Ways to get over an unappealing grade

Handling the situation before drowning in academic invalidation.

Written by: Suhani Kothari, edited by: Jeeya Mahajan

Created by: Chidambara Avudaiappan

There can be times when you spend hours trying to practice for a test but still manage to get an unsatisfactory grade. This has happened to the best of us, either the student president or an English teacher. Often when we get an unappealing grade we might blame the teacher or be reflective to think about the efforts that one couldn’t make. The International Baccalaureate or IB highly pushes students to apply approaches to learning skills in their everyday activities either inside or outside school. The main skills this article highlights is self management skills. “Do teachers feel bad when students fail? The teacher does not fail the student; the student who is unprepared fails him/herself with a poor performance.” Below are some tips & tricks which I apply myself after receiving a mood- killer grade.

TIPS & TRICKS

1. Don’t dwell on it- When we get a bad grade and we're not used to it, we panic. We think we've lost our smarts and our focus. But that's not the case most of the time. It’s okay to face problems from time to time.

2. Remind yourself that one bad grade won't break your academic career. Your academic career is made up of different tests, not just the tests you take in class or the presentations that you exhibit. Your academic career depends on the relationships you make with your teachers; the impact that you make on other friends; and most importantly, the knowledge you develop. As a student, being reflective about even these situations encourages you to work harder next time and approach a different strategy.

3. Reach out to your teacher and talk about the ways that you can improve. Teachers love it when students who get a bad grade show a willingness to learn and get better.That makes the teacher feel successful, like they're doing a good job. So if you go up to a teacher after a bad grade and say something like "Hi Mrs. Toutounji, I'm not happy with my performance on the test. Could we go over the problems that I missed or talk about preparing better in the future." they just might faint with satisfaction. It’s very important to find time from your schedule and to go spend some time with an adult who would give you feedback. Time management skills are key pointers when reputed educational institutions are looking at an IB student.

4. Ask for help from a student who did well on the test. It feels good to help other people, which is why many students who ace tests offer to help out students who didn't. Just be sure to actually spend time studying and working on improving instead of goofing off. And remember to try to choose someone you're not attracted to or have a secret crush on. We all know how much "studying" gets done when you're in the same room as a charming prince or a ballerina princess.

5. Work on your gaps. After identifying those potential weaknesses, spend time working on how you could remedy them in future using specific strategies that would best address your problems. Your strategies must be targeted specifically toward your needs.

“Academics is about the desire to learn and wanting to improve yourself”-Head of Academics, Om Nambiar. One of the role models for the students at GIS could be Om Nambiar, a student who was new just like a few of us, who received academic invalidation but still stood up and achieved the position he is at now. As the head of academics, his principle is “ Be the best version of yourself if that means trying something new, do it, if it means staying in your comfort zone then do it, do what makes you happy.” His position requires continuous work, commitments and busy days. We often believe once we have reached a certain position in life all our past works and skills aren’t important, but those skills are what help us be a good leader and be amazing at what we do. The approaches to learning skills are life long skills for lifelong learners and leaders.

Citations:

• César de León, M.Ed. “How to Get Over a Bad Grade.” WikiHow, WikiHow, 15 September. 2021, www.wikihow.com/Get-Over-a-Bad-Grade.

• Ekkanath, Shivani. “6 Smart Tips for Dealing With a Bad Grade.” CollegeXpress, 28 October. 2021,www.collegexpress.com/articles-and-advice/majors-and-academics/blog/6-tips-dealing-bad-grade/.

• Nambiar, Om, Interview. By Suhani Kothari. 9 February 2022.