Nine habits of good students
from Ft Worth Star-Telegram
February 09, 2009
... pay attention in class.
... make an effort to know the teacher.
... get enough sleep.
... eat breakfast every day.
... have good nutrition habits all day.
... have an organization system that works.
... have a regular time and place for homework.
... are accountable to someone at home.
... set goals for achievement.
What we know: Good students, the ones who do Get It Right, have something in common. They do things that work, that help them stay on top.
So what are these habits that successful students share? And how can you help your child develop them this year?
We talked to some experts who know the whys and the hows of success at school. What we learned: All those things you thought you already knew, about eating a good breakfast and keeping track of homework ... itâs really that simple. And anyone can do it.
Our experts gave us tips for getting started this year, adopting new routines and learning how to navigate successfully through a school year full of early morning rehearsals, sleepy afternoon science labs and quizzes on quadratic equations. If you want to Get It Right this year, hereâs how you and your child can get started on the right foot. If you want the year to be successful, do what successful students do.
Successful students ...
... pay attention in class.
Being in class and learning something. Thatâs the purpose of school, and thatâs where successful students shine. Holly Martin, center director at Sylvan Learning Center in Denton, offers tips for making class time worthwhile.
Be interested. Talk to your child about what sheâs learning in class. If she has to explain a concept to you or think through the lecture points again, itâll help her remember and understand. And youâll learn something, too.
Does it matter if your child sits on the front row? Not necessarily. If youâre a visual learner, then itâs "extremely important," Martin says. That way you can see whatâs happening without distractions. But if youâre an auditory learner? The front row isnât crucial; sit where you feel comfortable. Hiding from the teacher isnât smart, but the front row isnât the only effective place to be.
Class participation has long been held up as the gold standard for good students: If youâre successful, youâll speak up in class and engage with the teacher and your classmates. Thatâs not necessarily so, Martin says. Class participation is based on personality. Some students learn better by talking out the answer with the class. Others learn better just by thinking and following along. Just because theyâre not raising their hands, it doesnât mean theyâre not engaged.
... make an effort to know the teacher.
Successful students tend not to be the anonymous ones who leave class as soon as the bell rings, never saying a word to the teacher.
Urge your child to get to know his teachers â and to let his teachers get to know him. This is not a matter of kissing up. This is a matter of understanding each other.
Youâll learn more and be happier in class if you and the teacher know each other, Martin says. Anonymity takes away from your investment in the class, and it takes away from the teacherâs investment in you.
It takes courage to talk to a teacher, especially if you donât think you like her. Do it anyway. Itâs a good way to overcome shyness around adults. You may discover you like her more than you thought you did. And working up the courage to do it is good preparation for college, Martin says, when those teacher-student relationships will be even more important â and even more difficult to develop.
If youâre struggling in class, by all means, talk to the teacher, Martin says. Ask for help. The teacher may offer tips, advice, extra help or even extra credit. And donât wait until report cards go out. As soon as you start to struggle, find out what your options are. If there are tutoring sessions, go to them. If there are extra assignments, do them. This will help you learn the material. But it also earns you the benefit of the doubt, Martin says. And the benefit of the doubt is what might bump a 79.4 up to an 80 at the end of the year.
"Plus, it shows that the student is really trying," Martin says. "And thatâs all teachers really ever want."
Successful students ...
... get enough sleep.
You know that a regular bedtime is important.
If you donât get enough sleep, it affects your mood, your alertness, your creativity, your critical thinking, your athletic skills, your reaction time, your ability to remember and process information â just about every skill you need as a student.
So how much is enough? School-age kids often need 10 or 11 hours of sleep each night â and that means setting a bedtime that may not be popular.
Sleep deprivation is especially a problem for teenagers, says Dr. James Maas, a Cornell University professor of psychology who has devoted his career to the study of sleep.
The growth hormone secreted in the teenage brain delays the secretion of melatonin at night, Maas says â and itâs melatonin that puts you to sleep.
"Theyâre exhausted, but if you tell your teenager to go up and get in bed at 9 or 10 at night," he says, "they canât fall asleep. Itâs not their fault."
