Secrets of Straight-A Students

They arent always more intelligent, but they do work smarter. Heres how
by Aleli Balagtas

Everyone knows about straight-A students. We see them frequently in TV sitcoms and in movies like Revenge of the Nerds. They get high grades, all right, but only by becoming dull grinds. Their noses always stuck in a book. Theyre klutzes at sports and dweebs when it comes to the opposite sex.

-1How, then, do we account for Dilip Ninan and Ribeka Kim? Niman, co-head of the student council at Aden Bowman Collegiate in Saskatoon, is on the senior basketball, football and track teams. He also ranks consistently among the honours students at his school. Kim, now a first-year student at Simon Fraser University, was on the volleyball and softball teams at Gladstone Secondary School in Vancouver. She was senior vice-president of the student council, tutored other students, and served on the dance and graduation committees. Meanwhile, she maintained a 4.0 grade-point average meaning As in every subject and graduated as class valedictorian. How do high-achievers like Ninan and Kim do it? Brains arent the only answer. What people tend to think of as intelligence is probably overrated, says Daniel P. Keating, a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, who has conducted research on student high achievers. More important, says Keating, are interrelated factors that include motivation, family and school support, and sheer effort. In fact, according to Keating some students who score high on traditional measures of intelligence such as IQ tests become bored in school and dont put in the effort. They can wind up developing bad habits and fail to live up to their potential. Putting in the time isnt the whole story either. I have friends who study much longer then I do, says Ian MacIntyre, a first-year student at Saint Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., who was student council president and graduated in the top three percent of his class at Fredericton High School last year. And yet they dont produce the marks because of bad study habits. Indeed, some high-achieving students
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actually do fewer hours of homework than their lower-scoring classmates. The kids at the top of the class get there by mastering some basic techniques that others can readily learn. Here, according to education experts and students themselves, are some secrets of straight-A students: 1. Set priorities: Top students brook no intrusions on study time. Once the books are open or the computer is booted up, phone calls go unanswered, TV shows unwatched, snacks ignored. Study is business; business comes before recreation. 2. Study anywhere or everywhere: Heidi James, now a firstyear student at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., is a top graduate of Charlottetown Rural High School, where she was president of her schools chapter of Students Against Drunk Driving. To learn biology terms, she made cue cards to carry around with her; when she had a free moment, she pulled them out. Lisa Helps maintained a straight-A average in grade 12 at Central Secondary School in London while playing soccer, acting as student council secretary and directing the school choir. She learns new words and their meanings by writing them on her bedroom wall with a thick black marker! Among the students interviewed, study times were strictly a matter of personal preference. Some worked at night when the house was quiet. Others preferred the morning. Still others studied as soon as they came home from school when the work was fresh in their minds. Most agreed, however, on the need for consistency. Do a little bit every day. That keeps you on top of the subject and makes it easier in the long run, says Sherri Warren, who shared the grade 12 award for top academic achievement at F. H. Collins Secondary School in Whitehorse, Yukon, last year.

