Day One of school can - and should - have the feeling of a spiritual cleaning. When I was teaching high school, the first day of every school year was a renewing experience for every student. Every one of my students started fresh. Nobody had late homework assignments, nobody had made careless mistakes on test questions, nobody had amassed tardies or unexcused absences. There were no blemishes on any of my students' records whatsoever. Everyone had an equally fair shot at earning high marks.
This, of course, didn't last for many of my students. In the subsequent 180 days of school, homework was forgotten, tardies were accumulated, and mistakes were made. This is to be expected, of course; nobody is perfect. Students expected similar things of themselves, it seemed. Many of them fully expected to be less than perfect (some far less than perfect) when it came to school, and for many of them, this was not something to worry about. It wasn't something to worry about, at least, until the end of the quarter when grades were due.
Everyone who looks after a young person or teenager can attest to the fact that they often don't face the consequences of their actions (or inactions) until the consequences are imminent. The homework assignment that was missed in the second week of school does not seem to be of great consequence, as (goes the young person's thinking) there will be plenty of time to make up that lost assignment. The truth is something slightly different. When students do come to teachers asking if they can make up or revise work, it almost always happens in the eleventh hour, when time is short, teachers are stressed, and grades hang in the balance. At this point, it's sometimes too late.
To the students of the world, here's a little secret from the teacher's lounge: with rare exception, homework due on the first week of school counts exactly as much towards your grade as homework on the last week of the semester. Big projects and tests will count more than daily homework, of course, but a one night assignment due on September 4th is generally weighed the same in your teacher's gradebook as a one night assingment due May 25th. There is no warm up, it all counts. And moreover, you won't be able to make up the assignment due on September 4 at the end of the semester.
What does this mean for students? It means that from Day One, while you are struggling to break out of your summer sleep habits and your record remains relatively unblemished, be vigilant about your school work! If you miss an assignment or hand in homework late, do not wait until even the end of the week (and certainly don't wait until the end of the semester) to do something about it! Stay on top of things from Day One. This will save you (and your teacher) a great deal of unnecessary stress when grades are due.
We at Tutorpedia want to wish every student a very successful and fruitful school year, and hope that students develop and internalize vigilant work habits from Day One, when their records are unblemished, everything is possible, and they feel like they can do no wrong.
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2 comments:
This post is incredibly true and is a constant issue that tutors face with their students. I would say that almost fifty percent of the students that I've worked with over the course of being a tutor have come to me when it is nearly too late to help them in time for their exams. Most students seem unwilling to ask for help until it is immediately necessary. To make matters worse parents seem to reinforce this type of thinking. Many times I've been called by parents two weeks before finals asking to get their kids grades from a F to B.
As David mentioned, no one is perfect and I would never expect all students or all parents to stay completely on top of their affairs at all times. However, everyone needs to be honest with themselves. If its a month or two in into the semester and you're struggling, talk to your teacher, look for a tutor, and/or buckle down on the school work. The sooner a student approaches a teacher for help, the more likely they are to give that student extra help or a second chance. The sooner a student begins work with a tutor the easier it will be for all parties to achieve the desired results.
Well said. I think we can compare our education to our health: there's a lot of anxiety and damage control when things aren't going well, but we often forget that there's a lot that we can do in order to prevent those bad things from happening. We exercise and eat certain foods in order to prevent illness, and likewise we should be vigilant about our school work from the first moment in order to prevent a crisis at the end of the quarter.
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