Q&A for How to Improve Your Grades

First of all, snacks—but the right snacks. Feeding your body can also feed your brain: choose something somewhat healthy (chocolate-covered almonds, for instance) that you also enjoy. Particularly when reading a textbook, it’s easy to drift off—even if your eyes are moving over the words, your brain isn’t necessarily processing it. Stop after each paragraph and ask yourself to summarize it. Don’t let yourself get too far without making sure you’re actually retaining what you’ve read. Finally, find other ways to engage in active (instead of passive) studying. For instance, rather than reading or rereading a chapter, create physical flashcards that cover the material and quiz yourself.

The most important thing is that you are getting enough sleep for your brain and body to recharge fully, or at least as much as it possibly can. You know better than anyone whether you are a morning person or a night owl, so try to set a schedule that best suits your natural rhythm. When deadlines are imminent and you don’t have this luxury, it is typically better to stay up and work late the night before rather than wake up early to get it done right before a test—if there is more work than you anticipated, you have a greater buffer to get everything done (and done well).

Allow yourself a set amount of time to unwind after school, like 30 minutes, and have a snack, relax, check Instagram, etc. Then commit to diving into your homework right away; procrastinating until late at night when you’re exhausted will generally result in lower quality work and mean you are up later (and thus getting less sleep) than you should be. Treat things like watching TV or playing around online as rewards for finishing your work: don’t let yourself do it until you’ve completed all of your assignments.

Try studying for short periods of time and taking breaks in between. Your mind will refresh itself during these breaks and make it easier for you to focus.

Make a timetable to plan how you spend your own day. Lay out time to self-study, with a break, and the rest of the time for other activities.

Calm down -- take a break, but not a long one. Study for one hour, then take a 10 minute break. Go to a piece of paper and write what you remember. Keep on doing that until you remember all of your notes.

This may not always be possible, especially if there is nothing assigned during that week. Be sure to pay attention and participate in class, and do all of your homework. If you have any quizzes or exams, be sure to study for them. Lastly, you can always ask your teacher for extra credit.

Luckily, you don't always need a teacher to help you. Try to get help from a fellow classmate, and older student, or a parent. You can also get a tutor as well.

Study hard and look for more information on the subject. You should also try different ways of learning, because you may be a visual, audio, or tactile leaner.

Watch movies you like in Spanish dubbed with English subtitles or in your native language. Read some reference books. You can also learn to speak five to ten Spanish words, phrase or sentence each day, until you get used to it.

Consider using a voice recorder to record the lectures; be sure to get permission from your professor first. You can also study aloud by yourself, but make sure you do it someplace where you won't be disturbing others.

Actually, you might lean heavily toward visual learning but don't forget that you still benefit from a wide range of study techniques, not just visual. For visual impact, study using imagery, draw diagrams and use mind maps. Use colors to code your notes and highlight main points. There are lots more suggestion in this article, along with some pictures to help you: How to Study As a Visual Learner .

Accept your teachers choice, and learn from your experience. See if you can go and complete past unfinished work. Remember, giving students extra work takes up a teacher's own time and resources.

Ask your teacher if you can do an extra assignment or some extra credit. Don't goof around or talk when the teacher is talking because you'll miss something important. Make sure your brain is sharp and focused. See if you can re-take any tests or quizzes to raise those grades.

Depends on what kind of learner you are. If you learn best through listening, then try going to your grandparents or use audio books and recordings. If you learn better through visuals, look at maps, videos and pictures of the important people and events that happened in the topic. Finally, if you learn by doing, then do exactly that. Act it out. Pretend you are in a certain era and choose your character. Unleash your acting skills!

Make sure you are finishing all the assignments (homework, journals, labs, etc.). Also, make sure you are asking the teacher if you don't understand any of the material. Lastly, I would start studying and going over assignments several days in advance of any test. This will give you plenty of time to absorb the information, and to ask the teacher any questions you might have.

If you're having trouble understanding, talk to your teacher and ask for tutoring sessions or extra practice work. If you're not studying, or you're not studying well, you'll need to really devote yourself to the subject to improve. Read this article on How to Study . Ask your teacher if there are any opportunities for extra credit.

Consider getting a tutor. If you can't afford one, ask a friend who is good at math to help you. You can also look in bookshops for workbooks. There are many math workbooks that can help you practice. Let your parents and your teacher know you need extra help, they may have some other solutions.

Sure, a tutor would be very helpful if you can't get the hang of it on your own. You can pay for a tutor to come to your house and have a more personal environment, or you could find some free tutoring websites or videos to help you with your subject.

Why would you want to do that? If that's what you want, don't participate or do your assignments and you'll fail miserably, but I don't recommend it.

Ask your teacher for help! If you have, and they wouldn't oblige or there is no extra credit available, try getting a tutor or arrange something with the school. Ask your parents, or you could even ask the school yourself. If that is not an option, study more. I know that is an answer everyone gives, but it really is effective. Study for about 50 minutes, and then take a 10-minute break. Turn off phones, computers, or any other distractions. If you are really determined and want to fix your grade, you will have the determination to study and fix your grade.

Ask your teacher what you can do to improve your grades. Also, ask if there are any extra credit projects available.

If you are bad at science, ask a friend for help or watch YouTube videos that explain the topic. Find your learning style and adapt your studying methods to suit the style. If you find it that hard, when you write notes, make it in a extremely simple format so you will understand it later. Always take notes in class so you can review them later at home.

Homework is often related to upcoming quizzes and exams, both of which are usually big portions of your final grade. It gives you more practice so that you are more familiar with the material.

It's a good idea to quickly go over the material the day of the test, but you definitely don't want to wait until the last second to start studying. You won't be prepared.

Try studying someone really dull, like the library, or an empty classroom before or after school, somewhere where there is nothing to distract you. Try wearing earplugs or listening to classical music while studying. If you've tried all of this and nothing works, you might want to talk to the guidance counselor at school or your doctor about a potential diagnosis of ADHD or other learning impairments. Perhaps the curriculum can be changed a bit to suit your needs.

Because the higher you go to your grade, the harder math gets until the end of high school. Do lots of practice, listen closely and take notes so that when you have to do it for a test, review, or quiz, you are ready.

No! An B average is a very good grade. If your parents or guardian thinks it’s a bad grade, then you might need to improve it. Keep up the good work because you will need it for when you get into upper classes.

It depends how much longer in the school year you have left. If it’s a month, then it is going to be hard because you are going to have exams and EOCs. But, always study, give yourself a time just so you can study. Take time on your quizzes and tests. And always ask for help. It’s never a bad thing to ask for help.

See Pay Attention in Class .