December 7, 2011
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Failing Classes
One thing that is difficult to adjust to as a parent is your children getting report cards.
I am pretty good at relating to my children emotionally and in most areas. But as I told one of my children tonight, I am not sure I will understand why a child will fail a class.
It makes no sense to me. All they have to do is study. The teachers clearly tell them what is coming up on the test. They talk about it in class. They have homework reviewing the material. They then review for the test. Then some of the classes allow you to drop to grades. And then they even have correctional test that allow them to retake the tests.
There is no reason to fail.
Have you ever failed a class?
Comments (116)
I don’t recall, senator.
nope
Sure. I’ve collected every alphabet in the soup.
i failed astronomy in my undergrad, but that’s the only class i’ve ever failed in 18 years of schooling. sometimes the sheer will power to study isn’t all it is. some teachers are effective, some kids struggle with certain subjects, sometimes there’s a cute girl in the class and they can’t focus, stress from bullying or issues at home. any number of factors can contribute to poor performance on a test. but sometimes it is just kids being lazy. sometimes it’s just a phase. not sure what i’d do if it were my kid, but it sure isn’t easy
Yes, it sucks ass. I used to be a straight A student before my anxiety. Although I did pop a handful of Xanies and Vicodin and got some assignments done early. ;D
I failed gym once.
The teacher was a nut job (after running a mile and half straight and feeling the asthmatic tightness in my chest, I stopped running and he threatened to punish me for it) so halfway through I stopped going.
But an academic class? Nope. At least not in a while since college has the ability to drop the course.
No I was always too neurotic.
Only once, in college, when I had to have emergency abdominal surgery and it was too late to drop a class – all the other professors were understanding and let me make things up; one didn’t care and failed me anyway.
I failed my very first class in 3rd year university. It was pretty depressing. I did feel better once I found out half the class had failed, but still… Re-taking it is a pain in the butt.
never failed a class even though i rarely attend chemistry class / didnt bother trying (my test were half assed done / blank )
i rem the day before our provincial exam my teacher bumped into me in the hallways and told me NOT* to write the exam lol
I failed a semester of algebra when I was a freshman in high school.
@musicmom60 - “Only once, in college, when I had to have emergency abdominal surgery and it was too late to drop a class – all the other professors were understanding and let me make things up; one didn’t care and failed me anyway.”
My department had a professor like that. Some smart students hacked her email account and, on April 1st, emailed everyone a warm and thankful retirement notice to all the students and professors of the department.
I was sad to learn that the email was and prank, and that the professor remained a bitch irl.
Nope. The two classes I came close to failing (calculus 2 and 3), I dropped before I could fail them.
I’ve only ever failed one class.. it was some type of 8th or 9th grade Science.
@Celestial_Teapot - Great prank! Honestly, why do these jerks become teachers?
I got a D in AP US History for several reasons. He gave us pop quizzes over the reading and never actually taught us. Part of it was my own laziness (I’d never had to actually read the textbook in any of my classes and I had other work to do; those readings weren’t a priority) and part of it was his own insanity. I find it funny how every claim a teacher made in high school regarding college has proved to be a lie.
I managed to pass AP Calculus with a C. I did have some issues with my grades in high school but I don’t think I ever failed a class.
Sidenote, that same AP History teacher was actually shocked when I passed the AP test with a four (highest score being a five). Not without reason, certainly; I wasn’t the greatest student in his class (to put it mildly) and I admitted to him the morning of the test that I hadn’t studied the night before. Like I said, it wasn’t without reason that he was shocked, but when he talked to me about it he still ended up sounding like a dick.
@musicmom60 - Depends.
At larger universities, many professors are hired on the strength of their research. If your physics professor has a Nobel-caliber mind, I’m sure the hiring committee may overlook the lack of empathy or the absence of functional people skills.
Separately, with the security of tenure, and as professors get older, I’m sure many of them stop trying. Perhaps through laziness, the tedium of teaching the same class repeatedly, or simply the jadedness that comes with advanced age?
I failed Math for 3 years in high school, Grade 9, 10, and 11, did not take Math in grade 12. I took Math in summer school all over again to achieve a passing grade. I have failed one term of Social Studies, English and Science. I have severe problems with Math, the concepts of math just does not make any sense in my brain. I failed Social Studies, English and Science because of my laziness, but Math.. Its just like.. wha..? But when I got into S.S, English and Science 11, everything just suddenly made sense and I got As and Bs. Its kinda weird.
