Do you need to get a good grade not to be postponed or to raise your average? Nobody wants to be considered a pimp, but if you try some of the following tips, you could get a teacher to "fix" your grade. There is a fine line between asking for advice or clarification and being persistent and disrespectful. Remember that you will have to work with your professor to get a good grade, not against him. By following some of these tips, thinking ahead and being foresighted, you will have a better chance of the teacher deciding to get your average up.
Steps
Part 1 of 5: Prepare to Talk to the Teacher
Step 1. First decide what to ask
Before approaching your teacher, you will need to have a very clear idea of what to ask for and what you hope to achieve from the conversation. You may be surprised that your teacher is familiar with your academic problems, but it is best to be prepared to express yourself clearly.
It may be helpful to write down questions. Don't read a script, but having a written background will help you visualize your concerns and put them on paper
Step 2. Prepare to talk about the reasons behind your low grades
Before talking to your teacher, take some time to think about the context of your grades - have they dropped dramatically? Did they go down progressively? Or do you think they don't reflect the work you are doing?
The first question the teacher will ask you will probably be "What do you think is the problem?". You will have to answer this question together, but prepare some answers. If you have no ideas, you must be ready to admit it and ask for help: "I don't know why my grades are so low, could you help me understand why and improve them?"
Step 3. Do not prepare a series of accusations against the teacher
When thinking about what to say, be positive and cooperative. Don't think of the teacher as an enemy who keeps you from getting good grades.
Step 4. Tell the teacher you would like to speak
If possible, specify what you want to talk about - a grade, assignment, or more general concerns. Meet her before or after school. Remember that the teacher's mood can tempt him to give you a second chance. Each school is different, but you can assume that your teacher is very busy and probably stressed out, so consider that too. Be accommodating and respectful.
- If you want to talk about something very specific, tell the teacher first. You will give him the opportunity to prepare the necessary materials.
- If you want to have a more general chat, say something like "I was wondering if I could talk to her after school" or "I need some advice and I was hoping I could talk to her about it."
Part 2 of 5: Talk to Your Teacher
Step 1. Talk to the teacher about your concerns
Be kind, grateful and polite; you will be taken more seriously this way. Blaming the teacher is not the right tactic. But don't act like a pimp - even if your situation is desperate. Pimps are annoying and fake.
- The teacher will be well impressed with your request for help and advice, but be sure to ask for guidance rather than demanding answers.
- Use conciliatory rather than accusatory language. "I want to understand why I don't get the grades I expect to receive, so I was wondering if you could explain my mistakes."
- Don't say "Why do you keep giving me shortcomings?". Show that you take responsibility by saying, "I know my preparation is insufficient and I want to improve with his help."
Step 2. Ask for practical advice
Show your commitment by explaining that you have already thought about what you could do to improve and ask for recommendations for implementing your ideas. By doing so, you will demonstrate that you are not afraid of hard work and that you understand that the teacher has knowledge and skills that can be beneficial for you.
- If you have a study schedule, ask the teacher to read it.
- He will have an idea of your strengths and weaknesses, so ask him "Can you tell me what things I should focus on more?".
Step 3. Talk to the teacher before your situation is compromised
If you're having trouble with a subject, don't wait for the last test to arrive. Better to approach the teacher and ask him to speak well before the end of the school year. If you can identify and fix problems before it's too late, you can avoid bad grades.
You will also give the impression that you are proactive, attentive and interested in your work
Step 4. Give the right context to your school problems
If your teacher only sees you once a week, it can be difficult for him to know a lot about you outside of the classroom and to know the circumstances that prevent you from keeping up with your study. Don't be afraid to talk to a teacher about your personal situation. Do not try to deny all of your responsibilities, but give the teacher a clear idea of your situation to make him understand what is happening to you.
- Your teacher will likely be interested in why you are failing to get good grades so that they can better understand how to help you.
- If you have problems at home, you may want to talk to your school counselor (if present). However, if you have a strong trust in a teacher and have a good relationship with them, this may be the best choice.
Part 3 of 5: Talking to the Teacher About Bad Results in an Assignment
Step 1. Approach the teacher before receiving the grade
If you thought everything was fine, but then you had big problems with an assignment, don't wait for the mid-year or half-term report cards to arrive. Waiting for the report cards to arrive shows a lack of initiative; if you know you got a bad grade - especially if you deserve it - you should talk about it right away. In addition, the grades on the report cards cannot be changed once they have been assigned.
If you find yourself in this situation, try improving your grades for the rest of the school year. Ask to be able to do repair work so you can raise the average
Step 2. Learn about the rating system
If you want to talk to the teacher and challenge a grade you have received, you will need to understand the grading system in use, how it affects the final grade and the limitations it imposes. Does the teacher base the grade on the Gauss curve? Is the class of a particularly high standard? Knowing this information can help you understand how to improve grades.
