5 Ways to Have a More Successful Second Term - TutorNerds

5 Ways to Have a More Successful Second Term - TutorNerds Done with finals? 5 Ways to Have a More Successful Second Term Now that finals are finished students will have a better idea of their personal strengths and weaknesses. One thing students can look at is their organizational skills. This is one of the most important things many students are lacking, and it can affect how efficiently they can study for important exams. Also, most students have one subject that always seems to make their life more difficult than it needs to be. For most students, thats math or English, but it can be any subject under the sun. If students need to improve their grades after finals week, there are several things they can do to have a more successful second term our private Orange County academic tutors are here to make your second term a success. 1.   Re-organize The first thing students should do is look at re-organizing how the study. For example, if a student sat down and just opened their book and started reading they may not have a full understanding of what would be on the exam and what is just extra information. By middle school, all students should have a plan before they start studying. They might make an outline with general information, or they might look up which topics are worth 10% of the exam and which topics are worth 2%. Students can even set a timer and allot a specific amount of time for different topics or subject matter to maintain time management. 2. De-stress The next thing students should do is focus on de-stressing their lifestyle. Are they always running late for school in the morning? Do they have enough to eat for lunch and snack in the afternoon? Do they agree to every volunteer activity that comes up? A little bit of preparation can make a student’s life a lot easier. They could need help getting chores done, or they may need to spend a little bit of time during the weekend organizing their academic schedule. Any amount of stress that can be removed from a student’s life is a good thing (Read: 5 Ways to Deal With the Stress of Waiting to Hear Back from Colleges). 3. Hire a private SoCal tutor If students are well organized and not overly stressed out but are still struggling academically, its probably time to work with a private tutor. The academic curriculum asks so much of today’s students, and they feel like they have to be a star student in every subject. Almost every student has at least one or two subjects that are not within their natural skill set so they need a little bit of extra help to understand advanced concepts and learn how to study effectively. 4. Meet with the teacher after class Most students rush out of class the minute the bell rings, but they should remember how valuable a short conversation with their classroom teacher can be. Whether they stay after school for a few minutes or visit the teacher during their free period, students can get a ton of helpful information by clarifying any important questions with their teacher one-on-one. If its just not possible to talk to the teacher during school hours; students can easily email their teacher and get a response back within a couple of days. 5. Set reasonable expectations Another important thing for students to do is set reasonable expectations for themselves. Once in high school many students try to be a star athlete, keep their grades high for a scholarship, volunteer or maintain a part-time job, and still have a social life. If grades are slipping with all these activities students are encouraged to take a step back and think about what they need to focus on. Start the second semester off right with the help of a private Orange County academic tutor from TutorNerds. From test prep to college admissions, TutorNerds is here to help you succeed. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write.