help! teen and school

mama2one

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our teen is a straight A student
she works hard for those As
she will study multiple days for tests

today she came home with an F on a test
she's is extremely upset!
apparently the teacher only let them know the evening before that there would be a test next day

that wasn't enough time for her to study
she is SO upset as she's always gets As & is on Honor Roll yearly

this is math which is a difficult subject for her so she has to study hours for tests

don't know what to do
why would a teacher wait 'til last minute to announce a test?
 
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LightOfAWing

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Seems a bit unfair to me that the teacher would wait till the night before to even mention this!
That would have earned me a bad grade too, as I always needed extra time to study when I was in school as well. Math was my absolute worst subject! I never did well in that area! I don't think your daughter should take it personally. It's not her fault that she didn't know about the test till last minute. She's still a good student! This was just something that happened due to lack of notice. I don't think she should feel bad or anything. She did her best.
 
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Brian Mcnamee

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our teen is a straight A student
she works hard for those As
she will study multiple days for tests

today she came home with an F on a test
she's is extremely upset!
apparently the teacher only let them know the evening before that there would be a test next day

that wasn't enough time for her to study
she is SO upset as she's always gets As & is on Honor Roll yearly

this is math which is a difficult subject for her so she has to study hours for tests

don't know what to do
why would a teacher wait 'til last minute to announce a test?

I would imagine that your daughter is not alone in getting a poor grade on this test and this perhaps is a good chance to teach her about life when it is not fair and difficult and how do you handle it as a Christian? Fighting every time something seems unjust is not Godly and if you take it and maintain your Godliness the LORD will see and approve of your conduct. Jesus was innocent and suffered not deserving of anything and this is our example. Have her pray for the teacher and accept the bad grade and she can rest is she is doing her best and learn a valuable life lesson.
 
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Enilorac

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Teachers occasionally give pop quizzes. For me, I give those when I see the class goofing off instead of getting to work. Otherwise, I give at least a week's notice for a test. Since I teach M-Thur, I'll announce a test on Thursday for the following Thursday. On Monday I'll hand out a study guide. The test comes from that study guide, almost word for word (I hate making tests up).

If your child is struggling that hard with math, I'd see about getting her a tutor. Sometimes, the way teachers explain things are not easily understood by some students. Some teachers will then try to explain a different way to help the student, but some won't (yes, there are jerks teaching your children). I also use a mentoring method where my students who are easily grasping the material help the students who are having difficulty. Does this teacher lecture throughout the class period and not give time for the students to start working on either practice problems or homework? Is the teacher available for help after class? Is there tutoring available through the school? It also may be possible that the grade won't be recorded (I usually don't record the pop-quizzes)?

IF your student still has to study hard for a math test/quiz and can't recall the information, I'd be of the opinion that perhaps she's in a class she's not quite ready for in terms of previous math classes. For example, if she failed an Algebra 2 quiz and it takes her hours and hours to get through it, maybe she needs to go back to Algebra 1 and nail the material before she moves on. Math is a funny subject. If the foundation is bad, then higher level classes will be almost impossible for the student. Some students breeze through, other students may not have the talent/ability for the higher level math. If your student's future career plans do not include needing advanced math, don't take it. Its just not worth the anxiety and hours of time.
 
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Enilorac

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in 4th grade we asked for math help as they had a help group....since she was getting As, they didn't think she needed help....the As were because husband helped her for hours every evening!
they did allow her in help group but only once in a while cause it was for kids with poor grades

If your husband had to help for hours every evening, well, maybe math isn't her strong suit. An example, none of my kids were really math wizards, they could get through their math homework in an hour or so with very little help from me.

Just asking here, but who is putting pressure on her for all A's? I'm seeing a lot of students this year who are already totally stressed out just 6 weeks into our school year. I mean, 9th graders with stress balls who give them a work out every class.

In reality, if a student has grasped the concepts in a certain instructional unit, a test should really be no problem. I am concerned that your student isn't really grasping the concepts and recalling them. 8th grade math, even if it's pre-algebra, builds on previous concepts and then adds to them. Again, if her grasp of basic concepts, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are shaky, she will have difficulty with more advanced concepts that are still based on the basic 4. I think the F is really no big deal, its one test. I also think that maybe dad should back off on the help too. National Honor Society is no predictor of future success. I can use myself as an example. I was, at best a B-C student in high school. College, same thing. Nobody has ever asked me for my GPA in the ensuing 40 years. I've managed to be successful even with a crummy GPA and going to a lackluster commuter college.

Back off on the other activities. Let her have time to relax and be a kid. This is the same thing I've already told a few of my students' parents this year (I'm in my 3rd or 4th career, currently a high school STEM teacher) to let the kids be kids. Not everyone is cut out for NHS or Ivy League schools. My high school dropout child now has a Master's degree.
 
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