The teenage brain, he says, is set to go to sleep at 3 in the morning and wake up at 11.
"These kids that are in the classroom at 7:30 â their bodies are in the classroom, but their brains are back on their pillows."
So. What to do? Do the best you can, Maas says.
Make it clear that sleep is important. In your own behavior, demonstrate that itâs a necessity, not a luxury.
Set a regular bedtime, and try not to vary it by more than an hour on the weekends. It might not be as early as youâd like, but a scheduled bedtime will help the body prepare for sleep.
Make the house a relaxing place to be when itâs close to bedtime. Quiet, calm time is a good way to get kids moving toward sleep.
If your child is sleep-deprived, power naps might be the answer. Is there a way he can curl up for a few minutes after school, before football practice or work? "Napping on a regular basis can be very helpful," Maas says.
... eat breakfast every day.
Is breakfast really all that important?
Absolutely, says Marilyn Swanson. Sheâs a registered dietitian for the USDA/ARS Childrenâs Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Childrenâs Hospital in Houston.
Since the 1960s, Swanson says, studies have shown consistently that breakfast makes a big difference â it improves classroom performance, reduces hyperactivity and makes way for creative thinking.
Kids who go to school hungry donât do as well on classwork; they donât perform as well in PE or athletics; they arenât able to focus as well on the business of learning. And if theyâre hungry enough and have some spare change, they may end up buying junk food from the vending machine by midmorning.
So. Breakfast is good. The problem: People arenât eating it.
"In todayâs society, breakfast is just a really easy meal to skip," Swanson says. In the International Food Information Councilâs 2008 Food and Health survey, 92 percent of people said that breakfast is the most important meal â but only 46 percent reported that they eat it every day.
Hereâs how to get your family in the breakfast habit this year:
Model good breakfast behavior for your kids. If you donât value breakfast, neither will they. "Black coffee and a doughnut is not a good model," Swanson says. Instead, go for high-nutrient foods like whole-wheat cereal, milk, eggs, orange juice or fruit. If your kids see that you think itâs important, they will think itâs important, too.
Donât have time for breakfast? Try to get up a few minutes earlier to make time; youâll feel better in the long run, Swanson says.
A sit-down breakfast with the whole family is ideal. But if you just canât make that happen, a breakfast on the go is better than no breakfast. Look for fruits, juices and portable foods that are high in nutrients and low in sugar.
Your child hates breakfast foods. Not a problem. Breakfast doesnât have to be all about cereal and eggs, Swanson says, as long as you try to focus on wholesome foods thatâll supply protein and give energy. In fact, leftover pizza is better than nothing, if thatâs what your child will eat.
Your daughter insists that she simply cannot eat in the morning, she isnât hungry, and she doesnât want to sit down for breakfast. This, too, can be changed, Swanson says. Itâs a matter of forming a habit, because often our hunger is a response to a certain stimulus. We get home in the evening and our bodies know itâs time for dinner; we wake and our bodies expect breakfast. So try to help your child develop this habit. If you offer breakfast anyway, with the rest of the family sitting down to eat every morning, your non-breakfast-eater might come around and give it a try. "Itâs not going to be easy," Swanson says â but keep working on it.
... have good nutrition habits all day.
Once your kids leave for school, who knows what they eat? You canât control everything, but you can give them a fighting chance against junk food and bad choices.
Vending machines at schools are getting healthier, Swanson says, with more wholesome options available. Even so, there are plenty of sugary ways to go wrong. Make sure your child has enough to eat during the day so he isnât tempted by the candy bars and soft drinks in the band hall vending machine. Remember: Sometimes lunch periods come at odd, inconvenient times. Especially if your childâs lunch is at 10:30 in the morning, pack some smart snacks â fruit or nuts, maybe â if theyâre needed during the day.
Educate your child so she can make smart choices at the school cafeteria. See if you can get a copy of the menu, then sit down together and talk about the choices. Early on, teach your child about balanced meals and nutritious foods.
Are you the one adding too much sugar to your childâs diet? Watch out when you pack those portable lunch foods; theyâre convenient but theyâre not always smart. And watch out for soft drinks, too, when you pack your childâs lunch. "Please donât send pop with your kid to school," Swanson says. Instead, try water or a thermos of juice.
