Seniors have just 19 days of classes remaining (graduation is exactly 4 weeks from today) and underclassmen have 24 days (including the 3 exam days) before summer break.
Obviously, that means every moment counts if you are not doing well in your classes and you are trying to pull off a passing grade for the semester. It is essential that you spend the remaining weeks taking care of your classes so that you do not jeopardize your future.
The truth is that this last month of the school year is essential for many WKHS students.
For seniors, I realize that there is a rampant case of senioritis running through the school, but I must remind you that next year you will be heading to college. You have already received your acceptance letters and decided where you will be attending school next year so it seems like your grades this last semester don't really matter... except they do! You must submit a final transcript to your college. If you go back and read the acceptance letters that the colleges sent to you, you will notice the fine print that points out that they can turn you down if you don't maintain the level of grades that they expect from you and your past performance. Last year schools did turn away hundreds of students and I can't even imagine how hard it was for a student to believe they knew where they would be attending to suddenly find out that they couldn't go there any more because they blew off school during their final semester. The other comment I hear from seniors often is that school doesn't matter now, but that next year, in college, when it matters they will turn it around and try. While I would love to believe you (and I hope you are right), the reality is that it isn't always that easy. Bad habits are hard to break. Next year there won't be anyone bugging you about turning in homework or reminding you that a paper or project is due next week. They won't accept late papers. Most professors won't check attendance and they don't care if you want to throw your money away by not attending class. It is your introduction to the real world. At WKHS if you show up late to class and get a tardy or two you end up with a detention. In the real world, if you show up late for work you get fired. At WKHS if you can't manage to turn in a paper or project on time, teachers take points off and it might hurt your grade, but in the real world the devastation of not following through and meeting the expectations of your boss are much more serious. I know, you think I am just nagging and I promise that I am not trying to lecture you, but I am worried. The last few weeks of high school need to be a time to practice developing some good habits. For many of you, you have taken a long enough break at the beginning of this quarter. Spend time studying. Work on your organization skills. Practice taking better notes. All of those things will help you in college and in the future.
For the underclassmen... it is far too early for you to be claiming senioritis (although I heard that from quite a few students recently). The classes that you are taking now will impact your grades and grade point average! Having a higher grade point average doesn't guarantee you admission to the school of your dreams, but it does provide you with more options. For most of your classes - you need it to meet graduation requirements. (Even your elective classes as you need multiple credits of electives to graduate.) It always surprises me when students give up at this point in the year. I don't understand it. If I was faced with the option of working really hard for the last 4 weeks of school and kicking butt on the exams or taking the class for an entire semester (or year) again over the summer or next year there is no question that I would apply myself now. That is what so many of you need to do. Stop and think about it for a moment. Your 3rd quarter grade was worth 40% of your semester grade. This quarter's grade is worth another 40% of your semester grade and your final exam makes up the remaining 20%. That means that with your exam and this quarter you are dealing with 60% of your total points for the semester. Hopefully you realize that this also means that you can still pass, but you must commit yourself now and not let a single point slip by without trying to earn it. Every point matters! Talk to your teachers, get input from them on what you need to do differently in order to turn things around in your classes. Please, don't wait until it is too late. If you have already realized that there is no way to pass the class and your teacher agrees that there is no hope, please come and see me so that we can talk about what your plan is to make up the class. Are you going to take it during the summer? Are you going to take it next year? If you are taking it next year does that bump out any of your other classes because you are now missing the requirements? There is a great deal to consider. If you aren't going to be able to pass one class, please work hard to make sure that you pass all of the others. As soon as you realize that one class is a lost cause it doesn't mean that all of the others are gone too. Try to use your time wisely and put more effort into the ones that still have hope. Feel free to stop in and talk to me if you need help developing a plan on how to focus your energy and effort to passing your classes.
Believe me, I do understand that it is hard to focus right now. And yes, I admit that I don't always want to get up and come to school when there are other things that sound more appealing for the day. But we only have one today and the decisions we make today have a much bigger influence than we can imagine. Make the most of today!
(OK, so this article is talking about steps for being
academically successful in college, but in the future you will be needing to
embrace the opportunities for maximizing your academic skills when in college
and this article may help.)
(OK, let’s hope none of these are you, but it is provides a
frame of reference and a good reminder to make sure that you don’t end up in
these categories of being a bad student.)
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