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SecretsofAStudentsEdwinKiester&SallyValentineKiesterAlex,nowafirst-yearstudentinnaturalsciencesatCambridge,playedfootballforhisschoolinManchesteranddirectedtheschoolproductionofaplay—butheleftschoolwithfiveA's.Amanda,studyingEnglishatBristolUniversity,actedinplaysatherschoolandplayedtennisregularly.YetshestillmanagedtogetfourA's.HowdoAstudentslikethesedoit?Brainsaren'ttheonlyanswer.Themostgiftedstudentsdonotnecessarilyperformbestinexams.Knowinghowtomakethemostofone'sabilitiescountsformuchmore.Hardworkisn'tthewholestoryeither.Someofthesehigh-achievingstudentsactuallyputinfewerhoursthantheirlower-scoringclassmates.Thestudentsatthetopoftheclassgettherebymasteringafewbasictechniquesthatotherscaneasilylearn.Here,accordingtoeducationexpertsandstudentsthemselves,arethesecretsofAstudents.1.Concentrate!Topstudentsallownointerruptionsoftheirstudytime.Oncethebooksareopen,phonecallsgounanswered,TVunwatchedandnewspapersunread.“Thisdoesn'tmeanignoringimportantthingsinyourlife,Amandaexplains.“Itmeansplanningyourstudytimesothatyoucanconcentrate.IfI'mworriedaboutasickfriend,IcallherbeforeIstartmyhomework..ThenwhenIsitdowntostudy,Icanreallyfocus.2.Studyanywhere-oreverywhere.AuniversityprofessorinArizonaassignedtotutorunderachievingcollegeathletes,recallsarunnerwhoexerciseddaily.Hepersuadedhimtousethetimetomemorizebiologyterms.Anotherstudentstuckavocabularylistonhisbathroomwallandlearnedanewwordeverydaywhilebrushinghisteeth.3.Organizeyourmaterials.Atschool,Tomplayedbasketball.“Iwastoobusytowastetimelookingforapenciloramissingnotebook.IkepteverythingjustwhereIcouldgetmyhandsonit,”hesayssubject-onefortheday'sassignments,theotherforhomeworkcompletedandreadytohandin.Adrawerkeepsessentialstogetherandcutsdownontime-wastingsearches.4.Organizeyourtime.Whenateachersetalongessay,Alexwouldspendacoupleofdaysreadingroundthesubjectandmakingnotes,thenhe'ddoaroughdraftandwriteuptheessay.Hewouldaimtoaroughdraftandwriteuptheessay.Hewouldaimtofinishacoupleofdaysbeforetheassignmentwasduesothatifittooklongerthanexpected,he'dstillmeetthedeadline.Amandastucktoastudyschedulethatincludedbreakseverytwohours.“Tryingtostudywhenyou'reovertiredisn'tsmart,”sheadvises.“Evenashortbreaktostretchorgetsomefreshaircanworkwonders.”5.Learnhowtoread.“Iusedtospendhoursgoingthroughirrelevantmaterial,”Amandaremembers.“ButthenIgotusedtoreadingquickly;ifthefirstsentenceofaparagraphwasn'trelevant,I'dmoveontothenextparagraph.”“ThebestcourseIevertook,”saysanOklahomastudent,“wasspeed-reading.Inotonlyincreasedmywordsperminutebutalsolearnedtolookatabook'stableofcontentsandpicturesfirst.Then,whenIbegantoread,IhadasenseofthematerialandIretainedalotmore.”Tosuchstudents,thesecretofgoodreadingistobeanactivereader-onewhokeepsaskingquestionsthatleadtoafullunderstandingofthematerialbeingread.6.Takegoodnotes.“Beforewritinganything,Idividemypageintotwoparts,”saysAmanda,“theleftpartisaboutathirdofthepagewide;theright,two-thirds.Iwritemynotesinthewiderpart,andputdownthemainideasontheleft.Duringrevision,thisisveryusefulbecauseyoucanseeimmediatelywhythematerialisrelevant,ratherthanbeingworriedbyagreatmassofinformation,”Justbeforetheendoflessonbellrings,moststudentsclosetheirbooks,putawaypapers,talktofriendsandgetreadytoleave.Butasmartstudentusesthosefewminutestowritetwoorthreesentencesaboutthelesson'smainpoints,whichhescansbeforethenextclass.7.Askquestions.“Ifyouaskquestions,youknowatoncewhetheryouhavegotthepointornot,”saysAlex.Classparticipationisamatterofshowingintellectualcuriosity.Inalectureoneconomics,forexample,curiouswouldaskhowtheChineseeconomycouldbebothsocialistandmarket-driven,thusinterestingthemselvesnotonlyinwhats,butalsoinwhysandhows.8.Studytogether.ThevalueofworkingtogetherwasshowninanexperimentattheUniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley.Agraduatestudenttherewhoobservedafirst-yearcalculuscoursefoundthatAsian-Americanstudentsdiscussedhomework,trieddifferentapproachesandexplainedtheirsolutionstooneanotherwhiletheothersstudiedalone,spentmostoftheirtimereadingthetext,andtriedthesameapproachtimeaftertimeevenifitwasunsuccessful.Afterall,thesecretsofAstudentsarenotsosecret.YoucanlearnandmasterthemandbecomeanAstudent,too.