(ThyBlackMan.com) All of us are students in life and we will be for the rest of our lives. We are always learning (or we should be). We are always making mistakes, the necessary ones and the avoidable one. But today our academic system in this country is far below what it should be. There is no simple single solution because the problem is complex, containing many culprits, catalysts and variables. When President Bush started the “No Child Left Behind” program, America was 3rd in the world in literacy, but years later we have dropped dozens of spaces and countries like Cuba have a higher literacy rate. Our children grow more unmotivated while our underpaid teachers grow more frustrated. Parental participation is lacking and our school counselors do not counsel students much anymore.
Maybe it’s that we have too much in this country yet focus on the wrong things because we have so many distractions. Maybe it’s that many of the wrong messages pervade our society. What does it say to a young student when Kim KarTrashian or Trikki Mirage can make 20 million dollars, Lebron can make the same for playing basketball and yet our teachers and police officers have to work extra jobs just to make ends meet? We are too infatuated with entertainment in this country and the proof is that people will pay top dollar for it. This country’s educational system seems to be flowing right along with this country’s value system – and taking our students with it right over the cliff into an abyss of academic chaos. But for the students who want to succeed, here are 12 helpful tips that will help you do just that. Use them, share them with friends, on Facebook and in PTSA meetings.
1. Use Effective Study Habits: This means get in a place that is quiet. Turn off the TV. Make sure you have bright light. Pace yourself (see #6 below). Take a 5 or 10 minute break after each hour of study. Cramming is not good because you will feel your brain is overloaded and you may not remember as much as you need to.
2. Take Good Notes: If another person could not take your notes and use them to pass a test, you are not taking good notes. Your notes need to be clear and organized. You will have to put notes in categories with all related things together. You may even have to ask the teacher to repeat things that you did not get to write down. If you cannot do this in class, do it after class, but do it.
3. Get And Stay Organized: You need to have notebooks, folders and dividers properly labeled to separate each class. You need a calendar where you write down any project due dates. You need to also make notes on the calendar about missing assignments and when makeup assignments or extra credit is due. Remember having everything is no good if you cannot find it when you need to.
4. Ask Questions: The only dumb question is the question that is not asked. But when you ask questions, get to the point fast because the teacher has a room full of students. If the teacher will not allow you to ask questions, you should bring this to your parent’s attention right away.
5. Keep Your Parents In The Loop: Parents can help but we are not super heroes. We must know you are running into problems BEFORE everything comes crashing down. This is especially true if you are having problems with a particular teacher. As parents, we can approach them in a way that you cannot. Just make sure you are accurate in what you say and that your concerns are legitimate. In other words, don’t use the teacher as an excuse for what you should be doing.
6. Practice Good Time Management: Whenever you have an assignment, a project, homework or a test to complete, you must pace yourself. This means you have to look at how long you have to complete the task. If it’s up to you, then you must set a start time and a cutoff time, pacing yourself accordingly. Procrastination is not your friend and you cannot afford to work at a casual pace. If half the time is gone, you must have completed half the task, and so on.
7. Study With A Group: To be honest, some subjects are just boring. But if you can study with a group of serious students, it will help you with motivation. Study groups also help to challenge each other to keep up and bring forth many viewpoints or suggestions you may not have even thought of.
8. Study All Along: Studying is like sleep in that you cannot usually make it up by putting in twice as much the next time around. You must study the material daily and begin reviewing for a test BEFORE the official review the teacher may provide. You should be counting on you, your notes and your consistent studying as much if not more than you are counting on the teacher’s review before the test.
9. Ask For Help: If you need extra help, makeup work or extra credit, ask for it. Never be afraid or embarrassed to ask a parent, teacher or sibling for extra. Most good parents and dedicated teachers will step up to help you once they realize you are trying to help yourself. But YOU have to open your mouth and ask. These are your grades and they are one indicator of how you may do in life. So you have to step up, not wait on mom, dad or the teacher. We can help but it’s mostly up to YOU. Even if you need tutoring, ask for it. The smartest people in the world needed help at sometime in their lives and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just remember, ask for help as soon as you see you need it – not after you have allowed the hole to get deeper and deeper with your grades.
10. Look For, Create and Use Strategies That Work: If you can use Facebook and a cell phone, you can also use Google and search for effective study habits, memorization techniques, concentration techniques, test-taking strategies and ways to remember large amounts of information. Like Nike says, Just Do It. Your future is in no human hands but yours so act like you know. Take initiative to solve your own problems and stop waiting for mom, dad or the teacher to do it. Again, we can help, but it’s mostly up to YOU. But don’t worry, if you apply yourself and the tips you see here, you can do it.
11. Know How You Learn: Some people are visual learners while others are hands-on learners (kinesthetic). And yet others learn by hearing the instructions (auditory). These are just a few ways people learn but you must know how you learn and process information. Once you know, you should use the method that works for you as often as possible. The method that works for you will help you retain (remember) more, work faster and produce better results.
12. Sit Up Front In Class: You will probably notice that many of the students who make the best grades often sit up front. That is not coincidence. They have learned to focus on even the most boring subjects and you can too. Likewise, just like on the back of the bus, those who sit near the back tend not to perform as well. Sometimes this is not true but most of the time it is. So move to the front. sit up, pay attention and be an active listener. It may be difficult in some subjects, but the more you make yourself do it, the easier and more natural it will become.
Staff Writer; Marque-Anthony