-23. Get organized: Anne-Marie Buck, last years valedictorian and yearbook editor-in-chief at Laval Catholic High School near Montreal, kept a binder for each school subject, with notes, practice problems and tests placed neatly in chronological order. Jennifer Lilly, first-year student at Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax and former straight-A student at Gonzaga High School in St. Johns, New Foundland, filed tests, papers and assignments by subject in a box in her room. By referring to her school agenda by date, she could easily find what she needed when reviewing for exams. Even students who dont have a private study area remain organized. A backpack or drawer keeps essential supplies together and cuts down on timewasting searches. 4. Learn how to read: In her reading, Jennifer Lilly highlights important concepts to help remember them. As she reads, she also pauses at various points in the text and restates aloud concepts she has just covered. I try to put it in my own words, she says. That way, its easier to understand. Joan Fleet, co-author with Fiona Goodchild and Richard Zajchowski of Learning for Success: Skills and Strategies for Canadian Students, points out that academic reading should not be like reading a mystery novel. She suggests that students first look at how a textbook is organized by checking its table of contents and headings. I encourage students to write the chapter headings down on paper so they have an outline of the chapter before they begin to read. In his book Getting Straight As, Gordon W. Green, Jr., says the secret of reading well is to be an active reader one who continually asks questions that lead to a full understanding of the authors message.
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For University of Toronto first-year student Courtney Gibson, a top student at Oakridge Secondary School in London last year, making notes on another sheet of paper helps him remember the information. When he has time, Gibson also tries to read ahead in class. For textbooks which contain dense information, Ian MacIntyre stops after each paragraph, rereads it and jots down the main point. That way, he says, he learns the concepts. I dont memorize. Thats not learning; its just regurgitation. 5. Schedule your time: Dilip Ninan saves time on research projects by breaking the work down into smaller components. He reads one book at a time, taking notes on loose-leaf paper. Later, he reshuffles the notes according to his outline. He saves the actual writing for one long push over several hours. He allots enough time to let someone else proofread it and give him feedback. Finally, the polished paper is ready the day before its due. Of course, even the best students procrastinate sometimes. But when that happens, they face up to it. Admits Ribeka Kim, who tends to put off long research projects: I really dont start them soon enough. I find myself scrambling at the end. Still, she always makes the deadline. 6. Listen in class and take good notes: Sherri Warren counts paying close attention in class among the most important keys to learning. I attend my classes not just in body but in mind, Warren says, I try to focus and concentrate during that time, and use that time. Lisa Helps agrees, and relies more on class notes and handouts than the textbook to study for tests. Teachers tend to put more emphasis on what theyve talked about and what weve discussed in class, she says. Further, in Learning for Success, Fleet, Goodchild and Zajchowski

-3recommend that By doing some kind of active but brief review of your lecture notes on or near the day of that lecture, you can save many hours of relearning. When the teacher uses the first few minutes of class to summarize the lesson from the day before, Ian MacIntyre does not tune out. Instead, he finds it a good time to ask the teacher questions about points on which he is not clear. 7. Clean up your act: Neat papers make a better impression. If a student writes clearly with no spelling mistakes, the reader gets a better feeling about that paper, Fleet says. 8. Speak up: Jennifer Lilly used to be shy about asking questions. Then she realized if she didnt understand something, there were probably other students who didnt. Class participation goes beyond merely asking questions. Its a matter of showing intellectual curiosity. In a history class, Dilip Ninan felt a negative portrayal of Christianity during the Middle Ages was unfair, so he tried to point out some positive aspects. This led to a discussion of Jesuits and missionary work. Once you articulate what you think, it forces you to take a stand on what you believe, he says. 9. Helping others helps yourself: I tutor people in math, says Jennifer Lilly. Its a means of review for me. Lisa Helps also finds that explaining things to others reinforces information for herself. I know what Im talking about when I can explain something to others. 10. Test yourself: When studying for exams, Ribeka Kim anticipates questions that a teacher might ask, and I make sure I know the answers. Experts confirm that students who make up possible test questions often find many of the same questions on the exam and thus score higher. 11. Do more than youre asked: If Ninan feels he needs the help, he schedules extra time for assistance from a teacher. He also does outside reading in the same subject covered in some of his classes. 12. Use what you learn in class when you leave: When studying government in her history course, Cari Duggan a top graduate of J.L. Ilsley High School in Halifax last year, who was kept busy with the schools model parliament and the citys youth advisory board tried to relate what she learned about government to current issues. When learning about corporate structure in a business course, she applied the concepts to an organization with which she was familiar the prom committee she chaired. Studying bare facts can be boring, Duggan says, so I try to find something in it that interests me and build on that. Thats one of the most crucial things, that level of interest, Fleet says. She observes that successful students dont switch off when they leave the class; rather, they apply to the world around them what they have learned. You have to get involved. It has to mean something to you. Finally, one of the most important secrets of the high-achievers is not so secret. For almost all the students, the contribution of their parents was crucial. From childhood, the parents set high standards for their kids and held them to those standards. They stressed the importance of education and encourage their sons and daughters in their studies, but did not do the work for them. In short, the parents impressed the lessons of responsibility on their kids, and the kids delivered.

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