history

[cutiepie1497]

okay so i talked with Mrs. Snowden friday before school.....walked in and said "Hi. how were the tests?" and she said "you know, i am not happy with them ,at all....and it isnt just you guys, its that the history department did it together and 90% is crap......." and I started crying and I said "I studied Mrs. Snowden, for a long time I studied and knew the material, until I got the test and knew none of it" and she said "I know that look, come here hun" so I went to lay my stuff down and she thought I was leaving lol.....so I went over to her side of the desk and she said she plans on talking to the history teachers (pickett and booth) and the front office about the exam. She said "pull up a desk, lets see where we went wrong here" so I grabbed a desk and we did the whole test over....and I got every one of them right but like 2 or 3. Of course she was asking a question about the question, making each question true/false....and I knew almost every question....so she said "Bethany, you know this girl. I'll tell ya what, next test we take in here pull up a desk to my desk and you are going to sit here, read each question out loud softly and work through it like we just did" so....she said she wouldnt give her kids these grades because the test was crappy...... she called me after class and said "Bethany, I wanted to thank you for being honest with me this morning. I got a students perspective while working through the test and I just wanted to say thanks for doing that."

You know she thinks I am completely stupid if I can fail the exam, and then get an A when she works through it with me. But, I must say they are worded very odd....like there could be 2 correct answers and you were forced to choose one, etc.... And I don't think its fair that I do that on the next test, however no one there takes her seriously, they dont talk with her, dont care about their grades, etc

[billie]

Beth, I'm having the same problem with my son. When we do homework, he knows it all. Then, when he gets to school and takes the test, he chokes. He gets an F. Some kids don't take tests well. Sometimes what's on the tests aren't what was in the homework. Some kids need tests read to them, not because they don't read well, just because that's how they learn. Every child learns differently. Do you go to public school, dear?

[cutiepie1497]

Yes, I go to public school and love it with all of my heart, have the best teachers I could ask for...

You know what I just realized....when I take other tests I talk to myself, like quietly and people always look at me really weird lol....and I haven't done that in her class since its so quiet and its history.... hah, sorry...

I have always excelled in reading, in kindergarten and first grade I tested at 11th grade reading levels.....I think part of my problem is I have never been awesome in history, always getting A's or B's but not really "getting it" and its boring, what can I say? But I really want to do well, and am not doing so well right now obviously....and I am totally beyond bummed about it, because this isn't me....I am the girl in class who knows everything, always gets good grades, etc.....and right now I feel totally stupid. And I'n pretty sure she feels that I am too. I mean, why wouldn't she?

[cutiepie1497]

My history teacher told us the first week of school that not all people were test takers, thus she gives nig projects to balance that out........she said "You know, some of the worlds geniuses were not test takers, they were beyond smart and simply could not do well on tests" I believe she named Albert Einstein........lol...........but that is so true.

[KeilanS]

My history teacher told us the first week of school that not all people were test takers, thus she gives nig projects to balance that out........she said "You know, some of the worlds geniuses were not test takers, they were beyond smart and simply could not do well on tests" I believe she named Albert Einstein........lol...........but that is so true.

That is very true! Just because you have trouble on tests it doesn't mean you are any less smart than those who good on them. Personally, I do amazingly well on tests, even when I hardly study, but when it comes time to put that to practical use on a project, I have a lot more trouble.

Just study the stuff until you know it backwards and forwards, and makes sure you spend a lot of time thinking the questions over!

[Iryssa]

It irritates me how much of school grades are based on tests. I get test anxiety (even to this day), so even if I know the material, I'll often do very badly on tests. My palms sweat, my heart starts racing, and my mind sortof skitters all over the place (going to places like "what if I mess this up? What will this test do to my grades??"), making it hard for me to concentrate on the test. *sigh* Personally, I think it's because of the "Mad Minute" tests we had in elementary school. Basically, we were given 60 seconds to answer 10-20 math questions. We had to do them fast (and I've NEVER been fast with math), and we had to do them right, so basically I would just freeze up out of nervousness and get nothing done right. My grade 12 math teacher pretty much told me that he thinks those are the most rediculous exercises out there (in fact, HE asked me, after another failed test, whether I'd been given those as a kid...I think he was planning on doing a study on it).

Basically, all this is to say that I totally sympathize with you...and I'm sure your teacher doesn't think you're stupid. That one, understanding math teacher showed me that.