepts, rather than just memorization of facts.

Answer 3

i really respect your plans to raise your grades!

but remember, all the plans in the world won't

be effective unless you follow them.

don't make yourself TOO busy or you'll feel

overloaded and stressed, which will lead to

procrastination.

take this:

http://www.ldpride.net/learning-style-te...

once you know what your learning style is,

you'll be able to find the methods by which you

study best. for example, if you're visual (like me),

you'll retain most by reading chapters or writing

out the information over and over. if you're auditory,

you can record yourself saying facts, theories, conjugations,

etc until you know them.

i always tell my parents that i HAVE to study

with music, but it's such a distraction that they

started making me go somewhere quiet away from

anything distracting. i've found it's a lot easy to focus

that way, surprisingly. classical is a good idea, i think

i'll try that!

if you're as committed as you're planning, berkeley will

be BEGGING you to go there. best of luck!

Answer 4

I've been a teacher for 22 years, and by your question, I can see that you're not really a poor student.  You English is very good for your grade level.  You didn't misspell too many words.  Your sentence structure is good.  You use 'chatEnglish', which many of us have adopted, so that's not a mark against you here.  From what I can see, you are trying to find ways to avoid doing your homework.  Your ideas of the notes and flashcards will work really well, but you have to compromise with yourself to put in a little more effort to keep the grades up.  Many teachers say that if you do all your homework and classwork, you'll at least pass.  If you study for tests, your grades will improve.  Do you have a friend who will study with you at lunch or after school?  Like I said, use your extra-curricular activities as rewards for doing your school work, which should be your first obligation.  If you are involved in school sponsored activities, you must keep a certain grade for eligibility anyway.  Always try to do better.  Does your school have a Learning Lab or Computer Lab?  I also live in a small town where our Jr. High has only 500 kinds, and we have tutoring at lunch.  Maybe you can help set one up.  You need to start thinking of ways to make your resume look good for college if that's your plan.  Also, many schools have a Senior Project that you must do or you don't meet your graduation requirements.  Well, hope this helped a little bit!

I just read that you really, really, really want to go to U.C. Berkeley.................Well, it's not an easy place to get into, and if you want to compete with the other straight A students, you need to turn your desire into driving force instead!  For a university like that, they only want to take the best.  You need to turn yourself into the best, but you have to make the choices to be the best!!!  

Answer 5

Show up to every class

Pay attention in every class, even if it means sitting away from your friends, they could be a distraction

Turn in all work, even if it is late, most teachers will still give you credit

Don't be afraid to talk to your teachers for help, they could tutor you if you need a lot of help.  

Answer 6

Those sound like good ideas.  

Something you should keep in mind is that stress can make it difficult for you to concentrate, because cortisol levels get elevated, and that makes concentrating difficult.  Try to find ways to manage stress.

You could also keep in mind that there are often people online, on sites like this or others, who would be happy to give you any "tutoring" help they can.   When your classes start covering something new, if you don't quite get the material first ask the teacher for extra help, and if that isn't enough, ask people online.

Somebody (I'm assuming a student) made a request on how to be a good student online, and I wrote the following answers:

http://hubpages.com/hub/i-wish-you-would...

Answer 7

can your teachers offer some after-school help?

Answer 8

Great ideas! so make the flashcards, and ask your parents to help you study. The trick is to make a good study spot, you should have good lighting, all your school supplies, and a computor so you can do reaserch. Take good notes, and if the teacher repeats something circle it because it will most likely show up on a test. make a schedual for the week and set time to study, always stay organized and follow your study schedual. Think up fun and creative ways to learn the material. copy your notes onto another sheet of paper it will help your brain retain information, and you can always do the good old, "record your notes onto a CD and play it while you sleep. read ALL The reading you have to read, and in the math textbook, always do the little example problems they offer. If you are good at cheerleading, make p cheers and routines to help you study, like 2 4 6 8 four plus four = eight! or samething like that lol. repeat things over and over again in your head while you are doing your chores. While sweeping you can recite a squared plus b squared = c squared, or whatever, and do a different thing for each chore, that way you will have it memorized. I hope this helps and I hope you acheive your academic goals!

