School and college life is full of worries. You need to answer the topic well, write a test, pass exams, CT and get admitted. Or try not to fail the test and examination session, practice, course work and get a diploma. Everyone experiences these periods differently, but one way or another they are associated with anxiety. Adukar will tell you how to stop being nervous about studying or before an important event. He will also explain what to do when anxiety becomes your constant symptom.
Distinguish between spontaneous feelings of anxiety and increased nervousness. The first appears once and is considered the norm. But if ordinary anxiety develops into chronic nervousness (with or without cause), then this is already a problem
Why do schools and universities give grades?
Is it worth worrying about grades for almost a quarter of your life? This is a fundamental question for child and adolescent psychology. After all, grades haunt us from first grade to the end of master’s or graduate school.
Assessments are a simplified system for determining a student’s level of knowledge in the opinion of the teacher. The key here is the teacher’s opinion. The student is assessed by only one teacher who teaches this knowledge. In fact, he evaluates himself. After all, it depends only on the teacher:
- What exactly gets into the student’s head?
- How well will the student remember this information?
- How will he incorporate new information into his knowledge system?
- How will he use new theoretical knowledge in practice?
The easiest way for a teacher to use grades is to see which of the children
- The topic of the lesson was not interesting (if one or more students made mistakes)
- Which topic was poorly explained (if the majority made mistakes)
- Was the topic presented interesting (if all students made mistakes)
Thus, it turns out that grades are given not in order to find out “how bad and stupid” the student is, but so that the teacher recognizes the problems in his work
Unfortunately, many teachers do not understand the real meaning of grades. They really believe that grades are only for students. And their program is the most correct, as are their teaching activities.
Therefore, a student and schoolchild must himself accept the fact that he shows the level of knowledge that the teacher gave him. Every child, every pupil and student can become interested in an academic discipline and develop in it if the teacher does his job well.
Thus, the question “is it worth worrying about grades” is no longer addressed to the students, but to the teacher. After all, if there are only bad students in the class, then the teacher himself is useless.
Fear has big eyes, or why we get nervous
Your palms are sweaty, your heart is beating fast, you feel hot, it’s difficult to concentrate - your body is signaling a problem. It may be a matter of physiology - fear for your life. More often, the cause of anxiety is psychology - fear of failure or reluctance to look stupid in people's eyes. At this moment, adrenaline is released, which forces you to act or slow down.
Worry often gives small things a big shadow (Swedish proverb)
Why do they give points instead of grades at universities?
Should I worry about grades at the university that are given at the end of the session or academic year? They do affect the color of the diploma, but the student needs to pay more attention not to grades, but to the points he receives.
In Russian universities, it is customary to use a 100-point system instead of a five-point grading scale. That is, in just one academic semester a student can receive one hundred points. He will not be able to get more than this number.
The number of points for completing any task or condition is determined by the teacher. He decides how many points to give for homework, how many for constant attendance during the entire study period. The teacher decides whether these points should be taken away or not.
The university charter also offers assistance in assessment. It states how many points a student can receive for the discipline, i.e. attendance at classes (usually 20 points), as well as how much he will lose due to absenteeism (1 absenteeism - minus 6 points according to the charter).
Teachers usually indicate the number of points that can be earned and lost in the first lesson of their subject. Therefore, it is very important for each student to attend 1 day of a new academic semester, or an orientation session for correspondence.
The issue of abstract topics is also resolved here. We discussed what an abstract is in the previous article. If you don’t choose an easy topic for yourself in time, then you will have to be left alone with the most difficult and incomprehensible one. If a student even brings an essay, but cannot answer questions on it, then the points will be reduced.
If you score a certain number of points, the student will be able to get admission to the exam. Typically a minimum of 35 points is required. You can also receive an automatic grade if the student receives 60 points. This is equivalent to a “4” grade, so the student can agree with this grade, hand in his record book at the exam without a ticket and calmly go on vacation.
However, counting points is more difficult than grades. The student constantly has to “monitor” his personal diary on the university website. Therefore, anxiety is added even more.
In addition, the teacher may, at his own discretion, not allow you to receive grades automatically, even if you have scored more than 60 points. By the way, you can challenge your exam grade, for example, if you already have 60 points, but the teacher gives you a C.
At the same time, you cannot score 100 points, otherwise the dean and inspectors may suspect falsification and a bribe to the teacher.
So is it worth worrying about grades when the whole semester is spent worrying about scores? Most likely, you should not worry about either the first or the second.
Is it bad to be nervous?
In stressful situations, it is more difficult to concentrate and think calmly, especially when you need to use your head. For example, it is difficult to remember the right ticket in an exam or answer a topic during a presentation at the blackboard. If you worry about little things and stress yourself out, you can become a pessimist. For some, nervousness pushes them into bad habits, which is not good for their health.
