Where I Stand (9B)

From the start, I tried to really focus the majority of my energy and attention into my schoolwork. It was suggested that I try and get good grades so that I could get a high GPA. It’s hard to try and get your GPA up, so if you start off with a good GPA it will be easier to keep it up or raise it. My goal was to try really hard to in all my classes and not slack off. As the weeks passed by I had a pretty good idea of how I was doing in each of my classes. So when I took a look at my midterm grades it wasn’t a big shocker because I’ve been keeping track of my grades.

In previous blogs I have talked about my failures in my history class. I wasn’t expecting an A because I was not doing too well on the test and quizzes. Looking online I see a D as my midterm grade. I was expecting this based upon the graded work we got back. History is mainly about memorization and remembering key events and historical figures. For me I have a hard time remembering all the events and people. I also have trouble bringing all the information together.

 

I began putting in a lot more effort into understanding History and I began to see improvement. I got my first 80 on a quiz because of the effort I put in. I believe that I can defiantly put in more work into my History class. Not only reading but going over the chapters and fully understanding everything. Breaking down the material and not only taking notes but asking questions when I am unsure about something. It will be a big step to transition but I feel that at this point it is necessary.

In INQ I know exactly where I stand in that class. I didn’t know what an A quality blog was. Once I began reading other students’ blogs I got a better idea of what I needed to do. The blogging assignments are a big part of our grade and due to the lack of self-discipline; I forgot to complete the blogs due a certain week. I handed them in late and received a 0 for that week. The zero really affected my grade and I was so angry that I let it happen. From that moment on I pushed myself each week to get better blogging grades. I really set the bar high for myself and went from getting 80’s on my blogs to a couple 90’s. I know that I need to really work hard on the remaining blogs left because I need to get my grade up. Since the blogs are a big part of my grade I am working hard on those, and my participation needs improvement as well. As Ashley, our volunteer peer mentor, said, “Participating are easy points that count towards your grade, essentially free points.” I know that I can get this grade up to at least a B but ideally I would like to get an A.

In the rest of my classes I am doing well, and I know that I can keep it up! In my media and geography class I have B’s. I think that it’s a good grade so far but I can get those up to an A. I really need to learn how to prioritize my work. I love to leave everything for the last minute, and it’s not a good habit. If I would spread out my homework, I would be able to get things done more efficiently.

Some goals I would set for myself:

1)   Prioritize my time: Spreading out work for each class will help me in the long run because I wont cram everything for last min. For example, if I have to read a chapter for the following week, I should start reading a few pages each night and understand the material. If I leave it all for the night before I wont be able to retain the information for the next day, it’s such a waste of brainpower.

2)   Get to bed earlier! Lately I have been holding off work and that causes me to stay up all night doing my work for the next day. Not getting enough sleep affects me all throughout my days. I have no motivation to do work, and cannot pay attention for long periods of time. Getting to bed at a reasonable time will give me the energy I need to tackle my day!

3)   Take Test and Quizzes Seriously: I need to start caring about how I do on test and quizzes because now they important. I didn’t take testing seriously because I knew that I had other opportunities to boost my grade up if I did poorly on a test. Now that I am in college we only have fewer opportunities to really do good on tests and quizzes. 

As we head into the second half of the semester, I have really evaluated myself and my work and how it has reflected as a grade. I know what I need to do in each class to get my grades up. It’s going to require a good amount of time and dedication on my behalf but that’s what I need to do for myself. I plan on finishing this semester with A’s and B’s. I haven’t been giving it my all and once I do I know that it will pay off! Hard work does pay off and I want to work even harder than I have been to get the grades I want.