The Secrets To Making Good Grades (1983)

[Music] the next time you go to class, look around you. You may notice that there are a few people in the room who look a little, shall we say, tense. Could be that what you're seeing are the insiders. people who found out that the only real game going on at school is the learning game in spite of what it seems like. See, the only game that schools are really set up to offer is the learning game. And to the degree that you forget that, you, my friend, are a loser. Because if you're in school right now, that's the game you're in, whether you know it or not. Learn to play it while you're here. Because once you're out, you can't play it anymore. And that's what this film's about. Giving you the insidider's edge, the successful person's edge. The tips you're about to get are not in general circulation. No, these are the secrets, the secret advantages, tips which achievers usually keep to themselves. The kids whose stories you're about to hear didn't come to school knowing these tricks. They figured them out for themselves and used them because they worked. You don't have to use any of them. But don't say nobody ever told [Music] you. My problem was that I always got sleepy in class, so my notes weren't too good. and I'd rationalized to myself and say, "Well, I'll read the book real well and make up for it." Well, then I got this part-time job which kind of cut away at my study time. So, I decided that the best thing I could do is when I get to class is just to concentrate and give it my all, you know, since I had to be there [Music] anyway. The first thing I do is I get there early and I sit up close. When I can hear and see well and I know the teacher can see me, I tend not to get sleepy. While I'm waiting for class to begin, I read over my notes from the last class and I try to guess what's going to be talked about. I try to get my mind in the place where the teacher's coming from. See, I think the lecture is definitely the most important part of the course because the person who gives the lecture gives the grade. You know what I mean? I pretend it's kind of a James Bondian type thing and I try to figure out the way that the teachers think. You know, what they think is important and how they're going to lay it on you at midterm. The minute the lecture begins, I try to put everything else out of my mind and prepare for battle. You have to be ready because usually the first words out of the teacher's mouth will be a description of what they're going to be talking about. And that's what you want to get down right away as a title in that day's notes. We'll be continuing our discussion of death of a salesman today. And first, I want to look at some of the issues brought up by Miller in this play. I've only got this one hour and I want to make it work for me. So, I listen real carefully for clues to what's important. Always keeping that midterm in mind. Now, there's certain expressions which are tip offs, but you have to listen. But most important is the fact that there's one most important. Willie Lohan is a man who simply follows wholeheartedly the ideals and values of a society obsessed by success. obsessed with success. As you can see, I haven't written every word. There isn't enough time. I just make sure I get the right idea. Okay. Going back over Miller's life, we can see that there were three major influences. One, ah, there's another one. His lower middle-class Jewish background. two, the guidance of his English instructor at the University of Michigan, Kenneth Row, R O we and three, his own married life in Brooklyn raising two children. Oh. Uh-oh. Now, you're bound to miss something that sounds important. So, leave a blank for it and go on with your notetaking. And after class, go up and ask the teacher what it was. Yes, admit you missed it. Get used to talking to the teacher. It's hard at first, but you'll get a lot of free help if you do. I know I did. The Jewish community back home. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know what it was. It was uh his married life in Brooklyn raising his two children. Okay. Thank you. Byebye. Well, if if I could tell you the one thing that made a difference for me in turning C into an A on the final, it'd be reading my notes over after every class. Somewhere I remember hearing that 80% of everything you learn is forgotten in seven days if you don't look at it again. So I got in the habit of of looking at my notes right after class. It only takes a minute then because it's very fresh in your mind at that point. I underline the important stuff with a colored pen if I haven't done that before. And then I put a star by the things I think might be uh test questions. See everything I do in my notetaking is aimed at that final exam. And and when I do keep that in mind, I find that I don't really have any trouble. [Music] Okay, lectures are one thing. You go to a certain place at a certain time. You know, it's all been laid out for you. But reading assignments are something else. You've got to do it all on your own. There's a way to read a book, and I fought it for years, just like I fought school for years. I used to kind of sneak up on a book, just reading the assigned pages. I think I was afraid of it. Well, you don't have to do that. When you first get your text, begin reading it from the very first page. Read the title, the author's name, and the copyright date. Read the introduction and the preface. Why? because you're searching for clues to make the reading easier and these are the places you can find them. The table of contents will give you an outline of what the author thinks the main elements of the subject are. More important, it may also be what your teacher considers the main elements. A lot of times, a teacher will use these as a basis for test questions. And also, if you're stuck for a term paper topic, these would all be good possibilities. When you get ready to actually read the assignment, skim over the pages first. A good way to do this is to read the first and last sentence of every paragraph, then go back and read it. I try to read as fast as I can without missing anything. That way, I don't give my mind the chance to wander. When I want to mark the important parts in a book, by the way, I use a soft