It's not all that scary. Psychologists have proven that nervousness does not always hinder us. Sometimes it becomes an impetus for development. Experienced fear can motivate you to work on yourself. A student who is criticized will either neglect his studies or begin to make progress. People of art, experiencing the pangs of creativity, create masterpieces. Finally, experiencing stressful situations adds to life experience. If circumstances repeat themselves, a person knows how to deal with them. In short, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
Stress can help you develop memory
How many points do you need to score to get excellent?
If you enjoy studying, then it will be easier for you to score high in that subject and get an excellent grade.
How many points do you need to score? Not less than 80, but not more than 95. It is in this range that the “5” rating is located. However, do not rush to rejoice if you have already seen the coveted grade in your record book.
The teacher may decide that it is too easy for students to get an “excellent” automatically. Therefore, he can force you to come and confirm such a high score in the exam. It will probably only give one question, which the student will have to answer in full. This happens quite often.
Unfortunately, if a student does not answer very well, then his “excellent” grade disappears and a “good” appears in its place.
Nevertheless, there are also teachers who are ready to automatically give the majority of students an A for simply sitting through classes. These kind teachers are appreciated and loved by all students. There are not many of them, but they make this world a better place.
Thus, at a university, not only do you have to constantly work for a good grade, but you also need to be lucky. After all, if the teacher doesn’t want to, he won’t give an excellent grade even to a know-it-all student.
Therefore, should a student who does not aspire to further become a scientist or teacher worry about grades? Apparently not.
How to recover from academic burnout
Remember that academic burnout usually takes months or years to develop, so full recovery will also take time and effort. If the situation has worsened and academic burnout has become a constant part of your life, here are some things you can do:
Ask for help
You may need professional help—talk to a psychologist, educational counselor, mentor, or other professional who can help you overcome burnout. You can also enlist the help of friends, family and teachers.
Recognize the symptoms and don't ignore them
Remember the key symptoms of academic burnout and don't ignore the signals from your mind and body. Burnout will only get worse if you keep moving forward without getting the proper help.
Manage stress and make important life changes
Take time for yourself to relax and reduce stress. Practice conscious breathing, eat healthy, communicate more. Try also taking meditation breaks throughout the day. Change your schedule to create a better balance between different aspects of your life.
Should you worry about grades - advice from a psychologist
So, we have already looked at several facts on the topic of whether you should worry about grades. Now let’s say a precise and open answer: of course, no one needs to worry about grades. Parents and their children must independently assess the student’s level of knowledge. For example, if a child gets a “3” in mathematics and a “5” in Russian, does that mean he is stupid? Not at all.
This means that the child has developed an interest in the Russian language, but not in mathematics. This may be due to various things: from conversations in the family and the parents’ passion for science to the child’s own interest in numbers and counting. In addition, we must not forget about the teacher. Even if he himself is a fan of his subject, it is not a fact that the teacher will be able to instill in children the same love for science.
Therefore, grades should be treated as a given in which area the child is more inclined: he is a humanist or a techie, maybe he gravitates towards the natural sciences, or maybe towards creativity.
Every aspect of our lives can be interesting, but that doesn't mean we have to succeed in everything. Even a genius develops in one thing. And even people with encyclopedic knowledge and high intelligence can be ignoramuses in the sensory sphere or in everyday life.
Grades in school are just grades. They need to be approached rationally. You don’t need to worry about them, but you definitely shouldn’t study carelessly either.
Why do schoolchildren or students study? In order to learn something new that will be interesting. Yes, not everything can be useful in life. Yes, it can be difficult to understand the subject. However, nevertheless, all this fills a person. This is the meaning of life.
- How can you learn to formulate your thoughts correctly without literature and the Russian language?
- Without mathematics, how can you learn to think logically, solve problems gradually, and be able to apply theory in solving everyday problems? (for example, how to create a budget for a month or calculate the amount of tax from the sale of an apartment)
- How to fix something at home without physics?
- How to use cleaning products without chemicals?
- How can you go to the State Duma elections and cast your vote without knowing history?
- How can you grow indoor plants, take home a pet, and identify pain in your body without knowledge of biology?
In general, all sciences are important for humans. We have listed school subjects. However, at a university, every subject is also important for a student. After all, this is how he gains professional competence, i.e. knowledge that he will need at work.
At the same time, grades are not so important as specific knowledge, skills and abilities. They should be remembered for life, and not just until the exam.
So, should you worry about grades? No, it's not worth it. However, in one case, when you need a scholarship, you will have to try, but we’ll talk about that later.
