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Are you struggling in biology? Are you getting a grade that you don't want? B's? C's? F's? You're not alone. I too struggled with biology in the first quarter of my freshman year of high school. I didn't know what I was doing wrong. But I was motivated and committed to learning. It took time and effort but I was finally able to bring my grade up, and by the end of the semester I had a satisfying A on my report card. However, you don't have to take this hard route because I highlighted the exact steps I took in 5 easy steps.
Mindset and Motivation
The first and most important step toward achieving your goal is to be motivated and committed to improving your grade. But, before you can even attempt to become motivated, you must first remove the stigma associated with believing you are a failure. Simply because you are not. When it comes to improving your grades, this fixed mindset is quite dangerous because you will eventually start thinking "Oh, I received a 75% on my test. That was to be expected. I'll never be able to do well now." The problem is that you are making an excuse by claiming that you are not good enough, and as a result, you will never be able to improve because you continue to deny that you are intelligent.
The smartest people I know are confident in their abilities to revise and reform their habits until they actually do achieve their desired grade. So get rid of the memory of you crying after scoring an 80% on your biology exam. Remove the image of your parents being upset because you received a B on your report card. Because it simply does not matter. You can't change the past, but you can acknowledge it and make a promise to yourself to do better in the future.
So, how do you cultivate a growth mindset? How do you find motivation? There are numerous articles and videos available on becoming motivated. Bribing yourself with food is a common one I've heard. It's something along the lines of "after you finish all your homework, you get to eat a whole bag of candy." That is not only unhealthy, but it also only works temporarily. When I try things like this, I either abandon the food halfway through my studies or eat it without finishing.
While it is necessary to take breaks, motivation must come from within. Every time I think I won't be able to do something, I visualize myself doing it in the future. For example, if you believe you won't be able to ace that test on Thursday, imagine yourself receiving your test from your teacher with a perfect score. Stay in it for a moment and consider how you'll feel when you achieve it. Allow that sensation to wash over you and tell yourself, "I can do it!" Then, with that motivation driving you, get to work.
Learn How Your Teacher's Grade
One of the main reasons I didn't get the grade I desired on my report card was that I didn't know how my teacher graded. This is a problem for many students, and while some students change and refine their approach to their work, others do not.
Storytime! So in 9th grade, I had an honors biology teacher who was awesome but he was known for being a tough grader on assignments. Though I only lost about 1 point on each assignment, all of the assignments we did that term added up and by the end, I had about 5-10 points deducted from my total, which didn't help my biology grade. Instead of crying and telling myself that I had done everything possible and that there was nothing I could do, I was determined to find the flaws in my work. I took a deep breath, picked myself up, and kept going. The majority of the comments, I discovered, were due to a lack of detail. I made sure I had enough detail for the next assignment in the second quarter by consulting not only the notes packet but also external resources on the web. After some hard work and motivation on my part, my grade had risen to an A+ by the end of that quarter.
Although not everyone's story is the same as mine, a similar method could be applied in any subject or with any teacher. So, let's divide this up into a few key steps:
Growth Mindset - Instead of crying or blaming others when you receive a poor grade, pick yourself up and believe that you can improve.
Motivation - Feel within yourself that you want to change your grade and that you are willing to go to reasonable lengths to get it.
Finding the Cracks - Examine your work and figure out what you're doing wrong. Then brainstorm what you can do to get a better grade.
Put it into Action - Put the most logical plan into action and see how it works for you.
One thing I glossed over in my story was the number of repetitions and ameliorations I had to make to figure out what worked best for me and my teacher so that I could get the grade I desired. This is the most difficult part, in my opinion, because when your plan fails, you want to give up. But remember that your failures help you grow, and maybe one day you'll be able to achieve your goal. So I would add this to our list as well:
Perseverance - If your plan fails, don't give up. Return to step 3 and try again until you reach your goal.
Reviewing the Materials
It is critical to go over your materials, whether they are a textbook, a notes sheet, or even class assignments, especially before tests and exams. When I was in middle school, I remember doing my homework or classwork as quickly as I could and then never looking back at it. When it came time to study for a test or a quiz, I simply looked at the resources that my teachers suggested we use. However, I was not told which resources I should use in high school to study. I was left to pick and choose what I needed, and as I had done in middle school, I reverted to just the notes or textbook, which didn't work out so well.
