As the third quarter has come to an end and teachers have finalized their grades, which means we have moved on to the final quarter of the school year. With the challenges of the third quarter behind us, we look to the fourth quarter as a new beginning for students and teachers. Both are excited since, after all, the weather is getting warmer, summer is moving closer, and the school year is starting to come to an end.
As the third quarter came to an end there was a mixture of excitement and nervousness among students and teachers. The excitement that they are feeling comes from summer approaching, and the nervousness they felt came from the new quarter starting and all of the work that needs to get done. Students have to work twice as hard to stay focused and be on track in the fourth quarter. Due to the fourth quarter being the last quarter before the year, and their summer break begins. Students have to stay focused although it can be very stressful because of class, homework assignments, assessments, and testing are all coming our way.
Peo Motswiri, a freshman at Paint Branch, states that during the third quarter “it felt very stressful, because there was a MISA test and there were a lot of quizzes” she had to take. Even though she had been studying to make sure she passed the quizzes she still felt hesitant on taking them. Peo had also been “studying a lot to maintain straight A’s.” Now that the fourth quarter has started Peo feels “relieved that the fourth quarter has started,” since last quarter she was working hard to maintain her good grade. Peo states that she feels “more prepared for final tests” and she is ready to show her best work in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Daniel Arguate Amaya gives us a similar perspective about how he feels since the third quarter has ended. Daniel states that since the third quarter has ended he feels “relieved that the third quarter has ended” because he also had tests to do. Now that the fourth quarter has started Daniel feels “stressed about the fourth quarter starting,” since the year is coming to an end. Daniel is scared for the year to end since next year he has to be a junior, and he doesn’t want to take the SAT.
Now that we’ve gotten to hear about the students’ perspectives, it’s time to find out how teachers feel. Were teachers as stressed as students at the end of the quarter? Are they relieved or excited about the end of the year approaching
Ms. Armstrong, a P.E. teacher at PB, states that “the end of third quarter felt bittersweet!” due to the warm weather starting to come back. She also points out that “the year has gone by so fast” which may, in part, be because she feels like this has been her favorite year teaching. Ms. Armstrong says that it feels “refreshing to start a new quarter.” As the weather starts to get nicer, she notes that everything kind of feels improved and her “mood gets uplifted.”
PB English teacher Ms. Muñoz says that “the end of the third quarter felt glorious.” Ms. Muñoz is ready to move on to the fourth quarter so that she can see her students thrive and grow. With the beginning of fourth quarter started she says that she is rooting for her students, who she hopes are successful, and that she wishes for them to have “determination and focus this quarter so they can get all their assignments done.”
Students and teachers had varying feelings about the third quarter ending, but both feel the same about the fourth quarter beginning as it brings with it an end to the year just around the corner.
