Are You a Good student or not？

Whenever it comes to a good student， the image of a person who is excellent in the study with a high IQ scores emerges in most people’s mind. As the antonym of “good” is “bad”， people naturally take it for granted that the opposite of a good student is a bad student. But does the student who fail his scores deserve to be classified as the bad student？ Or is the academic score the only way to judge a student’s quality？

In my opinion， there are no bad students at all， but only good students or not. I totally agree with Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence. He broadened the concept of intelligence， defining it as “the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural settings”（Gardner， 1989， p.5）. A “genius” may be “stumped trying to unpack and plug in a toaster oven”， while a “mediocrity” may go on “to fame and riches”（Sadker， M.D.& Sadker， M.P.， 2003）. The children’s capacities or talents vary from person to person， so we should not put such a heavy emphasis on language and mathematical-logical skills only， which is only a small part of one’s intelligence. Considering the students’ different intelligence， the score has not been the only standard for a good student. There are more important qualifications one should own to be a good student.

First， a good student should always be aware of his or her own advantages. Owing to the fact that different people have different intelligence， a person has to find out his or her own advantages and make good use of it. For example， if you find yourself better at expressing your ideas through writing， you should consciously improve your writing skills and make it as your great advantage. Never consider your writing is good enough and it’s a waste of time paying much effort on it.

Second， raising questions should also be taken into consideration. Living in a age where test scores and admission rate become the only goal of most schools， the students are trained to be learning machines. What they experience， concern， need， want， fear， like or dislike—all is not of the slightest importance and counts for nothing. What counts here， and the only thing that counts， is what the teachers want them do， think and be. Gradually， the students learn not to ask questions and just follow the teacher’s orders. Because the teachers are not there to satisfy their curiosity， instead， they are stuffing a lot of boring formulas and expressions into our mind. This kind of education is totally a failure as it smooths every student’s edges and makes them the same model. So some changes are badly in need to make. As wisdom can only be sublimated in the clash of ideas， good students are required to raise their questions and communicate their own thoughts while studying. Only through this way can they make bigger progress.

Third， for a good student， the process is more important than the result. As I had mentioned above， the score is not the only way to judge a student’s work. More focus has to be paid on the process， for this is more a complete and real reflection of one’s abilities. On the one hand， from the process we can see whether the student is a hard worker. Here， a hard worker is not only a hard-working person， but “one who gets right to work on a task， works efficiently， and completes the task in a way that meets reasonably high standards of quality...”（Gary Althen， 2003） Obviously， it is not enough to be just diligent. A good student should also finish the work effectively and efficiently. On the other hand， it would reflect one’s habits. Our headmaster of senior high school always told us that a person’s success largely depends on his habits. Since she believed that how a person behave in the daily life would have a big influence on the study.

Apart from these three points， there are still some basic qualifications a good student should own， like a specific goal， a detailed plan and a strong heart. As far as I am concerned， except for the born genius and those with mental deficiency， all students share the same chance for success. But before that， try to be a good student first！

References：

[1]Howard Gardner. To Open Minds： Chinese Clues to the Dilemma of American Education[J]. New York： Basic Books，1989.

[2]Sadker， M.D.， Sadker， M. P. Teachers， schools and society[J]. New York： McGraw Hill， 6th ed，2003.

[3]Gary Althen. American ways： a guide for foreigners in the United States[M]. Yarmouth， Me： Intercultural Press，2003.

【作者簡介】吳夢（1993.05.02-），女，湖北襄陽人，武漢市第三十六中學，本科，中二，研究方向：翻譯和教育學。