Listen intently with the purpose of absorbing what’s being explained to you. Ask questions to clarify information that you don’t fully understand. [2] X Research source Classroom time is not for sleeping, goofing off or socializing with your friends. Doing these things might explain why you got a bad report card in the first place.

There’s no need to deny yourself a life. Just do a little bit more than you’re currently doing. Make homework more fun by organizing a study group consisting of your closest friends so you can work on difficult assignments together.

Tutors can be hired independently, and are also usually available for instruction through public and private schools. Tutoring is useful when you find yourself stuck on a certain lesson, or you’re preparing for a big test.

A slip in your grades doesn’t mean that you’re unintelligent or lazy. Try to accept the situation as a minor setback and keep moving forward. Bad grades can happen for many different reasons—perhaps you don’t contribute enough to group projects, or you get exceptionally nervous before tests. Tracing a disappointing grade back to its source can allow you to outline clear goals on what to work on and improve. [6] X Research source

Improving your grades through diligent study may take longer, but it will be worth it in the long run. When you cheat, you’re doing yourself a disservice. You’ll never know what you can accomplish until you do it on your own.

Consider leaving one or two average grades in place. This will make it appear that nothing is amiss. Write down your real grades on a separate sheet of paper so you can enter a few of them back in later. This will make the end result more convincing.

Brush on the correction fluid in smooth, even strokes. Thick, uneven or oddly shaped blobs can show up in the photocopy if you’re not careful. This method will only work if the original report card is printed on white paper. If the paper is colored, the smear from the correction fluid will be too obvious.

Smooth out the original report card to eliminate any creases that may show up in the photocopies. Run off multiple copies in case you make a mistake while filling one out.

Try to disguise your handwriting so that it isn’t obvious that you filled in the report card yourself, or have a friend draw the new grades for you. [10] X Research source Use the same color ink that your teacher ordinarily uses. If it’s apparent that the grades are supposed to be typed, make a second copy of the original report card. Use this copy and an image-editing program like Photoshop to cut and paste the good grade letters from the original onto the duplicate, then photocopy the duplicate one last time to make the corrections seamless.

If possible, use a scanner somewhere other than home or school, like a friend’s house or public library, to avoid getting caught. Delete the image file when you’re done so that no record of your caper is left behind.

If you don’t have access to a more sophisticated photo editor, you can use programs like Microsoft Paint or Pixlr, which is a free online editor similar to Photoshop. [13] X Research source Be sure to load, edit and save the image in as high a resolution as possible. The better the quality, the less noticeable your corrections will be.

Most computers use Times New Roman or Arial as their default fonts. Start with these when trying to make your new grades fit. [15] X Research source For an especially convincing forgery, use the Eyedropper tool to match the colors of the original text and background exactly. [16] X Research source

Make sure the new report card is formatted correctly before you print it. Save the original scanned image file and try again as many times as you need to get it just right.