Wk 2 - Reading Entry
Giving the A
Start from a place of believing that all are working to do their best. This certainly makes a difference when working with students! It also reminds me of month 2 with Beth when she gave us our first "No Risk" assignments. I worked so hard on those assignments despite the fact that as long as I completed the work, I would receive an A. I have to say they are still products of which I am truly proud and I completed them at the beginning of the program when I was completely new to tools like iMovie and GarageBand.
I work so hard with my AP students to get them to see that the grade does not define them as a person. I would love to not have to give grades, but the fact remains that I have to use some sort of widely accepted scale to rate my students. I do tell them that whether they spend 5 minutes or 5 hours on an answer and it is wrong...it is wrong. (You are correct if you imagine that they do not like this information.) I take comfort in knowing that I really want the doctors that take care of my daughters to have been top in their class and to have scored high on every medical school exam. (I don't actually know if this is true, but I am pretty certain that our pediatrician was top in her class since she is a rockstar!) It would not be the same if she received an A just because. I unfortunately found myself putting less stock in the authors' arguments because one of them was teaching music. I wholeheartedly apologize to my musician friends!
Yet, imagine if you could really embrace this at your school. Imagine that student who saunters into class unprepared, never turns work in on time and then days before the final exam asks for extra credit to raise their grade. Or imagine giving an A to that colleague who walks in just in time in the morning, complains about everything and yet will provide no solutions, and is mysteriously sick for important require meetings. For some reason I am more able to cut my kids slack than adults. I guess I expect some degree of immaturity from teenagers, but won't take it from the adults. This "giving the A" sure sounds like a challenge.
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Start from a place of believing that all are working to do their best. This certainly makes a difference when working with students! It also reminds me of month 2 with Beth when she gave us our first "No Risk" assignments. I worked so hard on those assignments despite the fact that as long as I completed the work, I would receive an A. I have to say they are still products of which I am truly proud and I completed them at the beginning of the program when I was completely new to tools like iMovie and GarageBand.
I work so hard with my AP students to get them to see that the grade does not define them as a person. I would love to not have to give grades, but the fact remains that I have to use some sort of widely accepted scale to rate my students. I do tell them that whether they spend 5 minutes or 5 hours on an answer and it is wrong...it is wrong. (You are correct if you imagine that they do not like this information.) I take comfort in knowing that I really want the doctors that take care of my daughters to have been top in their class and to have scored high on every medical school exam. (I don't actually know if this is true, but I am pretty certain that our pediatrician was top in her class since she is a rockstar!) It would not be the same if she received an A just because. I unfortunately found myself putting less stock in the authors' arguments because one of them was teaching music. I wholeheartedly apologize to my musician friends!
Yet, imagine if you could really embrace this at your school. Imagine that student who saunters into class unprepared, never turns work in on time and then days before the final exam asks for extra credit to raise their grade. Or imagine giving an A to that colleague who walks in just in time in the morning, complains about everything and yet will provide no solutions, and is mysteriously sick for important require meetings. For some reason I am more able to cut my kids slack than adults. I guess I expect some degree of immaturity from teenagers, but won't take it from the adults. This "giving the A" sure sounds like a challenge.
Melinda said...
Hi
Rebecca, your first sentence when you comment...begin by believing that
they are doing their best..I completely agree. As teachers one of the
most important things we can do to influence our students is being
positive. Everyday as I arrive at school I try to take a moment and put
myself in a place to be open and positive to what will unfold. I am not a
cosmic Maui type of person, however I know preparing my lessons,and my
spirit sets the stage for a great day in the classroom. The give them an
"A" idea is hard to understand, especially when we all know how much
time and hard work it takes to work towards getting an "A". One more
comment..it is so interesting that the assignments we have that are "No
Risk" were new to me the assignments that I worked as hard as ever to do
it well.
http://engageandmotivate.blogspot.com/
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