tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post7193296852678282676..comments2024-03-24T09:36:51.494-04:00Comments on delagar: Grading Studentsdelagarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18197857250240640822noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-18401358185916088712007-09-21T17:10:00.000-04:002007-09-21T17:10:00.000-04:00Ask the question this way, anonymous: why is it ri...Ask the question this way, anonymous: why is it right for students to be graded? <BR/><BR/>Not evaluated: I think evaluating the students' work does help students: but why grade them? Who is helped by being put in the C box? Or the D box? Or even the A box?<BR/><BR/>The evaluation isn't the punishment: the defining of the student as a failure, without giving the student any way to do anything about that failure, is (a useless) punishment. And, I think, useless, pedagogically.delagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18197857250240640822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-53621638042289591262007-09-21T14:58:00.000-04:002007-09-21T14:58:00.000-04:00wait a second...we've all gotten grades before. a...wait a second...<BR/><BR/>we've all gotten grades before. anyone in the school system in the USA knows and has received grades. so pretty much everybody learns, as they grow up, about this thing called grading.<BR/><BR/>why then is it so shocking to be graded?<BR/><BR/>I do not believe grading is some nefarious evil inflicted upon the poor student populace as punishment. not everyone has the same capabilities, and to pretend they do does a disservice to everyone involved.<BR/><BR/>the problem, as I see it, is that some [many? all?] students see grades as a gift bestowed upon them for attempting an assignment. A very wise Muppet once said, "Do or do not...there is not try." The assumption is that all students do their best...and some will end up doing poorly. Why is it wrong for them to get a bad grade then? Some simply do nothing and still expect a good grade!<BR/><BR/>The model you all are proposing assumes that all students have the potential to do well...to gain expertise...and that they all want to work for excellence. I just don't think that model has ever existed except in some imagined Teacherworld where we all get energetic, involved, interested students.<BR/><BR/>I too hated giving grades, but I never, ever will understand why so many people think that an evaluation of work product is a punishment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-17713956349906725672007-09-21T13:42:00.000-04:002007-09-21T13:42:00.000-04:00I agree with you. If the goal is educating, then ...I agree with you. If the goal is educating, then we should educate. But the focus seems to be on grades, unfortunately. Everything has to be competitive and there ALWAYS has to be a #1.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-31055984849083381102007-09-21T10:43:00.000-04:002007-09-21T10:43:00.000-04:00I am struggling with this right now while teaching...I am struggling with this right now while teaching Developmental Writing. Some of the students respond well to comments, but others don't really care about anything but their grade. Despite the fact that they only really receive a grade of Pass, Fail, or Repeat at the end of the course. They all want that familiar scale of A through F.<BR/><BR/>I got a lot of questions like, "You said I did a good job. How come I got a B?" They no longer see a C as average but as a sign of utter failure.Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04740302690856028557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-75377105028505967412007-09-20T22:34:00.000-04:002007-09-20T22:34:00.000-04:00Grading (especially in writing classes) seems to p...Grading (especially in writing classes) seems to put our mentoring of students at odds with our evaluating their work.<BR/><BR/>I wish I had something useful to contribute to changing things.Bardiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-71148587863366066142007-09-20T20:51:00.000-04:002007-09-20T20:51:00.000-04:00I would have to do a lot of serious thinking befor...I would have to do a lot of serious thinking before I came up with an answer I could definitely stand by, but offhand--I'm in favor of grading (and I have taught at a univeristy).<BR/><BR/>What I'm not in favor of is the habit students have of sharing their grades with one another. I think that is horrible. But since there are practically no boundaries in this culture anymore, it is not surprising.<BR/><BR/>By the way, Victorian Lit was one of my favorite classes. I took it from a kind of fussy older man who used to make tea for me, and who gave me my very first amaryllis plant. I recall writing a paper (I may still have it) comparing rock lyrics of the 1970s with the poems of Arnold and Tennyson.Dianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07124489754017593105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-41649614469557933552007-09-20T17:23:00.000-04:002007-09-20T17:23:00.000-04:00When I grow up, I'll be like you....Recent experie...When I grow up, I'll be like you....<BR/><BR/>Recent experience with grades: <BR/><BR/>I have this class where I have to revise a paper and this teacher (quite fun; I like her alright) goes through the paper, marks it up with red ink (icky), and puts a grade at the bottom, so we have an idea of where we're at on the grade scale, I suppose....<BR/><BR/>And that grade at the bottom hasn't done anything for me, but cause anxiety. It's not teaching me anything, not like the comments.CBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03782575576596337344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-59622508861871740322007-09-20T13:06:00.000-04:002007-09-20T13:06:00.000-04:00I want to come and work with you. Period. I'll si...I want to come and work with you. Period. I'll sit under your desk.<BR/><BR/>I could not agree more. You just said everything I have felt about grades. I am a firm believer in constructive criticism, in allowing students to do it until it's right (otherwise, they turn in a paper, I give a C, then they move on...never learning HOW to do it!), and in encouraging them to find their voice within the constructs of acceptable grammar and structure. <BR/><BR/>I currently assign two short papers now before the term paper. (I teach art history). Students consistently thought that an argumentative paper was an ANGRY paper, not a paper that had an opinion. And then? I found they didn't trust their own opinion at all. Beaten out of them years ago.<BR/><BR/>So I do the two short papers as warm ups basically. To get that criticism in early, before the heavier term paper.<BR/><BR/>A side note: I did the do-over method at my university. I allowed students in a Humanities 101 to rewrite until they got an A or gave up. I ended up with a good, hardworking class that received about 3/4 A's at semester end.<BR/><BR/>And then I got in trouble for allowing so many A's.<BR/><BR/>Sigh.Sugared Harpyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11942635623063404442noreply@blogger.com