I Already Know Everything.
Thanks to the Great Blizzard of ’16, the school has prolonged the third quarter of the school year. Thank God.
This quarter, both boys are having trouble keeping their grades up. They need the extra time to recover.
Shane hasn’t been able to bring up his science grade above a B since the first quarter. One morning, Shane came downstairs and announced that he had three upcoming tests – that day. One of them was in science.
“You didn’t study at all last night!” I said.
“I don’t have to study,” Shane said. “I already know everything there is to know.”
His is 12, after all.
And Shane was serious. And there wasn’t a thing I could do about it, because he was on his way out the door.
And his math grade is similarly screwy – sometimes dipping down into the C and D range. Shane re-takes a lot of math tests, because he makes simple math errors and doesn’t realize it.
“You should go over your answers at the end of the test, before you turn in your paper,” I advised. I mentioned it several times, explaining that he knew the math – just didn’t always pay close enough attention when he was doing simple calculations. (This is a problem that has always plagued me with math, too.)
Then Shane went and re-took a “D” math test at lunchtime.
“Did you go back over your answers this time?” I asked hopefully.
“No,” Shane said. “There were only four questions.”
“If there were only four questions, then it’s even more important. If you only miss one question, your grade drops to a C,” I told him. Then I droned on and on and on about the importance of going back over his work.
He probably didn’t hear one word I said.
I am not really all that helpful.