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I was a passive student. I went to school, did the minimum of what I had to do, and didn't worry about the rest. Sometimes I did extra credit, but only if it was challenging or interesting. I was a good student, A's up into high school until the classes got more difficult, then I got by on B's. I went to college and kept up the same study habits. I struggled through a lot of my courses, but as long as I was getting a B average it didn't bother me. Then I went on to graduate school. I had a difficult time getting into one and I failed one of my first classes. That was my wake up call. I couldn't stand by and watch my education go by in front of me.

Being an active student means being interested in actually absorbing what you are learning. It doesn't only apply to formal education either. It can be as simple as remembering the facts from a book you just read and applying them to other information. When going over material you are learning, whether on your own or in class, be sure you are connecting the dots. Don't just memorize facts or answer the homework questions. Tell yourself the story. Every lesson has a narrative, follow it, from beginning to end. I regret not knowing what I was taught in middle school or high school. It hurt me severely when I actually wanted to do more than get by.

Things you can do to become an active student include:

1)Ask questions no matter how uncomfortable you are raise your hand and ask the stupid question that's floating around in your mind. Pay attention to the answer. Write it down even. Ask a follow up if you don't understand the answer. If you truly can not do it in front of people then talk to the teacher after class. There are quite a few teachers in my past who probably think of me as "that odd girl who asked odd questions when everyone else left". I've seen some of them years later and it turns out they appreciated the thought that went into them!

2)Read, read, read don't just read the assigned readings, reread your notes, read back through your written answers, write out the basic facts from your reading and reread through those. This will all help at test time and also increases long term retention.

3)Do your homework sounds simple enough but you'd be surprised how many students forget this. Also, be sure to turn it in! There's nothing worse than spending an hour on something and getting no credit for it. I wrote an essay once that would have won an award, but I flaked on turning it in on time. My English teacher said it was the best writing he'd seen from an adult let alone an 8th grader, if only I had turned it in!

4)Go over old tests learn from your mistakes. My grades improved a full letter grade when I started doing this. Not only do you start to see patterns of how you trip yourself up on tests, but you learn the basic material you missed which helps build a stronger foundation as you move through the class.

5)Talk to the teacher another uncomfortable thing for some students, but necessary, especially in large classes. When I was teaching I had a student make appointments with me just to talk about the class topics. He had been told this same advice about meeting all his teachers. It was a little odd at first, but we always eventually got around to something in the lessons that helped him on the exams. This also gives you insight to how the teacher thinks and can help you when answering essay questions.

Learn more about this author, Alicia M Prater PhD.
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