Hey Folks, 

I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA for the last few months. Life is just so busy. Am I right?!

Anyway, I wanted to check in with you as we head towards the end of the school year and the dreaded word- exams. 

At this time of year, your teachers are probably putting you under a lot of pressure to work hard, set study plans and get all your project work in on time. That pressure and constant request for you to “reach your full potential” can be hard to handle. You might be thinking that your teachers are putting you under this pressure because they were perfect students in school and they want you to be like them. But, honestly many of us teachers weren’t perfect. 

Firstly, we are human beings, no one is perfect. Secondly, we all have our strengths and that means that we might have been good at our subject (s) (the ones we teach), but not great at others. I speak from experience as Maths was never my strong point and I often “forgot” my homework for that class, because I didn’t know how to do it. Part of me just couldn’t be bothered because it wasn’t fun and another part was embarrassed to speak the truth.  So yes, the tactics you use to avoid work have also been used by teachers in the past!!! 

Now my avoidance of maths didn’t stand to me, it made 6th year super hard and I had to put in a massive amount of work to pass. Had I consistently worked hard, perhaps I would have achieved more and experienced less stress. A fact my teacher knew when she encouraged me to work harder and one I know now as a teacher myself. I know my approach was silly and I should’ve just asked my teacher for help.

 It was a tough learning experience and that’s why I have always encouraged my students to consistently work hard and cut down on the stress in the end. Us teachers weren’t born as perfect students, we just learned from our own mistakes and want to make it a bit easier for you.

If you are someone who hasn’t done a tap of work all year, own it. Look at where you are at and set goals around where you want to be by the end of May. Don’t bury your head in the sand. Approach your teacher and they can help you solve the problem and create a plan of action that will help you get ready between now and the end of May. 

You can do this!!!!

 

Check out the last Confessions of a teacher article here.