@Celestial_Teapot - Very true…we all know brilliant people who can’t teach, and don’t really care to..they are there for the tenure.
Is one of your kids failing a class? I was a 4.0 student in high school. I got good grades in college, but i took a class called Clinical Neuroscience. I pulled an all nighter studying for the first test. There were only going to be 3 tests total and no other homework so i had to get a decent grade. I studied so hard for that test. I ended up getting a 33% on the test and the professor said if we failed that test, we would fail the class. I was devastated because i worked hard and was a good student. I ran out of the class crying and i immediately called my parents. I dropped the class and it cost my parents $1,000. MOST classes you can study and do well in if you apply yourself. But not all classes….there are some classes no matter how hard you work, you will fail no matter what you do. This class was just too hard.
In high school and community college… Not at my university though. I think it’s all about what your priorities are.
Plenty of times… then I realized that I was screwing around. School is easy. You just need to do the work.
Argh yesss…
my second semester of college I decided to do organic chem, orgo lab, calc2, physics, physics lab, engineering class, programming and ended up just so drained. I ended up failing orgo, and had to retake it. I just stopped studying… I crushed under the amount of stuff being jammed in to my brain and the anxiety of not being able to finish studying
I ended up in the hospital for a week ><
I will never do 9 all nighters in a row… I slept in class sometimes but I just did not have time to sleep -.-
needless to say, my parents were beyond livid and threatened to kick me out. Very understandable of course, it was a stupid choice to take all those classes in one semester
The problem is that there is no serious “incentive/disincentive” system.
Consider this possibility. For every point about 73% a child gets as a final grade, 10 dollars are added to an account. Upon graduation, 30% of the account is given to them to spend as they please, and the remainder is put into a fund that can be used to pay for tuition if they choose to go to college. Additionally, for every point below 73%, the child loses the same amount of money.
Now, children have tangible reasons to want to pass classes: even if they DON’T plan on going to college, there are tangible results waiting for them on the other side.
There are other ways to incentivize the system, mainly finding out what the next generation’s values are. Children fail classes because they do not see any point in succeeding in them (think about it: all a high school diploma is worth is a guaranteed struggle for the rest of your life to avoid going into debt while working at a minimum wage job), especially because they are of a culture that does not value knowledge for its own sake (nerds are generally the most picked-on social group).
I’ve never failed a class, but I got a C- in Chemistry during college. The teacher didn’t speak English and I was really awful at Chemistry. A C- was failing for Pre-Nursing since it was a pre-requisite. I retook it and got a B+ though
I failed 3 in high school and 3 in college, both in my freshman years. (I think it’s a trend for me.)
Only in college and I had to take it over again (because I missed more than 2 classes….that was the prof’s policy, but I sucked at getting up for it…it was at 8 in the morning).
I got an A in it the next time…probably because it was at 1 in the afternoon. XD
it really depends on the class and the teacher. I feel like physics is something one can easily fail (I barely managed to scrape a 61 together in Gr 12 even though I worked my butt off). Personally I am not very strong with application hence while I understand the concepts I am in danger of failing my economics exam in a few hours…
I’m failing chemistry right now.
@LyricallyCharged - My dad always told me that people shouldnt care too much about gym classes because one time I got straight A’s… Except in gym, but he told me not to feel too bad about it.
I’ve never failed a class in my life
Although in grade 10 I was about 3% from failing math, but Ive never been strong in the hard maths. Other than that one grade, (C-) I’ve always gotten pretty good grades. Almost always on the honor roll.
sometimes “just study” isn’t the only problem, since studying doesn’t help.
some teachers don’t tell you what material will be on it, some don’t review. some hardly teach it in the first place. sometimes you’re not learning because not everyone learns the same way and teachers can only teach one way.
Me phail Inglish. Me no me do gud gob n clas, but me stil phail. Y me phail? Me no no y me phail Inglish.
(Actually, I was almost held back my senior year of high school because I almost failed English and Biology, even though I had already been accepted to college and everyday. That was a rough year).
Yes, I have. I also know a lot of people who failed more classes than one and more than once too.
