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I got an F on my report card and I don't know what to do!
I got my report card today, I got 1 F, 2 As, And 2 Bs. My mom is freaking out on me, and I've never gotten a bad grade before, I'm an A-B student. But Algebra 2 made no sense to me. I struggled with it and my mom is talking about grounding me the whole summer and all this stuff. I don't know what to do I feel like I've failed at life and that I'm such a moron.
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You are not a moron so lets get that out of your head right know. Algebra 2 is hard for many people. You cannot be a moron if in all other classes you are getting A's and B's.
Not knowing you or your school it is hard to say if you failed algebra or if the school system and the teacher failed you. I went through this with my own son not all that long ago. It wasn't until he was in college taking algebra 2 in a make up class that he finally got it, with the help of a good teacher, his girlfriend and a computer program.
Now I can't say mom is right or wrong if she wants to ground you for the summer. She is your mom and it is her call. I think when she gets over being upset and realizes that the problem may not be you she will be more gentle in any punishment she decides upon, if any.
What I suggest is this. If it is affordable for your parents; find one of the learning centers that specialize in math tutoring. You and your mom, and dad if able, should go and speak with them about the problems you had in this class. Then you should be enrolled in one of their courses for algebra 2 help. They may suggest you take the class over next year with them tutoring or they help you over the summer and then arrange for the possibility to test out of the class in the fall.
I do not see going to summer school as the answer. If you had trouble with the class in the 180 days of instruction. How are you going to do any better in the 6 weeks of instruction over the summer? These professional tutoring schools use different teaching methods and one on one instruction that makes learning this subject easier.
So my advice is to give mom a chance to calm down then talk to her about what I have just written about. Most importantly is not to feel bad about yourself. You are not a moron. In fact ranked nationally you are among about 45% of teenagers who had trouble in this course. Do to my way of thinking they system may have let you down.
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My Mum would totally go crazy over an F as well, and people always say 'just stand up for yourself' and 'it can not be that bad' but it really is. Your parents do not listen, they don't care about the fact that you got 2 A grades and 2 B grades, they care about the fact that you got an F. I don't know how your mum is as a person, and how she would react, but even if it means screaming it, some how get the message across that Algebra 2 doesn't make sense to you. Maybe, you could ask her to resit your exams? If you can do that, where you're from ( I am assuming Canada or America due to the fact you said 'mom' ? My mum likes to be right. Tell her, she is right to be angry even though she is completely wrong, and maybe ask her if she can help you? She might calm down, but what you've got to do is realise that there is always the option of sneaking out etc. because although, it should not be encouraged, rebelling is the only way to get through. I totally know what you're feeling right now based on my own experiences. I got a D in Maths and I was banned from 3 concerts I had been saving up for, I had my phone, computer and ipod taken away for 3 months and stuff like that but I rebelled, snuk out, arranged things at school and when my mum left the house for a few minutes or was on the phone. It is seriously horrible having strict parents and nobody understands, but my advice is to rebel so she realises how stupid she is being. You aren't a moron, it's one exam and you probably don't need algebra
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What I'd like to know is what was happening in that algebra class early on. I struggled with Algebra too. My highschool had all the math teachers choose those who were struggling the most and put us in a class for those slower at learning algebra. It helped some people. My teacher was so patient with me and tried various ways to help me to get it but i never really did. So I got a D but had A's and B's in all else. Did your teacher not see you struggling, Wasn't a tutor suggested? Did the algebra teacher ask to have a conferance with you, parents about how you were not doing good at all? If mom never had a clue, I can understand her freaking out just from the shock of it. But she needs to have some compassion here, cus not all of us are gonna be rocket scientists. I think mom's reaction is harsh about grounding you. Like that is going to magically kick your brain into gear and it automatically finally understands algebra perfectly. Did you talk to mom throughout the semester and let her know how you were struggling? Did you ask the school for help? I am sure its way different than when i went thru H.S. but if some one who is an A-B student is having that much difficulty you'd think someone would have suggested something you could try or what alternate math class would be okay. You are not a failure for getting an F. Your school and teacher are the failures for not taking it more seriously and helping you early on. Are they lazy these days? You are not a moron for getting one F. Let me remind you that some of our most famous people in history who invented things and cures were people who never finished school. They were certainly not morons but genious's instead. I think you need to have a talk with your parents and teacher and school counselor, hopefully all together at one meeting. If this can't be addressed until the beginning of the new school year, then ask at the start what you can do to make up for your one F. And next time you struggle with anything, be a squeeky wheel...keep after people, bugging them for help, again and again until they are so tired of hearing from you that they figure out a solution for you. Get your parents to fight for you in school too. If you don't get help from teachers, talk to counselors, if not there, move up to the vp or the principal. Your parents if they get no help there might try the district school board next. Sometimes, a company has no flow chart for problem solving in one particular area and that makes the company weak. Same for school. Perhaps they have nothing in place to help you and the only way they will know they need to make some upgrades to how they run the school and what help they offer students is to have this problem shoved in their face. I hope you can be brave enough to start the ball rolling. It can feel intimidating...I know...I brought up a weak link in the company I worked at where we lost business over issues we had no problem solving in place for. It took a Quality control manager finally backing up what I was saying before the president would take me seriously. And all the people I originally spoke to tried to ignore me...you may get that too. But you deserve to get all the help you need to do your very best. If schools not gonna do that, you could do just as good or better online at home.
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No no no, You are not a moron.
We all are not perfect. When I was in high school I had my good and bad subjects. Dont be hard on yourself
Getting A and B grades is better then I ever did. One F is okay. Be happy and just remember to study a little harder nect time but don't beat yourself up.
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You my friend are far from a moron. It's okay if you don't "get' algebra although perhaps you should have asked for help or a tutor before now. Admit that you got an F and then get tutoring to learn this for next time.
Have your teacher and other adults who mom listens to see that grounding you all summer actually makes matters worse, changes nothing and doesn't combat the reason you earned an F. She should also be bloody happy about the other grades and focused on what you did well and to a lesser degree did not. As long as you tried and put effort in to things that's what parents should concern themselves with bad grade or not.
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