It is time that a charter high school shares five study habits that will improve your grades from elementary school to college and beyond. Frankly, these are common simple habits that when put to practical use will make a big difference in your grades. Many of these habits will depend solely upon the individual looking to implement them and like many things will take discipline and practice. You can use these à la carte or all together to gain even more benefit from the five study habits that will improve your grades including:
• Common Study Place
AVOID your bed or the kitchen table as a common study place. These are places that you sleep and eat respectively. Don’t be surprised if you sit on your bed and try studying and your brain shuts down thinking it’s time for bed or if you sit at the kitchen table and your brain thinks it’s time to eat. Don’t play games with your brain, find a quiet place with a desk and chair and study there. Make this your designated study spot.
• Routine
There is an old saying “a routine will set you free.” Here are a couple of routines to consider before and after studying: Routine 1: take a nap (10 – 15 min), exercise (20 – 30 min), grab a healthy snack and a glass of water, go to your study place (60 – 90 min); Routine 2: watch some TV/internet/video game (20 – 30 min), exercise (20 – 30 min), grab a healthy snack and glass of water, go to your study place (60 – 90 min). Remember this is your routine, but it is always a good thing to exercise to get your blood flowing before you sit and study. Do this routine before you study and make it a habit.
• Chunk your Studying
cramming for an exam or writing a paper last minute is not best practice and it is done more often than not. Over the years, I have seen many people do reports, write papers, submit assignments all on the “11th hour” and we would consider those individual’s procrastinators. Interestingly enough, some individuals inherently procrastinate and do things last minute and fail and I repeat again, this is not best practice; whereas others, always seem to pull out a good if not an excellent grade on their “11th-hour” project. The ones that pull out a good grade are not necessarily procrastinating, they are using the time before the project to chunk their studying and they are actually processing information and putting together a plan (sometimes in their head) before finalizing the project. Many of us do not have that unique ability and need to take a more conscience effort to chunk up study times and planning to the degree that you should be using a 7 days – 5 days – 3 days chunking to finish a project or prepare for an exam at least three days prior to the deadline leaving you with time to review, edit, and make any necessary changes.
• Pre Read for Questions
Use a pre-read habit to skim through the material before class for a general understanding. The majority of students never do any pre-reading before class and go to class looking to be fed the information by the instructor. Pre-reading will pay big dividends. It will make the class more interesting and allow you to prepare and ask questions to assume a more active role in class.
• Sleep
Students can only expect to be their best when they are prepared and well-rested. It is highly suggested that students get into the habit of going to bed and waking up at a certain time EVERY night. Getting more sleep (8 – 10 hours) when you are younger is essential and as you grow older you look to hit a sweet spot of getting 6 – 9 hours of sleep.
Students that are disciplined to be their best and implement the study habits above will see large gains in their understanding and overall grades. The five study habits that will improve your grades are meant to be simple and practical to use for any student at any grade level.