How to Get Straight A's in Junior High School

Co-authored by Alexander Ruiz, M.Ed.

Last Updated: December 31, 2022 Approved

Math: It's on every teen's mind. How am I going to impress mom and dad and improve my grades? The only question is how to do it. It's so boring to just sit down and study! Here's a guide to help you get straight A's.

Part 1

Part 1 of 4:

Preparing for School

1
Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. If you have to wake up at 6am, then don't stay up until 1:30am. It's that simple. If you don't want to miss your favorite show, a lot of the shows are recorded and posted on the website for the network. Watch it after school on your computer. Also, you won't be catching up on sleep in class and missing the lesson.
2
Set your clothes out for the next day before you go to sleep. It may sound silly, but it lets you have more time in the morning to get your school work together, do some quick studying, eat breakfast, or anything else that you have trouble getting done because you spent an hour and a half finding an outfit. If your school has a uniform policy, make sure that you have your uniform set out before you go to bed. It will save you the time of going through the closet to find it, which, believe it or not, normally takes 5-10 minutes!

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3
Eat a real breakfast before you go to school. A Pop Tart, an energy drink, or coffee is not breakfast. Starting your day with a good breakfast will give you energy throughout the day. It can be bacon and eggs, English muffins, or a cereal that is low in sugar. A breakfast burrito is good, too. If you eat in the morning, you will find it easier to concentrate in class and avoid those nasty hunger pains.

Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Making the Most of Your Time at School

1
Stop talking to your best friend during classes. If he/she sits next to you in class and is a distraction, try to find another seat, if allowed. You'll find that actually listening to the teacher, no matter how boring it is, will help you understand your homework.
2
Take advantage of free time in class. If your teacher gives you time to do some of your homework in class, jump at the chance! Instead of chatting with your best friend, do your work and who knows, maybe your friends will start asking you for help when they don't know what to do. You will also be freeing up time after school, by having less homework.
3
Eat something healthy and filling at lunch. If you eat a bag of chips with a few cookies, you're wasting your money, and you are not going to feel good or be able to concentrate on your next few classes. It's also a good way to lose a few pounds for those on a diet to get slimmer before swimsuit season.
4
Take good notes!^{[1]
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Research source} Have you ever seen those kids who always seem to be writing something down in their notebooks, always raising their hands and getting every answer right? Those are their notes! They use them to look back to for studying and to answer questions with.

Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Ending the School Day

1
Go straight home. Try to get home as soon as you can so you have more time later to hang out with your friends.
2
Sit in a quiet place, free of distractions. Make sure the place is comfortable enough to work at, but not so comfortable that you will fall asleep. Make sure it isn't really cold, and get comfortable in a big sweatshirt, but make sure it isn't really hot because that can make you really tired.
3
Play some music softly. Studies have shown that if you listen to music, you can increase productivity. Just make sure it doesn't drive you away from the work. Also, keep some "brain food" nearby, like fruits, vegetables, or maybe a sandwich. Just don't use anything messy!
4
Take out your homework. Look in your agenda and see what you have to do. Example: in math, you have to do page 537, numbers 2-28. So instead of putting it off, just do it! That's only 27 problems!
5
Make homework a daily habit.^{[2]
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Research source} Even if you have several days to do your homework, do a little each day! Let's say for the same example above, you have three days to complete it. Rather than doing it all in one night, why not just do ten a day?
6
Enjoy the rest of your day. When you're done with all your homework, then you can call your friends, play video games, do chores; the possibilities are endless. Just remember to put your outfit out before you go to bed at night.

Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

Completing Projects

1
Choose your topic. If you need a topic for a project, like an English project, but you don't know where to find one, ask your teacher for some ideas. She/He may be surprised to see that you are interested in doing your work.
2
Don't procrastinate; get started!^{[3]
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Research source} Go to the library, and research your topic. Find magazine articles, newspaper clippings,or how they dressed, what they imported/exported, and what were the most important things that happened during that time period. Find key information.
3
Plan. If you have 1 month to do a book report, spend the next day getting books from the library, 1 week reading it, etc. It's a lot easier when you have a plan.
4
Tell your parents or guardians that you have a project. Ask them to take you to Walmart, Longs Drugs, or any other store near you that sells tri-fold boards or big poster board. If you wait until the night before your project is due, you will be in trouble and you may not have enough time to do everything you need to.
5
Work at least 20 minutes every day. If you don't want to do your whole project in one day, make a plan to accomplish your goal of completing the project. If you get a Tri-Fold Board, put a time-line on one of the tri-fold parts, and on the other one, put the most important thing (if it's a company) they sell and (if it's a time period) how the people dressed and what music they listened to. If it's a person,artist, or band, put their music or any random fun facts about them the most important thing.
6
Complete the accompanying essay before you do your board. The most important part is the essay. In your essay, you always need an introduction and thesis statement (main idea), 3 body paragraphs, a conclusion, a bibliography, and a reference page.
7
Grab their attention. In your introduction paragraph, you need to wake up your classmates when you read it. Start out with something that will catch their attention. For example: if it's on the atomic bombs, dress up as a mad scientist or the person who made them and act out what you say, jump around. You could start out with, Boom! (Jump towards the students) In (year A to year B) the Atomic Bomb was created! I, (whoever made the atom bomb), was (and so on). The reports can be really boring when you hear them so try to keep the students awake and not falling asleep. If you see someone starting to get bored, improvise and wake them up!
8
Have fun! Get some help and make your board colorful with bold fonts and rainbow colors.

Community Q&A

Question

How do you get from F to A?

Community Answer

By working hard. Focus in class, ignore people who are distracting you, take notes, write down your homework, set aside time to study at home every day, and turn things in on time. If necessary, ask your teacher for extra help or get help from a tutor.
Question

How can I improve my grades in the third trimester?

Community Answer

Do every extra credit activity teachers assign even if you have a good grade in that class. That way, if you do get a bad grade on any test, you have extra points that erase that bad grade and make it more bearable.
Question

Would peaceful music help me concentrate during studying?

Community Answer

It can! Many people find that they can focus better with some soft, background noise. Choose music without lyrics, as singing can be a little distracting.

Warnings

Don't strain yourself; you need to encourage yourself and believe in yourself.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
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Grades may raise along with IQ and good comments on the report card.

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This How To may not work for everyone. If you are getting tired or get a serious migraine, stop right away. You might need a little rest; you can always continue your studying the next day.

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Results may not be instantaneous.

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Things You'll Need

A sturdy backpack with plenty of pockets.
An agenda.
What may seem like a great amount of pens, pencils, highlighters and whiteboard markers.
A big binder.
Dividers to go into your binder.
Bottled water (you never know when you may get thirsty at school, and make sure not to share drinks. (May pass on colds and flu viruses)
Use some labels that will go inside the dividers, so you know which class it is.
Notebooks
Extra paper
Anything else that your teachers request to be successful in their classes.
A folder
If you have A days and B days try to backpacks your bags will be lighter also it will decrease your back pain you'll also be way more organized
A positive attitude to help you get through the day.