Dread, anticipation or even a combination of both seem to linger upon receiving anything back that has to do with our grades. This feeling has even driven some of us to the point of not even caring, my younger self included. I bet you can recall a time when what you thought a brilliant piece of your homework was handed in and you later discover the teacher had a much different outlook. Now 28, I would like to share a voice to the younger striving students. I wish someone had given me this insight or essentially this early development of a backbone.
- Teachers are human.
With complex thinking, marking and constructive output, a teacher cannot always block out the genetically imprinted human functions such as emotion or possibly subconscious bias, Reflecting on my educational past, I feel that I was barely acknowledged by my teachers. The ones who knew me well seemed to grade me higher on all my past transcripts. This is just and observation. One also has to consider an educator likely does not always mark work in 100% health conditions as it is never guaranteed. Simple headaches, illness, fatigue or over exertion of work can be causes of improper marking. Given a large stack of papers, the papers on top of a pile may be given more effort to marking than ones on the bottom due to repetition. I’m just saying it’s a possibility folks!
- Until the end of your program, grade or course, marks should be changeable despite what is mentioned.
When getting a bad mark on homework, I didn’t even want to look at it after. My insecure brain would simply shut down as a vulnerable teen. I would be lost in confusion or sadness especially if it was a mark I anticipated to be amazing. I regret not sifting through each page diligently to decipher what went wrong if it even was wrong. Now in my studies, I see that some questions which have been given a perfectly reasonable answer and marked horribly can be in direct conflict with a teachers opinion. Today, this adds fuel to my debate. Look out marks! Here comes the bright highlighter of justice set to make things right literally.
- So long as you are trying your best, you aren’t a bad student.
Some of us students can brush off the criticism easily. HAH! Good for you but that’s not my deal. Crash and burn marks feel as they do some serious damage. Some of us feel like they should drop out then and there feeling it’s not going to work out. There’s a job fair coming up that’s beaming with hot new minimum wage opportunities. Let’s cut our losses now and maybe see the end of student debt in 20 years. HALT! No sir or mam. If you are giving your all and hold passion for the subject, these are the only two indications you need for moving through this. Remember that. Trying your best? Having passion for this? Don’t stop then. Simple as pie.
- Before the curriculum starts, know the rules inside and out!
Equip yourself young education jedi. See that your course provides marking guidelines and wear this like knowledge armor. Maybe your educator needs a reminder themselves what is and what is not accepted in marking. This is the section of schoolwork often skipped over but is so important. It is unfortunate that there are specific “ways” to answer a question. I disliked that our answer formats are limited in tests and projects but sticking to them gives yet more fuel to a better mark.
- Know your rights as a student.
This one absolutely hits home as it is so close and dear to my heart. It was early 2000′s when I had graduated from high school and let me tell you if I had utilized some of the backbone I have now life would have been dramatically different. Have you ever had an educator use full on verbal abuse, humiliation, dis encouragement, or name calling as part of their methods? I did and this is in no way acceptable. I know my parents received lashes back in their day as part of disorderly punishment but those days are done, okay? Please, to all or any young students reading, if you experience anything that you feel to be crossing a line please alert parents, guardians or anyone up the chain to ensure it gets dealt with. Had I made mention of some of my math teachers ill practices, it could have saved future years of abuse for other students. Also!! Students shutter at the thought of student counselors it seems. I did at least. I thought it was uncool to be associated with any kind of extra help and would avoid being seen near the counsel office. Please use it! Talk about how your teachers are treating you and make sure abuse doesn’t go unnoticed. I advise researching rules educators must obey in their workplace as they vary in different countries.
- However, welcome to the unfair world.
I’m not trying to set you up for a let down here. I simply want you to be equipped for not always settling for the grades you get as I once did. Please don’t shrug and “go silently into the night”. I encourage you to fight with knowledge. You won’t always win, this is true. Years later it may feel a lot better than the age old “what if?” saying that reoccurs in life. What if you went to discuss your mark at least? There could be some insight you missed.
- How should I approach this to my teacher? And why?
Hold up! I do not advise storming into the classroom with pitchfork and torch demanding immediate changes in grades. Put that smelly torch out for a second. If your teacher is busy, kindly request a time you can speak with them about your mark or grade. Once a time is initiated, go in politely but with concern. In the numbers above, you have been given some points that you can make with your teacher based on your work. Yes, some answers may still be wrong but you need to willingly accept why they are wrong and need to be improved. And yes, there is the possibility an educator could have made a mistake. If they are a good one, they will correct it.
A quick reflection story: I had a really rough trig teacher that did not provide information on my mistakes. He simply placed question marks alongside each wrong answer and their were many in the beginning. I called him out on this. I indicated that question marks he put did not help me learn where I was going wrong and did not fix the problem. The teacher was furious!! This ordeal ended with my work being marked by the principal who also was well versed in math. He sat down with me, showed that only a few numbers had to be switched here and there and my brain light bulb got hit with a thousand volts! I nailed that course after!
At least the action you put into your marked work will have a reaction. Fight the right way to get what is yours. Don’t always accept the low marks given to you. When you speak to your teacher about your work it indicates “yes i care about this and I want to improve”. Work hard.