You might as well be going down a buttered slide, the way your grade is dropping like a hot potato. Flashcards and cramming until 1 A.M. may work for some, but it’s simply not cutting it for you. Perhaps learning your own way can turn those frowns on your parents’ faces upside down.
Be a hyperactive pony
If you’ve ever been to a petting zoo, you know the simple fact of life: the animals that prance and strut grab your attention. Face it, you love feeding that energetic little lamb, or the loud, hyperactive pony. You don’t look at the quiet one sulking in the corner of the zoo. And if you want to raise your grade, it’simperative that you get your teachers’ attention. Say “Hi!” to your teachers, compliment their choice of clothing no matter how 1970’s it looks, be the Hermione Granger in the front of the classroom who answers every question. Don’t sulk in the corner of the classroom. No one will ever feed you.
Talk about school
A great way to stay focused is to discuss what you did in class that day with someone. For example, “In math, I learned the quadratic formula. In chemistry, I learned about polyatomic ions.” This is a simple habit, but just five minutes a day can keep you on task. And it doesn’t matter who you talk to. Five minutes with a teddy bear are just as effective, though not as sane, as five with a parent.
Think of it this way: your class today and your class tomorrow are separated by 23 hours. That’s 23 hours you’re spending loading your brain with junk like who won the game last night or who got voted off “The Voice.” Plenty of students swear they can remember the names of “The Voice” contestants or the starting five of the Lakers better than they can the quadratic formula or the polyatomic ions. Reviewing your day is a way of reminding your brain what you need to remember, and what you don’t.
Use memory tricks
Your teachers would have you believe that flash cards, textbook reading and note taking will do you good. It’s true, most of the time. For those times you just can’t remember something, use memory tricks.
First, try mnemonics. Just like how you memorized the planets with My Very Educated Mother Just Made Us Noodles, you can cram anything if you put a verse to it. Yes, even the polyatomic ions have a mnemonic: Nick the Manly Camel ate a Clam Supper in Creepy Phoenix. I googled that.
Another alternative is associative learning, when you correlate stimuli you receive, in this case,
facts. For example, you could associate the date for the Battle of Saratoga, 1777, with the slot machine spin, 777, and the fact that it was a lucky day for the Americans, the turning point of the war. Associate your facts, and you’ll create a connection that will help you immensely on tests.
Grades are so important to students nowadays. We often resort to backbreaking textbookreading and flash card boxes. But this year, let a pinch of practical tips, reasonable solutions and Nick the Manly Camel guide you to success.