School Issues with work and Grades :(

[Applepie]

High school goes by so fast. Don't stress about your marks. Just try and do your best. If you are failing or not spending too much time studying than I would worry. But if you are giving your best effort enjoy high school. Don't give up your bf or friends-just try and make time for everything/everyone. You need a social life, you never know they may help you down the road.

[fire_earth_air]

Everyone has really good suggestions but in the end you are the one that knows how much time you're spending in social situations vs how much time you're spending actually studying.
I agree, studying with friends can be helpful however it can end up being a waste of time because for about half of the time you're "studying" you're socializing!

I would suggest studying in a different way. For example if you just read the textbook/notes over and over again all the time try doing something else. Try summarizing and making your own notes or use cue-cards that you can just look at a few times a day for 5 minutes. Or try studying out loud - it sounds funny but just go into your room and read outloud or talk to yourself while studying which will help you remember stuff while you study. You can link school stuff to more funny or relevant things in your life eg, come up with funny acronyms so you can remember later during a test.

Also, you can make up "practice" tests for yourself, take random questions from the book or internet or homework and write it like you're actually writing a test - with a time limit and without looking at answers. This will help you become more used to the "test situation" with time limits and pressure.

My suggestion basically is try to do things differently and see what works for you. What may have worked before might not work for you now in highschool.

Good Luck

[win-star]

Is good that you start trying to get better marks at a younger age, I wish I thought of that when I was starting high school.

It's important to start early and get good marks through out high school, because at the end you'll have a better chance of going into a certain program you like to get in at University or College. At the end when achieving what you want of getting into a certain program you will like, you would be very proud at yourself and your parents at for.

Just concentrate and find out your strengths & weakness in those courses and ask for help. If your parents are good in math and science, ask them for some point or tips on.

Sometimes it could be the teacher, where they don't explain it properly.

I am Asian also and I was really bad in science no matter what teacher was it. In math I was good and bad because it depends on the teachers.


I know this is off-topic but my dad was in the war to, the Vietnam war that ended in 1975, my dad was a helicopter pilot lol.
________
AN400

[dawn_sweety]

School is hard, especially the first year and if you have any decent teachers just talking to them and letting them know what's going on and that you want to get better marks will help. Also remember that anything 70-79 is what the government expects you to know/ take in and understand anything above that is absolutely great! I know I put more pressure on myself my last few years of highschool but right now you are probably still adjusting to different ways of teaching and getting used to the school.

One point I would like to make is pay attention in class and ask questions even if it may seem like something you should know it never hurts to ask. If you pay attention and understand what the teacher is talking about or trying to teach you there is a much higher chance of you understanding and applying it correctly. Plus sometimes it is the teacher (most cases its not) but you get that odd teacher or even just having a few students in a class who don't pay attention or talk all the time and it makes teachers frustrated and they will take it out on anyone.

Another point would be to just take the time when you get home from school or on your way home (if you take transit or get picked up) just review your notes and what you did that day (or when you get home/ some scheduled time of the day that you know you have free time and wont be tempted to be too tired or too busy) it will give you another chance to take everything in.
Good Luck and if you ever need to talk about school we're here for you

[bug]

Maybe shop less and spend less time scouring for deals?

[daisybear]

But you guys are making it sound like I should leave my boyfriend and SC, for stuff I don't even like to do. It'll just make me even more depressed.

I'm not saying stop coming to SC but you have an average of 17 posts per day, my suggestion is for moderation.

[Dinglehopper]

I'm doing this in point form because I'm at work...

- Go on SC/socialize with friends AFTER responsibilities (school work, chores) are completed.
- Set schedule to manage time. Schedule hours after school and put in homework time, meals, socialization/computer time (again, see first point), recreational activities, etc.
- Get extra help from teacher, tutor, other students, ask questions, etc.
- kidshealth.org (I hope I can post that link) has a lot of 'articles' on school work, studying for tests, time management.

[Justine]

Life is short, do what makes you happy, and don't sweat the small stuff. Everything always works out in the end.

I sound so cliche.

[etherealone]

after reading everything so far I have come to some realizations,

1. you like SC and post frequently when you can.

2. you wonder how you can keep your marks up and still experience life.

3. there are some things you CAN change in your situation, and some things you CANNOT change.

-Lynnie, many teens socialize in different ways. i think it is great that you identify with people on this site. its wonderful you are also learning something too! you appear to be a very sweet, and gentle soul. Posting on here 30 times a day is NO HARM TO YOU, if you have the time and its not interfering with other areas of your life, and i am not hearing that at all. Teens your age choose to socialize in other ways that can be dangerous and experimental. socializing here seems to be educational, life building and safe. Post as much a you feel comfortable.

