How to Balance Social and Academic Life

Arriving to school early can get you ahead. It may not sound like it can help at all, but getting your work done by showing up to class, and not spending the two hours in ISS wont give you a big fat 0 on the grading scale. If you are in In School Suspension the teachers don't even have to give you the work you missed. Also if you do not have time to be with your friends after school or on the weekends you can arrive to school early and hang-out with them before school starts,it will help you catch up on your gossip or the game you missed last night.

# When in class, take good notes. Especially when lecturing, you should be taking good, readable notes. Lecture time isn't meant for sleeping. Take neat notes because when you go back to read them, you want to know what they say.Make sure that you sit next to someone you can talk to not enough to get you in trouble but enough to help you stay awake or give you the notes you missed the other day.

# Ask questions. You won't look stupid, someone is bound to have the same question as you do. You would be hurting yourself if you didn't ask it. If you're ashamed to ask a question to the teacher make sure you have a friend in the class so you don't have to ask the teacher.Sometimes its better to get an explanation from someone who can use a different tone or vocabulary.

# Do homework when it is assigned. Don't wait until the next day to do it, because if you have questions about it, then you can go to your teacher and find out the answer.Make sure to do your homework before the weekend so you can hang out with your friends and go to that party you were going to skip because you had to much work.

# On days you don't have homework, study for something else. Do review problems for the up coming test. Just because your teachers doesn't give you the date of your next test, it is always good to study ahead of time, that way you know that you understand it.If you do not wish to go ahead with your work you can go hang-out with your friends but also try having at least one academic conversation

# Stay after school to do extra work. When you have work that you don't know how to do, just stay after with the teacher and let them help you with any work you are having trouble with. When you have a lot extra work it also is good to be with your friends so while doing all the work you can also have fun. Sometimes you need distractions to do the best work.

== Tips ==

*Never cram for a test. It is better if you don't cram the day before a test because you won't remember what you studied. If you do forget to study, Just go with your gut.

*Always keep on top of your grades and turn everything in on time. If you don't, your teacher could have made a mistake and no one will know until you get your report card.

*ALWAYS DO EXTRA CREDIT. You know if your teacher is giving it to you then something is bound to be hard. Even if you think that the class that is giving out the extra credit is easy, it is always a chance to get your grade higher.

*Use class time wisely. If your teacher gives you a two hour block class for "free time" use that time to do work, that way when you get home, you have little or no work to do. Then you can have the whole night to hang with your friends.

*Never procrastinate on any assignment, it will catch on at the end when it's too late.

*Try the best you can and don't give up easily when it seems to hard. You will be thankful in the end!

*When doing a project, often go the teacher, to make sure it meets their criteria.