Your teacher assigns you classwork, homework, and requires you to participate in class for practice so that you can perfect your knowledge of the topic at hand. So what better way to study than to re-do your homework and classwork? My teachers would occasionally pull questions directly from our assignments, and almost always, we would have questions similar to those on our worksheets. This is especially useful in math and science classes, such as biology. However, it is a good strategy to employ in all of your classes.
Even sources like videos or textbooks should be utilized. If the video or textbook chapter is short or most of the essential information is covered in another source, you can get away with just watching or reading. However, if new information is presented don't be afraid to participate in a bit of active note-taking. If you are a visual learner, you can even add a splash of color to your notes. Because you are using all auditory, kinesthetic, and visual learning styles, the information will be retained in your brain. Furthermore, it actively engages your brain in processing the same information in a variety of ways.
If you want to go all out and maximize your chances of acing your test, you can even use resources that your teacher did not provide you with. You could watch YouTube videos, run simulations, or take online quizzes to test your knowledge (you can even make a quiz of your own). External resources that I like to use for further studying include:
Khan Academy: A very popular and useful resource that includes informative videos, readings, and even some practice to test your understanding of the material. I would strongly recommend it because it is the most frequent and informative website I visit.
Amoeba Sisters: This video playlist contains simple yet appealing images that clearly represent biological processes in a fun, informative, and creative manner. It should be noted that Amoeba Sisters only explains aspects of biology.
Crash Course: This is a video playlist that explains a variety of topics in a humorous yet sophisticated manner. Crash Course is very informative, so if you want to delve a little deeper into topics, Crash Course is the way to go.
Coursera: May be a little high-level due to the inclusion of college and university level courses, but it is still worth a look if you want to delve really deep into the subject.
Budgeting Your Time
Time is precious so why not use it properly? Prioritizing your time is crucial when you want to get things done quickly. You need to track every assignment and estimate when and how much time each assignment will take. Budgeting your time will not only help you finish your work on time but it will also allow you to maximize the quality of your work while reducing stress. For example, you want to know when those 3 history worksheets are due, as well as when the biology test and English paper are due. When you know the when you can plan the how and the what.
Let's take a look at the scenario presented above. Today is Sunday, the first day of the week, and you're thinking about what assignments you need to complete this week. Assume that Worksheet #1 is due on Tuesday, Worksheet #2 is due on Wednesday, Worksheet #3 is due on Thursday, the geometry quiz is due on Wednesday, and the English essay is due on Friday. Keeping all of these dates straight in my head is difficult for me, so I would recommend using a planner. These planners can be electronic, paper, or a combination of the two if you believe it will help you plan. Whatever is most convenient for you. I recommend the following:
Google Calendar - Time slots, details, color coding, and meeting scheduling are all available in this highly developed electronic planner. You can also look at other people's calendars if you have permission and the other person's calendar is in use.
Google Tasks - Simple electronic planner for quickly and efficiently jotting down tasks. Dates can be set, the order can be manually or automatically customized, subtasks can be added, and details can be written.
Trello - A great electronic planner if you need help organizing a team project because it allows you to add other people. Can also be used for personal purposes.
Happy Planner - Paper planner that comes with accessories to help you organize and decorate it.
Blue Sky Planner - Paper planner with monthly and weekly calendars for goal and assignment planning, both short and long term.
So now that we have a planner it is just a matter of plugging in the due dates. I would write or highlight the due dates in a different color as we will block times to finish each assignment as we cannot only go with when it is due. Now that we've determined the when it's time to figure out the how.
When planning the how one thing I would give the utmost importance to is how much weight each assignment carries. For example, if the weight is distributed as follows:
Homework - 10%
Participation - 15%
Classwork - 15%
Quizzes - 25%
Tests/Essays - 35%
Tests and essays would be the most important, followed by quizzes, and so on. You'd have to plan your time accordingly. Using the previous example, you would devote the most time to the tests/essays, perhaps 4 days, working about 1-2.5 hours per day on it. The next priority would be the Geo quiz, which is worth 25% of the grade and comes in second only to the tests/essays. Given that it is a quiz, perhaps devoting 2 days of about 2 hours each to studying would increase your chances of getting the desired grade. Finally, the 3 history homework assignments would require the least amount of time because they are not as heavily weighted, so each of them may only require 30 minutes to complete.
