techn0teen wrote:
My friends and peers think of me as a very intelligent person. I knew so much in the class, and I always offered insightful answers when called upon or I offered. They would then say, "You got an A, right?" And then I would tell them I received a B. They seem to look shocked.
The reason being I cannot do standardized testing. I can do small quizzes but when it is a giant test that spans for hours I get terrible anxiety. I just cannot sit through it. If you ask me to do something creative with the knowledge I learned, I always get excellent grades.
I am a tactile learner. I can really only learn something if I can apply it. If I don't know what a piece of knowledge is used for, I cannot understand it. Thankfully, my ASD can help me memorize it and it seems to get me by.
That anxiety is a killer for tests for sure! I don't know where you are or if you have already done so, but students with disabilities offices can offer alternate testing facilities that might help with anxiety and concentration issues. I tried it, helped some, but the tests for the teacher I had the most negative/anxious reaction to, well, I still just freaked out: )))) My final for that class I didn't even finish, he had trashed my writing so much (but had gotten great grades in english and other classes required to write), and just left, figured "f%$^ it, he's going to give me whatever he wants (he had a history of grading females much worse than males) and I wasn't playing his game. He must have been afraid (I had reported him for not being discrete about alternate testing issues), because had a C going into the final, didn't finish it, got a C in the class.
Yes I have accommodations, and it helps me not fail but it only does so much. I'm not good at taking tests period. I can only have so much help.
I am sorry that you had that experience. Sometimes, grades are not a great indicator of your worth.
28 Aug 2011, 9:35 pm