Step 3. Think about the type of task you have done
You will be able to challenge a grade more directly if the assignment involves objectively correct or incorrect answers. An open-ended question, in which the answers can be interpreted, will be much more difficult to contest. In these cases, you will need to remember that the person correcting the assignment is not a robot and subjectivity plays a role in the assessment.
In the case of open-ended questions, you can ask the teacher to review the answers with you. By reading your assignment together you will have the opportunity to better understand how it was evaluated
Step 4. Identify the reasons why you might deserve a better grade
For your application to work, you will need to demonstrate great commitment in class or that your bad grade was an isolated incident. Don't try to come up with a motivation right now. Whatever you may think, your teacher is not stupid. If you have personal problems that contributed to your bad grade, don't be afraid to talk to your teacher about it.
Step 5. Defend your position
Express your disputes calmly and professionally. Present other assignments and tests that demonstrate your skills and suggest the most reasonable solution. Be persuasive and confident, but don't assume you know more than your teacher.
- Think of tasks well done in the past to use as examples. If you can show that your bad grade was an isolated incident and shouldn't ruin your average, it will be easier to change the teacher's opinion.
- If the problem arose from an irresponsible teammate on a team project, don't blame him entirely, or you will appear to be a bad team player. Instead, you say that if you helped him more, you wouldn't have done as good on your half of the project, and that it's not fair to get a bad grade for another person's work.
Part 4 of 5: Finding Solutions and Supporting Repair Tasks
Step 1. Think of a reasonable solution
It will depend on your situation. For example, if you scored poorly in one assignment, ask if you can retake a test on the same topics. However, if you start from a 6- and want to get to an 8, you won't be able to do it just by repeating some tasks, but you will have to offer to do interrogations and repair tasks throughout the program, to show how motivated you are. You may not make it to 8, but it will undoubtedly help you.
Step 2. Maintain a high level
Don't just do your homework, but highlight the most important parts and write neatly, making sure everything is legible and accurate. You may receive a few more points, because many teachers consider the order of a task in their assessments. If you are handing in a report, you could bind it, to demonstrate your care for the finished product.
Think about how long it takes to correct the work of a student who writes in an almost illegible way
Step 3. Be proactive and look for opportunities to improve your grades
In some cases, opportunities to get good grades won't be obvious, so it's important to be attentive and committed. Teachers are impressed with students who want to improve. This will help you not only get good grades, but also make a good impression on the teacher.
Step 4. Keep expectations reasonable
If these tactics don't work with your teacher, don't put them into action. You would make the situation worse. Only follow the advice that is right for you and do not consider others. Only you really know your teacher, and vice versa.
While repair tasks are extremely helpful, they don't erase bad grades. They serve to allow students who have had difficulties to be remedied. It is rare for a teacher to allow enough repair assignments to bring a 4 to an 8
Part 5 of 5: Continue on the Right Path
Step 1. Put everything into practice
If you can put everything you and your teacher talked about into practice, your grades will likely improve and stay good in the long run. Maintain exemplary behavior for some time: participate in class discussions, do not interrupt and do not chat with friends. Teachers like students who work hard to get good grades more than those who do the bare minimum.
Step 2. Engage outside the classroom as well
Keep doing your best, trying to be organized and enthusiastic about learning even outside the classroom. With this attitude, showing enthusiasm and interest in a topic, you will stand out among your peers. By reading up on the topics of the lessons, you will find that you can contribute more in the classroom and make a great impression on the teacher.
Step 3. Plan your time and get organized
Bad grades are often the result of a rushed job, desperate last-minute study sessions, or poorly crafted projects. To improve your grades, the first step is to avoid studying in a rush. Plan your time and plan your study schedule in advance. This way, if you are having difficulty with a topic, you will have more opportunities to work on it and seek advice before the assignment.
Seeing a student improve is a wonderful feeling for a teacher. Your teacher will be delighted to see your grades improve when you practice the things you talked about together
Advice
- Homework carries weight huge on the final grade and can make the difference between an excellent and an excellent. Try to work as hard as you can on your next assignment and you may be able to get the results you want.
- If you are afraid to talk to your teacher, ask a friend to accompany you.
- Sometimes it may be necessary to agree to do without praise. You've done your best, but can only get one great? Doing your best is what really matters, not the end result.
Warnings
- If you wait until the last minute to ask for your grades to be raised, you may be disappointed, but you can always ask your teacher if he can give you extra homework to get some extra credit to raise your average.
- If your grade is already good (i.e. you have top marks without honors) a teacher may be reluctant to raise it.
- Don't pester your teacher so much that he makes him angry. If you can't get anything out of him, get over it and try to do better next time.
- Think about whether or not you deserve to have your vote raised. Are you really committed? Have you cheated or copied? Think about it for a while before you get busy.
- Be careful if you decide to blame a fellow student for a bad grade on an assignment you did together; if it finds out, it could cause you problems.