That covers the when and the how so now for the what. What will each of these time slots entail? It is critical to plan this because people frequently fall into the trap of blocking out time but not knowing what to do with it. The how and what goes hand in hand in this case. We only planned the approximate times for how much we will spend each day but depending on the what we can find the specific times.
Also, if you are already working on something important that day, plan lighter tasks around it. For example, if you need to study for a math quiz and also write an essay, start with the easier parts of the essay. After you finish the math quiz, you can work on the more difficult parts of the essay that require more time and effort. You can schedule specific times based on how much of each assignment you intend to complete. For example, if I were to write the essay's opening statement, I would probably need about an hour, whereas writing two body paragraphs would take about 2.5 hours.
Using the when, how, and what you can build your calendar. Below is an example, but keep in mind that this is what I would do because it would work best for me. However, depending on the types of homework you have, the extracurricular activities you have to attend, and even personal things like sleep, family, and you-time, your schedule may look completely different.
A disclaimer: Do not prioritize school work and extracurriculars over your health. It is important to get some rest and have some exercise during the day because you will not be able to work to your full potential if you do not devote time for yourself. You are more important than your schoolwork. That being said, it's also not a good idea to slack off. You must strike a balance between your academic and personal lives.
What To Do In Stressful Situations
One of the main reasons I still don't do well on tests is because I get extremely anxious right before I sit down to take one. I start fidgeting, sweating, and sometimes my hands begin to shake. I'm sure many of you can relate to me on this.
There is a scientific reason for why this happens. When your body is exposed to something that stresses or frightens you, adrenaline and cortisol are released from the adrenal glands located just above your kidneys. The fight-or-flight response, the body's response to the stressors, is triggered by the sympathetic nervous system. The stimulation of these hormones is the body's way to prepare to deal with the stress or abandon the situation altogether.
Adrenaline
increases the body's heart rate
elevates the blood pressure
boosts the energy levels
prepares the body to act more quickly
Cortisol
increases sugar (glucose) levels in the bloodstream to prepare for the flight-or-fight response
suppresses functions that are non-essential during the fight-or-flight response.
Sometimes a surge of these hormones is beneficial because it keeps you alert to deal with the situation; however, in the case of a test, the cortisol and adrenaline become so overwhelming that the functions required to think for the test are turned off. Suddenly, you can't recall the date of the war or the enzyme that catalyzes that specific reaction. In other words, the body perceives the test as a threat to your survival.
So, how do we get past the notion that my test will harm me? It's difficult, and I'll admit that I'm not very good at it, but there are a few things that usually help me deal with test anxiety:
Deep Breaths - This is a common strategy I've heard, and I know it works for some people, at least temporarily. Simply take deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth until you feel calm again. However, you must remember to concentrate solely on your breathing during this time.
Overcome Negative Thoughts - "What if…" is a question I always ask myself before and after a test. "What if the questions are difficult?" or "What if I get stuck on a question?" This only increases anxiety and these thoughts should be suppressed before taking a test. If you're having difficulty, replace these thoughts with more motivating ones like "I know my material." or "I can tackle these questions."
Stop the Perfectionist - You can't expect to be flawless all of the time. It's fine to make a few errors here and there. If you go in expecting to ace this test, you will not only be more nervous but you will also be disappointed if you do not get the perfect score. Instead, consider how hard you worked to prepare for this exam.
Pretending - This isn't a very common strategy but it is one that I use. When I can't focus on my test because of the influx of hormones, I just pretend it's a simple piece of homework. In other words, I trick my brain into thinking that the test isn't something that would harm me.
That wraps up How to Improve Grades for Biology in 5 Steps. You can apply these strategies in every class you take (even though I specifically wrote it for biology) throughout your middle and high school years. I hope you found this helpful and I'll see you next time with a new post!
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