Twitter Book Club: @alfiekohn (2004) What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? - Three:9

Three: Grading and Evaluating

9. From Degrading to De-Grading

"You can tell a lot about a teacher's values and personality just by asking how he or she feels about giving grades." Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"A B in English says nothing about what a student can do, what she understands, where she needs help. Moreover, the... http://tl.gd/9pcje1less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"Grades waste a lot of time that could be spent on learning, Add up all the hours that teachers spend fussing with ... http://tl.gd/9pcmivless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"Grades waste a lot of time that could be spent on learning, Add up all the hours that teachers spend fussing with their grade books. Then factor in the (mostly unpleasant) conversations they have with students and their parents about grades. It's tempting to just roll our eyes when confronted with whining or wheedling but the real problem rests with the practice of grading itself." Kohn

Teachers always seem to get defensive whenever I ask them about whether their grading time is wasted time. Two years ago I taught a Media Arts class at a fairly conservative and traditional high school. First day of class I asked the students to give themselves a grade for the course and write me a two paragraph essay describing what they did to deserve this grade. This, I told them would remain as their course grade as long as they lived up to what they said they would do in their essays. This really pissed off some of the teachers at this school. They said it went against the grading policy. They said it devalued grades they gave in their courses. They said I was being negligent in doing this. Funny thing was, each of those kids lived up to the high expectations they set for themselves, I did not waste my time on trivial matters of subjective grading, and I focused all my energy on learning. It was great. Besides, this was an elective class studying film, television, video games, and other media, subjects students were already interested in. I wasn't about to sully their interest in these topics by introducing an arbitrary rewards and punishment system where it really did not belong in the first place.


All this makes me wonder if people seeing teachers protests like this "grade-in" should come away with the impression the teachers want them to. The stated purpose of these "grade-ins" is to bring awareness of how much work teachers do. It is all in response to the recent demonetization of the profession. But, maybe the appropriate impression people should come away with is, "Boy, these teachers sure have to waste a lot of time and effort on something that is ultimately meaningless," or "If these teachers devoted as much time to learning as they do on grades maybe our kids would learn more at school. After-all, when was the last time your grades in school got you anywhere? When was the last time they opened any real doors for you?

"Wise educators realize that it doesn't matter how motivated students are; what matters is how they are motivated." Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"we need to engage them in a discussion about whether this is a legitimate goal, and whether school exists for the ... http://tl.gd/9pd17oless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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