Being an intelligent student involves more than just having a high IQ; it’s about developing effective study habits, critical thinking skills, and a proactive approach to learning. With the right strategies and mindset, anyone can enhance their academic performance and become a successful student. In this article, we will share 11 smart tips to help you become a more intelligent student at school.
Study Smarter
During my secondary school days, there was this intelligent guy in my class I loved so much. He was so intelligent that everybody in my class go to him for clearer explanation of difficult topics. He was respected and loved by everyone including our teacher. Of course, I also respected him because of his cognitive capacity. However, I was not very happy because I could not perform like him in the classroom. This actually contributed to my low self esteem at secondary school.
Not too long after we all graduated to senior class, I came across an awesome article online that helped me academically. After reading the article, I was so determined to follow the tips shared by the author of that article. Frankly speaking, there is no big deal about it. You will become intelligent if you follow the right and tentative guides for that.
Today, I will be sharing the most tentative tips you need to become an intelligent student. Thus, if you are one of those students who are wishing to become very intelligent in school, here is how to become an intelligent student. Trust me; these tips are the most effective tips you need to become very intelligent.
Who is an intelligent student?
Before I move fully into explaining the tips for becoming an intelligent student, it is imperative to tell you who an intelligent student is. The word “intelligence” is from the Latin word “Intellegens” which means something of high or especially quick cognitive capacity. In light of this, an intelligent student is a student of high and quick cognitive capacity. He is a student with the ability to understand easily.
How To Become An Intelligent Student In School
Below are the secrets for becoming an intelligent student:
1. Determination and consistency: Apparently, determination and consistency are the most important tips you need to become an intelligent student in school. The reason is because; other tips in this article may not stand without them. In other to become intelligent in school, it is imperative to be determined and consistent in your studies because, that is what will help you to maintain your level of intelligence at every stage.
There is a proverbial saying that “the day you stop reading is the day you die”. It is this way for every student too. Any day you stop reading, your level of intelligence will begin to decrease. You might even start forgetting the things you already know.
So, if you really want to become an intelligent student, you must make up your mind to be determined and consistent in following other tips highlighted below. In case you don’t know, all intelligent students you know are consistent too. It is what keeps them intelligent and bright.
2. Set your goals: It has never been advised in anywhere to ever do something without a goal or make plans with no goal in mind. Setting you goals is the first step you should take in becoming or growing on your intelligence as a student in school. It is one of the best intentional approach any student could take in other to achieve his or her aspired commitments.
An example of goal is; improving you public speaking skills or perfecting your digital learning skills. When you have set these goals, you plan your time according to them with no time to waste or spare because you know you do not have any time on your hands. Goals only keeps you focused in school.
3. Be attentive and in attendance: Self-awareness is a very big characteristics of an intelligent student, it is one of the most important. An intelligent student is always aware of what is going on around him or her, they notice these things and take actions to its regards. Attendance to classes is very important for any student aspiring academic success but it is not enough.
Attendance is a 50% effort while attentiveness takes the other 50% this is because not paying attention in class is as good as you never attended the class. When you take attention in class, you understand the lecture, you ask questions and you take notes. These notes will be what you would make reference to in your personal study time and they will also guide you during exams as it will always remind you of what the teacher or lecturer wants and how he wants it. Students who do not abide by these rules, have low chances of making good grades.
4. Develop A Positive Mindset: You cannot become a successful and intelligent student with a poor mindset, mindset development is very important and essential for every student because it sets a pace for becoming a brilliant student. As a student, you cannot truly succeed by feeling like a loser who would always fail.
A right mindset will go a great length as it will help you boost your confidence to confront any challenge you face as a student. A lot of student do not fail because they have no reason to overcome, but because they give up once the going gets tough and have no intentions of pursuing any goals or dreams. You need to encourage yourself as a student, reassuring yourself that you would Ace that exams, and that my dear is the first step to success and intelligence. Also this mindset is needed in the outside world as you need it to succeed.
