Do Well in a High School English Class

If reading and writing don't come naturally to you, high school English classes can seem difficult and intimidating. Putting forth your best effort both inside and outside of class will show your teacher that you genuinely care about your education and your grades. Incorporating helpful studying and learning strategies will assist you in acing your English class.

Steps

Being Effective Outside the Classroom

  1. Set aside time to read for fun. Spend at least 20 minutes reading at home every day. You will be amazed by how much vocabulary you will learn and how much better your writing will be. You don't have to limit your reading to literature. Read anything you like: newspapers, blogs, history books, poems. The wider variety of reading you do, the better.[1]
  2. Take frequent breaks. When doing homework, take a short break about every 20 minutes. Stand up, stretch, walk around, rest your eyes, and drink a glass of water. Short, rejuvenating breaks are better than long ones that distract you or make you groggy.[2]
  3. Pace your deadlines. This means not waiting until the last minute to do assignments and giving yourself plenty of time before the due dates to review and revise your work. If an assignment is due the next day, don’t wait until after dinner to begin doing it. If it is due in two weeks, do not wait until the middle of the second week. Start assignments as soon as possible.[3]
  4. Avoid doing too much at once. Set clear limits for your homework. Don’t try to read an entire novel overnight. Doing too much at once will overwhelm you and cause burnout.[4]
  5. Don't cram the night before a test. Cramming almost never works, even for people who say they work best under pressure. Pace yourself and study in the few days leading up to the test, rather than only the night before or morning of the exam. Remember that good rest and exercise make for a clear mind.[5]

Making the Most of School

  1. Stay for extra help after school. If you want to improve your writing, then ask the teacher or a tutor for extra help. Your teacher will appreciate that you took the initiative to ask for help. Being proactive about your grades will work in your favor.
  2. Bring a notebook and pen to class. Take notes on what your teacher is saying so you can reference them later. Pay particular attention to anything the teacher writes on the board or shows on an overhead projector.
  3. Pay attention in class. Don’t play games on your phone or check social media. It is rude and will irritate your teacher. Maintaining eye contact and putting down your phone shows your teacher that you are listening.
  4. Write due dates down if you find those dates hard to remember. Get a planner to keep track of your assignments and due dates across classes. Use your planner also to schedule extracurricular activities around your scheduled homework times.
  5. Keep a running list of tasks and goals. Give yourself reasonable deadlines to meet them, and check them off when done. Put these tasks in the order of most important to least important, and work on them in this order. Having them prioritized like this will help you with your homework time management.
  6. Don’t try to do everything on your own. Seek out friends in your English class and set up a study or reading group. If your teacher allows it, share your essays with your classmates ahead of time and ask for comments/feedback from them.
  7. Ask for help on major assignments. Almost every high school English class will require you to write essays. The requirements for these assignments will vary by teacher, so you will want to ask your teacher specifically what they are looking for. How many pages do they want your essay to be? Do they want citations at the end? Do you get to pick your topic or will a topic be assigned to you? Which of the three standard types of essays (expository/argumentative, narrative, or descriptive) are you writing?
    • For an expository or argumentative essay assignment you will be asked to investigate a particular topic and create an argument or take a stance on that topic. Expository essays are generally shorter than argumentative essays and are more common in introductory classes, while argumentative essays are more common in advanced, capstone-type classes. An essay in either of these categories might, for example, ask you to research capital punishment in the United States and explain why you might take a stance either for or against it.[6]
    • For the narrative essay assignment your teacher will be looking for more storytelling. An example prompt for an essay in this category might be to write about your greatest accomplishment or worst fear. These tend to be very personal and anecdotal essays.[7]
    • For the descriptive essay assignment your teacher will expect you to describe an experience, person, object, or place in detail, usually in a five paragraph format. This essay style often allows for more creative flexibility for the writer, depending on your topic. For example, describing a favorite childhood toy will be discussed differently by different students because each student had a different experience.[8]

Impressing Your Teacher

  1. Ask questions. Teacher enjoy answering your questions about the day’s lesson because it shows you were paying attention. If you ask questions, you will better understand what’s going on in class. If you don't know the answer to a question, ask! It shows that you are engaged in the material.[3]
    • If you’re uncomfortable speaking up in class, talk to your teacher after class about something that you thought was interesting or was confusing. This will clarify the issue in your mind and allow for the teacher to explain the concept to you privately.
    • Try to preface your question with direct quotations from the assigned reading. The more specific the question, the better it will be. For example, when Dickens writes “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” at the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities, is he referring specifically to London and Paris in that order? Or does he mean it was the best and worst of times in both places?
  2. Participate in class discussions about the books your class has been reading. Support your opinions with quotes from the book, or make connections to other books the class has read. Most teachers give participation grades, and these can really help to bring up your final grade.
  3. Attend class every day. Cutting class will lower your grade. You will miss out on valuable class material and will be behind when you decide to return to class. It’s also inconsiderate to your teacher.
  4. Pay attention to directions. Ignoring directions on an assignment will usually hurt your grade. At minimum, it will annoy your teacher. For example, if he or she assigns a 3 page paper, don’t hand in a 2 page paper with extra large font and margins. Take pride in your work and take care to fulfill the assignment or paper requirements.
  5. Turn in every assignment. Skipping assignments is a sure way to get a low grade in any class. Be sure to turn in all assignments, even if you think you didn't do your best work. Getting at least some points on a paper or other assignment is far better than earning zero points.
  6. Ask your teacher if there are additional books you can read on a particular subject. For example, Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield is often assigned in high school English classes. It is one of the most studied novels of the nineteenth century. You might ask your teacher if there are particular studies or interpretations of the novel that they recommend?
    • You might also ask if the teacher has any recommendations by a particular author If you enjoyed one of their texts in class. If you liked David Copperfield, for example, your teacher might suggest Oliver Twist or Great Expectations as further Dickens readings for you. Asking about further reading shows the teacher that you genuinely are interested in the subject matter and the class.
  7. Don’t resort to flattery. Remember that teachers are busy, too. You don’t have to be the “teacher’s pet” to win over your teacher. All you need to do is to be attentive, hardworking, and interested. Work hard on your assignments and participate constructively in class, and your teacher will be impressed.

Tips

  • Most teachers are impressed by thoughtfulness and genuine effort. Try to show that you have been thinking about the class material and that you can relate it to other subjects like current or historical events.

Warnings

  • 'Never cheat or plagiarize! If you are caught cheating or plagiarizing, you will receive an automatic zero for the assignment and will probably be referred for administrative disciplinary action. While it’s possible to bounce back and still get a decent grade with a zero on an assignment, it is nearly impossible to overcome the negative effects of a plagiarism accusation.

Things You'll Need

  • Pen/pencil
  • Notebook
  • Textbook
  • Planner

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.designedforlearning.co.uk/can-you-learn-from-reading/?doing_wp_cron=1456394222.2061710357666015625000
  2. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/take-a-break
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://richmondpulse.org/2015/09/01/10-tips-to-help-you-succeed-in-high-school/
  4. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/take-a-break
  5. ↑ http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/cramming-for-a-test-don-t-do-it-237733
  6. ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/05/
  7. ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/04/
  8. ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/03/
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