The end of the quarter is always an unpleasant time for teachers (in fact, I have wrote about this in the past). It is the time when students all of a sudden get serious about their school work and care about their grades. Students often decide to do all of this during the last five or six days of the quarter.
The end of the quarter is also the time when parents email or call in their last ditch attempts to negotiate a grade hike. Apparently, the grade was not as important during the quarter (when the bulk of the work takes place) but, all of a sudden, has become the be all, end all of the world.
Now, of course, I am exaggerating a bit here. There are usually only a small amount of students scrambling at the last minute to raise grades. Most of the students see the situation logically - grades rarely go up much during the last week of class. But, those few students cause teachers as much stress and strife as a group double the size. The pleading, complaining, and whining takes its toll and teachers do a lot of screaming on the inside (and perhaps some scream on the outside too).
So, give your teachers a break this week. Every teacher I know is working hard to get the final papers graded and grades finalized. If you are one of those students who slacked off during the quarter and wants a last minute reprieve, realize the reality of your situation and make the necessary changes for next quarter. Be diligent and disciplined throughout the entire semester and you will reap the rewards in the end.
11 comments:
I think this is great advice, I always see kids going up to the teachers desk and trying to suck up to them the last week of the quarter. I can honestly say that I too have asked for a little boost at least once since freshmen year. I think that the first quarter really gives some kids the motivation to do better in the next quarter, whereas others just slack off the same. I have an 88% in math and I am trying my hardest to get it up this week, but I do realize that I should have worked on it all quarter instead of panicking at the end. I wonder how many teachers actually do bump up grades for students.
I understand where you're coming from, since you are a teacher and have to deal with individual student's problems on a day-to-day basis. It must be extremely frustrating to have to put up with complaints and requests from nagging students and parents. Looking from a student's point of view though, it obviously takes a while to realize the importance of grades and as soon as closing time comes around, this realization finally kicks in. You could consider this to be irresponsible of students, but I know that I often fall victim to this state of mind as well. On the other hand, the amount of stress the teachers face during the last week of the quarter must be extremely overwhelming. When you claimed to be exaggerating about the severity of this conflict, it was very minimal, because it has to be annoying to deal with pleading students and parents. I definitely give you props for your demanding job as a teacher.
I must say I feel terrible for teachers that do go through that! I think this is one of the MANY reasons why I wouldn't become a teacher. I just can't deal with the stress and aggravation it would cause me. I definitely try my best throughout the quarter. I began to notice that if and whenever I did slack off my grade also decides to "take a break". Therefore I try my hardest and DON'T bother my teachers about my grade in the end. I take what I deserve.
I totally understand where you’re coming from and it just has to be very frustrating. This year I definitely have not talked to teachers about my grades last minute, but I have in the past I have. At the end of the quarter, you could say that I could be aggravated as well because my mom bugs me about my grades. It’s just like me bothering you about my grade, I go through the same thing. And I am sure other student have gone through it too, because I'm sure half of the kids that nag you are nagging you because parents are nagging them. An annoying cycle that could be resolved by keeping up grades the whole quarter, not last minute.
Actually, I tend to have a sort of reverse psychology to the whole end of quarter vs. amount of effort put. I strive and push myself the beginning of the quarter so much to a point that my grades are clearly above average. All that is left to do is lower the intensity and finish each class with a solid low A. This method proves worthy for me. Hasn't failed since freshman year.
I completely agree and desagree, because, yes, we are like that, but not just students but humans. we all tend to leave everything to the last minute. Making it seem like hours of the day go by like seagulls on the beach. And reality doesn't quite kick us, hello! Until the final weeks. Also there's that whole idea of some teachers and parents thinking that because we don't work as hard as they do we should have perfect time to do all of our homework, wrong! perfect misconseption but that's off topic. I just agree with you that yeah we have our flaws but if it were only five to some students every couple of years then there's no debating against you, but when it's much more than that and we both know it's much more than that then it's more of a habbit than that of a flaw. Just putting it out there.
I agree with you, because some students don't take their grades serious until the last days in which they notice that they are doing poorly in the class. I feel that those students that rush to get all their grades bumped up, are not learning or realizing that in the real life, nothing works like that, for example, if your boss gives you a due date to turn in a report, and if you rush the last day, most likely you won't turn in a well written report. I was always taught by my parents that easy things leave easily, but those hard things you try achiving will be worth it at the end.
Whenever I see a student sucking up to a teacher for a couple extra points and the teacher giving it to them, it frustrates me because I worked even harder to get the same grade. I agree that kids should work hard constantly throughout the quarter instead of trying to rush everything at the end and putting added stress on teachers. Even though I admit that sometimes I tend to slack off in the middle of the quarter I try to make an effort to work hard all quarter long.
People are so annoying, I could never be a teacher, repeating yourself, being interrupted over and over, other students defying you and not shutting up. Then at the end they pull up a desperate look on their faces and shed a little tears hoping for you to help them. When they had no input in collaborating as a whole. This seems dreadful and I kind of feel sorry for you in a way just but not as much as other teachers because you're smart enough and don't put up with their crap.
This is without a doubt the strategy to take. It doesn't even make sense (for some classes) that people would just flat out not do their homework. I think that the real problem is that for most students. Tests and quizzes can hamper grades but as long as you do a little above average in this category as well as complete all the homework it is likely you will leave the class with an A or a high B. Staying on your toes prepared for anything is really the only way to survive.
I completely agree with you in this. Througout my high school years I have seen this happen over and over again, and I still see it happen. Students slack during the first weeks and they keep procrastinating their work until the end, but they soon find themselves in a desperate situation becuase they realize that they only have a few days to make that C+ a B or that F a D. It is sad when I see these poor kids beg their teachers and whine about how it wasn't their fault or that they were trying their best, or the most famous one of all, "but it's only one percentage point away, can't you just bump me up? I was one of those students who thought they would never be in this situation but I was wrong. Just a couple of weeks ago, I started slacking off with my homework and didn't study for my test, and this eventually brought my grade down to a C+, I started freaking out because this meant I had to take the midterm, but luckily I din't have to. Trust me it is not a pleasant situation to be on, so I really do think students should try their best througout the whole quarter.
I really do feel bad for teachers who have to deal with this every year, but I admire the ones that are just straight up mean and say, "I don't give grades, you earn them." That is just mean, but I find it funny because this crushes every little hope the student had of getting a higher grade.
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