Small Changes, BETTER GRADES

Try these little adjustments and the see the big difference they make to imporve your grades!

1. DO NOT LOOK AT THE CLOCK. Mentally trying to hurry the minutes up will never work - the'yll feel even longer! Instead focus on what's going on in the classroom. Make eye contact with your teeacher if it forces you to pay attention.

2. Ask questions in class so your teacher will know who you are and that you care about you're ;eaning. Just make sure they're real questions and not just "What did you say again?" There's nothing more annoying to teachers than having to reprat what they just said.

3. Make a list of all your worries before you start studying. Unload all your negative thoughts onto a piece of paper. If you transfer them from your brain to a notebook, they won't distract you will you absorb new information.

4. If you just eatean a large meal, wait 30 to 90 minutes before studying. If you body is focusef on digesting your food, you will not able to do any mental weightlfying, so use this time to relax or make your worry list.

5. Put yourself on a 30 to 40 minutes study limit per session. Then take a 15-minute break. Studies show that if you study for short periods of time and take regular breaks, you'll remember more than if you studied for hours straight!

15 mini breaks

Choose activities that have a definite end - don't go online, turn on the tv or start a text chat rhat could drag on and distract you

• Make a friendship bracelet

• Prepare a sandwhich snack

• Draw something

• Walk your dog

• Paint your toenails

• Eat a piece of fruit

• Braid your hair

• Answer an easy puzzle

• Tidy up your desk

• Dance to a 5-song playlist

• Do five 3-minute stretches

• Read the story of the day from a daily inspirational book

• Practice a fun skill (like playing the guitar or juggling)

• Ask Mom for a back rub ( or give her one!)

• Read funny short articles from a magazine

*Use the bathroom during breaks before classes, even if you don't feel like it- one less distractiong.

6. Play music you don't know. If you need music to keep you alert, don't play songs you know all the lyrics to. Changes are, you'll want to sing along or get up and dance. Choose something that will keep you awake, but that you can ignore.

7. Get a study buddy. Find someone to keep tract of what you've accomplished so far. If you don't finish your goal, you have to pay a fine or do a consequence. But if you meet all your study goals, you get a prize.