One of the challenges students face is being honest with themselves about what is expected of them to do well in class. The scorecard is an effective way to keep yourself honest.

See the attached template for the scorecard. For every class, there are four possible indicators of course success.

• Did you attend class? – Attending class is very important, there is always the possibility that a professor could hand out extra notes or assignments to help you.
• Did you have the homework done that was assigned for that day?
• Did you review the previous class’ notes before you started class? – This allows for more active learning and helps you understand what is being taught.
• Did you practice active learning? Did you really try to understand what was presented? Or, did you just take notes? – Even if you did just take notes, make sure that you go back over them in your free time.

Here’s how to use the scorecard:

1. Check yes or no on the template for each class period on your schedule.
2. Then calculate the overall number of yeses for each class period and the percentage.
3. At the end of each day, total up the score and record it.
4. Also update your overall score for the semester. Set a goal for how many yeses you would like to reach.

If you want to do well in your classes, you should be following these guidelines.

• Your overall score should be above 75%.
• Don’t let one class affect your performance in other classes. Just because you are doing poorly in one class, doesn’t mean you should give up in your other classes.
• If you don’t go to class, you automatically lose all points for that class period. There is no reason to be missing class.

All great athletes and musical performers develop what is called muscle memory. The scorecard develops your mental muscle memory. After you get in a rhythm of scoring 4’s in every class, you will find this automatic, and you will no longer need to keep the scorecard. However if you start slipping, you will have to start the scorecard again. It’s just like an athlete who takes off a few weeks from training. Remember practice makes perfect.

Scorecard Template.