Not in college…I failed a couple of times…that’s how you learn that something is not for you. Luckily I made one up, second one I just gave up on that major and switched. College classes are harder, especially the biological sciences….
I never failed a class.
Not even close!
No, but that’s because I’m super smart. hahahaha
oh my god just looking at that picture of a report card made me die a little inside. i’ve never gotten straight A+s.
To fail a class in high school you have to stop breathing and die.
yes. when hormones are ranging and personal confidence at the lowest and no friends to rely on and no interest at any of the classes offered… well, you get the picture.
I failed a few in college. Mostly because I studied so much and worked so hard for other classes, it burned me out for those ones, and so I failed. It didn’t help that they were all very hard.
But I was a straight-A student in high school, and to me, there’s not much room for excuse for failing in high school beyond, “I didn’t want to do the work.” Which is a legitimate choice.
I’ve failed an algebra class. I simply didn’t get it. But then again I was doing algebra before I got to high school. I retook it in high school, and passed. Smh.
I’ve never failed, but there are some subjects that are harder than others. Math, for example, I just do not get. I struggled with a math class in University and even though I studied every night, went to all the office hours, watched the fricking campus TV channel devoted to that class (it was a weeder class for the business school), and hired a private tutor. Even with all that extra study and help, I still failed the class, but managed to squeek by with a C- because the professor curved the class. Sometimes, all the study in the world just doesn’t cut it.
If you have to study you’re probably screwed.
It’s not the end of the world if you fail.
I have. lots of them. and over a decade later no one has successfully convinced me that a letter on a piece of paper is worth my time. i’ve been pretty competent at most of the jobs i have held and seen people with less intelligence no character and little work ethic advance through the ranks while i stayed at an entry level position getting ignored for everything i did right and ridiculed for the slightest missteps. all of this only served to reinforce my initial thesis that my time is better spent enjoying myself instead of being bored or exhausted.
Like two days ago, I bought this drink packed with proteins, saw ingredients, lots of fucking chemicals, doesn’t that cause cancer? I bought a Monster product, tasted different, why? cuz green tea was added. Green tea… mix tea with chemicals, perfect. What do you guys drink besides water, all drinks have chemical X. I worry about my body, that I am not getting enough nutrients. I want to do an experiment. One person only eat apple, other eat only carrot, other eat only meat, other eat only spinache, other eat only broccoli, ect, and see who get sick first!!!
Yesterday I went to this place in my town for first time, and, place had sandwhiches for ten fucking dollars, at quick check you can get a sub for six bux, I was so angry that the prices were inflated, I felt it was a direct attack on the poor. I got a haircut yesterday, plus I shaved, so now I look fifteen. Some incidents pissed me off, I am angry just remembering!!!!!
Now my body is sweating from the anger I just experienced. I get angry so easily, there is nothing I can do to change this aspect of myself. Rawr!!!!!!!!!!! Why couldn’t I have been not hothead. Sometimes I get so angry, I ask myself, why is murder wrong in light of the fact I, feel violent passionate urges to stick a knife… Why am I this evil? I am going to burn. I think I am beginning to understand serial killers, hatred can turn you into one.
By the way, I saw cakalusa’s blog, I saw lovejenny, her eyes looked fear. She looked afraid, were you nervous. I haven’t seen much of Flip the fat filipino.
some subjects just happen to be impossible to understand. As if the person’s brain is blocking it out. Unless you are serious about it? Just drop the class. On the other hand, maybe tutoring for that particular subject isn’t a bad idea.
Failing a class, to me, was anything below a mid-B. In college I almost “failed” Business Law and Auditing, and my only C was in Cost Accounting.
I think there are plenty of reason why the “studiyng” doesn’t always work. I always found it awful that we weren’t allowed to drink water in class and that we didn’ t open the windows. It made me tired and only get half of what the teacher said. I had a tutoring student who came around right after 7 hours of school, always tired and hungry. It was basically 1.5 hours of wasted time for her. At home there might be too many distractions or your children haven’t found the right methods for themselves yet. A great misconception is that you learn better by writing things down. You can get distracted by the writing itself. Maybe some kids are also too scared. I once had a friend who explained math to me a day before the exam. She explained really well. I got a B+ and she failed. I think it was because her mother always yelled at her for alledgedly not studying enough and during the test she simply had a black out.
