How to Get Good Grades

Step 6 The Class You're in Affects Your Grade

1) Sign up for classes you like. It's a simple fact that if you're interested in a subject, your learning will be faster, easier, and more enjoyable. So never sign up for some easy elective that doesn't interest you if you have a harder, interesting alternative available! Your interest in the subject will make a harder class seem easier and the work won't be all drudgery. Plus, when you're done, you'll have learned something you WANTED to know in the first place! The alternative is practically never ending boredom. Who goes to school to be bored? Who wants a boring job? Start now by making a habit of pursuing challenging, interesting work and you'll end up choosing a challenging, interesting career. You'll surely enjoy such a job (and get paid more) than someone in a boring but easy job.

2) If stuck in a boring class, change your perspective. Sometimes you have no alternative but to take a class with subject matter you find boring. In this case, keep an eye open for how such a class could help you in your long-term goals. Taking geometry? Can't think how you'd ever use it in "real life"? Please don't think this way. I've had plenty of classmates that complained about a subject every time they entered the classroom. Consequently, they trained themselves to think that the class was pointless, boring, and useless. Do something different than those pessimists. When in geometry class, I thought about how some of the equations might be used in video games I played, and geometry suddenly became very interesting to me. In an art history class, I thought about how the class would help me understand some of the artists I'd work with in my career, and paying attention was far easier. Do the same. Find a way to look at the class that DOES interest you. If you can't think of a way to make the class a little more interesting, you're probably keeping your mind closed to that possibility. In that case, open your mind and have a more enjoyable class, learn faster, and get better grades!

3) Stay away from 'Bookers in boring classes. Sometimes we're all close-minded. And that's okay. If you were completely open-minded, you might drop all the good you've learned and let in all the bad. So sometimes you might be stuck in a class you hate, and you won't change your mind about it. If you have a Hippie professor, you'll still be alright. A 'Tweener prof. might require some drudgery from you to get through the class. The deadliest combination, though, is deadbeat class with a 'Booker prof. You should be able to ascertain on the first day if the teacher is a 'Booker by the tardiness response. In such a situation you're guaranteed lower grades unless you work yourself silly. So transfer to a different teacher. Or take the class a different semester when you might be able to get a better teacher. If you can't take the class a different semester, can't transfer to a different teacher, or aren't willing to work your little hiney off, expect lower grades.