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Getting good grades in high school is different from getting good grades in earlier levels of school. In some ways it isn't much different than learning how to get good grades in college, except when you are in high school, you don't know what college is like, hence you don't know. I will offer some of my advice to the current high school student that will hopefully help them get good grades in class.

If you are a freshman, or a sophomore, I regret to inform you that the majority of your good grades will come from hard work. In general, underclassmen are treated a lot more like kids, with stricter rules, and more enforcement of classroom expectations. I remember in my senior year I had a teacher for a class that I had him for as a freshman, and he was so different toward me in my senior year than as a freshman. As long as the younger kids weren't around we were on a first name basis at times.

There is still hope though. If you can start building some sort of rapport with your teachers, it will be a good way to get some sort of slack cut for you, and maybe get a few points along the way on tests. If you show your teacher that you are trying, and come in to get extra help, or do things to help students when you are in class, you can be seen as a leader. Sure, some may call you a teachers pet, but honestly, we all need people to step up and go the extra mile. Its a great life skill, as well as a good way to earn better grades.

If you are a junior or a senior, it is time to use the brownie points you earned in earlier years to your advantage. If you have done things right in your first two years, you will get rewarded in your second two years. Sure, you still have to try to some degree, but as long as you do your homework, and get even decent grades on your tests, you can get better grades on your report card.

What you have to know is that teachers care more about what you learn, not really as much about the grade they give. I had teachers who were really tough, and demanded a lot out of us during the year, but if we followed his lead, we would get good grades on our report cards. This was because most teachers cared more about preparing us for college than whether or not we read pages 4-9 in our Scarlet Letter books. There was always class time to read the books, and go over the material.

IF you are a senior, just show up, and don't upset your teacher. I had one teacher who despite the fact I got a 60 on a test, still gave me a B+ on my report card. Despite the fact that all I did was talk about the Bills during class in the back of the room, he saw that I had potential, and wasn't disrupting the class. He liked me too which helped, but again, it was an elective class that seniors had to take, and I wasn't any good at economics at the time. Basically those factors helped me get a good grade, because nobody is looking to destroy your record when you are trying to get into college.

So there you have it, you need to play the game my friends. Do your best work in years one and two, and develop the respect of your teachers. Most of the stuff you learn in high school you can find on Wikipedia, so if you don't pay attention or just fall asleep a lot like I did, you can make it up after school. Once you put in the effort for the first two years, you can use the second two years to network with teachers, and focus on getting into college.

Learn more about this author, Cody Hodge.
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