Signs of Trouble

Recognize the Signs You’re in Trouble in Class, and GET HELP. Many students are in trouble and don't even recognize it. They think that nothing is really wrong, that everyone else is in the same boat, that a subject is just supposed to be hard or are just not at all sure how they should be doing. In order to help you decide if you are in trouble, here are several signs to look for. If you exhibit any of these signs, it's time to do some major reassessment and make some big changes:

Your average is below C. Don't kid yourself. If you want to get into college or university you should be aiming for A's and B's. If your quizzes and tests are coming back with C's and D's, you may be learning virtually nothing in the course. As you move into senior-level courses, you're likely unable to maintain the C's and D's, and will be ending up with F's.

You are constantly asking for extensions or getting incompletes. Extensions and incompletes are supposed to be the exception, for very special circumstances, not the rule. If you depend on them as a regular crutch—one day the homework took longer than you expected, another time you were busy with your other courses, a third time you were busy with other activities (extra-curricular/job/leisure – or you just ‘forgot’) —you are demonstrating that you do not have good time management skills and are not able to keep up with the schedule you have set for yourself.

You can never follow what the teacher says during the class lessons. Most students experience a time when they can't understand a point the teacher is trying to make. Teachers are used to this and are quite happy to answer questions, either during or after the lesson. But if the whole lesson is incomprehensible to you, then consider yourself to be in way over your head. Ask for help, don’t sit in silence and suffer!!

You are spending every waking moment of your day doing course work. Teachers are well aware of the time constraints placed on students taking four courses a semester, often working part time, and participating in extracurricular activities. So the assignments are geared to be done in a manageable period of time. If you are not able to get them done in a reasonable amount of time, you are probably lacking the basic skills expected for the course or are using the wrong study strategies. Readjust!

You spend a lot of time on some medium. It's perfectly fine to interact on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat (really??) for a bit each day. But when you're texting, Tweeting, and tagging without cessation—you can't live for 15 minutes without a device—you leave yourself no time to study. If you find yourself unable to get through a day without your computer or cell, consider yourself to have a media addiction that needs to be broken.

You feel overwhelmed, all of the time. It's normal to feel stressed out when you start a new course and, of course, at unit evaluations, culminating activities and final exams. But if you find yourself struggling every week of the semester—waking up each day not wanting to go to school or to one class in particular—something is wrong. Talk to someone to get new strategies to deal with time management, effective studying, etc.

Recognize the Signs You’re in Trouble in Class, and GET HELP. Your teacher, your Learning Resource Department and your guidance counsellor in Student Services offer an array of services, from extra help, a friendly listening ear, counselling referrals, tutor referrals, and help planning the pathway appropriate for you. Use them. They are there to support you.

Visual Learner? Write notes often.  The more you re-write, the better you will remember it. Study from the diagrams in your textbook. Use pictures, charts, maps, diagrams, poster and flash cards to learn and remember. Draw pictures to help you learn and remember words and concepts. Visualize yourself successfully performing a task. Ask your teacher if they could draw a concept on the board (if applicable).

Auditory Learner? Read your text and notes out loud. Tape yourself explaining the ideas you need to understand. Write songs to help you prove that you understand concepts. Have someone tape classes that you miss. Pay attention to what teachers say in class.

Tactile Learner? Write your own notes.  Your brain pays better attention when you are processing the information with your hand Read your notes and textbook while standing up. Underline important information in your notes. Make posters and models for each major concept you need to learn. Act out concepts you learn.  Ex.  If you are studying electricity, move your fist as if it were an electron.

Study Tips. There are lots of information sites on-line that give useful tips to help students become successful. A quick google search on 'study tips' yields sites like: www.how-to-study.com www.studygs.net A site aimed at college/university students but which has information also applicable to High School students is: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/professors-guide/2009/10/01/the-how-not-to-study-guide.html