School just started and I'm already failing

[~anongirl~]

It's only been 3 and 1/2 weeks of school and I'm already doing poorly. Basically, I go to a special admissions charter school which you have to take this huge exam to enter. You have to get a certain grade (or higher) to get accepted.

Anyways, I'm a sophomore now and I'm kind of struggling this year. Last year (my first year at the charter school) I was struggling as well. I ended up graduating from Freshman year with 2 C's on my report card (Bio and Math) and 3 B's (Spanish, History, Language Arts) and 2 A's (Art, Gym).

Yeah. I barely made it :/

This year, we just started and im already doing miserable

I have 2 C's (History and Math) and a B (Spanish). All of these grades are because I started off with A's, but then the exams brought them down. I failed my first Spanish exam, and got C's on my first History and Math exams. I'm trying my best to boost my grades up by things other than the exams (working extra hard at homework, raising my hand in class more so that I can get points for participation) etc... I know I sound stupid right now but I'm desperate to get those grades up

Also, I'm repeating math this year because I failed last year. Its really humiliating but I am doing the class again with Freshmen. Math and Science are my weakest points as you can tell.

My self esteem has been really down because of my grades. I really wanna stay in this school (it is very studious+has very strong and challenging curriculum, plus it has high rankings in our district), but honestly I don't know if I should stay. I feel dumber than a lot of the other students, its embarrassing knowing I'm the stupidest one. I feel like such a failure. The only reason I have an A in chemistry this year is because we have zero quizzes and tests, and all we do is group activities so that's what our grade is based on.

I really really wanna stay in this school

[Tieracamara]

I perfectly understand your excitement. But I think you should not leave. You just need to change something, maybe your schedule maybe will take additional lessons. But your ambition is so good.It's all about your big intention! You need to move on!

[Celyn]

Your not dumb or stupid. It sounds like you are able to cope with the work, but the exams let you down. This is actually a fairly common struggle since exams are difficult anyway (the pressure, the time restraints, the test on memory etc). I don't think you should leave the school, especially seeing as it's mainly maths and science exams that you struggle with, and your grades for the other subjects are fine.

Maths and science can be difficult. Unlike other subjects where you can memorise dates and facts, maths and science require you to know rules and steps in order to solve problems. It's great that you are trying to boost your grades in class, but think it may help as well if you try to figure out how to boost exam grades. Perhaps write down a list of all the topics you struggle with, and revise and test yourself on these areas. Go back and use an example of how things were worked out and then try to solve exam style questions by using the example as a guide. The more you practice, the more confident you may feel taking exams. You could even do practice exams, where you give yourself a time limit and check the answers after. Ask friends and family to test you with flashcards as this helps you to memorise and work things out as well.

There's nothing to feel ashamed about when you are resitting an exam. Many people have been in a similar situation, and rather than feeling stupid, perhaps think of it as simply another chance. Remember that if you find some aspects of the work difficult, you can always ask your teachers for help as they do want to see you succeed

[Markus]

I used to struggle in my studies, always came in last for exams. I had classmates who failed their subjects (but at least did much better than me) coming to ask how I did for my exams, probably for comfort? I don't know, but they feel relieved to know that they did better than me.

I felt awful, but I realised that as long as we hang in there, we can always turn our weaknesses into our strengths. And in case if you are wondering, during results day for our final year exams, they did the same thing but only to find out I did much better than them.

All you need is to believe in yourself, and the rest will come naturally with enough effort and determination to want to do better.

[~anongirl~]

Thank you everyone! Since it's been a full month since school started, they're already starting to enter in grades into our online report cards.

Social Studies: B-
Gym: A-
Art: A
Language Arts: B+
Spanish: B
Chemistry: A-
Math: C
~GPA: 3.57

I'm not doing too well
I'm determined to get excellent grades this year and have AT LEAST a 3.75 average! (since I've been struggling with grades in this school as well as when I was in my previous school)

Studying & grades have never come easy for me but I'm gonna work my hardest this year. I'm trying to pull those grades up to all A's, but since Math is particularly a struggle for me, I'm willing to have at the very least a B in that class.

Does anyone have any tips on studying? I am taking Freshman math since I flunked last year, so does any one have any resources or helpful sites I can use for Algebra 1?

[Celyn]

I think your grades are okay! And it's good to see that you are determined to improve your grades as well!

I'm not familiar with your education system, so I can't provide any particular resources to help you. That said you can check out our educational resources for some ideas. In general, keep study sessions around 20 minutes long and have a break in between sessions. Perhaps if making notes, use different coloured pens, paper and highlighters to help with memory or create mind maps for each topic. Another thing you can try is creating flashcards with questions on one side and the answers on the other, or get friends/family to test you. Using online tests and quizzes can also be good as well as watching 'how to' videos online as you can pause and see if you can work things out before the answer is revealed.

[Tieracamara]

I'm very happy for you! From your post [Edited], I immediately saw a great desire! Do not stop.

[Markus]

Those are really good grades in my opinion. Press on! You will be able to get your desired results.

[Echoed]

I dont think you are doing that bad at all.
Ive always been the 'smart kid' of my class. Always having the best grades. Others ask me how i do it. Im being honest. Till now i almost never studied for a test. I always finished my homework but extra studying? Nope. And i still got A's. How is that possible? I didnt do anything extra for it. I just listened to teacher in class. I didnt chat with others because im not really a social person and only have a few good friends in my class. Basically i had none to talk to. So i was bored and listened to the teacher. I understand it might not come that easy for everyone. For you I recommend just doing exercises at home. Take an hour or two (or more if you feel like it) per day, search for exercises online and solve. I see math is the most difficult one for you. My maths teacher is like the worst teacher ever. Last year i did a small research and found an app called photomaths. I just need to take a picture and the app shows me how to solve it. I usually follow the instructions for a few first exercises and for the next ones use the app just to check if i got the right answer. Its also important to understand what the app tells you to do. Otherwise its useless.
I wish you luck on your studies