9 Valuable Tips on How to Get Good Grades

We can all agree that grades are very important in all life stages. It may be the key to getting into your target college, the key to a good job, and the key to showing your credibility. And that is why we work so hard to make our lives better by getting good grades.

However, the road to getting good grades is never easy. You may have suffered from being unable to focus on your studies, having no idea where to begin, or lack of motivation when trying to improve your grades.

So, if you are struggling with how to get better grades, take a close look at these tips:

Some teachers like to grade their students on participation to encourage students to have some interactions in class. The more you stand out, the higher chance you can leave a good impression on the teacher. 

Ask & answer questions.

If you encounter some difficulties understanding the topic in class, don’t be shy to raise your hand to ask questions. You can also answer some of the teacher’s questions to stand out in class. Some teachers give performance points too when grading a student.

Take notes.

Actively participating in the class does not mean you have to constantly ask and answer questions. You write notes to help remember the in-class information, this also shows the teacher that you are taking the class seriously. 

Furthermore, teachers often explain in a way that textbooks don’t. Your note can be a lifesaver when looking back before exams.

Pay attention.

Learning from teachers is a process of receiving information. Therefore it is important to pay attention to the teacher and not wander off or fall asleep during class. Remember, teachers always know which and which student is paying attention to their classes.

As a student, you might be struggling to focus on a subject when there are too many materials that need your attention. However, a weekly study plan can be very helpful in managing your time to focus on each subject. You can create a study plan according to each subject’s needs.

Here are three tips on how to get good grades by making a study plan:

Use a planner.

One efficient way to make a study plan is to use a planner because it has the date and time schedules printed in it so that you can fill in the things that you want to do immediately. As long as you follow it strictly, you will never forget to do things at the right time.

Note down homework, assignments, deadlines, and exam schedules.

Trying to get good grades means you will need to put a lot of information in your memory, and we often forget things when there are so many that we need to remember. Noting down these tasks, assignments, deadlines, and schedule avoid you from missing them after getting back from school.

Create a studying schedule.

If the exam is right around the corner, you should create a studying schedule and distribute your time wisely to cover all materials according to their needs. You can choose to spend less time on subjects that you are strong at and spend more time on those that you are unfamiliar with.

Students like to ask “how to get good grades”, but they often miss out on the importance of taking good notes.

In-class notes are very important as it is something that you can look back on and recall when studying for upcoming quizzes or examinations. Taking notes does not necessarily mean copying everything that the teacher mentioned. It is a step in that you write down the information in a way that you understand.

Keep neat handwriting.

Although the notes should be personalized, you should still keep neat handwriting so that you can easily read them. You wouldn’t want to look back at a messy note and spend time trying to figure out the listed key points.

Use shorthand when you need to write quickly.

Taking notes while the teacher is teaching might be stressful if you could not keep up with the pace. Therefore, try using shorthand when you need to write quickly. Moreover, it helps improve your active listening skills and summarizing skills. 

Write only important information.

As mentioned above, don’t copy everything but only the important information. Your note should be simple and understandable to improve your before examination studies.

Also, you would not want to spend a lot of time taking notes but realize you copied everything in the textbook.

If you hit a wall while studying and could not get past it, you should reach out for help. You might get some great tips from teachers and friends about how to get good grades. You can also understand better when teachers or friends explain the information one-on-one.

Ask your teacher.

Teachers are always happy to answer when their students have questions. However, they don’t like students asking non-course-related questions or repeating the whole class as it takes up time and effort. It is suggested to walk up to the teacher and ask for help with specific questions after the class ends. 

Ask your friends/classmates.

Since not all of us feel comfortable asking teachers for help, asking peers can be a good option. This is because your peers might explain it in a more simple way that you can understand.

Asking peers for help is beneficial but you should remember to always be humble when asking for help to show that you are willing to learn from them.

Join a study group.

A study group is a group of pupils who often get together after class to help each other on the subjects that they need help with. 

If you have a group of friends to form a study group, you may actively motivate and encourage each other. Combining ideas and knowledge can be very helpful in understanding the classes. However, you need to avoid turning the study group into a social event that creates more distractions and wastes more time.

You might never think of this as a way to improve your grades, but do you know how many students do not complete their homework and finish it last minute by copying someone else’s? 

Homework is a very useful tool for you to practice and get familiar with the subject. It is also a way to help you start learning on your own when you face problem-solving questions. Hence, you should take more time to work on them. 

Also, it is a student’s responsibility to hand in the homework on time. With well-done and hand-on-timed homework, this assures you a good impression from the teacher while also benefiting you with improving grades.

Getting good grades is not like making instant noodles. It takes a lot of time to get a better product, which means you need to stay motivated most of the time.

Here are some tips for you to motivate yourself on how to get good grades:

Determine a final goal.

Firstly, you need to be clear and know what your target is. It can be getting good grades or getting into a preferred college. Having a final goal will help motivate your study intentions because you will remember that you have something to accomplish. 

Set milestones.

After having a final goal, now it’s time to break them down into little goals. Setting milestones makes your final goal seem easier to accomplish because you are completing task by task. It also gives you satisfaction after completing them.

Reward yourself when reaching a milestone.

Now that you have set some milestones, you should also think of how to reward yourself after completing them. A little reward is always very helpful in motivating you to work harder to accomplish the next milestone.

One more tip on how to have better grades is to study in a better environment. You should not ignore the importance of a study environment because studying in a messy place can cause more distractions and discomfort.

Clear up clutter in your surroundings.

Maintaining good hygiene is always a good practice and you should bring this habit to your study place. Keeping your surroundings clean and tidy can help make your study effective too. You will not encounter issues like being unable to find things.

Avoid distractions.

Distractions can be anything aside from your studies. It is very often that we could not focus on our studies and procrastinate because there are too many distractions. To get a good study, you should filter all these out.

Be in a quiet room or play calm music.

Being in a quiet place can reduce distractions from noises and other people’s attendance. If you like to be in a quiet place but do not hope to be in complete silence, you should consider playing calming music. It helps relieve the stress and anxiety from the hard load of study too. 

Turn off phone notifications or stay away from your phone.

Since we’ve mentioned notifications from your mobile gadgets, you should have the idea that your phone is very distracting because you might randomly get text messages from anyone. Hence, putting it away or turning it off is a big step in reducing distractions.

Studying is a long run, which means spending a few hours studying every day is better than cramming. And since you will be studying all the time, it is necessary to include some breaks. It can be 15-20 minutes after an hour of study or even a shorter break as long as you can get your mind off from the studies for a while.

Taking breaks is very important because it gives your brain some time to relax and freshen up to be ready to take in more information. You do not want to strain yourself too much and make studying stressful.

You can walk around the house, get a snack or drink, or look at something else and make sure that you are relaxing.

When being asked about “how to get good grades”, students who have the habit of pulling an all-nighter might tell you to memorize and soak up all the information from the textbooks. However, this is not a good way of learning because you will soon forget them right after the examinations.

On the other hand, you should try taking some time to really understand the subject and matter. It is a good way to put that knowledge into your long-term memory and use them whenever needed. 

Also, as time moves on, you will be learning more knowledge cumulatively. You will be having a hard time learning new knowledge when you don’t have the basics of previously learned knowledge.

— Originally written by Ryan Goh —