What differentiates A students from C students?

I’ve been contemplating something recently.  I’ve thought about it before but I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit lately.  How does a student become an A student?  Is it simply spending the time to do the homework required?  Does it go above and beyond that?  Do some brains just not function the same way and so they are not capable of achieving higher grades?  If grades are lower does it come from lack of motivation or laziness, does it come from lack of teaching, or does it just not click?

Now obviously, I’m not including kids with learning disabilities.  I realize there are some things that can go on in our brains that really do prevent some of us from being able to learn and comprehend at the same level as others.  And I’m also not saying every student needs to make all As – I realize that all kids are different and some will excel in some things and maybe not in other things.  I guess what I’m curious about is whether, with the proper effort, it is possible for any kid (without a disability) to earn an A in any given class.  I know it’s not necessarily probable but is it possible?

I realize that these questions aren’t necessarily something that can be answered with just a simple answer.  And I realize that everyone probably has a different opinion on this.  The reason I’ve been thinking about it is because of some things I’ve discovered over the last couple of years as I’ve taught a couple of classes to kids other than my own.  Plus, as I mentioned a few days ago, I’m homeschooling another student other than my own kids and it’s been quite a bit different.

Since I am a homeschooler I have obviously only taught my kids and had experience with how my kids learn for the last ten years.  As I said though, I’ve been teaching others for the last couple of years, as well as the student I added at home, and I’ve found that there is a lot of information that I’m teaching that some kids just don’t seem to get and I’m trying to figure out why.  I have several ideas – all of which could be wrong – but I know that even if I was right with one it may not apply to all of the kids equally.  Actually, I’m sure it won’t!

One idea is that the kids are not receiving the same level of education from their own parents (or school) that I am used to using with my kids.  I hope this doesn’t come across the wrong way but I know that I teach at a very high standard and I expect a lot out of my kids.  Though I didn’t realize that until I became a part of this group and began teaching others.  I honestly thought that most kids, especially since they were homeschoolers, would be at the same level as my kids.  I have found that this is not the case at all.  It just doesn’t seem like a lot of people place the same importance on education that I do.  And I really don’t feel like I’m over-the-top!  I’ve known some people that were over-the-top and I am so not there!  haha!  But there are kids that have come to my class (high school mind you) that do not know simple grammar rules.  That is just unfathomable to me!  I have actually had quite a few moms tell me that they haven’t really done a true grammar curriculum so they are “kind of” behind.  WHAT!?   Maybe I’m just crazy but to me that’s the most important subject.  We, as a society, use that in everything that we do.  Just in the most basic thing we do each day in speaking to one another we use grammar!  (And if you’ve heard many people speak lately you know that this is definitely a subject that’s been skipped a lot!)

Another idea is that too many kids do not have a love for learning.  They just don’t care so they just don’t try.  I really wonder how many kids fall into this category and, if they really wanted to, if they could be making really good grades with a little more effort.  To go along with this idea I think some kids try to finish their work just as quickly as possible so that they can move on to something else and by doing that they’ve lessened the quality of their work quite a bit.  They need to realize it’s not a race.  I know that kids have many things they’d probably rather be doing than sitting with school books and studying, but if they truly enjoyed learning would it be a little different?  If it were presented in a better way would it be different?  I know for us, a change in curriculum when we were struggling with something has made huge differences.

Of course the other idea is that it just doesn’t click with some kids.  No matter how many times you explain something their brain just cannot wrap itself around the concept.  If this is truly the case and it’s none of the above then it is completely understandable that we have such a wide span of grades within any group of kids.

Here is an example of what I’m talking about:  I gave a test in my class this week and out of all the students, only a few got an A, there were a few Bs, a couple of Ds and one that completely failed it.  I worked hard to review the material with them, I suggested items for studying, and everything that was on the test was something we had gone over in class.  But there were still that many that did that poorly.  I just don’t get it!

Maybe I’m too used to my kids and I’m expecting too much???  Again, I hope this doesn’t come across the wrong way at all but my kids have proven themselves to be above average in the last two years.  We participated in the standardized testing program a couple of years ago for the first time and my son scored in the 96 percentile and my daughter scored in the 97 percentile for the national results.  My daughter took the ACT for the first time last month as a junior and got a 29 – and she didn’t even finish it because she ran out of time.  So I have learned that my kids are strong academic students but is that because of the effort that we have put into it or is because they just have the kind of brain that really absorbs information?

I would love to hear anyone else’s thoughts and opinions on this matter.  Let me know how your kids fare in school.  Is it a struggle or is it easy?  Do you see a big difference between your children and their peers?  Any other teachers struggle with the level of learning in their classes?