"I would have a 4.0 if I studied/did homework"

Pre-College Issues High School Life
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<p>I think it is true that many more people could have gotten better grades (maybe a 4.0) if they applied themselves a little more throughout high school, but that is generally what separates the “smart” kids from the “dumb” ones. I could have gotten better grades if I put in more effort, but I am not upset about what I have accomplished.</p>

<p>As for trying hard, there is nothing wrong with it. It’s probably annoying to see somebody that is doing incredibly well in their only AP class, while you are struggling with that class among other AP’s, but it’s not wrong for that person to try and thrive in his/her most difficult course.</p>

<p>I like seeing that other students are working hard to get good grades, but what angers me is that there are so many students (with better grades than I do) who are not only lazy when it comes to school work and studying, but also cheat on many tests. I don’t like thinking that some others found a way to “beat the system” while I have to work to stay close behind… hopefully they will learn a lesson in college.</p>

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<p>I was just thinking about this today! I hate when people say, “I’m smart, but I just don’t try.” They’re obviously not smart, or they would be trying. This is what ticks me off the most. But the people who freak out about school and over-do it also annoy me. For instance, when our Math teacher assigns problems, this one kid will just do the whole section for “practice.” He’s brown-nosing and we all know it. lol. (Though I admit, I brown-nose, too. I brought the teachers who wrote recommendations for me cookies…)</p>

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Well, there’s this thing called laziness…</p>

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<p>I was a B student (with some A’s) in my first three years. Now I’m a senior and am on track for near straight A’s since I’m really trying this year.</p>

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<p>Why should they not be critical of them? The purpose of education at the high school level is to prepare you for whatever future career or further education you wish to pursue. Intelligence is a measure of one’s ability to learn. Logically, the most intelligent students should be the most successful students due to their ability to learn whatever it is they need to in order to prepare, correct?</p>

<p>This, although it would seem logical, is not always the case in our current educational system. This is mostly due to homework. I will not address studying because it is likely that those who say they would have a 4.0 if they studied are most likely not intelligent.</p>

<p>What is the purpose of homework? It is an educational aid—it serves as an additional source of practice to reinforce or teach concepts that students may have not understood. It is also used as a portion of students’ grades for two reasons. First, the detrimental effect it can have on a student’s overall grade motivates them to do homework, which will in turn improve their understanding of the material. Second, it allows students who are hard workers but do not necessarily score well on tests and quizzes to still receive high grades in their classes.</p>

<p>The misuse of homework as a universal requirement stems from the first reason for its use. Imagine a student who is capable of learning the material required by a class without using homework as an aid. The focus of homework does not go beyond a basic understanding of the material the student already knows, so doing homework will not improve the student’s understanding of the material.</p>

<p>The detrimental effect of homework’s misuse stems from the second reason for its use. Imagine that same student. As established earlier, doing homework will not significantly improve the student’s understanding of the required material. It would be logical that such a student be exempt from homework that does not help his understanding, but this is not the case. If the student did decide not to do homework, he would not receive a good grade in the class, even if he knew the material more thoroughly than anyone else. However, if he did do homework, he would be wasting his time.</p>

<p>As it is intended as an aid and graded solely as motivation for students to do it, homework should not be required of students who do not need it. However, it is still required that even students who are in no way helped by homework spend significant portions of their time doing it. </p>

<p>The intelligent students who do homework are, for the purposes of high school, wasting their time. However, intelligent students who do not do homework do not necessarily receive good grades, despite the fact that grades, as a signal of how well a student has achieved the purpose of his classes, should reflect understanding of the necessary material and nothing more. Why is it worthwhile for intelligent students to waste their time learning what they already know? </p>

<p>Intelligent students who do not have a 4.0 but whose test grades are high enough that they would if they did homework are capable of learning and understanding more than intelligent students who spend their time on unneeded homework to earn a 4.0. This happens not because they are more intelligent but because they choose not to waste their time.</p>

<p>Wasting your time because you think it will increase your chances of success does not sound respectable to me. Why, then, is it not respectable to be capable of having a 4.0 but to not have one because you do not do homework?</p>

<p>This may sound like a rant, and that’s because it is one. I apologize if it offends you.</p>

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<p>Part of being intelligent is good judgment. Those who work hard to get good grades are utilizing a different aspect of intelligence: judgment. Those who are inherently “smart”, but dont work hard are essentially dumb for not realizing their potential.</p>

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<p>Many of those “essentially dumb” people would work hard if their work had any purpose.</p>

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<p>I HATE people who say they could make all A’s if they tried. Such a lame excuse. In terms of real world success:
Hard-working naturally smart people>hard working unintelligent people> lazy naturally intelligent people
In the real world no one GAF about your IQ scores, but how you can help their corporation or whatever.</p>

<p>And I don’t know what kind of teacher-hold-my-hand high schools you go to, but at my public HS assigned homework in most classes is optional and only really to help you understand what you did in class. And yet there’s still people I know failing classes saying they’re smart but too lazy to get good grades…yet the only grades are quizzes and tests Lol.</p>

