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13 simple rules to get good grades

                               I have presented in this article a few tips about how one should study to gain maximum knowledge from his teacher in classroom and from his book outside the classroom. Following rules apply to both "marks-centric students" and knowledge-seeking students.

1. Be regular
Take all the classes. It is the most essential pre-requisite for learning. You cannot get away with this. You can miss extremely important points even by leaving a single class. 

2. Take notes                                                                               

Take down notes as much as possible. Try to write each and verything teacher utters in the class. There are certain things which teachers love to mention again and again. These are the things which you should know very well. Things that teacher mentions again and again or is very enthusiastic about is most likely to appear in yourexamination.Taking notes is important because thats what you will need to learn. 
Even if you are that kind of student who is not interested in studies, you should taken notes because they will be very beneficial near your exams. 

3. Read yourtextbook                                     

At the heart of your seeking knowledge lies the book reading. Books give you the detailed explanation of what you learnt in class. There are many topics that you cannot understand fully in class. Only yourtextbook can help you out then.

4. Discuss the things you learnt with your friends.

Discussing things that you have learned helps in retaining them in memory. It also helps in correcting yourself. Sometimes it happens that one makes a certain concept about a thing and this concept turns out to be incorrect later. You can detect your faults very fast just by discussing.

5. Dont just stick to a single book.

Not all the topics written in a good book are lucid. You should consult books other than the prescribed text book to understand topics that are difficult for you.

6. Listen to the teacher carefully

Teachers just don't talk about boring topics but also about their experiences. You should try to learn from other people's experience because life is too short to learn from your own experience. You can obviate difficulties just by learning from the experience of the experienced people.

7. Have good relations with teacher.

This is important to gain good grades. Althougth you should not count on this fully but having good relations with teacher helps you.

8. Don't hesitate to ask questions from teachers.

No question is a stupid question. Asking questions not only helps you to understand but also refreshes the mind of those who already know the answer.Teachers generally love to have feedback from students. Moreover, asking questions shows that the student is following the lecture and is really interested in studies. It makes a good impression on teacher.

9. Observe the suroundings. You may find a practical example of what you learnt.

If you link your studies to something in your suroundings it will help you to retain it for a long time in your memory. You will have no difficulty in recalling that topic.

10. If you take classes in the morning make sure that you had a nice breakfast.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You cannot focus on the what is being taught without having a good breakfast. So if you have a habit of having breakfast late or not having at all, break this habit.

11. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.

Concentration is what you need to benefit from a teacher's lecture. Tight clothing or shoes won't let you focus. Get rid of the bugging clothes else you would lose good grades.

12. Try to ask interesting questions.

Interesting questions has two benefits. First, it helps you in understanding the lecture in a better way. Second, such questions allow teachers to become aware of how students are reacting to what he or she is delivering them. This way teacher can change his or her way of teaching to get through to students.

13. Don't forget to turn off your cell phone in class. 

A ringing mobile phone easily breaks your (and others')train of thought.

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Last Minute Exam Preparation Tips

Exams are around the Corner. Tensions are high and. expectations are  Hereby some simple tips that can  help you perform much much better in exams.

1. Positive Stress:

Stress is not always negative. In some cases its a great motivating force for improving performance. In a majority of students, small amounts of positive stress, increases the mind's cramming capabilities by few hundred times. Parents and students should identify and use positive stress.

REMEMBER- its will increase your cramming capacity not learning capacity.

2. Night Study

Night time study is in vogue these days. Every student who promotes and practices it, abides by the explanation "when the world sleeps,I can  concentrate better as nobody can disturb me."

Many Parents who contact me to help improve their child's memory power,  feel proud in proclaiming how their children spend an entire night studying. 

I hate break hearts, but THIS IS ILLOGICAL!!!!

I would just like remind you. All schools in India start at 8-9am. Hence for their entire school life, a child has woken up around 7am, and reached school by 8. And his brain has been conditioned to start functioning  to process information by 9-10am.

When such a life cycle is disrupted, night time study only helps to create disharmony within the sleep cycle. This leads to increased body fatigue, body pains and mental weakness.

REMEMBER- the exams are normally timed to happen in the morning. Your brain should be accustomed such, that during exam timings you are at the days peak performance levels.

3. Sleep

Most children sacrifice a lot of their sleep during exams. This leads to increased stress levels. For those who can battle the stress level, the brain uses this as positive. But for those who cannot handle it, it decreases the brain output and performance.

Make sure you get a minimum of 6hr continuous sleep every day.

4. The important First

Most students seem to be in some sort of race to finish the syllabus. They myth that "the more you attempt the better your result" plagues them too doom. 

If you go through old question papers, you will find that 70% of questions are asked from specific topics. And 30% are asked from diverse topics. 

Its logical to concentrate on that 70% first. As it will gives you chance of getting the best marks.

REMEMBER- When studying, always focus on the important topics first. Don't leave them for the end. 

Study them properly as they will give you maximum chance to score good.

5. Know How to Answer

While researching for this article, I asked a lot of teachers, "how much time the spend on an answersheet, what do they look for in a good answer, and what is their mind set while checking."

Most teachers said that the first look at the way an answer is written, fixes their mind on how much they want to score it. They look for specific points, and simplicity in finding those points helps them judge an answer better.

They also complain that most students feel that by fill pages and pages for a single answer, they will get better scores. 

Its important that a student understands, how to write a good answer for a particular subject.

Ask your teachers. Tell them to show you sample answers... 

REMEMBER- make it a practice, to take a minute after getting the question paper. See those questions which you can answer best. Formulate a game plan, keep it simple and enact on the planned.

6. Short hand strips

Have you ever used a cheating strip. It's a small strip of paper in which only the important points are mentioned. It works as a great refresher for the mind. Its a great help to create short-hand strips like these for yourself while studying. These will help you revise a great portion of the syllabus within minutes. 

REMEMBER - utilize them to revise not to cheat!!!

7. Eat 

Glucose is the fuel that drives the brain and body. Proteins are the building blocks of the brain and body. Water helps to maintain a positive circulation around the body.

When in high stress situations, the brain and body tend to utilize glucose and proteins at hundred of times the normal rate. 

Drink a glass of water every hour and eat small portions of balanced diet (high on energy and protein) every 2hourly to keep your body at peak performance.

8. Supplements

In a world of processed food, every important nutrient is available in capsule or tablet form. Make sure you get a daily dose of anti-oxidants and vitamins to help you boost brain performance.

9. Negative Stress

Like positive stress is beneficial in increasing the cramming capacity of the brain, negative stress is detrimental in decreasing the ability to learn, decreasing the ability to write the learnt in an exam and increasing the subconscious anxiety which can lead to running away from the exams or drastic steps like self-harm and/or suicide attempt.

If stress is causing an emotional roller coaster within the student, it's important to consult your local psychiatrist and get a short term course of non-sedative, non-addictive medications which will boost the brain and memory power along with decreasing the negative stress.