I did but I also never did homework or studied.
I failed Bible class when I was a kid. Or maybe that was my half-term report. I didn’t know they even failed kids anymore. Maybe he’s lucky he can fail. Better than having everything handed to him no matter what.
Nope. Never failed a class. I did drop one my freshman year of college that I wasn’t doing well in. It wasn’t at all what I expected and I was super depressed that year and kept dozing off in class.
The only other classes I have dropped was due to scheduling conflicts.
No
Nope, I’ve never failed anything.
not after elementary school. I couldn’t read. I had a learning disorder. It went away, but I can see how they could fail. You should have him screened. If they catch it early enough, they can pull an intervention and fix it so that it doesn’t destroy him.
just to make it worse, all my siblings are extremely bright. I’m the “special” one.
I think I would literally die if I ever failed a class. I remember the first time I got a B in a class. I was in 11th grade, taking calculus. I thought the world was ending. Now, I’m about to become a teacher. In the school I’m student teaching in, about seven students out of 29 failed the first marking period. Most of them were okay with it. I don’t understand. It will never make sense to me.
I was always a good test taker
my child failled math and the teacher told me that it’s like learning another language and that made me more understanding of my son.
…why would someone admit to failing a class after you put it like that?
Yes i have failed. In highschool i got all a’s without studying. When i came to college it was a whole new world. i struggled with every class, because i had no idea how to study for anything.
Though i agree a’s are something everyone can reach i do not agree that its as easy as you put it. Some concepts, some classes are simply impossible for people who learn a cartain way to do well it. If everything in classes is lectures only how can a hands on person truly learn. Not just memorize, learn.
Yes, the last quarter of my senior year in high school. I was there for the first couple of weeks of Journalism, then I got sick with some mystery disease, dropped 15 pounds I couldn’t afford to lose, and didn’t have the strength to make it back to school until the last week of the quarter – just in time for finals. I also failed one semester of choir my junior year because I missed a concert for an out of state family funeral. Luckily, I had straight As in all my other classes in both instances.
Yes. But my experience as a student does not resemble yours in any meaningful way.
Did my mother put you up to this? I’ve failed 3 classes; 1 in high school, 1 in college, and 1 at my university. I swear I have legitimate reasons for all of them, justifiable or not.
High school: I had a friend die in a car wreck my sophomore year. I fell behind in Chemistry and couldn’t catch back up once I climbed out of the dark hole I fell into. My teacher failed me with a 69.43College: It was my first semester at my community college and I had mistakenly signed up for a class with an awful teacher. Seriously, my mom even hated her when she was in school. I withdrew from the class but the paperwork didn’t go through so the school failed me. I’m still pissed about that. University: I was up until 5 o’clock AM studying for a test at 8 o’clock. I slept through my alarm and missed the test (one of three) and my teacher had a very strict policy for not making tests up.
And theeeese are my reasons. Sometimes it’s not about being lazy or mentally incompetent.
I’ve failed a chem class. You must also remember that there are bad teachers as well. I took a chem homework to my cousin who is a biochemist and even he was like, “What the hell is she asking of you? This doesn’t make any sense!”
Other than that, I haven’t.
I was literally thisclose to failing AB calculus and not graduating my senior year. Honestly, with the grades I was getting, I’m sure I DID fail, but was pushed through because it was June of my senior year, etc. etc. I just didn’t see the point of learning all the material to bring it up and like every other senior just wanted to get out. My parents never had any idea that my diploma was in danger, and I’m glad I never told them because there was nothing they could have done to help me. There is a plethora of factors that can impact a child’s willingness to do well in a class. They may truly be lost and just do not know how to ask for help, they may not be managing their time, they may not realize the consequences of their actions, who knows. Don’t take it out on your child if they do end up failing. It’s not personal. They do not want to disappoint you.The best thing to do is take it one day at a time.
Are they at a bullshit school with bullshit classes? That’s probably why.
i failed many classes as a child, couple in HS, and 3 in college, im getting my BS engineering in 8 days
Who knows, I can’t read.
You’re describing the best case scenario. You must have had some amazing teachers.
