Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Grade Game
In this article a teacher decides on not giving grades to his students in hopes that they will learn to appreciate the material. He instead used colorful picture stamps and comments in place of the grades. I feel the same way this teacher does in that a grade does not really give a student the motivation or feedback they are usually looking for. An animal stamp in different colors is something to make the student smile. Its letting them know that their work was appreciated not only for its grade value. I also think that the amount of comments this particular teacher wrote on each paper would come in handy for assignments to come. It would let the student know what the teacher liked/ disliked and what ideas it brought to the teacher. I also understand that some students really need to see a letter grade on their work to which I feel that this teacher also covered. Although I do not feel that a student should pick their own grade I do feel that meeting with the students to go over their work was a good idea. By meeting with each student individually you are able to go over their work explaining to them why they received a certain grade. It is a good chance to really get to know your students and for them to get to know you.
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I found this article to be very insightful. As a college student I am just entering the world of teaching and I think that it is interesting and important to hear different teaching/grading methods and styles. I feel that this teacher brings up a good point, that oftentimes students are only concerned about their grade. To think that a student could improve on their work if only they desired to make the needed changes and put in the effort is a wonderful thought, however once a student visually sees a letter or number grade on their paper it either makes or breaks the student. The Grade game does present the interesting issues of allowing students to improve on their work and realize that a "grade" isnt the most important part of recieving an education, but what you obtain as a whole. Nevertheless, I agree with Jessica that it seems a little shady to allow the students to pick their own grades. I think that having student/teacher meetings are great to allow the student to know where they stand throughout the course, but I also feel that in order for the grade game to be a total success the teacher still needs to establish some sort of grading system.
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