Welcome to the International School of Curitiba. Once again I start as a sophomore at ISC. The most of the students are happy to be there, because of all their friends. For the rest it is just one year closer too the end of school. Last year, 10th grade as well, I started the year with good grades but had to repeat the grade because of my lack of studying. This years semester is obviously more easy because I saw already everything we are studying. My grades are high and I realized that class is much more fun if you are good at the subject.
Talking more specifically about last semester. It was much better than my first semester in 2012. My English skills improved a lot and I finally, after all those years, learned how to study correctly. I never believed that class can make fun until I started to know what the whole subject is about. I can discuss with my classmates about different things and make my mother proud with good grades. Though I got some bad grades because there was still the lack of studying, which I changed really quick. Summed up: My last semester was one of the most productive and educational semester I ever had.
One of the most important things to study the right way is "Time Management". I remember back when my English teacher helped me a lot in school. She saw that I had the capacity of getting straight A's but she knew that I did not study at all. One time she called me to her room and started talking with me about time management. I listened carefully but my brain blocked those conversations about school automatically. She gave me a stack of papers with time management on it. I took it with me and left it in my locker for a few weeks. One day I found it again and thought about actually trying it out. I started to fill in the blanks with my activities. First I would come home from school and exercise. I would play basketball with my friends or go to the gym to free my brain from all the stress. Then I would start to do my homework because I am relaxed and I have enough energy to concentrate. After that I would eat dinner and watch a bit TV or play some video games and after 3/4 hour I would study for the subjects I have the next day. Guess what happened... It worked perfectly. I realized that the new way of studying was really effective and helped a lot. I want to thank my English teacher Ms. Terrell a lot for helping me during those hard times.
To pay attention and take notes in class is the alpha and omega in the world of studying. You will do very bad if you only look in books and close them again without written anything. My first semester in 2013, I started to take notes in class. I did not have to be essays, only short bullet points about the most important things, the teacher said. It will help you so much when you are at home and you try to study but you forgot what the teacher said about a topic. But hey, you got your notes. You just have to open them and take a look at those little bullet points you have written in class and you immediately know what the teacher taught you. Most of the time i use the app Evernote or Google Drive to take my notes. It has a good overview and it is quick and simple to use. I only can recommend those apps for your improving in school.
Here is a video about the best apps about school and education
