Grades.
The most crippling word to hear as a student. Whether it be for self-fulfillment, parental reward, or eligibility, grades shape your life as a student. Grades defy your intelligence, your abilities, and your successes…or do they?
I have always struggled to appreciate the grading system. Part of this is there is no consistency. For example, I went to school in Gering, NE, our grading scale was A:100-94, B:93-87, C:86-80, D:79-74, F:74-0 but the school just across the river, Scottsbluff, practiced the grading scale of A:100-90, B:90-80, and so on. So this means that an “A” student at Scottsbluff could actually be a “B” student according to Gering’s grading system. Is that really fair to the student? What do you think I thought?
Exactly.
I wouldn’t say I am against grades, but I am definitely against categorizing students by grades. I don’t feel that a letter should define a student and their intelligence, ability, and skill. I also don’t feel that the letter justifies “learning.” As an “A” student in High School, I can hardly recall anything that I really “learned” based on the grade. The grade was my motivation, not learning.
I don’t know about you, but that is NOT what I want for my students. I don’t want them to feel the pressure of the grade or the disappointment of not receiving a grade they thought they deserved. I want my students to determine their achievement; I just don’t know how to do that, or if I can without “breaking” a school rule. But then again, what’s the harm in breaking the rules in a system that clearly didn’t work for me?
If the rest of the schooling system is in need of a change, I definitely believe the grading system is in need of some desperate housekeeping. Not only has the grading system labeled our students it has labeled our abilities as a teacher. If a student isn’t doing well in school, the teacher is the first to be blamed, especially by the parents.
This isn’t what teaching is about. Grades are not what “schooling” should be about. I fully believe in learning and teaching learning to be fun, to be a habit, and to be a life-long committment.
Here’s to change.
mariahbusch 
I completely agree with everything you’ve said about grades. Grades are meaningless! How can schools assign grades to students when there is no consistency in the grading system? I worry about grading when I become a teacher. I don’t want my students to work hard just to earn an A and not learn anything in the process, which is exactly what I did in school. I want my students to really learn and feel good about it, so I hope that the grading system gets a makeover very soon.
I agree with the inconsistency of grades. If we are going to base a student’s success on a grading scale, then that grading scale should be consistent throughout every school. That way, everyone is judged on the same scale if that is the way we want to judge a student’s success. Also, I like your picture about the different egos from 1969 to 2009. Teachers are definitely blamed more today than students. Loving the pictures you chose overall. 🙂
You’ve definitely raised solid points. What would you suggest to clean up the grading system? By the way, I loved Bluff’s grading 🙂
I am still jealous of the Scottsbluff grading system! Gering was a good challenge though.
I’ve always been a fan of the “contract” grading because it puts the responsibility and the grade in the hands of the student. However, I don’t know if this is acceptable in the Middle/High School setting. I also enjoy the “student declaration” for their grade (like we will have to do for Methods) but again, I’m not sure if this is “acceptable.”