Secret of Straight-A Students

1SecretofStraight-AStudents①Aprofessorofeducationwhohasconductedmajorstudiesofsuper-achievingstudentsrevealedthattopgradesdonotalwaysgotothebrighteststudents.Accordingtohim,othereducationexpertsandtopstudentsthemselves,itisfarmoreimportantforastudenttoknowhowtomakethemostofhisorherinnateabilities.②Thestudentsatthetopoftheclassattainacademicexcellencebymasteringafewbasicprinciplesthatotherscaneasilylearn.Tobeginwith,topstudentsknowhowtosettheirprioritiesright.Studytimeisnevercompromisedforphonecalls,televisionprogrammesorsnacks.Inotherwords,itisalwaysplacedaboverecreation.Inaddition,topstudentsmakeapointofstudyinganywhereoreverywhere.Atopstudentwhoisalsoatopathletememorisesbiologytermsasheworksouteveryday.Anotherstudentlearnsanewwordeverymorningwhilebrushinghisteeth.Amongallthestudentsinterviewed,everyoneagreedthatstudytimesarestrictlyamatterofpersonalpreference.Somethriveatnightwhenallissilent.Othersprefertostudyassoonastheycomehomefromschoolwhenthelessonsarefreshintheirminds.However,allagreedthatconsistencyisamainfactorifoneistoperformwellatalltimes.③Astudentmustalsolearntobeorganised.Forexample,atopstudentwhoisactivelyinvolvedinhisschoolband,trackandfield,rugbyassociationanddebateteamdisclosedthathekeepshisthingsintheirproperplacesbecausehesimplycannotaffordtime-wastingsearches.Anotherstudentimmediatelyfilestheday’snotesincolour-codedfolderssothattheyareavailableforreviewnearingexaminationtime.Anothertechniqueadvocatedbytopstudentsistoreadeffectively.Thisincludesspeed-reading,improvingone’smemoryorretentionability,andactivelyaskingquestionsthatwillleadtoafullunderstandingoftheauthor’smessage.④itisalsoimportantforstudentstoknowhowtoscheduletheirtime.Theymustknowhowtopaceeachassignmentorprojectaccordingtotheirdailytimetableandworkabilitysothattheymightnotbeoverwhelmedbythetasksathand.Being2abletosettimetablesnotonlyallowsstudentsmoretimetoreviewandpolishtheirwork,italsopreventsthemfromprocrastinating.Topstudentsbelievethatasecretoftheirsuccessisthetakingdownofgoodnotesduringlessonsandusingthemforrevision.Onestudentrevealedthatshewritesnotesfromthetextononesideofhernotebookandthosefromherteachers’lecturesontheotherside.Thisallowshertoreviewbothaspectsofeachlessonatonce.Thestudentalsorevealedthatinsteadofwastingtimewhisperingtofriendsandgettingreadytorushoutoftheclassjustbeforethebellrings,sheusesthosefewminutestojotdownatwoorthree-sentencesummaryofthelesson’sprincipalpoints.Shethenscansthenotestorefreshhermemorybeforethenextday’sclass.⑤Anotherwinningformulawhichteacherspromoteliesinastudent’sabilitytohandinneatwork.Accordingtooneprofessor,thestudentwhoturnsinneatworkisalreadyonthewaytoscoringanA.Intheclassroomcontext,itisequallyimportantforstudentstospeakupandaskquestions.Thisisperhapsthebestwayforastudenttoclarifyanydoubts.Classroomparticipationalsodemonstratesastudent’sintellectualcuriosity.Asastudentconciselyputsit,“Bettergradescomefrombetterunderstanding.”⑥Thevalueofstudyingtogetherwasdemonstratedinanexperimentconductedatonetopuniversity.Thestudyrevealedthatstudentswhodiscussedhomeworkandproblemstogether,trieddifferentapproachesandexplainedtheirsolutionstooneanotherscoredhigherthanthosewholabouredontheirown.Theexperimentalsoilluminatedthevalueofhypotheticaltestsconductedamongthestudentsandontheirown.Thismeansthatstudentsframetentativetestquestionsbasedontheirnotesandgiveeachotherorthemselveswrittenexaminationsthedaybeforeatest.Expertsconfirmedthatstudentswhodevisepossibletestquestionsoftenfindmanyofthesamequestionsduringtherealexaminationandthusscorehigher.⑦Anothertechniqueemployedbytopstudentsistodomorethantheassignedhomework.Astudentrevealedthatifherteachergivesfiveproblems,shewillundertaketen.Inthestudent’swords,“Partoflearningispractising.Themoreyoupractice,themoreyoulearn.”Lastbutnotleast,allexpertsandtopstudents3agreethatthemostimportant“secret”ofsuper-achieversliesinthecrucialcontributionbyparents.Frominfancy,super-achieversweretaughttheimportanceoflearningbytheirparents.Thelattersethighstandardsfortheirchildrenandheldthemtothosestandards.Theyencouragedtheirchildrenintheirstudiesbutdidnotundertaketheworkforthem.Insteadofpressuringtheirchildren,theseparentswerealwaysloving,gentleandtookpainstoexplainandmotivate.Theyimpressedthelessonsofresponsibilityontheirchildren,andthechildrendelivered.