23 February, 2015
Your teen has brought home a poor grade. "You could do better," you say. But he has probably heard something else. Students often hear "you could do better" as "you're not good enough" or even as "I can't make my Mom and Dad happy."
That doesn't mean you have to praise him for a bad grade. But here's an approach that may get the result you're looking for.
Start by finding something positive to say. Then ask whether he is satisfied with the paper, test or project. Does he think the grade he earned reflects the effort he put in? What might he do differently another time?
At the end of the conversation, he will have a better idea of how to improve. And it's just possible that he'll say, "I could do better."
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Hopkinton Middle School
