 School
Related Things: You Are in Control of Your Grades
I very well remember what it felt like
to be a student – particularly, a college student. I felt
like I was at the mercy of the teachers, of the records
office, of the “system.” I was even at the mercy of
the parking lot!
But, now that I’m a teacher, I have
a different view of the whole thing. In actuality, YOU ARE
IN CONTROL OF THE WHOLE THING!!! (95%, anyway.)
YOU have
made the choice to be in school. Other than some general
education classes that we all have to take, YOU get to
choose what classed to take. And, even with those general
ed. classes, YOU decide when to take them and with which
teacher. (OK, most of the time.) Hey, YOU are the one that
decided to go to school and to major in ___________... You
knew that those general ed. courses would be part of the
package. So, you really DID decide to take them!
And, here’s the biggie:
YOU DECIDE
WHAT GRADES YOU ARE GOING TO GET!
Yeah, that’s right. You heard me
correctly. YOU pick your grades. Remember that I’m an
insider on the teacher-side of things. From what I’ve seen
(and I’ve seen a lot, baby), 95% of teachers are really,
pretty fair graders. This means that, if you do A work,
you’ll get your A. If you do C work, you’ll get a C… And,
if you do F work (or no work), you’ll get to eat a big F.
With only a few exceptions, grades
are largely based on two things: time and effort… and both
of these are well within your control. With some planning
and organization, of course.
So, you make the decisions on
grades. Do you want an A? OK, then. YOU put in enough
time and effort to get that A. If it means getting a tutor,
then get a tutor! Do you want a C? Then, put SOME time and
effort in… Just enough to get by. Do you want an F?
That’s easy! Little very little or no time and effort.
That F will come on as fast as a good case of strep throat. |
| If you’re going for a
C, you’ve done some work, but you know darn well that you
haven’t done enough. If you’re going for an F, you’ve
done nothing but attend classes (if that!)
Stress for young
people is very often about feeling out of control. Hey, there is
a LOT of stuff going on when you are trying to grow up! So
many things seem to be changing and sometimes that gets
pretty scary. But, school? This is a decision you’ve made
and you are in charge what classes you take and what grades
you’ll get.
School is
definitely something you have control over! School is YOUR
decision and YOU are in charge of the outcome! So
chill a bit, would ya? |