Yes, multiple times. I can count on two hands how many times i’ve failed a class…
Sometimes it’s the kids interests not being piqued by the subject they’re learning, or sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to them (it could be the way the teacher is presenting the material) and they’re afraid to speak up, or feel ‘stupid’ for doing so, so they remain quiet. Sometimes it’s the way the teacher doesn’t really put in the effort that is appropriate or doesn’t do their job appropriately or brings the students down, or just plain makes it impossible to really pass the class.
It could be a range of wide issues but before you get angry at your child just try sitting down and talking to them about it. If it’s the first time failing cut them alittle slack and don’t be all bent out of shape, one grade will not destroy your future, and sometimes if you calmly talk to the child about it, instead of yelling and making them feel terrible, they’ll be more open and willing to get through the problem together. (Which will help for future situations!)
If it’s this is a repeated pattern in one subject, maybe that’s just a subject that’s especially tough for them. I failed math every year since elementary school, I was always in summer school, mainly cause I never understood what was going on and I struggled. I would think I’d got the material down but then the test came and I’d get anxiety and fail. I failed Chorus because I couldn’t sight sing the music (I just didnt understand how to read music!) and I’m currently failing Chemistry in my Sophomore year of college… but it’s very difficult! Some things just DON’T click for certain people, regardless of how much work you put in!!! but then they do fabulous in others!!
If it’s in more than one subject it COULD be the laziness factor playing in, how old are they? Sometimes the teenager hormones play a part in that, my brother was a straight A kid and now that he hit his teen years he’s been slacking. It’s just the phase. Or it could even be a learning disability that has gone undiscovered (teachers don’t always think of that, or even sometimes CARE enough to maybe suggest testing or something for the poor child. which happened to me.) I ended up going undiagnosed with A.D.D. over 5 years….. After I got diagnosed and on the proper medicine I felt like I was finally reaching the same level as the rest of my peers!
So don’t get upset at your child right away! remain calm and try to talk about it! It IS upsetting yes, so do stress the fact that it’s not acceptable and stress the fact that it is very dissapointing and that you know they’re better/smarter than that! Ask them if you could aid them in studying or if there’s something distracting them or etc etc. etc. As long as your child tries their best, you can’t get too angry – tell them just to work hard, and as long as they work hard, it’s all that matters. Laziness is no excuse though.
Don’t get too upset right away! There’s so many factors that could play into this situation that it’s crazy!….
I was horrible at math. I don’t think I totally failed the class, but I had mostly D’s and ended up in summer school. No fun! Plus, I really didn’t like the math teacher, so that made it even worse.
one in college, but its much easier to fail in college. in high school I got a D- one quarter, but I didn’t fail the whole class.
it wasn’t because I was slacking off, though (the college one, kind of) but in all honesty I just didn’t understand the material. It was geometry in high school and statistics in math. I am a very smart girl with a 3.4 GPA in college but I am crazy stupid when it comes to math.
I only failed math classes because I would do all those things and still not get it. It’s not like I wanted to fail; then I had to go to summer school and stuff which was obviously not fun. Eventually I would fail on purpose because I knew if I tried I would fail anyway.
I haven’t failed anything in college because I’m not forced to take math. You can avoid failing if you’re smart enough to understand the subject, which I think you are implying. After that it’s just a motivation thing. You don’t see the point of school so you don’t try.
I failed Algebra for one or two marking periods in high school. I felt completely lost no matter what I did. I remember going to the final and hoping I’d pass, because I really didn’t want to repeat the whole semester again. That was the first and only test I’ve ever taken that literally made me sick to my stomach….for the entire day! And I’m really not the sort of person who freaks out easily.
I’ve never failed a class. But I did get a ‘C’ once in Aerobics hahaha
Heck yeah, I always failed classes in elementary school and some of high school. I didn’t understand the importance of getting good grades until the end of high school. I think as young adolescents, you don’t understand the importance to prioritize school and achieve the best out of it that you should. But maybe once your child understands the reasons to study harder, he’ll start sky rocketing just as I did.
I failed kindergarten.
Never failed a class in my life, or else my parents would’ve disowned me!
But honestly, it takes a lot of effort to fail a class. It must take a ton of effort to skip class, ignore pending assignments and homework, etc.
i failed every exam in secondary school 12-18years because i was a troubled teenager. i’d usually find question 2 required i think and give up. my teachers knew i wasn’t stupid, some punished me and that did not help.
i managed first year of college but failed a module in second year because i had never known how to concentrate and study.
