Teachers are human. They respond to presentation. If the substance
of two papers or tests or projects is relatively equal, the formin which
they’re presented may well affect the grade, perhaps significantly.
Besides, there are a lot of teachers who make it a point to decrease
grades because of poor grammar, spelling, or overall presentation. Just
as there are others who may subconsciously give a better grade to a
paper that clearly shows a student cares.
Know Thy Teachers
Teachers are different, too, in their approach to their subjects, as well
as their expectations, standards, flexibility, and so on. It certainly is
worth the effort to compile a “profile” of each of your teachers. What
do each of them want to see in terms of notes, level of participation,
papers, projects? What are their individual likes and dislikes? Their
methods of grading and testing?
Knowing these various traits should certainly lead you to approach
each class—and each teacher—differently. Let’s say—not that it
would ever reallyhappen to you, of course—that you have managed
to dig yourself a very deep hole. It’s 11 p.m., you’re well past your
study prime, and you still have reading assignments to complete for
English and history tomorrow morning.
Your English teacher demands maximum class participation and
makes it a large part of your grade—and test scores be damned. Her
hobby seems to be calling on the unprepared, and she has an uncanny
and unerring knack for ferreting those students out.
Your history teacher discourages discussion, preferring to lecture and
answer a couple of questions at the end of the class. He never calls
on anyone for anything.
Given this situation, and knowing you can stay awake long enough
to read only one of the two assignments, which would you pick?
Would there ever be a time, barring a simultaneous typhoon, eclipse,
and national holiday, that you would show up for that English class
unprepared?
20 How to Study