I checked my summer grades online today and my world was crushed:
A- Sweet
A- Excellent
No grade posted yet- It's alright. I know I got an A
B+- What the hell?
My first non-A grade at the U of U. And it makes me so mad. I tried sooo hard in that class. It killed my 4.0. I am ready to go yell at my teacher, however nice I thought she was before my grade was posted.
The funny thing is, I think that grades have such a negative impact on learning. We teach kids that A's are important cause that means you're smart and you can get into a good college and then get a wonderful job that makes you lots of money and everyone will adore you. Or something close to that.
When we make grades the forefront, children don't learn as much as they can, because they're worried about getting the A, not necessarily learning the content. And because of such acts as NCLB (No Child Left Behind) we teach to the test. It's all about looking smart, it doesn't matter if you actually take anything away from the class; it only matters that you trick authorities into thinking you did.
And I think it's wrong.
And yet, here I am, angry over a B+ because it's a B+ and not an A.
5 comments:
A "B" isn't so bad (I used to get a lot worse in college). You have a totally different opinion about grades. I used to bemoan our school district because the "grades" were so subjective: working toward grade level, at grade level, above grade level and a few variations between. I felt it kept my kids (and their teachers) from really trying. If they were already above grade level, why push harder? It was interesting to see an alternate viewpoint.
Don't get me started on NCLB, although I think we might disagree with the (sundry) problems with that bill, too.
it is because of crazy things like NCLB that I think we should all ----------wait for it----------wait for it --------- just a little longer-------- I bet you know what I am going to say---------VOTE RON PAUL! Yah really I know that has nothing to do with the A vs B thing but I thought it would make you feel better if I said it so there you go!
I kept meaning to answer your question from my blog. I live in CT, about two hours (maybe 2 1/2) north of New York City.
Time to update your blog. I want to see NY. As a teacher, I hate grades because it just depends on your teacher. Some grade hard others grade easy. The parents never know exactly where there child is and how they are doing.
i agree. we used to talk about the concept in psychology. you take a child that likes to learn and you add a seperate reward (such as candy or grades) and they learn to do it for the new reward instead of the reward of learning. then when you remove the new reward later in life, or they see the new reward is stupid (like grades are) they don't care anymore and quit.
on a side note i tend to enjoy the classes that i get b's and c's in alot more than the ones i get a's if they challenge me more and i learn more from them. it is a flaw in my academic lifestyle. :P
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