Screwed my Spanish Honors Exam...

Pre-College Topics High School Cafe
1

Hi so today I took my first Spanish 5th Year Honors Exam. It was a Visual exam where you watch a video and write about it. We have the same teacher as last year for Spanish and she’s a really good teacher and all, but I screwed up my exam. The whole test felt super easy and all but I couldn’t finish the exam, there were 9 short-response questions and I only finished 7/9. I take a lot of time when writing especially since the key to getting a good grade in her class is to write a lot and to add details. Last year when I took Spanish 4rth Year (there wasn’t any honors for that) I usually got like 97s on my Spanish exams but that was because she let us have extra time on the exams. This year she didn’t do that and we only had 80 minutes to do so. The thing is A day students had 90 minutes but B-Day students (I’m in B-Day) only had 80 minutes since my school has a rule where Wednesdays we dismiss in 2:30 P.M and I took the exam today at a Wednesday… I asked my teacher if I could have extra time, possibly later on in my advisory period, but she said I’m in honors and 5th year Spanish now and she wouldn’t let me. If at least she told me before I took the exam that we would have to use our 80 minutes for the exam I could’ve prepared for that. The teacher also likes me as a student a lot and she’s a very good teacher in my opinion. What should I do now? How do I achieve a 93+ in the class? (93+ is a 4.0) Tests are worth 50% of my grade, and we’re having another one in 3 weeks… I’m a really good student in Spanish I usually get like 95+ on my quizzes and homework.

  • I'm in the 10th grade
2

Why don’t you just calculate your own grade? If you know what exams are going to be administered in that class, the weight of each category, and other assignments, it’s very easy to calculate your grade. Not to mention, school hasn’t started for very long. Just go in and ask your teacher for help when you need it, starting now. Manage your time better. Study more. You’re taking an honors class. You should know that.

3

From the above, it sounds like the teacher has designed the tests so that they will not take the full 80/90 minutes to complete, yet you are taking your time writing the exam. The answer is pretty straightforward: recognize that you have 80 minutes for the exam and pace yourself accordingly. You were lucky last year, and perhaps your teacher did you a disservice by allowing extra time, but now you’ll need to adapt; on the SAT’s and on college exams, there is no “extra time.” If everybody else can finish in 80 minutes, there is no reason why you can’t as well.

4

Good news everyone, my teacher said I was a bright student last year and she let me have another chance ONE MORE TIME. I finished the other two questions and got a 96 on the exam! :smiley: I have a 98 in the class.

5

Nice! I’m glad your teacher let you finish.

6

I guess but this is just teachers being lenient, when I get into college it’ll be a lot worse.

7

That is true, but by the time college comes around, you’ll have learned an additional year (or how ever many) worth of time management skills! Make that a priority this year and you’ll improve.