Poor prep leaves students sour

A+student%2C+staged%2C+breaks+from+the+mounting+stress+after+a+rush+of+college+preparation+floods+in.

Photo illustration by Taylor Stokes

A student, staged, breaks from the mounting stress after a rush of college preparation floods in.

The Talon, Editorial Board

The end of the first semester is always a unique mix of holiday cheer and finals fear. Students are desperate for their Winter Break by mid-December and often begin to stress themselves out far too much.

With the stress of final grades and massive exams comes a whole load of blame, most of which is shifted, unfairly, onto teachers.

However, no solution can eliminate inevitable frustration over any given final. This is where understanding is needed from students that teachers are not out to ruin their holiday season. Teachers also need to remember that students are balancing between four and six finals at one time, so just a little leniency can go a long way.

Students must realize that teachers are not designed to walk them through finals, and sometimes they need to take matters into their own hands. The purpose of finals is to assess what students have collectively learned throughout the semester, not how well the teacher can spoon feed them information.

Yes, teachers need to prepare students to a point and not completely abandon them, but there should be no tears shed just because your teacher did not tell you every question that’s on the final and guarantee you an A.

The main source of student frustration over being so “unprepared” for finals centers around the fact that they procrastinate in studying for these large tests.

Procrastination is a difficult habit to break, but students who suffer from it need to take responsibility for their actions. If a student is given an assignment, it is not the teacher’s job to completely guide them and make sure it is turned in on time. It is the student’s choice whether they do the assignment early or wait until the night before to start.

Many student’s blame the teachers for their failures, but they need to realize that it is their fault for not doing the assignment to their full potential.

Part of the problem with the teacher-student relationship is the lack of understanding on the students’ end that teachers are people too. The expectation of having everything graded immediately or getting something done specifically for one student is unrealistic.

Of course, we would all like to see our tests put into the gradebook when teachers say they will, but it’s not fair to them to treat them like it’s their fault all of the time, especially seeing as we have no clue what is going on in their personal life to cause a difficulty with getting work done.   

However, this is not to say that teachers don’t have a sizable end of the bargain to hold up as well.

A common complaint of students is that their teachers deprive them of the necessary information for success.  On the contrary, some teachers hand over all of the answers, leaving no room for students to learn the material for themselves and inevitably hurting them when it comes time for finals.

Teachers need to find some sort of middle ground, where they provide enough information for students to master the subject but don’t hand out answers like candy on Halloween.

Though the line is fine, many teachers are so far off of it that they fail to properly prepare their students. This failure leads to frustration from both teachers and students, and each will blame the other for their deficit.

The inherent problem of this endless “blame game” is a lack of balance and understanding. When there is such a variety between classes over how much or how little information about the final that students get, it is impossible to predict how to prepare for each class.

Far more unity is crucial in the entire system of final exams. There should be clear guidelines as to what every student can expect from these all important tests.

With a little compromise from both sides, everyone can be on their way to their winter dreams much quicker.