By Brenna George
Scrambling on the edge, holding on by a mere point. Many students are earning grades on the very edge.
The end of the semester is the final push for students to get the grade they want. Students with borderline grades have the pressure of making the jump to a higher grade or to keep the grade they barely have.
Ms. Blanchfield, a physics teacher, had an entirely different experience with finals.
“More grades were changed by the Final exam than I thought,” said Blanchfield.
Most of her students’ grades were dropped by the final, meaning students with borderline grades in her class fell to the undesirable side of the grading scale. She did curve her final “a bit” because she knows her final is very difficult.
“It’s a lot of stuff for students to remember,” Blanchfield said.
Mr. Golden says you have to be very borderline for a final to raise a math grade.
“In general, finals never help students. They hurt them.” said Mr. Golden. “If a student is struggling all semester, they’re not going to do well on the final.”
Mr. Golden is so confident, he makes deals with his failing students. If they pass the final, he’ll pass them in the class. It has never worked. The students always fail the final.
On the contrary Ana Hernandez, Div. 275, studied for hours for her finals and ended up pulling up two of her grades.
“It was stressful, but in the end it worked out,” Hernandez said.
Anastasiya Sapatynska, Div. 467, had a borderline grade in her HT class of an 89.03 percent. Her grade on the final exam dropped her overall grade, but she did not ask her teacher for the higher grade. She knew the teacher would not budge.
Sapatynska says that classes are harder this year because teachers are nicer freshman year. She is already planning to make this adjustment.
“Next semester I’m going to try to finally achieve that A,” Sapatynska said.
Some students like Liliana De Leon, Div. 352, have found this year harder than last. De Leon plans to go to tutoring, study harder, and slack off in her extracurricular activities to achieve a better grade next semester.
To improve those borderline grades for next year, Blanchfield suggests looking over notes and practicing problems at least two weeks in advance to make sure one is proficient before the final. Cramming the night before finals is not the route to earn the grade.
Better luck next semester!