How to prevent academic burnout
If you start to notice some of the symptoms above, it's time to make a change.
Enjoy your break
If possible, take a real break from work and school, and try to rearrange your schedule to give yourself at least one day off each week.
Find time for enjoyable activities
And not just on weekends! Fill your calendar with things you enjoy doing during the week, and you'll find yourself more motivated on days that require the most of your attention on academic tasks.
Exercise
Try to exercise at least three times a week, stay hydrated, and eat healthy foods to keep your body and mind active and healthy.
Take a walk
Research has shown that time spent in nature reduces stress levels, so spend your free time outside.
Find time for social activity
Not only do friends and family provide a positive support system, but spending time in a fun social environment will make you happier and give your mind a rest.
Set reasonable goals
And stick to them—use your calendar and daily reminders to stay motivated to meet your deadlines.
Avoid procrastination
When you're feeling stressed, it's tempting to put tasks and projects aside, but this will ultimately lead to sleep deprivation, frustration, and even more stress.
Take a step back
Take a look at your educational situation as a whole. Ask yourself, have you chosen the right direction, course or program? Is there another direction you could go in that would better suit your career or interests? Maybe you just need a change of scenery?
How not to worry about grades at school and university
To learn not to worry about grades at school and university, you need to imagine yourself in the future. Can you think of at least one situation when grades will be useful to you after graduation?
- If a student graduates and enters university, he needs a high score on the Unified State Exam. In this case, the average score of the certificate is taken into account only in case of competition with another applicant with the same Unified State Exam score. Such cases are rare and it is impossible to guess what the average certificate score of another applicant will be. What documents are needed for admission are described in another article
- An applicant is not always given additional points upon admission for a gold medal. For excellent studies, you can get a maximum of 5 to 10 points, and then only in some universities in Russia
- A student needs to complete the session with excellent marks only in order to receive an increased scholarship - 2000 rubles per month during the session. However, only students on a budgetary basis can receive it. A student can earn the same 2,000 rubles in one shift in a cafe, working as a waiter, or working part-time in a store. It is unrealistic to live on 2 thousand rubles a month, so this money does not play a special role
- A university graduate who scores 75% of A's and no more than 25% of B's in all years of study will be given a diploma with honors. However, it is still difficult to get a job with him. After all, the employer is more concerned about work experience and skills. A diploma with honors immediately indicates that the applicant can only study, but not work with his hands. Where to get work experience, read another article
Thus, once you answer yourself that grades in the future will not affect your admission to university, employment, or overall happiness in life, you can find peace. Therefore, quickly come to the conclusion that you should not worry about grades. Start explaining your thoughts to your parents, and you will finally be convinced that you are right.
Stress before an exam: the nature of anxiety
You need to know the enemy by sight. So before we tell you how to cope with exam anxiety, let's understand what underlies anxiety.
Anxiety is internal tension that can arise in situations of uncertainty. A person does not know what to expect from the future, and therefore often assumes the worst, thinks about negative consequences and imagines possible troubles.
Nature originally invented anxiety as a defense mechanism. People who were worried and expected trouble were more attentive and reacted faster if danger actually struck. But careless optimists more often became someone’s lunch. So panicking and worrying is quite a useful ability that helped our ancestors survive.
However, in our relatively calm times, increased anxiety is more often a hindrance than a benefit. That’s why it’s so important to learn to calm your nerves, relax well and learn to trust the world.
Anxiety always manifests itself in the body: the heart beats faster, breathing becomes irregular, and the pupils dilate. If this is a short-term reaction, it helps to mobilize strength. And if stress lasts for a long time, problems with sleep and appetite may begin.
What grades give in life at school and at university
However, assessments should still be useful for something. After all, grades do not always play only a negative role for a student.
- Grades increase self-esteem. Those who have always received and are receiving excellent results always have something to be proud of. In any dispute, they can say that they were excellent students and received a gold medal and a red diploma. However, whether this makes them smart is another question.
- Grades make parents proud. However, you can be proud of your child just like that, for any of his even the smallest achievements. Even for not being discouraged because of the three
- Grades give you a scholarship if you meet the budget and study constantly
- Grades give several additional points upon admission, if this is available in the conditions of the admission company
Thus, assessments can be useful in life. Decide for yourself whether such values are worth worrying about grades.
Take a deep breath
While preparing for tests, take time to practice relaxation techniques. For example, breathing exercises help enrich the brain with oxygen and improve blood circulation, which in turn mobilizes the body’s strength. So, to relieve tension, sit on a chair, relax and close your eyes. Inhale slowly (counting to ten), hold your breath (counting to three), and exhale slowly (counting to eight). Repeat the method 4-5 times, it will take a few minutes, and you will notice the effect immediately.