There is no reason to fail a class in high school
I’ve never come close to failing any class.
I have. I didn’t do half the work, never studied… but in my defense there was a lot of home issues at the time.
No, I was a straight-A student through university, but school has always been my thing. I know of friends I had who studied and still did poorly in certain subjects.
I never studied or did homework in high school. I never failed a class except for one English class that I took during 4th hour and skipped every day so I could have an hour and a half for lunch. I graduated with a B- average. In college, however, a different story. I went to college later in life and was paying for my education so I studied, practiced, did homework, did extra credit work, and did even more if it was available. I never got below a B (and mostly got A’s) and graduated with honors.
I failed 2 classes in college. It was Computer Science 101 and Math 121.
When I put my boyfriend, now fiance, first before finals, I fail. I just got a D on a lab performance test because I was/am still emotionally distraught from the night of arguments before-totally clumsy and not well-focused. I just hope I didn’t fall under a class grade of C.
i’ve failed a few classes. i failed six in highschool, because i had depression and found it difficult to focus, then i went on to college and failed in bunch of science courses.
no matter how hard i studied, nothing worked. i attended review sessions, lectures, did the homework, went to tutors, asked questions, wrote extensive notes in multiple notebooks… and still, my results were naught. i was absolutely devastated. i had no idea what to do. whereas, kids around me were studying and partying all night, doing drugs, and ranking top of the class, ready to secure their MCATs. it’s really messed up, but the fact is, there is a system to exams- questions are asked in a certain way that require a specific type of thinking, and the way you review for exams is the surest way to make sure you know the material (and is different for each individual student). the teacher is the best bet to guessing what’s on the test (yes, we have to literally guess what the test questions will be and prepare beforehand. it’s a hit or miss). my study skills prof said that for some students, it would “click;” others just had to learn it. i thought that was very poor reason as to why i didn’t do well in my courses when i had worked so damn hard.
If people don’t want to try let them suffer the consequences. Some people roll out of bed all through elementry school,middle and high school. Wow then she realized college was work and then she had to study. Me on the other had probaby suffered from an undiagnosed learning disability, mental problems and teachers that were ill equiped with their cookie cutter lessons and oversized classes to design special testing for kids who were just written off as stupid or lazy, who are just doomed to work low paying jobs for all you spoiled brats that feel that they are owed a job because they paid for a class and they are smart and pretty. My mother is smart and a hard worker and it got her no where. Choose your future carefully and quit judging people, you aren’t god and karma will visit you if judge others. Keep your own side of the street clean. Oh, if you want to edit my rant, this was my moms tax dollars at work! What %@#$ waste of money for all the alienation and abuse I endured all those years.
Nope. I’ve even tried. Ended up with a C. But that was in college and I was very depressed because of personal issues.
I think sometimes if the child is not doing well in a class or classes, there might be emotional factors at play.
I’m actually retaking that class next semester.
That is a very one sided view, some teachers suck at teaching, some don’t suck completely, but don’t understand kids/people learn different ways. You can’t expect that just because one person can watch you do something and do it exactly the same first try that the next person will do that. Grades are a very poor reflection of how a kid/person will actually do in a real life situation.
I’ve failed some college classes as a result of mental illness, and a few due to being completely unprepared for the difference in courseloads from high school. Ialmost failed French in high school because the teacher was a pompous French ass who clearly loathed Americans, but I pulled it together.
No but I have had C’s and D’s at time in grade-school and got two C’s in college. There are some things that just dont click. I studies Spanish for hours. I read and studied for World Civilization for hours on end. but I got C’s in both of them anyway.Luckily, I got A’s and B’s in all my other classes!
perhaps your child does not need to learn in the classroom. perhaps they are interested in other aspects of the world, that maybe you and their guidance in school have missed.
ENGLISH! I failed English in high school. I cried when I got my report card, thinking about how my strict Asian parents were going to react when they saw it. I prepared myself to be grounded, lose computer privileges, be beaten with a chopstick again (no, not really beaten, my parents weren’t abusive), or whatever would come as a result of being a complete failure to their eyes…
Their reaction? ”Oh, well, do better next time.” O.O
I worked my butt of in my calculus class, and then on my progress report my teacher said I was in danger of failing for the year (during the first quarter!!!).
