School is back in session, and for many of you, the first quarter is ending this week. This article will help you have an academic comeback for the second quarter and the rest of the year.

Review Past Work

First, I want to introduce the easiest method you can do. To do well on your tests and quizzes, be sure to look at all the past work you have. Graded worksheets will save you!

Study worksheets that a teacher has graded and corrected. This has helped me so much in my physics class. Physics is mostly formulas, drawing things out, and just knowing what to do. So worksheets help me practice. I will cover up all the answers on the page and redo the worksheet as I would have done in class. This way I can pinpoint exactly where I am struggling the most.

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Make a Plan

Next, I want you to know that a plan is so very important. Make a list of all the things you have to do. Write out when tests or quizzes are on your calendar.

On paper, on your phone, or both. Make sure you know what you have to do to get the scores you want. When I get home from school or while I am at school, I make a list in my planner of all the work I have to do for school along with my extracurricular activities. This helps me stay on task. If you know yourself fairly well, you can add an approximate timeframe. If you think reading 1 chapter will take 20 minutes, write that in parentheses. That way, your list will seem less intimidating. When you finish an item on your list, cross it out or highlight it in your favorite color.

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Quizlet/Flashcards

Quizlet has been a huge lifesavior! I want it to be a life savor for you as well! You can't make flashcards for everything, but in classes like history, science, English, and math, flashcards will be life saviors.

Flashcards help you to use active recall. It’s basically you answering questions on a topic without any hints. Just pure brain power and whatever you remember on your own. Quizlet has this new AI feature that allows an AI to quiz you on anything in your study set, and AI is a great source of help. Make sure to review the flashcards you miss, along with the ones you get consistently correct. This is one study method; be sure to still review your notes as well.

ChatGPT and AI

This is my absolute favorite study tool! I have recently discovered it hiding in my computer this year. Instead of asking your teacher for more practice problems on a subject you are struggling with, ask ChatGPT!

It will give you practice problems with answers and explanations; if you don’t understand or you think they are miscalculated, ask them to recheck, and they will. This tool has saved me in my probability and statistics classes. We have a lot of worksheets in class, but I don’t feel like I grasp the material until I do some practice on my own without friends to help me. This tool doesn’t just work for math; it can work with any other class as well. Ask it to create a practice test for you on your topic. Most teachers get their tests from AI, so this feature is another thing you can use to just practice what you already know.

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Teach Your Notes

Lastly, I want to leave you with another one of the easiest ways you can learn and study your material is to teach it. Why do you think teachers know so much about what they are talking about? By teaching, and as you teach, you learn.

When I say to teach, I mean to pretend that you are teaching a kid who knows nothing about the subject. Simplify your notes and teach. Out loud is one of the best ways. Use repetition; this helps when a teacher is teaching you, and it will help you learn the material faster. I promise!

What NOT to Do

• Study for hours (your brain can not retain information when you are cramming it into your brain, you risk the chance of forgetting everything)
• Don’t Cram unless you HAVE to: space out your studying (Try to space out your studying so you don’t have to overstudy the night before. Study the night after you get your notes and every night until the test. So, when test time comes, you will be ready and confident.
• Pull an all Nighter (A lot of shows and influencers promote pulling all-nighters to study, but that is not needed. Consistently doing this will cause you to do worse on the tests because you are exhausted. It may even cause you to get sick.)
• Don’t put too much pressure on yourself! (Grades are not everything, and it is time that we all realize this and accept it.)

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