Achieve Your Dream Grades

Achieve Your Dream Grades

High school students often experience enormous societal pressure for obtaining good grades. It is because of the central role of exam grades in choice of career direction. This piece of writing provides guidelines to students for planning and taking right actions in pursuit of their dream grades. These packaged guidelines focus on building knowledge, skills and attitude require for the utmost performance in exams.
First section of the article guide student about ways for improving study habit; second section of the article focuses on step by step planning for entire study period; and the last section uncover some important social skills which play crucial role in individual as well as in group studies.

Improve Your Study Habits

1. Setup a study space. It is highly desirable to setup and organize a study space that provide you peaceful study environment and ensures all required resources are in easy access.
2. Know your study destructors and stay away from them e.g. phone calls, social media, online games etc. To know your study destructors simply list down every single activity you perform from morning till you go to bed even if it is very small. Note down how much time you spend for each activity. Now review the list of activities and mark all those engagements which do not contribute in your studies and steal your precious time. This is the time to eliminate or minimize those study destructors and save your time for important tasks.
3. Prepare clarity questions before you attend a class.
4. Take notes of class and organize it well. This habit will help you grasping the concepts while it is fresh in your mind. Proper organization of notes brings ease in study and save precious time.
5. Build your subject vocabulary. Every subject has its specific vocabulary, grip on subject vocabulary give you confidence in writing on your own.
6. For deeper understanding of subject related concepts study variety of resources.
7. Join cooperative study groups. Arrange some challenging study tasks in small groups and follow the social skills mentioned in the last section of this article. Believe that Together Everyone Achieve More (TEAM).
8. Be optimistic and strive for the highest outcome.

Plan Your Study Roadmap

1. Familiarize yourself with exam curriculum.
2. Set your target grade for each subject.
3. Prepare your annual study plan (use backward planning method).
4. Make sure you breakdown your annual plan into small targets.
5. Arrange all your planned tasks in order of their importance; start from the most important and urgent task to the least important at the last.
6. Add few refreshing breaks in a way that they do not divert you from the study goals.
7. Do not wait for school to start the classes.
8. Create a pool of your study resources (online, physical, interaction, with peers and teachers…).
9. Upon completion of each topic solve classified papers and analyze your answers what is needed and what is not by considering marking schemes.
10. Arrange Periodic revision of topics as per your study habits (It should be part of your annual plan).
11. Solve complete past papers starting in the last quarter of your study plan, most importantly before start of your mock exams.
12. Solve the most recent exam paper as the last preparatory activity before actual exam.

Develop Interpersonal Skills

1. Social skills are used to communicate and interact with each other. They develop better relationships, improve communication, provide greater efficiency and increase overall happiness in group members (win-win situation). Following are the most effective study group social skills:
2. Respect group members by acknowledging their contribution towards group achievement.
3. Criticize idea not people. You may disagree with others but show your disagreement in a way that you criticize the idea not the person.
4. Take turn during conversations. Do not jump into the middle of others’ conversation rather wait for your turn. Give chance to other group members to add their point of view.
5. Pay close attention to a person who is communicating, prepare your comments, questions or ideas to respond.
6. Follow classroom/study group rules.
7. Asking for help is a way of acknowledging other group members and it generates bonding among group members.
8. Stay committed while working in group.

GOOD LUCK!