Most colleges consider your grade point average (GPA) when deciding whom to accept & whom to deny admissions to college. Your grades definitely matter for the academic scholarships that colleges award to students. If your grades are not the best, you will have to be more flexible about the type of college you are willing to attend and you may have to be prepared to pay your way through college or apply for financial aid.

1. You can sometimes avoid bad grades by simply communicating with your teacher. To get good grades, you need to know what assignments you’re expected to complete and exactly how & when you’re expected to complete them.

   • Check “MyWeber” often so you know what is due.

   • Check in with your teacher every time a project is assigned. Review what is expected and what the due date is. Don’t rely on your memory; put the due date on your calendar.

   • If you don’t understand why your grade is low, go ask the teacher. But, be polite! Ask the teacher what you could have done differently.

   • Pay attention on test review day. Ask the teacher to explain any terms or topics that aren’t absolutely clear to you.

   • If your class has a website, visit often. Many teachers use a site to post study guides & helpful links.

2. STUDY! Do you study best when you are alone or in a group? Everybody is different. Create a study space. Your bedroom may be the best place to study, but it may not be. It might be better for you to set up a place somewhere else in the house. Just ask your parents to help you. Most parents would be glad to help a student trying to improve study habits!

   • Make sure you stock your study space with all the things you will need: pens, paper, highlighters, stapler, stickie notes, extra folders, and anything else you need for specific classes.

   • Discover whether you are distracted by noise or other activity. Do you need it quiet or does music help? Also determine how long you are able to study. Be aware of how long it takes you to become distracted or tired. Take a short break (5-10 minutes) and then return to work. Set a timer so you don’t keep checking the time. It does take some practice to focus your attention, so start with small time frames (20-30 minutes) and work a few minutes longer each time until you reach a point that you can study straight for about an hour.

   • Have specific treats or playlists you use only when you study to help your brain realize it is time for focused attention.

3. Whether it is on your phone or a notebook, use some sort of planning tool. Depending on your teacher’s policy about using phones in class, you may want to stick to a paper version. Use only one tool and have it with you in every class. Whatever you use should be easy to access in class.

   • Make the planner a part of your daily tasks. Get in the habit of checking it every morning to make sure you have everything due that day. Check it again during your study time to help you prioritize what assignments need to be completed first.

   • Write in the due dates as soon as you learn them. Write the assignments on the date it is due AND create a reminder a few days prior to the actual deadline to give you enough time to complete it.

   • Put everything in your planner. Any activity that might interfere with your study time should be added so you know how much time you really have to work on assignments.

   • Here is a list of things to write in your planner:

     • • • regular study time,

         • assignment due dates,

         • test dates,

         • dances, parties, dates,

         • family gatherings, holidays, vacations,

         • private lessons, sports, clubs, and

         • if you are employed, include your work schedule.

   • Don’t throw away old pages from your planner. Keep them for the entire school year. If you use your planner for everything, it becomes a good reference tool for phone numbers and other important information.

4. Take Notes. Everyone has their own system for taking notes. Here are some tips to help the process:

   • Date your notes for each class.

   • Ask for a ‘theme’ on the lecture for the day. Many teachers at Fremont will write this concept on the board each time.

   • Draw USEFUL pictures & doodles to help you make connections to concepts in the lecture. But, don’t spend so much time on your doodles that you miss other pieces of the lecture.

   • Underline, circle, or highlight new vocabulary. You need to know more than the definition, you need to understand how it fits into the big picture.

   • Write down key things teachers say that indicate relationships between ideas, as well as the significance or order of things.

   • Compare your notes to a textbook. You can also compare notes with another student.

5. Once you have created a habit of using a planner, you can take it a step further and try “Backwards Planning”. Look at your project from a “finished” point of view:

   • Start with your imagination. Imagine your project completed (and with a great grade).

   • Write in your calendar “project completed” on the day BEFORE the project is due.

   • Next, take a closer look at the individual parts of the project & determine how much time is needed for each.

   • Count the days/hours for each part of the project and write that down.

   • Then, count backward from your complete project date and mark the deadline for starting each project in your calendar.