How to always get excellent marks on your coursework and diploma
To always get excellent grades on your coursework and even your thesis, you need to bring a highly original text to your supervisor.
To do this, you need to write absolutely the entire work yourself, paraphrase other people’s words, etc. Or improve the originality of the text yourself.
Or increase your uniqueness on Killer-antiplagiat.ru in 1 minute. The text will not change in any way; we will help you recode the internal part of the document to hide all borrowings. This will help you pass the plagiarism check the first time. At the same time, we will help you bypass any anti-plagiarism.
This way, you don't have to worry about the grade because you will definitely get an excellent grade. You can check how automatic uniqueness enhancement works for free.
Our service works around the clock, so you can always use it.
Roots of the phenomenon
Fear of evaluation in psychology (FR) is a manifestation of the instinct of self-preservation in response to the regulation of our behavior by the society where we live. CO also has a positive function, for example, it prevents a person from committing crimes, because a person knows that society will react negatively to his action and he will be punished.
But there is a dark side to this phenomenon: blocking creativity, when you have the illusory security that no one will see your “terrible” work. And it seems to you that you are committing an aesthetic crime by showing the world your pictures with a “pretense of originality.”
What gastrointestinal diseases can school provoke?
A common problem among schoolchildren (especially in the lower grades) is constipation. Often children are embarrassed to ask to go to the toilet at the right time and endure it until the end of the lesson. The tactic of “abstinence” is very harmful: toxins that do not leave the body in time are absorbed into the blood, affect the functioning of the nervous system, and reduce gastric motility. Another manifestation of this syndrome is stool with a frequency of up to 20 times a day. The child’s stomach becomes most vulnerable to stress in the period from 5 to 6 years (at this time the glands that produce stomach acids are formed) and at the age of 12-14 years (hormonal changes begin in the body).
What foods should be included in the menu during exams?
Twelve pieces of dried apples restore the energy potential of the brain. Vegetable oils in salads and stews strengthen memory and relieve fatigue. Foods rich in potassium - raisins, dried apricots, potatoes - improve the contraction of the heart muscle, which means they enrich the brain with oxygen and promote the perception of information. It is advisable to always have dried fruits on hand - figs, apricots, dates. You can cook an “exam compote” from them: 2-3 fresh apples (necessarily with black grains - they contain a lot of copper, iodine and zinc) and a handful of dry ones, 3-5 dried pears, 7 plums, 2 handfuls of raisins are dropped into a liter of boiling water. , dates, apricots, dried apricots. This vitamin drink not only supports mental work, but also normalizes stool.
Characteristic signs
Feelings of anxiety may occur when doing homework
- The teacher begins to complain that the child is inattentive in class.
- The son or daughter loses the desire to attend school.
- The child has problems completing homework and is constantly distracted.
- The kid tries too hard while at home to get an excellent result. Rewrites tasks several times. While doing his homework, he becomes very anxious.
- The child has become overly shy.
- The baby has trouble falling asleep and is troubled by nightmares.
- The child's sweating increases, digestion problems appear, cold hands are often observed, appetite may disappear, and headaches for no reason.
- The student develops certain fears, his parents begin to notice that he is often upset, has become restless, and often cries.
- Self-doubt has appeared, and it is difficult for the child to take on a new task.
- The student shows irritability and aggression for no reason.
Diagnostics
The teacher must observe the student, pay attention to his condition during lessons and recess.
An experienced teacher, when getting to know the class, will immediately identify children with emotional distress. But final conclusions must be made after certain observations of a particular child. Moreover, it is necessary to observe him, both during lessons and during recess, at different times, on different days of the week.
In order to correctly diagnose the presence of anxiety, you need to pay attention to the presence of the following signs:
- difficulty concentrating;
- anxiety;
- muscle tension manifested in the face and neck;
- irritability.
Anxiety within school walls can be determined using the Lavrentyev and Titarenko questionnaire. Using the scale that was developed by Kondash, it is possible to find out about school anxiety in adolescents from grades 8 to 11. This method also allows you to determine the root causes of the situation.
When do critical stages occur in a student’s life?
The first is at the age of 6-7 years, coinciding with the beginning of school, adaptation to new conditions, and a change of friends. The second is at the age of 9-10: the transition from primary to secondary school, when you have to part with your first teacher and meet many new teachers. To mitigate the stress, it is important to introduce children to future mentors in advance. It is advisable that psychologists participate in the selection of a new class teacher. The best option is when the temperaments and worldviews of the new class mother and the first teacher coincide. The third, longest and most difficult stage is adolescence.
