The Non-Traditional Student Blog (BA): tips for better grades

This posting is an Expanded continuation of a posting called: More Tips for Nontraditional Students: 10 situations, plus possible solutions.

#8. You wanted A's, you got B's or C's.
<or a combination...>

What I said in the first posting: This is not the end of the world. You can always take a class again, but you may not need to. Try joining a study group if a class seems to be difficult to you next semester.

This is not the end of the world. You can always take a class again, but you may not need to. Try joining a study group if a class seems to be difficult to you next semester. - See more at: http://non-traditional-students.blogspot.com/2014/05/more-tips-for-nontraditional-students.html#.U9Ab36iFWtp

Let me go into more that can happen behind the scenes about a grade. I used to think grades were JUST a reflection of how much work you put into a class. Now I know better. It actually happens sometimes that a teacher does not give you the grade you think you deserve. And some <a minority, I truly believe> are unfair and "play favorites".

Well, other people told me in the past that they did not get a grade they felt was fair. This happened just once when I first went to school. It happened to me later as a nontraditional student once too. <Happily, it only happened in the one class> I knocked myself out with my final report, and did pretty well the rest of the time too. AND never missed a class, took good notes, etc. etc. etc. I also was respectful of the teacher. BUT I didn't get an A in the class. I really did deserve one.

What happened? There was also a weird thing that happened right before my Final Play demonstration. <My notes came up missing, and I KNOW I had them right before I began.> I think I laid them down just for a moment. What happened? I don't know. Even minus the notes fiasco, I still think I did much better than OK.

But I didn't do anything about it at the end of the semester after I saw my grade. Turns out that this teacher didn't give back our final Notebooks. I had to go get mine from the Department later. AND this teacher left. I don't know why. Maybe the grades were not fair for more students. I will never know.

I think you CAN talk to the teacher about this if it ever happens to you. Back then I didn't think it would do any good. And I was really not sure if this would have been wise. Turns out maybe it would have been, thinking back with 20/20 vision. AND you can also talk to the Department Head if your conference doesn't bring your grade up where you think it should be.

I think MOST of the time what happens is, another class is a lot harder than others most times. And that's where a person's greatest effort goes. The other classes may suffer. But generally, the more time you spend working and studying, the better.

Other tips:

1. Don't miss a class. True, you can get notes from somebody else, but unless you are really sick and this doesn't happen much, it could hurt your grade.

2. ASK your teacher if you have a question. No sense not doing it. You might be embarrassed to admit you don't understand something, BUT it will be worth the higher grade to ask.

3. If you are in a really hard class, form a study group. This can help SO much, and can help your grade a LOT. But do it early... before midterms.

It's true.... a bad grade or even a bad semester does NOT mean you have to quit. It may mean you need to ramp up the study time or even cut back on work hours. But a positive attitude can help so much, and you can "learn" to study better too.

Here are some other past Nontrad Blog postings that might help you.

My favorite Study Guide site - the Joe Landsberger Study Guides and Strategies Site

Study Groups for Nontraditional Students

and

What to do when you are sick... and a nontraditional student.

Here are the "Expanded answers to the Advice Posting so far:

#1: Were your grades great, or would you like a redo of them, nontraditional students?

#2: Not enough credits to graduate, CLEP, addition, accreditation, transfers, more.

#3. Are you taking the courses you want to take? Or is it time to change course?

#4. You don't know if you want to continue, for any reason. Can you continue on?

#5. Are your student loans adding up too fast?

#6. You may want to transfer schools... some things to think about.

#7. Are you bored with school? Want more fun? Try these things.

Here is the original posting again you might like to check out: More Tips for Nontraditional Students: 10 situations, plus possible solutions.

My next posting will talk about #9: Going back to school part-time seems to take forever...

Going to school part-time seems to take forever.

Again, good luck this summer, whether you are in school, on vacation, at a job, or whatever you are choosing to do.

#5. You have Student Loans that seem to be adding up too fast. - See more at: http://non-traditional-students.blogspot.com/2014/05/more-tips-for-nontraditional-students.html#.U59gn6jGJox

Betsyanne

Some Nontrad links: The Nontrad site and blog

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#8 in a series: You wanted A's, but you got B's or C's (or a combination)... some tips about that.