Life is falling apart...

[Emily F.]

Hey!

My life is falling apart....I don't have a good relationship with my parents, my grades arnt good at all! low 70's and 80's.

Could you guys give me some tips on improving my grades! I just don't have the motivation to study, i just can't do it! I reallyy want to get into a good horse college!! My whole like, I've gotten bad grades, I pay attention in class and everythin, and do my homework for the most part, but I just don't know what to do anymore...:-(


Sorry about this post, just needed to vent!

[Piglet]

No need to apologise!

Well, I really don't know how low 70/80 is. Do you get your grades from your teachers or are they calculated from your exams?

[Emily F.]

like 40 percent of my grades are from homework....20% from projects, and and like 40 percent with tests ans quizzes..I'm not totally sure if thats all right...:-(

[Emily F.]

It's just really hard..I mean I try, but it seems like everything fails...

[Piglet]

Maybe you could go to your teachers and ask how to improve. I think its great that you have plans for the future (horse college). Do you revise for your exams? What kind of grades are your friends getting.

[Emily F.]

revise????

[Piglet]

Um....don't you use that word! It means to study and to re read your notes =)

[Emily F.]

Sometimes, as I said, I just don't have to motivation to study...I say to meself " Emily, if you want to get into a really good horse college, you need to study, and get good grades"...but I just don't know ways to study...I use flash cards, but it dosent seem to help.

[Piglet]

I know what you mean. I've got my exams coming up and I don't really know how to revise. Sometimes I write my notes over and over again. Writing them out just more than once often helps but it is time consuming. I like to make spider diagrams on certian topics. Sounds stupid, but I sometimes make little sayings for stuff. i.e. the digestive system --> I take the first letter of each organ and make a saying.

[Emily F.]

I'll try those ideas! Thanks so much, piglet! :-)

[Piglet]

Its ok! I need to start revising tomorrow, since I've got major exams coming up in January, and I don't want to study in the christmas holidays. I've never tried this, but some people record their notes on a dictophone or a tape recorder, and then listen to them over and over again. I hope you get the grades you want =)

[loves2travel]

first thing, do your homework, no matter what. as for tests, make a game out of it.

i always get so bored studying for tests, so this is what i do. I throw a study party, and call like 5 friends. each one is responsible for bringing 20 questions that come from the relevant material. we set up a room to look like a game show, with colorful bedsheets on the walls. we paint cardboard to look like marquees and other stuff you would see on jeopardy. then we divide into teams, and one person is the host. the host asks all the questions, the teams try to compete for answers. we have little buzzers for whenever we want to answer a question, and the host has a buzzer for every wrong answer, and a bell for every right answer. its sooo much fun. its a motivating way to get you to study, and you can have fun with friends while you're at it.

[loves2travel]

I forgot to add, the host's podium is one of those trifold science project boards

[critterlover]

It must be hard to study with Christmas around the corner...It is easy
to become overwhelmed. The main thing is to take it one step at a time.
And reward yourself. Like say, ok I'm going to read chapter 1 and underline
the important stuff, then I will go play with my pigs for 1/2 hour. Then I will
read chapter 2, then go play with my pigs again.

When I was in school, I use to mark up my textbooks a lot. With a soft
pencil, or course, so it could all be easily erased at the end of the school year.
I'd underline important things and put little check marks at the top of each page after I read it. And put little *s next to important things.This made reviewing much easier so I just had to read the underlined parts and the *s.

For subjects where you need to memorize a lot, I used to take a lined piece
of paper and fold it in half and write statements on one side of the paper and
answers on the other side. Then do this page by page chapter by chapter. For instance:

On the left side of the paper: Mr. Columbus sailed around the world in ____.
On the right side of the paper: 1492.

Then I could fold the paper in half and quiz myself. Then unfold to check
my answer. If I got it right, I'd put a check mark next to the statement.
Very satisfying after a while to see all those check marks...then you
*know* you're ready for the exam. I'm very challenged, memory-wise
but I got good grades so if it worked for me, it'll work for anyone...

I'd do the same with exercises, put a check mark in the book (in pencil) when
I got the answer right.

It also helps to know what average you're aiming for. 75%? 80%? 85%?
You can phone the colleges and ask what the minimum averages were
for students admitted last year, for example. Then at least you can set a specific goal, like, I need to raise my average by 7%. You've obviously already know
how to work hard if your grades are in the 70s and 80s so don't think
of it as failure just because it's short of your goals.

Good luck with the studying!

[AngelsCavies]

I had the same problem you did Emily. Its like stress especally around Christmas and Thanksgiving. Once Christmas is over its nearing to summer too. I usually do better after Christmas. Just do the best you can and dont over do it.

[shortlilcutie]

what is a horse college?

[Emily F.]

It's a college that you go to...to specialze in anything to do with equestrian...it's hard to explain...

[three_piggies]

Emily F I have the same problem right now. I keep putting off things I should do for school. Like my narrative essay. I should be working on that, but I am just not motivated to write it. And Science I should be doing my project. And just whole bunch of other things I guess I just get over whelmed. And then can't decide what to work on. Well I guess I should probably do math right now . So I will start working on math!