5. Engage in educative discussions: Research has proven that one of the best ways students learn in school is through educative discussions. This is so because the brain tends to store information passed through discussion quickly and for a longer time. For this reason, engaging in educative discussions is evidently one of the secrets for becoming intelligent. When you discuss and share information with others, you will never forget that information or knowledge you shared. Accordingly, when you learn things from other people during discussion, you will find it difficult to forget them too.
By doing this, you are developing your knowledge in a particular field of study. Many people have attested that this tip is truly effective. I personally learn a lot through educative discussions and that is why I made it my first point. No doubt, it is one of the great ways to boost your cognitive capacity.
6. Study regularly: In the words of Jim Rohn, “Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary”. Obviously, studying is one of the prerequisite things every student must do to become intelligent. In fact, if you are not ready to study your books, then you are not ready to pay the price for intelligence. Yes! I call it the price for intelligence because there is no intelligent student you know that don’t read voraciously.
More importantly, you must learn to read regularly. Scholars have proven that the more you read a particular text, the more you will understand the content of that text and other texts related to it. Take for instance, if I know what brain drain is all about, it will not be difficult for me to understand a topic that tries to explain the causes of brain drain. This is why intelligent students seem to know something about everything.
7. Be receptive: One of the things that limit our level of intelligence is “not accepting or considering whether the opinion of others is better ”. To an become intelligent in school, you must learn to be receptive. Always accept the opinion of others and try to understand their stands. Even when you think you are right, you should also listen to people so that you can learn from them and even stand to be corrected if you are wrong.
However, in doing this, you must be careful so that you will not be misled by others. In my view, it is important that you listen but be skeptical about their views except when they can fully show that their own opinion is better. No doubt, this will go a long way to boost your level of intelligence.
8. Never run away from difficulties: Frankly speaking, you cannot become intelligent by circumventing any problem you encounter when studying. It will not help at all. The secret here is that, the more you spend time on difficult topics when reading, the better you will understand those topics. Now you may want to ask, “What if you are unable to understand at all?”
The answer is simple. Whenever you are studying and you come across a very confusing topic, simply ask your teacher for a clearer explanation. If you are not in school then, direct the question to any educated person you know around you. It is totally not advisable to circumvent them because, if you are able to fully understand those difficult topics, you will find it easier to understand more complex and difficult ones.
9. Read broadly: Another tip to become an intelligent student in school is by reading broadly. Students often take the words of their teachers trivial when they make reference to other textbooks or authors. But these materials actually help in most cases. If you develop the habit of going to read those reference materials recommended in the classroom, you will see yourself growing more than every other students in your class. Reading those recommended textbook will certainly boost your understanding on a particular topic to a very large extent.
Sometimes, even when you are not given any work to research on, you can decide to research on your own about a particular topic. After doing your research, come to class the day that topic will be taught and see how it will flow. You will see yourself answering all the questions that will be asked.
10. Take notes during classes: There is no doubt that note taking is one of the smartest ways to easily grasp what is being thought in the classroom. It is not only important for refreshment of memory but can be an aid for you if you want to make deeper research.
It has been confirmed that students who take notes during classes perform better in school than those that don’t. By taking note, the aim is to, first and foremost, implant the material in the mind of the person writing.
Note that in this case, you must not write every single thing said in the classroom. As long as you are able to pen down what you understand and you can also read that note then you are good.
11. Learn practically: You will agree with me that students love to learn practically than theoretically. The reason for this is because; they tend to understand better when they are taught practically. Again, practical teaching tends to be more fascinating and actual. Thus, students find it easy to remember and relate what they have learned to other areas of their study. The things you remember easily during examinations are usually those things you tried to envisage and make practical when reading for the examination.
The point here is that learning practically will help to make you understand a topic better and also help to make you more intelligent. Trust me; this is one of the tentative ways to become an intelligent student in school.
In conclusion, I must let you know that becoming intelligent is not very easy. It is not something that will happen all of a sudden. Believe me; it will take time for you to actually become very intelligent. This means that you must make the above tips part of you. The day you stop following them, that day your cognitive capacity will begin to decrease again. Remember, no intelligent student can survive without reading.
Leave a Reply