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Pressure to succeed takes students’ focus off learning By Erin Foley

In a recent instagram poll, The Rebellion asked students how many times a day they check their grades on X2. 64% of the respondents answered that they checked X2 two or more times a day. Many students have become more and more obsessed with numerical grades and less focused on learning. Walpole High School provides an extensive amount of courses, ranging from Digital Film to Calculus to Mandarin. The levels for classes increase in speed and difficulty as they range from CP2, CP1, Honors and AP. Although classes are separated by the four different levels, all of the student body endures stress due to grades that negatively affects their ability and willingness to learn.

The Rebellion sent out a schoolwide survey, asking students about their three most difficult classes—two academic classes and one elective class. The survey gave students the opportunity to explain why they considered each class challenging. About 180 students of all academic levels responded to the survey sent out about their most difficult classes. 23.8% of respondents were freshmen, 21% were sophomores, 33.1% were juniors and 22.1% were seniors. A majority of freshmen said their most difficult classes lie within the history department, while sophomores toughest classes were tied between the English and history departments. Both juniors and seniors stated that their hardest classes have been in the science department. A lot of the results and reasons for why the student considered the class difficult was because of their grades or lack of understanding the subject. With a difficult class comes the stress about getting a good grade that snowballs into unproductive learning. Instead of learning the school work correctly, many are simply memorizing the material in order to pass.

For example, junior Grace Manzo’s schedule contains all AP and Honors classes, along with many extracurricular activities and sports schedules to handle. With college applications looming in the near future, many juniors like Manzo feel overwhelmed by their grades. Regardless of grade or class level, grades are a real concern for the majority of students.

“Grades are definitely my top priority, even if sometimes that means memorizing something for a test, rather than actually understanding, I feel like that’s what a lot of other students do too,” Manzo said.

The desire to get good grades compromises the students motivation to learn, understand and enjoy the material. The pressure of getting good grades can diminish students’ ability to develop as a learner and create a growth mindset. Even if the student does not fully understand the material, receiving a good grade on an assignment will decrease the chance of him or her staying after school for extra help, as they have already obtained the passing grade.

Each course level contains a different pace and depth of the material taught, which creates new challenges for the student; however, the majority of teachers and students agree that the material theoretically should be the most challenging component of a class. Yet for some students, taking a higher level course can still be a stressful adjustment that increases the overall difficulty of a class. The more difficult a class is, the more likely it will be for a student to struggle to obtain good grades in that class.

“If students are in the appropriate level, they should find that every class challenges them to understand complex content and master the skills,” Michael Donohue, Social Studies Department Chairperson, said.

However, many students feel as though getting a bad grade deters them from working hard to achieve a better grade. One anonymous freshman respondent stated that all academic classes challenge them yet they feel unmotivated to understand the course due to their grades.

Teachers often have experiences with students where they try to ‘grade grab,’ meaning they speak to the teacher with the sole intention of raising their grades. Unfortunately, many students feel the need to have these awkward conversations due to the importance of grades have on one’s future. Some students log on to Aspen X2 nearly every day, if not more frequently, which constantly reminds them of any less than satisfactory grades. Those worse grades can cause students to panic and ‘grade grab’ instead of asking for clarification on the subject material. Many students feel the most important thing is their grades, not the learning, which teachers disagree with.

“Any little hiccup early in the year without a significant effort to get caught up is just like if you pour a bad foundation for a house. No matter how well you build the second, third floor, it’s just going to be crooked at the foundation,” William O’Malley , science teacher, said.

For many students, an unsatisfactory grade looming on their X2 account can cause stress and anxiety about their final grade in the class. Due to this stress about their grades or a lack of understanding the material, many students feel the need for retakes in order to boost their grades.

“I think retakes should be available to every student if they put in the effort to relearn the material because it is a chance for them to learn more,” sophomore Julie Blake said.

Some teachers allow retakes, while others feel they will distract them from the current material. St. Martin’s retake policy requires that students must complete a study guide and stay after school with him first. Additionally, Latin teacher Laura Kay takes retakes case by case: sometimes she will reach out to a student, other times a student will come to her with concerns. English and film teacher Michael Alan also stands by the idea that grades are not what matters, as he wants students to fully understand the material taught in class. However, retakes are not an excuse for students to ignore their learning responsibility in class. Some teachers are skeptical to support retakes, as students can negatively take advantage of the policy and rely on another opportunity to perform better.

While academic classes seem the most challenging to students, elective courses still provide difficulty. Most elective courses a student takes are chosen by the student and interests them despite any challenges within the course. Elective courses are an example of grades putting too much pressure on students to the point that they no longer enjoy the course. Elective classes do not count toward one’s GPA; therefore, students often prioritize the learning experience.

One of the most common complaints from students about what makes classes difficult has to do with workload outside of class. Although this type of commitment is most commonly associated with academic classes, students participating in electives such as journalism and film commented on the large amount of outside work, time commitment and strict deadlines that the two classes require. Similarly, some students enrolled in art classes experience stress due to lots of deadlines or assignments. However, despite any stress, many students from these electives agree that they still enjoy their classes and look forward to it in the day. Many students can set the challenging aspects of a class aside if they enjoy the subject. As previously mentioned, elective courses do not count toward one’s GPA. So a student still has to put in effort, but the pressure of getting a good grade is lessened. Students are then able to enjoy the class and focus on learning the material correctly.

“If you weighed off how much time they spend on film versus any of their other classes, it’s not even close. There’s no question that film is by far the hardest class,” Alan said.

The pressure to achieve good grades puts an immense amount of stress on students that then becomes hurtful to their high school learning experience. While grades are undoubtedly an important component on resumés and college applications, the number does not always indicate a student’s interests, passions, or growth. At the end of high school, one bad grade will most seem miniscule compared to everything else accomplished over four years.

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