You’re in math class, moving onto the next topic, but then you hear your teacher say, “You should’ve learned this last year. We will be focusing on the more advanced part of this skill.” Panic instills in you as you struggle to remember what your former teacher taught. You can faintly remember some of the formulas, but it’s blurry. As students move on from high school to college or even further schooling, retention of academic courses will always be an issue for many. This is rooted in the fact that students often memorize for the sake of assessments instead of learning the concepts and skills. Ultimately, this leads to them forgetting most of the material by the time the course ends. Mrs. Resner, an English teacher at JP Stevens High School for over 20 years, suggests the perfect solution to combat this. 

Similar to many, as Mrs. Resner made the transition from high school to college, she had trouble managing her workload because she struggled to maintain the skills she was taught in high school. While she was able to grasp what her teachers were looking for and worked to meet those exact expectations, it was all mostly memorization. In doing so, Mrs. Resner quickly forgot many of the important lessons in a short period of time. While she received the grade she wanted, Mrs. Resner struggled in more advanced courses because she never put in enough time to assess the value of what she was learning.

Simultaneously,  Mrs. Resner also faced the same challenges that numerous JP students can relate to. For example, she struggled with time management and the crushing pressure from peers and parents; thus, she lost sight of the real reason she went to school and started hyper-focusing solely on good grades. Ultimately, she had to learn to rebuild her weak skills while adjusting to her new college life. 

Through her hardships in college, Mrs. Resner realized that you should “not work just for the grade, but to work for the grade AND the attainment of new skills that [you] can use again in the future.” 

Through this eye-opening experience, Mrs. Resner was able to think more about her academic skills rather than her grades. Using this, she grew incredibly knowledgeable, and soon everything just seemed to fall into place. In a way, she didn’t have to work harder but rather smarter. 

When Mrs. Resner was asked for advice against solely focusing on grades, she noted:

“Ask [yourself] why [you] are doing each assignment. What skill am I demonstrating? Do I feel like I am good at this skill? If not, how can I get help from my teachers to strengthen this skill? What don’t I understand? If you can focus on these questions, you will not only be successful academically, but you will also be building a skill set that you can use throughout your life.”

So the next time you are in a classroom, remember you are here to learn! While it may seem to be mostly for “the grades” and college, it is necessary to learn in order to excel in the more challenging classes coming next.