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The following 2 comments and questions have been sent in. They are listed according to date.
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Top student lost motivation to TV set
Question
June 5, 2005
I'm a high school student in Junior year. In Freshman and Sophmore year, I passed with an A average, mostly because the material just seemed to come easy to me, but this year I've been very lazy, and because of that I'm now failing two classes for the year. What I'm wondering is why I've become this way and how I can put an end to it...
When I sit down to do homework, I become distracted very easily. If my assignment calls for me to read something, especailly if the material is rather dry, I'll end up just staring at it, or reading it and instantly forgetting what I've just read, as if I haven't absorbed anything at all. The television and the computer are my two main distractions, as I tend to lose track of time altogether when put in front of them. It used to be that this would only make me procrastinate until the last minute, but now when I tell myself it'll eventually get done I wait until I get too tired and decide to go to sleep. I tell myself I'll get the work done in the morning or later the next day, but I just end up pushing it off altogether usually.
I have trouble concentrating. When sitting in class, I'll try to take down notes and pay attention, but I end up staring out the window, daydreaming, or drawing in my copybooks.
One of the classes I'm failing is American History. This comes as somewhat of a shock to me because history is one of my favorite subjects. As a background to my situation, I discovered my love of ancient and medieval history in my freshman history class, and since I did so well I was moved up to Honors level. Ever since then I told myself that history would be my major in college, and that I'd try get into a career based on it. In sophmore year, I had a teacher gave very little homework, and did not check class work at all. When I discovered this, I blew off doing the class work altogether, thinking that there's no purpose to do it if the teacher won't count it. I passed all of the tests because the subject matter came easy to me.
This year, my teacher was very difficult, and since this course is the only Honors level one I take, probably the only really challenging teacher I have ever had so far. In his class, he did weight all of the homework and classwork, also grading them very hard. I have no interest or motivation in doing the work, so I brushed it off and ended up failing even though I did do reasonably well on most of the tests. When I do attempt to study or do the assigned outlines from the textbook, I'll end up flipping through the book to a completely different topic and read about that instead. I do not blame the teacher at all, since he is a very good teacher, but I just don't seem to have the will power.
The other class I failed is algebra, partially because it is my last class of the day and I'm completely drained of all energy by that time, eager to go home, and partially because my math teacher last year was a new teacher who had no control over his classes. Because he could not teach anything, I did not learn anything and therefore was unprepared for this year. Also, since I had no work to do last year, I have become too lazy to sit down and attempt the homework.
Part of my problem is that I don't get enough sleep at night. I have to many worries about school or life that I can't fall asleep easily, or I end up staying on the computer or watching TV too much longer than I'm supposed to. I make up for the loss of sleep by sleeping in over the weekends. I know this inconsistant schedule is very bad for me, but I have no idea how to break it or stick to a new schedule.
As I've said before, I don't think of myself as a stupid person, since I do well on tests and in the work that I do manage to force myself to get done, but I'm very lazy. It doesn't help that many people tell me that I'm stupid since I'm failing these two classes. I have dreams of going to college, but with the downhill curve I've been on I'm worried that I won't be able to. This should logically make me work harder, but my laziness continues to keep me down. I often think back about how much easier it would have been if I did the work, but it doesn't motivate me to want to work. Now it's too late and I most likely will have to attend summer school, but after that I don't know what will happen. I just know that I have to change. My mom says that the only person who can make me change is myself, but I'm just too lazy.
Thank you for your time, I appreciate you hearing my troubles.
- United States
7183
Answer
Being a Junior in high school, it is time to start planning for what you want to take in college, as well as where you want to go. And that relates to what you would like to be doing as a career when you graduate from college. It is good to have some sort of dream to look forward to. What do you like to do? What type of job would be fun for you?
Note that there are very few jobs where they pay you to watch mindless TV shows.
Big problems with being smart and finding schoolwork easy is that you can easily get bored if not challenged. But also, you can develop some very bad study habits that can really affect your chances in college. I've seen many students who got through high school on brains and good looks and then found that wasn't good enough in college.
Definitely set aside a time to do your homework with no TV, no computer games, and no distractions. If you have to go to the library to study, then do that. It is a discipline you need to get.
Take notes when you have to read dry material. "Super-read" by going through the material quickly, gleaning out the important items and making note of them. You can highlight instead of taking notes, if that suits you.
Although it is always nice to have a good teacher, often you don't get one. You will see more of this in college, where the professors delegate teaching to others. So, you need to take the initiative to make sure you learn what is needed.
You should kick yourself for failing courses, especially when you had been a top student. That should be a wake-up call to you.
Don't call yourself lazy. You just don't realize what motivates you and what you really want. If you truly want to start at the TV or computer screen all the time, then do so. But I think you want more in life than that.
Do this: Write down a few colleges you'd like to attend. Write down the grades you want to get in your final year in high school. Write down your biggest dream. Then post that list where you can see it every day. Or put it in your wallet, so you can look at it. This will help you focus on your goals and motivate you to get back on track.
I am sure you will rebound, get good grades and excel in what you want to do. College is cool, so it is something to look forward to.
Best wishes in your efforts, and let me know how things turn out.
jj
Question
February 8, 2005
I want to find out if you would be willing to put a link to my site www.motivateyourkid.com on your site. Please check it out. If not your site - perhaps you can refer me to another. I will put a link on mine to yours.
Thank you.
Bill Brancheau
- USA
5895
Answer
Sorry for taking so long to answer you.
I'll put up a link to your site in our Education area that is viewed by parents and teachers. That is a more appropriate area.
The link will be at www.school-for-champions.com/education/resources.htm
The page is not up yet, but should be by Monday or Tuesday.
A link to use from your site would be "The Power of Good Character" at www.school-for-champions.com/character/ or "Succeed in Education" at www.school-for-champions.com/education/
I'll send you an email when the link is up.
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