I wrote a letter to my godson many years ago like this as he left for college. I cleaned it up and made it appropriate for grade school. I have college versions, one for males, and one for females. Email me if you want those versions.
1) Be a student. Get it in your head! Realize you’re at school to go to school (sounds dumb, but some of us thought we were there for different reasons). Treat it like a 9-5 job. Up in the morning, go to school all day, and between classes work on your homework. 8 hours of class and studying, you’ll have plenty of time for fun later.
2) Act like a student- It’s way to easy to dress and act like a slob or be the class clown. And it’s even easier for a teacher to give the slob looking and chatty person in the class (yeah you the chatty one with her shirt not tucked in) a lower grade. If you don’t think looks matter with grades, you are sorely mistaken. Teachers are humans and they behave like the rest of consumers. The nice packaging wins. Also, first impressions are huge. At least dress smart the first month, then taper off to respectable.
3) Go to class and pay attention. This is huge. Sounds stupid but it is true. Take your tuition and divide it into the classes held. It’s quite costly to daydream. Plus, teachers love to test on what’s in class. Reading the book won’t help. By the way, you need to listen and take neat notes. If you hear it, write it, I guarantee it will be way easier to recall it test time. Cramming doesn’t work.
4) Sit up front in class. You will get better grades. I promise. Plus it’s easier to see, hear and to do the next tip.
5) Make sure your teacher likes you personally! This can very helpful. And it will help your grades if they know you and like you. They will give you the benefit of the doubt to those they know…and like (guess you should dress well). Ask questions, after class if need be. Go see them during office hours for the next tip. And be nice. Not cheesy, but respectful.
6) Ask for information. Ask what to study for exams. If you ask, they will tell you. MAKE SURE YOU PAY ATTENTION IN THE CLASS BEFORE THE EXAM. They will give hints. You cannot rely on others to take notes for you! (It doesn’t work)
7) Make sure they know you care about your grades. If you care, they will hesitate to give you a lower grade, and it will bump you to the next grade. Plus you can always ask for extra credit, if you mess up an exam. Tell them you care. Tell them you want to do better and ask them how. This is huge. A teacher once made up an entire class for me to help me graduate. I met with him once over the summer, read a book, wrote a report, and viola, four major credits toward my degree.
8) Neatness and partial credit counts!!!! Teachers love organized, well written papers with no misspellings, neat handwriting, and good organization. Well-written reports with misspellings that look messy will get you bad grades.
9) Start strong and keep up! I fell behind early and barely recovered. You need to set the pace and stay with the pack (as a runner you get the idea).Stay in physical shape and get plenty of sleep. If you keep in shape, you’ll be able to keep your energy up for both for your studies and play dates.
10) Stay safe and away from people who drag you down or misbehave for fun. They may be fun in the short run, but they lose in the end. Small stupid decisions can change the rest of your life.
10.5) Have fun. Every once in awhile stop and look around and smell the roses. Realize you’re in school and this is a great time in your life
Andy Cagnetta
ac@tworld.com