"Upon the mind of every student should be impressed the thought that education is a failure unless the understanding has learned to grasp the truths of divine revelation, and unless the heart accepts the teachings of the gospel of Christ.  The student who, in the place of the broad principles of the word of God, will accept common ideas, and will allow the time and attention to be absorbed in commonplace, trivial matters, will find his mind becoming dwarfed and enfeebled.  He will lose the power of growth.  The mind must be trained to comprehend the important truths that concern eternal life." Counsels to Teachers  page 12

Tools and resources are listed below to develop and cultivate your academic success.

Five Key Skills for Academic Success
It's never too early, or too late, to develop the key skills for academic success.  Read to learn how to build these skills and stay on track throughout the year.  It takes a combination of skills such as organization, time management, prioritization, concentration and motivation, to achieve academic success.

Find out which of these skills you have and which you can develop further.  Think about what your goals are and focus on them.  Identify what your favorite subjects are and what classes you dislike and whether you are satisfied with your latest progress report.

Make a self-assessment. 
   
   Are you overwhelmed by assignments?
    Do you have trouble organizing time?
  
    Do you have difficulty completing your work? 
    Maybe you get distracted too easily. 
    
    Are you simply not interested in school? 
    Do you need help getting motivated?

Identify problem areas.  Start here to identify which of the five skill areas are trouble spots:

• Organization
• Time Management
• Prioritization
• Concentration
• Motivation

Organization
Whether it's keeping track of research materials or remembering to bring home a lunch box, you need to be organized to succeed in school.  For many students, academic challenges are related more to a lack of organization than to a lack of intellectual ability.

Tips to help you get organized:

       Make a checklist of things you need to bring to and from school
       every day.  Put a copy by the door at home and one in your backpack.  Try
       to check each day to see if you remember the items on the list.

       Find out how you keep track of your homework and how you organize 
       your notebooks.  Then work to develop a system you will want to use.  You may need 
       your parent to help you.  If so, just ask.  They will be happy to help.

       Shop with your parents for tools that will help you stay organized, such as
       binders, accordian folders or an assignment book.

Time Management
Learning to schedule enough time to complete an assignment may be difficult for you.  Even when students have a week to do a project, many won't start until the night before it's due.  Learning to organize time into productive blocks takes practice and experience.

Tips to help you manage time:

       Track assignments on a monthly calendar.  Work backward from the due
       date of larger assignments and break them into nightly tasks.

       Record how much time you spends on homework each week
       so you can figure out how to divide this time into manageable chunks.

       Designate a time for nightly homework and stick to this schedule.

       If evenings aren't enough, find other times for schoolwork, such as early mornings, 
       study halls or weekends.

Prioritization
Sometimes students fall behind in school and fail to hand in assignments because they simply don't know where to begin.  Prioritizing tasks is a skill you will need throughout life, so it's never too soon to get started.

Tips to help you prioritize:

      Write down all the things he needs to do, including non-school related activities.

       Label each task from 1 to 3, with 1 being most important.

      You may need to change some of the labels to better prioritize for academic
      success.  Then rewrite the list so all the ones are at the top.

Concentration
Whether a student is practicing second grade spelling words or studying for a trigonometry test, it's important that schoolwork is done in an area with limited distractions and interruptions.

Tips to help you concentrate:

      Turn off access to email and games when you work on the computer.

      Make the phone and TV off-limits during homework time.

      Find space that fits the assignment.  If you are working on a science
      project, you may need lots of space; if you are studying for a Spanish test, 
      you will need a well-lit desk.

      Concentrate during homework time by separating from your siblings.

Motivation
Most students say they want to do well in school, yet many still fail to complete the level of work necessary to succeed academically.  The reason is often motivation.  Tapping into your interests is a great way to get geared to do well in school.

Tips to help motivate you:

      Link school lessons to your life.  If you are learning percentages, figure out the price 
      of  a discounted item next time you shop.

      Link your interests to academics.  If you are passionate about music, 
      get books about musicians to see how music and foreign languages
      are connected.

      Take control of your choices.  Determine your study hours, organizing 
      system or school project topics.

      Then share your expertise with other students.

      Congratulate yourself and celebrate all your successes.

Often what holds students back from trying is the fear of failure or the memory of a time they didn't do well.  You can break this cycle by celebrating your successes, no matter how small, and by giving yourself opportunities to succeed academically by applying good study habits.