Have you tried just about everything trying to be that top student your mum always wanted? You might feel like there is no hope for you- but alas, look where you ended up. Here are some tips that will teach you how to get straight A’s in high school and help you on your journey to becoming the favourite chid:
Actually read your syllabus
That big booklet of paper that all the teachers swear is important but nobody cares about. Yes, that one. The students that pay attention to it know what your teachers will assess you on and what will be in your exams. It acts as a guiding beacon throughout the year. If you don’t know what you’re being assessed on, how will you do well? Your peers don’t read the syllabus?- good. This means that you will be better prepared for tests and exams, meaning it will be easier for YOU to get top marks!
All students are different, so naturally there are many different ways to read and make use of your syllabus, two are outlined below:
Cut out all of your syllabus points individually and glue them at the top of lined paper- one on each page. These pages will become your class notes. For example, if there are 50 syllabus points, you’ll have 50 pages of notes- one for each syllabus point. By doing this you are ensuring that you cover all of the content and don’t get side tracked when making notes!
Highlight each syllabus point as you cover it. When you’ve covered and made notes on one syllabus point, highlight it. Keep going until all of your syllabus points are highlighted! By doing this, you’ll make sure that you don’t accidentally skip one out.
Make (good) notes from the start
Many students don’t make notes throughout the term. They make them right before exams and think that they “learn while making the notes so it counts as studying”. IT DOES NOT COUNT AS STUDYING. Make your notes from day 1 and make sure not to fall behind. Yes, it may seem like more work now, but you will be saving A LOT of time later on! You should have completed your notes before you start your exam preparation routine about three weeks before your exams. Also make sure that you’re making quality notes, otherwise you may be wasting a lot of time!
Make sure your notes are concise and to the point, and make sure you’re sticking to the syllabus! The last thing you want is to be spending unnecessary time making notes you’ll never use! Lifehacker explains how to perfect your notes in an easy to understand way if you need any help with that!
Know your learning style
Knowing your learning style will make your life 100x less stressful and more efficient. You’ll find that many students that know how to get straight A’s in high school also know their learning style. After you figure out how you learn, you will find it easier to study and it might even take up less of your time. Sometimes, even knowing how you don’t learn can make learning easier! For example, I know that I’m not an auditory learner, so I focus more on reading my textbook than listening in class. That may sound bad, but because I know that I’m not an auditory learner, I know that reading the textbook will help me much more than listening in class.
I made this little infographic to help you guys understand the different learning styles!
Know how to prioritise and organise
Knowing how to prioritise and organise is a massive advantage. If you put a little more effort into planning when you will do your work, you will notice a lot more time opening up for you to do things you actually enjoy. Students that know how to get straight A’s in high school know how to organise themselves and in turn, will not forget about that essay or research assignment. In high school I was very good at organising myself and as a result had time to go out almost every weekend (if not during the week as well), spend time with my family and maintain a good relationship with my boyfriend all the while being a top student in practically all of my classes. That’s not to say I didn’t also work hard!
If you need some guidance organising your study, these free printable study planners I found will definitely help you out! And If you’re unsure how to prioritise your tasks, start by writing them all out from most important to least important, and do them in that order. Khan Academy has some great tips on how to manage your study time that would be perfect if you’re still a bit lost with the whole organising your study time thing!
Good luck! I hope that now you know a bit more about how to get straight A’s in high school!