The second semester is just around the corner at Ashland High School and your report card isn’t as pretty as you had hoped. Whether you are a genius or a total slacker, here are some easy tips to bring your grades up this semester:

What went wrong? Try to find the cause for your bad grades. What were you doing that made your grades drop? Were personal relationships or stress causing you to not work your A-game in school? The only way you can correct your mistakes is to realize what they are.

Talk to a teacher for help. Don’t understand something? Rather than leaving class completely confused, raise your hand! A teacher’s job is to TEACH! Teachers want to help you, so simply ask if you’re confused. Most of the teachers at AHS are more than willing to spend a few minutes going over what you need help with. Understanding the material means understand your homework, which means you’ll get good grades on tests.

Do your homework. Come on, people. Homework really isn’t that bad if you think about it. All there is to it is sitting at a desk, couch, or on the floor in some people’s cases, and writing down what you know. If you are one who chooses to avoid the matter of homework in general, doing even a couple assignments will help boost your grade in that class!

Homework is a good portion of your grade percentage. Instead of sitting in front of the TV for an hour after school, do a couple math problems! It’s worth it in the end. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation Website, teens can spend up to 7 hours a day using videogames, the television, cell phones, and most importantly, the internet. It’s easy to eliminate a couple of those hours using technology and do some much-needed homework.

Procrastination=NO. Avoid procrastinating by starting work early and trying not to cram things in the last minute. A major cause of poor grades is doing work right before it’s due and coming to a point where you don’t care. Start changing your habits by spreading out work over a longer period of time and avoid staying up too late, doing everything in one night.

“Stay organized, and never, ever, ever tell yourself that you’ll do that assignment tomorrow, because you won’t,” sophomore Lars Rockwell says. It’s the truth; rather than saying “I’ve got time later,” say “I should just do this now.” Get it over with, then enjoy yourself!

Stop making excuses! School is school. Make time for school, it will benefit you in the long run. That’s all that needs to be said.

Get organized. Look at your schedule from last semester and find what needs to be changed. Do you need to eliminate some extra-curricular activities? Is a class you are taking way beyond your reach? Make a schedule that will suit your needs for the semester. Buy an agenda, write down your assignments.

Poor organization is a leading cause of failing grades. If you want to bring your grade in a class up a letter, just find a way to manage your time!

Have good attendance. This is the easiest step to bring your grades up a notch. How hard is it to show up in a class and sit at a desk for an hour or two? Not very hard.  When you are absent, you are missing the information you need for future assignments, tests, and life.

You can’t help missing school if you’re sick, so it is necessary to check in with teachers the day you come back, and ask friends for homework assignments. You can check with your teachers during TCB time in Advisory. When you do not attend school, it is your responsibility to make up tests, homework, and class information that you missed. Spend a few short minutes with a teacher to make up your work, it’s easy.

It takes a lot of work and effort to earn straight A’s in high school. But you can certainly bring whatever grade you have up by following these simple steps. Focus on what needs to be adjusted during the second semester that will make you a better student. By changing a few things in your day-to-day high school life, you’ll have at least decent grades by the time you graduate.