Soooo…… I just never went back……..Obviously I didn’t pass haha
I’ve pretty much always been an A-B student, but when I underwent my first bout of depression in 7th grade, I flunked a social studies class.
Well, when tests are hard and they count for 90% of your grade, you have to work hard to pass the class. Your children are still in grade school, right? Well, I’m currently a senior in high school and for Regular (non-AP/Honors) classes, you have to TRY to get an F. But for AP classes… it’s possible to fail if the teacher doesn’t give out much homework, or if the teacher is a hard grader, or if they don’t allow retakes. I’ve worked my ass off to get a C in a class before. -__-
I have to tell you… for me, at this point… grades are meaningless. I almost did not get into high school, because of my maths. I was supposed to get an F, but the teacher gave me a D so that I could “slide”. I cannot tell you how many Ds and Fs I gathered in high school. I failed, because I could not handle certain subjects and I did not feel good in the school environment (I was actually an outsider, I did not get along with anyone, I stayed out of gossip, so I became the object of stupid gossips). Going to school was an emotional distress to me. (I went to high school in Europe -to be clear) My Mom was really terrified of how I would handle “later on”. All the math tutoring did not help me… I kept on sliding -same thing with chemistry, physics. My only friend in the class (of almost 30 people) wrote the tests for me and let me write everything off her. Yes, I cheated, but cheating was better than failing a year. In my last year of HS I encountered some sort of an enlightenment… I started getting better grades in all subjects “just like that”. I think it was something with my mindset. I felt overwhelmed with school-work before and then I just learned how to learn. How to take good notes etc. Where am I now? Well, I got my M.A. in Political Science, I have a post-graduate degree in American Politics, I am now in an MBA program and at the same time, I am getting my Ph.D.. ALL IT TOOK, WAS MY INNER CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. All that talking of my Mom’s and her worry did not help… I was “saved” by the will to change that came… from me. P.S. I still have problems with tests which are composed of multiple choice questions. I always preferred other types of tests… I always performed better at them.
No, but I’ve come close. I had to drop Chem 101A my freshman year of college for several reasons. There was so much work to do and I couldn’t keep up with 5 other classes and a sick dad to take care of. Plus, I don’t like chemistry all that much and my professor had a really thick Mexican accent. x_x
All the time. I don’t do well on tests. In Middle School and High School it was because I just didn’t care. In College it’s because the tests are more abstract. You aren’t often told what to know, you just have to master the subject matter given and hope you study the right things. I enjoy learning the subjects and feel like I learn a lot but often I will miss key elements that show up in the test.
I never failed a class. I wonder what that feels like but for my type-A personality, I fear the result of a failed grade would take a toll on my health. I don’t think anything beyond learning disabilities can account for a failed grade. Elementary, junior high, and high school is so easy. Beyond high school is where I feel like failing is a little…easier.
fail usually means you stopped showing up but forgot to drop.
“The teachers clearly tell them what is coming up on the test. They talk about it in class. They have homework reviewing the material. They then review for the test. Then some of the classes allow you to drop to grades. And then they even have correctional test that allow them to retake the tests.”
You’re making a LOT of assumptions about the teacher there. Some teachers really are just pure shit and others enjoy failing as many students as possible because they’re assholes.
Yea, I’ve failed a class. I also rarely get anything below an A- (in high school, college, and grad school). The two classes I failed were asshole professors who would ask questions never covered in the homework, textbook, or lecture as well as flat out lying about certain things (like claiming there would be an equation sheet so you don’t need to memorize equations – then not providing an equation sheet).
Well, i have one instructor right now who does NOT clearly teach anything. But i make use of the school’s tutors. I don’t let one asshole of a teach control whether i pass or fail. SO, i have to say i sort of agree with you. Even if you can’t understand the way the teacher teaches you can find other avenues to learn the material. I feel its about being a creator of your life. Taking charge. Instead of being the victim and blaming it on everyone else.
Yes I failed grade 10 english class & I dropped out of grade 11 physics because I knew I would fail.
I’m 25 and I still fail tests. Not a lot, but I am and was mostly C student. To me it has nothing to do with studying or knowing what what’s on a test. I have a problem memorizing information that I find boring or unrelated to my life.
Yup, Algebra…I hate math!