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<p>I know an example of a kid who could get A’s if he tried.</p>

<p>He got a C+ in Math his freshman year. But wait. Tests were 75% of the grade, homework was 25%. He NEVER turned in his homework. But he got averaged a 103% on tests, hence C+. By the way, he wasn’t taking freshman math. He was taking math for ADVANCED sophomores.</p>

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<p>I pretty much disagree with your reasoning on homework.</p>

<p>You’re basically saying that all homework is busy work. I disagree. I’ve had busy work. Most of my advanced classes did not have busy work.</p>

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So… You can go into the AP US History exam without studying and ace it? It doesn’t matter how intelligent you are. If you don’t study, you don’t know the facts. If you don’t know the facts, you can only guess at the multiple choice and try to BS your way through the essays.</p>

<p>Your statement about homework doesn’t really make any sense. For example, I have a friend who is an amazing violin player. He’s absolutely amazing, I mean, amazing enough that he’s applying to Juliard. Someone with his innate ability, talent, and intelligence in music, according to your definition, would never have to practice. However, that is most definitely not the case. He practices for three hours a day. For someone with his skill level, it might seem that it is a waste of his time to practice, but in fact, it is not.</p>

<p>In addition to that, if the student has already mastered the material, then the homework should be easy and take much less time than a student who has not mastered the homework. It’s like timing 1st graders and 3rd graders doing addition and subtraction. The third graders will complete it much faster because they have already mastered the material. So, therefore, a person who doesn’t do their homework is just being lazy. It would take them less time than someone who doesn’t understand and reinforce what they already know.</p>

<p>This is all coming from a person who hasn’t really ever had a 100% homework grade due to laziness.</p>

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<p>Sadly, that is not the case at my school. Can we trade?</p>

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<p>Why do you think you spend time listening to the teacher lecture? You’re supposed to be learning then; if you do, studying later is unnecessary.</p>

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<p>He practices because he would not be as amazing at playing violin as he is if he didn’t practice. For school, it is not required that you be amazing. You only have to learn what it is you’re supposed to learn well enough to score well on tests on that subject. His practice, however, is necessary because his standards are much higher. The standards of high school are not, and if they were high enough, all students would eventually need to do homework.</p>

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<p>My point is that doing homework is a waste of time. An hour of productive work is useful; half an hour of wasted time is not, even if it’s not as long as an hour.</p>

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<p>A half-an-hour compared to the amount of hours you’ll live is negligible.</p>

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<p>I believe that there is much ado about nothing here. We must not fret over those dissimilarites that divide us: whether one studies very much, or very little; alas, everyone is free to chose their own path. No one should be allowed to play the role of judge. The “genius” who need not study very much surely might be at an advantage, but that does not take away from his or her achievement; and vice-versa, when talking about the good student who must study hard in order to become great. Both adapt to what they have been naturally given, whether it be talent or diligence. Both are deserving of praise.</p>

<p>d/dx.</p>

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<p>Look at it from a different perspective. We’re assuming that the half an hour you spend is for one class. If you have four, that’s two hours each day, or 8.3% of each day, 12.5% of the time you’re awake each day, and 25% of the time you’re awake and not at school each day. 25% of your free time is definitely not negligible.</p>

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<p>People don’t seem to realize that the whole point of high school is to develop a work ethic…no one actually thinks what you’re learning is useful. Pure intelligence is worthless.</p>

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<p>@ HHSFTW - “Pure intelligence is worthless.”</p>

<pre><code> Oh boy. That is a very dicey comment. You do realize you are highly susceptible to inflammatory remarks, right? After all, it was pure intelligence that gave us many, if not all of the inventions that we cherish and use to this day. Are not inventions but the result of an innate and imaginative sparkle from the human mind, using already known concepts and perhaps advancing it or modifying in a way most enlightening? Is that what you mean by pure intelligence? I think so. Without pure intelligence, we wouldn’t have computers, televisons, cell phones, or the calculus. The only way technological advancements are bloomed are through innovations, which are the essential perjorative of pure intelligence.

Though i do agree that much of high school work is not directly associated with a career, per se, and while I DO agree that the primary goal of high school is to build strong work ethic and responsibility, to simply just denounce "pure intelligence" as merely an elitist and unnecessary commodity in life is unfounded, I believe.

Oh, I beleive that Mr. Faraday himself is twisting and turning in his grave at the hearing of your words!

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<p>d/dx.</p>

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<p>“d/dx” is your signature?
What a dork.</p>

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<p>Thank you! LOL ;)</p>

<p>Would you rather it be int.f(x)dx ???</p>

<p>I’m just joking…</p>

<p>d/dx.</p>

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<p>Leibnitz- I was obviously exaggerating about it being totally worthless. But, except for pretty much a handful of people throughout history, pure intelligence is not very useful. What’s the point of having a Lamborghini without an engine?
99.9% of the population will need at least an average work ethic to get anywhere in life.</p>