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A Teacher's Journal 28: Grading Gone Bad?
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I read a poem in class with my students on Wednesday called "Whatifs" by Shel Silverstein. The narrator of the poem is a young boy who struggles to sleep because a collection of "what if" worries dance inside his head each night. Silverstein manages to highlight a nearly complete collection of typical teenage fears in just over twenty lines.
When we were finished reading I asked what I thought would be a quickly answered question, "So can anyone relate to this poem? Do you have 'what if' worries in your life?" I figured we would briefly discuss how poets tried to convey emotions that readers could relate to and then move on to a test I was planning to give. My classroom instantly exploded into animated conversation, though! "That's me ALL THE TIME," said one boy. Every child seemed to have something strong to share.
Now, I've been around awhile and one thing that I've learned is that anytime you find a topic that is incredibly motivational to eleven and twelve year olds, you run with it regardless of what you were planning to do next! I asked my students to share their biggest 'what if' worries, figuring that we could write a poem of our own modeled on Silverstein's work.
The list my students created seemed pretty typical for middle school kids:
- What if I don't get my homework done?
- What if I don't give the right answer in class?
- What if I don't make an A on my next test?
- What if I don't pass the EOGs?
- What if I don't do my project the right way?
But the pressure and the tension that they expressed were very real and very powerful -- and that worried me. I've always worked hard to make my classroom a safe and inviting place where risk taking is valued above simply completing tasks and where "Always Wonder" is a slogan to live by. I try to teach my students that school isn't just about giving teachers the answer they are looking for, making As and moving on -- it's about discovering, questioning, refining and revising thoughts and ideas.
I scratched my head a bit on my way home questioning if “doing school” meant something different than I thought it did. Surfing the net after dinner, I read an article about class rankings in high schools that got me wondering even more. In it, students shared stories of giving up lunch in favor of taking more advanced placement courses to raise their GPAs and class rankings. At one area high school, a 3.6 GPA (which is better than I ever made at West Seneca West Senior High) earns you a spot in the bottom half of the class and at another, straight As doesn’t even place you in the top 250 graduating seniors. With class rankings being used as a factor in college admissions, the consequences of classroom performance are clear.
Perhaps less clear, however, are the consequences that these somewhat incredible levels of academic expectation are having on children. I know that the most driven students in my classrooms have always been less interested in discovering something new than in discovering what they thought I wanted to hear. To them, original thinking is often less important than "getting the right answer." At times, this intense drive is obviously a good trait in children -- it allows them to focus on the key elements of my instruction, learn that material thoroughly, and complete related assignments accurately.
But sometimes these same students seem to be academically handcuffed by the pressure that they operate under. They seem to lack the intellectual curiosity and willingness to risk that leads to creativity and inspiration. They are "high performers" in the numerical sense, but will that make them successful?
How is it that we -- as parents, teachers and community leaders -- define success? Is it a GPA above 5.0? Making a 1400 on the SAT? Straight As? A class rank in the top 50? Top 15?
Is it making the honor roll? Joining the honor society? Graduating with honors?
What if these traditional measures of success are failing our students? What if we are unintentionally creating a generation of children who value grades, but not learning? What if the students who graduate know information, but can't create it? What if we're preparing students to succeed in school, but not in life?
Now it seems like I've got my own set of worries!
Posted by William Ferriter at 1:26 PM on December 12, 2005 | Leave Feedback
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