I’ve never failed a class. I was Valedictorian of my high school senior class, had a 3.84 GPA in my undergraduate studies and a 4.0 GPA on my grad transcript. Booyeah!
lol. But those scores weren’t because I was particularly intelligent — they simply happened because I chose to work my butt off!
As a general over-achiever and a teacher to boot, I am absolutely BAFFLED when a child fails a class. You only have to get 60% in order to pass….how do you not put forth enough effort to accomplish that?? I am ESPECIALLY baffled when a student fails a class run by a teacher who offers an opportunity for SEVERAL bonus points, puts every assignment on the web (so you can do it at home, even if you’ve forgotten it in your locker), puts every page of notes on the web (so you can still study, even if you’ve forgotten your notes at school), AND comes early/stays late to tutor anyone who shows up (read: me). As most classes are purely about the effort one puts forth, I think failing a class just showcases absolute laziness.
…And I really get annoyed when kids (or their parents) make excuses about a failing grade. No, the teacher doesn’t/didn’t hate you. YOU didn’t do what you were supposed to do, plain and simple. I don’t even personally know ONE educator who is that stupid or vindictive to fail a student whom they simply didn’t like. So, although I admit that there may be a few rare cares of that in the world, I don’t think it’s the norm by any means. And SpEd kids get plenty of modifications (at least, in my class, they do), so they can’t use that excuse, either.
I think I’ll be a lot less grumpy when kids start taking some responsibility for their actions and accepting the fact that good things do not normally come for people who do not work hard.
i used to be a bad student in elementary school. Theres usually about 40 people in class (asian city~~) and i always ranked 36-37. For the whole 6 years of elementary school it was that.
Then came secondary school. The first term, first report card said I was ranked 5th in class. I could see the surprise in my mother’s face, going “Are you sure this is the right report card?” look. Same with me. I don’t know if it was because many kids (maybe smarter kids) went to other schools or what.. but afterwards I felt the need/urge to at least keep my rankings that way. I never got to top 3, but never got out of top 6 either.
I then went to undergraduate school. I was a so-so student again.. even though I excelled at subjects of my choice, others like Physics 101 (compulsory subject out of my school of business) were a C. I graduated Second Honors First division (as opposed to 2nd div). I almost got a Dean’s merit on the last semester, but was missing 0.1 on my GPA.
Then I went to postgrad school and got two scholarships and graduated with a master’s degree. It was film school.
So i guess… it depends.. on whether or not it was an interesting subject to your child. Whether the teacher was good. Whether he/she feels confident about getting good grades or not. I studied hard for my Physics 101 and still only got a C. It was terrible teaching and a terrible subject for me. I got As for my literature classes.
i’m commenting for the 2 eprops
Nope, but I was homeschooled so I didn’t get grades.
I’m going to have to disagree and point out that kids aren’t robots you know. It has been a WHILE since you’ve been in school hasn’t it? Yes, it is simple to study but there are a plethora of other issues that could be going on in your child (or whoever’s) life. They could be depressed, have TOO many classes, worried that their dad will think them a failure if they do fail and thus cause anxiety and worry, there could be that class that DOESN’T offer extra credit and retakes, etc, their could be that one professor that doesn’t teach well or makes it his or her mission to make the test as difficult as possible, and plenty of other issues. Students cannot be simply homework machines that study ALL the time and parents tend to forget that. What happens when you work all the time? You get unmotivated, depressed, tired, etc. It happens for kids too. I used to be like that, working all the time, afraid to fail but then I made an F for one because I wanted to retake the class, two because I wanted to see what it was like to not be bogged down with this need for perfection, and three because I didn’t want to make a C (and you have to make a D or F in order to retake) and it was the best decision I’ve made. It made me realize I’m not perfect, never will be and it is okay to fail, life moves on. Although now I get to retake it and do better, all the pressure is gone.
ughhhhhhhhh
yes. in college. it took me 7 years to complete a 5-year course. i was lazy.
Got mostly A’s, some B’s in elementary and high school. Got a C and an F my first year of college. Got an F because I didn’t realize you actually had to study in college and it didn’t sink in that I could actually do poorly in the class until the very end (didn’t help that my friends in the class were doing poorly too, so I felt like it was more acceptable to not do well). Finally realized I liked learning my last two years of college and grades have been good since then.
lol. clearly, you need to attend pharmacy school.
more specifically, mine.