Stressors Project
My blogpost for today is not going to be about the book instead it is going to be about the stressors project (just wanted to form some thoughts on it). I think this project is a really interesting idea and I like the anonymity of it all.
Thinking of stressors in general the first thing that pops to my mind is school, so a lot came to mind when thinking more in depth about what gives me anxiety in school. The first thing I thought of was the constant homework assignments that Uni teachers give, and a lot of the time it is just busy work. Teachers probably think the more homework we get the more we will understand the subject, which turns into teachers giving random busy work assignments. Often I procrastinate these assignments and they start to add up. Having so much work to do after school makes it hard to participate in other activities. The 30 minute rule for homework needs to be enforced so Uni students can have a life outside of school.
Another big stressor that I think of at school are exams. I hate exams and standardized testing. I have testing anxiety that causes me to become very stressed to the point where I can’t sleep and get very sick before tests. I have a big issue with Uni test because it is just a lot of information in a short amount of time and when the test come you throw up everything you memorized during the test. What I mean by that is, a lot of the stuff you learn for the test is out into short term. memory and when the test is over your forget it quickly.
I think this project is going to nice to articulate what stresses me out in Uni.
Samaia Jones
School stresses me out as well, but not to an extreme extent (Probably since I am not taking very many classes). I also don't really associate stress with time, so even if an assignment takes 4 hours, I would treat it with the same amount of stress as an assignment that takes me 30 minutes. However what really does stress me out is the college process. It ties in with standardized testing. College for me is a 1 chance situation. You have to do well, since you never get a good chance to apply again.
ReplyDeleteSo for example, the SAT, AP tests, subject tests, essays, and everything else all piled up on top of each other really stresses me out.
Exactly. I don't think teachers take into mind how much students in Uni truly have going on. We all are high achieving students but there is constantly something we need to do. If the 30 minute rule was implemented maybe we would all be a little less stressed.
DeleteI agree that some exams we take at Uni seem to test us only on our ability to regurgitate information, but I think there are also tests administered, such as the US History tests, that force us to process the information critically while studying for the test. I have noticed that the tests I associate with the most stress are the ones that are purely based on memorization because I cram it all in my brain right before the test and hope that I'll be able to remember all of the details while I'm taking it.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The tests I have to memorize things for give me a lot of anxiety. I never know if during the test I will forget something and ruin my whole grade. Also, when I finish the test I completely forget all of the things I just memorized.
DeleteDang yeah, I totally forgot that the 30 minute rule existed. I think on the one hand the 30 minute rule helps with students not being overburdened outside of class. But at the same time, I feel like there could be academic limitations that come with strictly adhering to 30min of homework every evening. Idk tho. In terms of exams, I think that it's actually a good way to make sure that we are keeping up with the material and really understanding it. Although ppl might get bad anxiety, I think it's also a good motivator.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The 30 minute rule gets kind of confusing when you have longer lasting projects or essays. I think its something that is very easy to implement for homework though and would maybe help a lot of students with their workload. I also partially agree with the point about anxiety being a motivator. When its nerves it could be helpful in order to study, but sometimes depending on how anxious you get it can be debilitating.
DeleteI totally agree with what you said about exams at school. It really does seem like studying for tests just means memorizing a bunch of information, regurgitating it all out on the exam, and then forgetting it all after. While exams are necessary in certain classes to see how well we've mastered the material, I feel like this method is ineffective in the long run because we're not actually retaining the information, just memorizing.
ReplyDeleteAlso I agree about the 30 minute rule -- it would be super good if it was applied more often !
I totally agree with your observation that studying for some tests feel as if you just word vomited material onto a page that you would promptly forget about after the exam. I think teachers should recognize that covering a bunch of material doesn't necessarily equate to a higher quality class. Sometimes I feel that those types of classes are the most stressful and the ones that I learn the least from.
DeleteIn addition, could the teachers please use the exam calendar because it really isn't funny when Ray jokes how none of the other teachers use it.
I totally agree! I want to feel like I am getting something out of the test that I just spent all that time studying for. Also about your point Sarah about the calendar. I wish that all of the teachers used it, I feel like the workload would be a lot more even then it is right now. The calendar also makes sure that all the teachers are on the same page.
DeleteI agree that some classes give out a lot of busywork. There are some nights when I do homework simply because it was assigned, but I never feel like I'm getting anything out of it. It can be really frustrating to have a huge pile of work to do, but not feel like you are truly benefitting from completing any of it. That being said, there are some classes that do a good job of giving out useful assignments that are relevant to the class, and I don't usually mind doing those because I feel that I am gaining something from them.
ReplyDeleteRight! It feels like such a waste of time sometimes. After I finish something assigned to keep me busy it can be satisfying because I am finally done, but I feel like I have got nothing out of it and the teacher won't get anything out of it. Sometimes it just feels like a waste of paper.
DeleteI agree with you that some Uni exams tend to consist of simply memorizing information and then spitting it out on a page shortly after, and sophomore history is a prime example of this. The majority of the class is based on memorizing flowcharts and then replicating a few of them on the tests. While this isn't a terribly difficult task and is just very time-consuming, I can't say that I remember a lot of details from that class. I also agree that the 30-minute rule needs to be enforced more since we find ourselves having less and less time to engage in other activities that we used to love doing before we came to Uni.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wish we had more of that extra time so we could do all the little things that we used to do, or just use that time to relax a little before the cycle repeats. I know a lot of Uni students give up small things like, reading, drawing, painting, etc. because they don't have much free time anymore.
DeleteI agree that menial homework is boring and uninteresting. I have noticed that most classes at Uni are also guilty of forcing you to do menial work with facts and essentially test memorization. Obviously some a lot more than others. For math, I have found that if your try to understand the reasoning that leads to formulas and are able to derive them when needed, there is a lot less stress during an exam, since you aren't relying as much on memory and are more flexible to solve problems you havent seen. Just my two cents though.
ReplyDeleteYeah that makes sense. I think that is the best way in general to study for a test, and when it is taught in class it is even better. When you truly understand the objectives before going into a test you are always better off. Thanks for your two cents :)
DeleteNice post! Regarding the points you made about standardized testing:
ReplyDeleteI think that standardized testing, although it may work well for students who are really used to it, has a negative effect overall since there are many people who have a hard time in that environment and as such are not able to perform their best. It also is not a really good approximation of what you would be asked to do even in a regular test (like for a class or something). I wonder if there will be better options for future generations.
I agree, I think there are so many issues regarding standardized testing that need to be addressed in order to have a fair environment. I hope that in the future we figure those issues out and create better options (it is already being talked about now because of the scandals that happened recently). I have no doubt that there will be a more fair method.
DeleteI agree the 30 minute homework rule needs to be enforced. This rule is totally thrown out whenever there is a test or essay because those are things that I can technically write something in 30 minutes but it's not going to be good. Also the 30 minute rule is stupid in general because what takes someone else 30 minutes might take me an hour.
ReplyDeleteYEAH! The readings for history might take someone 20 minutes but may take me an hour to read. I get that it is not the teacher's responsibility to figure out what each of his students needs, but it would be nice if the assignment was given in advance (or something like that) in order to give everyone the time needed.
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