Oh the B....For some students this is the best, most exciting grade in the world. For others, it’s a devastating disaster that leaves them in tears.
Any teacher who’s been teaching for long has seen one of their motivated straight A students crying over a B. And if you happen to parent one of these kids, you’ve probably seen it quite often.
Yes, I admit it – I’ve cried over a B.
But looking back, I am incredibly thankful for that B. Even though it ruined my dream of a college 4.0, the lesson I learned from getting that B was worth way more than a perfect GPA.
So what lesson did I learn? The same one that your kid needs to learn if they’re in the crying-over-a-B-club: That their best is enough.
Their Best is Enough
When I got that B in creative writing, I knew that I had done literally everything that I could’ve. I had put in the time; I had made every effort; I had listened and learned. And I knew that I couldn’t have tried any harder than I did. So when I ended up with that B, I had to realize that there was nothing else I could’ve done. And thus I really shouldn’t have any regrets.
The concept of doing our best really comes from Scripture which tells us that we should do everything heartily as for the Lord (Col. 3:23). He asks that we do our very best – no more, no less.
We spend lots of time trying to get this concept across to our unmotivated students; maybe we should put a little more effort into reaching to our uber-motivated ones with the same message.
What’s The Real Goal?
When we try our very best and still fall short of our goal, we must take our eyes off of our own goal and remember the ultimate goal – pleasing Christ.
God is pleased when your student does his best. So if your student does his best and gets a B, God is very pleased with that B. And if God is pleased with the B, then we should be, too.
So the next time you see a student crying over a B, walk them through this thought process. Help them understand that their best is enough because that’s all God asks. Tell them you’re proud of them and encourage them to try their best again at the next activity. And remind them that no matter the results, God is always pleased with our best.
Now of course if they didn’t do their best, that’s a whole separate life lesson. But I think you know where to go with that one….
What do you say when you see one of your kids crying over a “poor” grade?
Photo by uıɐɾ ʞ ʇɐɯɐs