Q&A for How to Do Well in School

If you still feel exhausted even with good sleep and proper nutrition, talk to your doctor. There may be a physical reason you feel this way, like a sleep disorder or a vitamin deficiency. Your doctor can also give you suggestions for boosting your energy and staying focused.

Try making a list of things you already enjoy about school. For example, you might realize that you really enjoy music or PE. If something is less enjoyable for you, make it into a fun challenge for yourself. For example, you could set some small study goals and then reward yourself with a small treat each time you meet one of your goals.

While procrastinating isn't usually a good idea, some people work well under pressure. It's possible that the stress of a looming deadline is helping you focus while you study for your big assignments.

Make sure you're getting enough sleep and eating well during the day so that you can stay alert in class. If it's allowed, try keeping water and a few healthy snacks with you to perk you up during class. Taking notes will also help keep you engaged. If you have a really hard time focusing, try doodling or fidgeting with a stress ball or fidget spinner while you listen to your teacher.

Try scheduling a specific time to study for your exams each day. Prioritize the different subjects so you can focus on studying the subjects you feel least confident about. During your designated study time, put away your phone and other distractions, or use an app or browser extension to block time-wasting apps and websites. Find a quiet place where you can study without interruptions. You may also find it helpful to study with a hard-working partner who won't goof around and distract you.

Do your best to get a good night’s sleep the night before so that you wake up well-rested. Eat a good breakfast so you feel good and have energy for the day. Make sure you get to school on time, since arriving late can throw off your whole routine. If you get frustrated, anxious, or upset during the school day, take a moment to take a few deep breaths to calm yourself before you continue with whatever you’re doing.

If you're not sure why you have a failing grade or if you feel like there's an inconsistency between your grades and your report card, set up a meeting with your teacher to talk about it. They may be able to explain more clearly how they calculated your grades, or it might turn out that there is an error in your report card.

In addition to studying hard and taking good notes, it’s also a good idea to ask your teachers for feedback and advice. When they correct your homework, tests, or papers, look at their feedback carefully so you can understand any mistakes you made and figure out how to correct them going forward. Take advantage of any help your teacher can offer, such as practice tests or quizzes, extra credit work, or going over the material one-on-one. Some students also benefit from working with a tutor.

It sounds like you should keep doing what you're doing! Maintaining good study, participation, and attendance habits will help you continue to do well.

If you find yourself getting upset, stop and take a few deep breaths to calm yourself. Remind yourself that mistakes are an important part of the learning process. Stop and think about why you got it wrong, then plan to use that knowledge to help you avoid making the same mistake again.

Consider moving to a quiet room or place for your studies. Try to keep noise to a minimum and only listen to music if you find it relaxing. Put away electronics and don't answer texts, messages or emails until you've completed the studies. Work hard but at a pace that suits you personally. Don't dwell on past failures; instead, use them as good experiences to learn from, so that you know how to better focus and study in the future.

Study until you have memorised all of the information. However, don't study for too long, as you'll only lose concentration and focus, and won't be able to retain the information. Don't stay up all night!

Quizlet is a really fun and helpful app that can be used for just about any subject. You can use it to make flashcards, memory games and tests. As for maths, khanacademy.org is a pretty cool website that has videos for so many different topics in maths, from algebra, to geometry, to probability and statistics. Duolingo is an amazing website (and app!) to help you learn French. All of these apps and websites listed are all free to download and join.

Motivate yourself. Tell yourself that if you study you will achieve your goals: get accepted into a good college course, have a successful career, etc. Realise how important studying is to get A grades, and do well in exams. Decorate your study space with inspirational quotes, and make sure that you have a neat and tidy desk to study from.

Try to have breaks every hour and switch your phone, tablet and computer off unless you need to use it for your homework. If you do need it for your homework, then install an app that blocks social media and irrelevant apps that you don't need. When you have studied for a certain amount of time, reward yourself with your phone or going on apps and games for a short break.

If you are struggling in a subject and you have a bad teacher, consider getting extra help in that subject outside of school, with help from a good tutor. There are also plenty of study notes online to help with a subject, as well as revision books that you can buy to help.

Ask the teacher if you could sit at the front and stay active during class. Ask questions, participate and listen attentively when other classmates talk. Avoid resting your head on your desk and sit straight. Avoid distracting noises like classmates talking or pen clicking and focus on your teacher.

Most people forget easily, discarding all inessential information and making way for new learning. Forgetting easily isn't all bad because your brain is removing unnecessary information. If you need to remember more, there are plenty of memory retention articles available on wikiHow.

Scold them nicely and in a funny way, to get them to notice that the work needs doing while you're all still having a good time doing it. Say something like: "Okay guys, we've had a bit of fun, now we'd better get some of this done because there's no way I'm taking this home as extra homework. C'mon, put your thinking caps on and your shoosh-o-meter on full."

Try to get motivated to atfend school. Find something you like in school, whether it's a certain class, extracurricular activity, or a friend you like hanging out with, and stick with it. You'll find school to be a lot more fun and entertaining.

Sometimes this happens. In this case, it's better to be friends with everyone around you, even if they don't have a good reputation or are very quiet. If your friend lets you down, you can have other friends to be with. Remember to be very kind and not hurt them in any way. If no one seems to like you in class, take it slowly. Do kind deeds with other mates in class and broaden your circle of friends, allowing you to gradually shift allegiances.

You can ask the teacher you will have next year about the next year's schedule and the books.

No, not all night. You need your sleep to be in a good position to concentrate the next day. However, if you like studying at night and you are able to sleep in, you might be able to get away with a later than usual night. However, the preferable option is to study until your usual bedtime, sleep properly and get up early to finish the studying. If you study all night, you risk falling sick and if this is exam time, you can't afford to be sick.

It enables you to discuss about several topics, and discussing things rather than just reading them is more effective and it really keeps that information in your knowledge. Also, studying with friends can help you be more motivated into continuing to study (that depends on that friend too, if you think he/she is a distraction, then dont study with them, that's a red light).

Ask to see if you can arrange to move to a different class. Explain to your friends that you didn't think the teacher was very good, or that you weren't learning anything new, etc. You'll still be able to meet up and chat with your friends at lunch and at break times, but they will no longer be distracting you in class.

If you commit yourself to focusing hard-core on your studies, you won't have time for mischief. Of course, being choosy about who you hang around with at school is important.

Set a regular sleep schedule and stick to it. If you find yourself staying up too late, think about the reasons why. If you are on social media, for example, stop using your phone at a certain time each night so you can get more sleep.

Well, if the teacher is nice enough, perhaps you could ask him to give you extra lessons, or to highlight what you need to study more. If the class goes over a recent test, take notes on what the corrections to your mistakes are, and go over them when you get home. If there's anything you don't really understand, the textbook usually is able to explain it, or ask for help.

Join some stuff outside of school. Check for clubs at your local library or church. You could also volunteer, maybe at a nursing home, animal shelter, or soup kitchen, or take voice lessons or learn an instrument.

You could study over the phone or use a webcam service like Skype to study via video stream.