How to Keep up (And Succeed) in School

When a new semester begins, there can be a lot of excitement for the new school term with new courses to take and new teachers to meet. However, there can also be a lot of anxiety as students prepare to face the new material, tests, and exams. With diligence, dedication and “SMART” studying, any student can turn the anxiety they have for a new course into excitement to learn new things. Once a student gets a firm grasp on new material, their grades will grow to reflect their understanding of the material. We suggest the SMART model to studying.

STUDY

In order to keep up in school, a portion of time should be devoted to studying for a few hours each day, after school, with or without assigned homework. This allows students to review new material learnt in class and start to allow gradual absorption of new material. Studies have proven that the Learning Curve depicts a steady decrease in ability to recall information after having learnt it, but more frequent review of the material slows down the “forgetting process” and allows students to grasp the material much easier. As such, spending a small amount of time reviewing material each day is a sure fire way to ensure a higher grade in any course.

MEET (Study Groups)

Most students will agree that even though they generally tend to study on their own, concepts are best solidified when talking it over with fellow classmates or even someone else that is not taking the same class. This process allows the student to demonstrate how much they truly understand about a concept, especially so when the student is able to answer questions posed by their audience. This is a great way for parents to get involved in their child’s learning. As students are able to answer more and more questions asked, their confidence will grow.

ASK QUESTIONS

In class, when a teacher is going over new material, students are often too embarrassed to ask questions aloud. Students should be encouraged to ask as many questions as possible to help them get a good grasp on new material. An alternate option would be to write down questions during the class and meet with the teacher after class. Clarifying questions beforehand always helps tremendously when reviewing the material for a test/exam. The same thing applies when doing homework. If a student is having difficulty with a certain concept, they should make an effort to write down the question and ask the teacher the next day.

RELAX

With all the time that you will now be dedicating to success in school, it can become very tiring, very quickly. This is why it is important to take an appropriate amount of breaks and also to keep doing the things you enjoy. There are a few kinds of breaks that you can take while studying. Short breaks of approximately 15 minutes should be incorporated for every hour of studying to ensure some time for absorption of the material and also to get refreshed before moving into the next hour of studying. Having a snack during this break is strongly encouraged to replenish vital nutrients (which are quickly depleted while studying).  Longer breaks should be used on weekends or holidays where students can take whole days off. This will help to rejuvenate tired minds and allow enjoyment of other activities.

TRY

Studying and dedicating yourself to an education is a full-time commitment. There will be times where you just cannot understand the material no matter how hard you try. There will be times where you are so tired you can barely pick up your pencil. The best way to get over this is to step back, keep calm and do not stress out. Believe it or not, this kind of thing happens to students all the time, and it is important to realize that there is always help available if you need it. Asking your teacher for help outside of class is one option. Another option is to seek out tutoring with someone that already has a lot of experience helping students. A lot of programs offer specialized help for both homework and keeping up with class material (check out our homework help section. The important thing is that you realize how dedicated you are and that you will not let a single question or concept ruin your goals. Keep trying no matter what and you will see that whenever there is a will, there is a way, always with help on your side.

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