-make small changes to adopt an attitude that was closer to the times when your marks were higher. Remember your study patterns and such.

-you cannot control everything. do not fool yourself into thinking so. living a full life with school, socializing, personal relationships, means having balance. In order to experience what you want in life, some things can suffer. For example, having a boyfriend will certainly take some time away from your studies, but you cannot just live for school. this is unhealthy.

If you cannot pull off 90's and a boyfriend and socialize then accept your healthy limitations. If you dedication x amount of hours every week to studying, there is no way you can fail.

What I hear most is that you need to change the way you THINK about the balance in your life, rather than trying to juggle everything perfectly.

dont try to stuff 13 eggs into a carton. they just wont fit and you will end up breaking one if you keep trying!

[bargain_hunter_lola]

I think you need to find out what is MOST important to you!

If your need to be social outweighs your future goals (ie, teachers college) then spending alot of time with your BF or on SC is okay.

If on the other hand, your goal of becoming a teacher is MOST important to you, then unfortunately you have to cut down on the social side of things and HIT THOSE BOOKS. You do need a very high GPA to get into the best universities and get into teachers college...

I agree that having an honest talk with your teacher(s) will help! I remember in grade nine I sucked at math, but I spoke with my teacher and how important my grades were to me and he gave me TONS of ways to improve. And I DID!!! Throughout most of highschool I had at least a 90% average (semesters when I had math was the exception), but I also had practically NO LIFE! I studied by butt off because I wanted to get into a good university.

Also, find out about tutors!!!! Even upper year high school students can be loads of help. They were in your shoes once and might have some great study tips or tips about the teacher (how they mark, what they expect, how to talk to them).

HTH

[Lynnie]

Aw thanks guys. I asked my science teacher for anything I could do for extra credit and he said he'll try to because it's not fair to the other kids if it's just me and if there is anything he'll tell me. And he told us he was going to give us a quiz next week and we were able to discuss answers in groups so I think he's trying to give us chances to improve. I also got my math test back - 57%. Mainly because I didn't know some of the biggest questions, and because I didn't have time to finish. 57% is better than what I thought I was gonna get. But a lot of other people got a bad mark as well and she's going to ask the head of the math department if she could give us something extra.

For once in a long time in math, I was able to understand and ALMOST finish all the homework in class. I've also been going to swim makeups for the classes I missed (not on purpose) and I've gotten 100%s in french and BTT. I even think I aced my english and french tests. So thanks for the advice and I'm gonna keep trying hard for my marks...Any advice is still welcomed

[hotairballoon]

You gotta love the mentality of Asian parents. "99 is not good enough, get 100!" It's understandable though considering that many Asian parents grew up working and not getting a chance to go to school. They did not have public education so going to school was pretty expensive as well. If they react negatively to you getting 60s or 70s, just look on the bright side. They just want you to succeed in life, because they never had that chance.

Since you are only in grade 9, you should not worry too much about your grades. Universities and colleges only look at your grade 12 marks and grade 11(for early acceptance). Like many SCers had mentioned, try to work on balancing your life by keeping everything in moderation.

Also, keep in mind that grades aren't everything. I had a friend who applied to a life science program with a 95% plus no extra curricular activities, and he got rejected. Another friend applied to the same program with 88% plus tons of extra curriculars and got accepted. Universities want well-rounded students these days, not just someone who has a high average. So if you are not the type of student to get 90s in school, just work on your extra curriculars and leadership involvement. Another example would be a student from my school who won $60,000 in scholarship money!! His average was only 67% but he was really involved with our community. It just goes to show you that there are many different ways to succeed in life.

Funny story, I was actually frustrated with my mom because she kept rambling on how I wasn't getting 90s. I ranted to my dentist(Asian) and she told my mom off(in a nice way of course) LOL! She told my mom the exact same thing I told you about grades not being everything.

And definitely go afterschool for extra help. I'm pretty sure the teachers are more than willing to help if they see a dedicated student who cares about their schoolwork.

Ok, sorry for the long post. Hope everything turns out well for you!

[avoncallingu]

I'm an elementary teacher - so maybe my suggestions don't make sense, but we had to show students examples of what an A,B,C,D level of answer looked like. perhaps you're studying the wrong things or emphasizing the wrong concepts. If you know a person who gets good marks, perhaps you could ask to compare answers - and ask them to explain how the "read" the question so that you can see the important parts of the question. Maybe approach your teacher about this.

I know that sometimes I spend time on here when I should be doing other things. I think you are very good at analyzing things on this site, so I think that you basically have very good practical math concepts.

[Justine]

[daisybear]

Oh , I love this!!! So, so true!!!