Answer 9

Yeah, this looks like it will work.

If you feel you don't understand something well enough though talk to your teacher to see if you can stay after school for a little while for extra help.  

Answer 10

i had the same problem as you except i did poorly in 7th grade and turned it around in 8th then did very well in freshman year, ( im going into sophomore year now). The idea is to take good notes in class, sit near the front and give the teacher your undivided attention during those X minutes of class time, you can socialize with friends after class but during class you need to take good notes,  (bring paper and pencils Not pens) and try to answer questions taht the teacher is asking the class. IF you dont get something feel free to ask questions even if you feel stupid doing so , imagine how stupid you will feel when you get a test back and you see a big red F as oppose to just asking the teacher a question now and understnading what you must do.

also join a sports team i play two sports , in the fall and in the spring and just do weight room in the winter, but colleges like to see variety, so also do some art stuff , therefore you can nail everything!!!!

make sure to do your homework right when you get home like after you take a shower and eat dinner, start your homework immediately after that, and go to bed at a resonable time, close off AIM or facebook and things like that while you do your work.

When you get assigned a paper or project start it early and check in with the teacher when you have finished most of it (before the due date). that way you have time to make corrections.

use your free time in study hall to do homework ,bring you ipod and sit in the library and just do your work in that time. Dont compromise lunch for study time though that is a big No. then in the times during lunch, or between classes or at the end of teh day you can socialize with friends and stuff ...

remember if there is a will there is a way.  i went from being a C student to a Straight A student  ( i took 6 classes got A's in 5 of them and a B+ in the other).  

IF i could do this , you should definitely be able to suceed!!!

also note bible study should be secondary, i pray every night and go to church every sunday but i dont take bible study class  after school.    You may want to leave yoga for the weekend? and jus stick to cheerleading and dance cuz otherwise you may be overwhelmed.

I really hope this helps and sorry for going on and on with my answer but i wanted to get all the details in

i know you can do this !!! you will do great

best answer?

Answer 11

Yes, take notes and be sure to revise them when you get home, in the same day or in the next, so that you still remember what the teacher said, and most of the theory; it helps a lot to do it quickly, because sometimes I go back to my notes and I don't understand half of them anymore, since they made sense along with the topic but not by themselves on a piece of paper. You can then organise them, maybe re-write them with more detail using your book, complete so that it makes total sense (sometimes it's more helpful to have more detail to link a text than to have topic sentences that you can memorize but don't allow you to understand it), make your own summary texts to help you study easily when you have exams, perhaps.

You've struggled with school.. Ok, but then do you feel like you did your best to have good marks? Did you study with some determination? If you studied hard and still had a hard time, try different studying methods. Some people like studying with music on, others get distracted. Some will like to write about the theory, others to read it a lot of times, others to pretend like you're explaining it to someone (sounds silly but it works for me in History and Geography, for example). If you had that idea of the flash cards, try it. If it doesn't work the way you'd like, try something different next time. You'll eventually find a good method for you.

Even if it doesn't show results in the first months, don't give up. I bet you'll raise those grades and end the year happier with them. Find what works the best for you, and once you found it, work on it to get it more suitable.

Answer 12

ok i'm just like you, and recently i took a study skills class where i learned a lot, so i'll share some tips with you.

-make sure to do hw in a place where there are NO distractions, so you can do it right the first time and have better focus

-start long term projects the day they are assigned, at least a little bit of work, that way you can gradually make progress and won't be overwhelmed in the end. and you can make it the best it can be.

- review your notes every night, so you memory of what you learned that day is fresh, and you'll be better prepared the next day

-do all your hw, don't skip any, and try and turn it in on time, if your having trouble understanding it, etc ask help from teachers and ask for an extension

-study for test at least 3 days before the test date

-make a schedule, draw out a plan for your day and week, so you know whats coming up and can properly take care of it

-set goals for yourself

i think thats pretty much it, so good luck, and i hope you do well =)