pencil so it can be erased later. I put a line in the margin next to the part I want to remember. And if it's especially important, I make a double line. Again, I look particularly closely at the first sentence of every paragraph. I try to find the stuff that relates to what the teacher has been giving us in the lectures. And then I look for the parts that clarify something I didn't quite understand. I mark the parts I don't get at all so that I can ask the teacher about it in the class. And then when I'm finished, I make a quick review of the marked passages. I'm a slow reader. So last semester when I was assigned five textbooks all over 500 pages, I knew I had to work out some kind of system for getting the reading done. So what I did was I figured I could only read one subject for about like 20 minutes at a time before my mind began to wander. So I like divided up my study time into 20 minute periods. I figured the most I would read would be 3 hours a day. So I drew up this kind of schedule where I put nine boxes below each day. And that shows a reading periods of 20 minutes each. And then when I read for a 20-minut session, I write in the name of the book and the page numbers. That way I can see my progress. And 20 minutes is a short enough period of time that I don't put it off the way I used to when I try to read all night. I don't know what works for me. United States. I get sleepy a lot when I'm reading. So I made up some ways to keep awake. One way is pacing and reading aloud to myself. Another is to jog or do situps but with a 5minut time limit. Another is to change the subject I'm reading and go back to it later. And sometimes I actually put my head down on the desk and try to take a short nap. As you may have gathered, I use a timer when I study. That way, the time doesn't get away from me. I also had to face the fact that if I was going to go for A's and B's, I couldn't study with the TV or stereo going. If my brother had it on and I couldn't do anything about it, I'd just have to pack up and go to the library. But there are other ways to keep yourself alert and spark some interest into a subject that basically bores you, like reading an article about it in a newspaper magazine, or reading something about a person who's actually working in the field, or even considering it as a possible career for yourself. I've tried all these things and at different times they've all worked because for me the problem is to stay awake, stay [Music] interested. When finals come around, and they always do, I used to panic and just start going crazy trying to reread my text from page one. And then, of course, I couldn't finish it. So, I go in for the exam knowing a lot about some things and virtually nothing about most of the stuff. So, I got onto this system that really works. I start by looking at the topics of each of the lectures I've been to and asking myself what I remember about it. Just the subject of that day's notes, not the notes themselves. I cover them over. Then, I write down all the points I can think of. When I force myself to remember, I kind of flush out what I know. Then I compare what I've written with the facts that I've underlined and starred in my [Music] notes. Oh, brother. Okay. Now I know what I don't know. So I study that. The next step is to get your textbook and take the passages that you marked and turn them into questions like this. The Massachusetts Constitution, like the Virginia Constitution approved in 1776, is divided into two parts. a declaration of rights in a frame of government. Let's see the questions might be what are the major parts of the constitution of Massachusetts. This is like what [Music] other constitution then go back and see if you can answer them. To study this way takes guts. There's no doubt about it. You're putting yourself in the position of the teacher and you have to face finding out what you don't know. And that's scary. But the amazing thing is is that it does work. On the day of the exam, even though I'm prepared, I tend to get nervous and that I mess up even on the questions I know. So, I know I have to do everything I can to build my self-confidence. I want to approach the exam with the feeling that it'll be easy and that I really will do well. Okay, this is what it's all been for. I don't want to blow it now. First, read all the questions very carefully. then answer the ones I know and then go back and do the others as best as I can. Don't lose track of time. Keep breathing deeply and go for it. Okay, let's stop here and go over what we've been hearing. The game is getting good grades. The playing field is here in the examination room. The winners know some things you may not know, and this is what they've been trying to tell you. First, go to every lecture. The lecture is the most important source of information because the person who gives the lecture makes up the test. As you take notes, listen for clues which tip off potential test questions. After class is over, spend a few minutes reviewing your notes. Underline and star points that have been [Music] emphasized. Get to know your textbook. Try to keep an overview of where you're headed in the book. Skim reading assignments first and then read with a pencil, marking main points and reviewing them afterward. Break down your reading assignments into 20 minute segments, keeping track of the pages you've read on a chart. Try different ways of keeping alert during your study time, like reading aloud, taking short exercise breaks, and switching subjects when you get tired. Prepare for exams by asking yourself questions from these marked sections of your textbook and the underlined and starred points in your notes. Write the answers down and keep at it until you get them right. On exam day, try to push doubts out of your mind and take the test calmly. What you've just seen are a few of the secrets, the techniques of becoming a success in school. to make them work for you will require more than anything a change of attitude, growing up, a willingness to make the most of your time. If you have the stuff to do it, the right stuff, and you probably do, you'll eventually find yourself among that select group of people who have learned how to learn. And for people like you, there'll be no closed doors. [Music]