... have an organization system that works.
The first of the year is the perfect time to get organized. And â no matter what your child claims â organization is crucial, says Martin, of the Sylvan Learning Center in Denton.
Martin gives a lot of advice to students. And this is the basic skill that often causes kids to struggle. As a parent, you can help.
Make sure your child starts school with all the school supplies he needs, Martin says. From Day One, he should have the materials he needs to be able to work and participate in class.
You donât necessarily want to leave your child to his own devices when it comes to organization. He may not know what will help him keep his English handouts separate from his math homework. So help him figure out a system that works. Use separate notebooks for each class, maybe, or a big binder with clear dividers. Label things. Color code. Make sure thereâs a logical place for homework and class notes and other materials to go. If the system makes sense to him, maybe heâll use it. At least sometimes.
This one is most important of all: There must be a place to keep track of assignments and activities. Maybe itâs a fancy planner; maybe itâs just a plain spiral notebook. Whatever it is, your child really needs a place to write things down. Choose something that works for her, then help her get in the habit of using it. Itâs the best weapon against the coming barrage of deadlines and assignments. And youâll need one.
... have a regular time and place for homework.
Routine is the key to success at school, Martin says. And thatâs what you need to tackle the piles of homework every night. Forming good habits now will make homework easier for the rest of the year.
Set up a regular schedule for starting homework after school. Can your son have an hour after school to take it easy? Sure. But then the homework starts, no excuses. Set that rule at the beginning of the year and you wonât find yourself nagging every afternoon.
Designate a place for homework. It doesnât matter where it is â a fancy desk or the kitchen table â it just has to exist. And once the location is established, stock it well: make sure it has everything your child will need while sheâs working: pencils, calculator, dictionary, scissors, extra paper. Stopping to search for a pencil sharpener can easily turn into a half-hour homework derailment, so donât let it happen.
Donât let your child convince you she needs the TV on to work. TV uses both the visual and auditory senses, distracting the brain in two ways, Martin says. Not recommended.
Music, on the other hand, can really help some kids. "A lot of students do need some type of background music for the brain to turn on," Martin says. But maybe try some classical music instead of whateverâs on the radio. If itâs something you canât sing along to, she says, the brainâs attention wonât be as divided.
... are accountable to someone at home.
Routine is important to success at school. So is accountability.
Itâs important that kids have someone at home to check in with every day. Someone who will ask to see their homework, will make sure theyâve read and understood the assignment, will urge them to start a project before the day itâs due.
So how do you play that role without going too far?
Set up a system that works for you and your child. Maybe you want to look at her assignment list and help her figure out how to tackle the work. Maybe sheâll do it on her own, as long as youâre nearby to answer questions. Figure out what works and stick with it, creating that healthy routine of work and accountability.
Itâs good to be involved. But parents, how you approach homework duty is going to set the tone.
"Be a homework manager," Martin says â not doing the work for your child, but offering structure and tools and a little bit of help if itâs needed. And only if itâs needed.
Donât micromanage. Maybe your child is finding the value of X the hard way. Or using the most inefficient method possible to outline her history chapter. Your hands are itching to take the pencil away and show her how to do it faster, better, easier, the way you learned how to do it. Please donât, Martin says. Let your child figure it out on her own. Back off if no one asks for your advice.
...set goals for achievement.
No student is perfect. Thereâs always room for improvement. The key, Martin says, is to set goals â and to do it in a positive way.
This is something that parents and kids can do together.
Set a short time frame. Donât set a lofty, indefinite goal like "I will improve my grades." Instead, name a specific grade and turn it into a six-week goal, with monitoring points along the way.
Parents can offer encouragement, Martin says. But try to help your child by offering support or rewards for meeting goals, not punishment and negativity for failure to meet them.
Remember that you may not see things the same way. "The kids have expectations and the parents have expectations," Martin says. Maybe you want to see an A in chemistry and your daughter wants to make the starting team in volleyball. Those are different priorities. Talk about it now, work out a plan, and then youâll eliminate some friction later on.
