Every 18 weeks students find themselves in the same terrible place called Exam week. They go through this dreadful procedure every year, and for every student that isn’t a senior it happens twice. The week before exams isn’t too exciting as it is filled with tests, projects, cramming and late nights. This seems to be a very unpleasant process and the stress put on the students for these exams is exceptionally intense. The weeks are so busy and it also shows that maybe the students had not actually learned the topic but instead memorized information for a test and then wiped it out shortly afterwards.
The teachers here at DHS are usually quite good with planning their schedules in advanced, and making sure there is ample time for all topics and reviewing. However, with the help of mother nature and possibly a new superintendent the students of DHS have been given six days off for weather concerns. From snow days to a windstorm dismantling trees there is no doubt that these days were warranted and necessary. So because of such a predicament the teachers would be forced to push back tests and due dates, with most of them landing in the week before exams. With so many important assignments due, the stress on students could not be greater.
“The snow days were definitely a nice break from school, but now I am extremely busy wrapping up the semester,” junior Jake Davidson said. “The students of DHS notice this change as well and take the full force of the change.”
Also, with the tests and projects all being pushed back, it shortens review time and forces students to either begin the review early on top of the already assigned homework or cram the information just days before the exam. Cramming, however, is not too helpful and unless your brain can handle all the information it will not stay there for long. The review of material needs to be spaced out and visited many times to be entered into long term memory. This doesn’t happen frequently with the work load that the students already have. So in turn the grades of exams for students can be impacted greatly.
“It takes a while to get all the necessary stuff put away but it is needed if you want a good grade,” senior Jackson Worsley said.
Finally DHS students can take a breath of relief if they hear the magic word “note card”. This means that the students are allowed to write down any information that they need on a note card and use it during exams. Now this does seem quite helpful but it makes more sense for students to cover less topics during a semester and actually gain a deep knowledge than having students use a note card since it seems that with most classes when a note card is necessary it means the topics have been memorized just for the tests and exams rather than actually taught and understood.
Overall, there are definitely some flawed elements in our ending weeks of a semester. Cramming, tests and projects due and notecards combine to make an unpleasant week for students.
