Tests

A student walked up to me during the break this afternoon.   Appearing a little sad, she told me that she got only an 87 on this morning's review quiz.  Eighty-seven!  It was quite good for many students! 

I told her that quizzes were meant to find where we had problems.   In fact, I seldom felt bad about my grades on tests when I was a student.  When I did some practice English test in the third year of high school on my own, I even got a forty. However, I got over 60 when I did it the second time and then 80 when I did it the third time.  I enjoyed the feeling of learning more and performing better on the same test.  

I remember Mr. Cheng She-yen once told us his story. One day his son, then a high school student, came home and told him he got only 70 on a physics tests. Mr. Cheng told him, "Well, if you redo the test and get all the items right, I'll think you get a 100." I like his mindset.