Controversy About Grades

“I went on the field trip, and Mrs. Lipton and Mrs. Hernandez were very firm about the 7 p.m. departure time” Sophomore, April Botello

“ I don’t want to hear one more word from you, now go back to class.” the principal stated sternly as she assured me out the door. I went back to class and finished the rest of the school day. When I arrived home my mom sent me to my room until my dad came home to talk with me and discuss my punishment. After my dad’s lecture

The next day, as promised, she handed out a short pop quiz. It was not as challenging as she tried to make it sound. It presented only five multiple choice questions on it. Once we finished our quizzes, she told us to read the next chapter silently. Once I finished my quiz at the speed of light, I decided to finish other homework, since I preferred to read at home anyway. So while the rest of my class was reading, I worked on homework. Thirty minutes later, I completely finished all of my other assignments, so I decided to start reading the chapter. After nearly two paragraphs in, my teacher interrupted the class to see if everyone finished reading the chapter. Unknown to me, the chapter was fairly short and everyone, but me, finished it. Raising my hand slowly, I told her that I had not finished reading. Everyone in my class turned around and stared at me. The teacher asked me how far I was in the chapter and how much time I needed to

When people are fearful of what they did, they may lie, because they know they did something wrong, or they are worried that they might have done something wrong. If you would tell the truth, you will feel so much better that you have told the truth, the truth will also get you out of more trouble.

Sometime during my 6th-grade year, parent-teacher conferences were arriving. I was used to them at this point. I was expecting my mom to come home from the conference and give me the same report from my teachers as usual — that I worked hard, received good grades, and was a well-behaved student. However, this time, I heard entirely different feedback. When my mom walked into the kitchen that evening, where I was doing homework, she gave me a funny look. She was grinning, but still looked puzzled.

It was the epitome of a catastrophic injury. After arriving at the hospital my ankle was reset and I was discharged later that day with corrective surgery a few days later. The surgery went off without a hitch, but I wouldn’t be able to run, jump, or even walk on my own for the next three months. Despite this colossal setback, I crutched back to school the following week. On my third or so day back, I was called down to the principal's office, because I had missed several days of school in a row (I wonder why?). Regardless, after I showed up hobbling into his office, the reason for my absences became clear. Then he wanted to go over my grades, to make sure that I wouldn’t fall too far behind. When he pulled them up, he was surprised to see that I was still getting top marks, and did not have a single missing assignment. This was not by error, because, even in my drug induced half conscious state, I had diligently e-mailed my teachers and completed all of the school work that I had missed, never missing a step

"That's different. You're just a student. You're not going to get into trouble for asking a teacher about a bad grade.You know what, I'm going to prove it. You're going to talk to your English teacher yourself. When you get home, you're going to tell me what she said. Who's your English teacher, anyway?"

The bell had just rang, school was out. “Olivia, Mrs. Larsson calls.” Olivia is in 6th grade. Her teacher Mrs. Larsson talks to her every day after school telling her the same thing over and over. “You been misbehaving at lunch today”! But this time it was different. “Olivia it's your turn to stay after school and clean the room”. Olivia hated cleaning the room after school, she always ended up staying too late. “ Now run along and tell your mother, I don’t want her to worry like she did last time!” “Ok Mrs. Larsson.” I reply, I run to call my mom but she didn't answer, and my dad was at work so I couldn't call him. “Yup my mom knows.” I say, but she really didn't. “Ok then, well I am going to go home so behave yourself!” Mrs. Larsson says

“Yo, dude, did you get your essay back from Mrs. Atchison? She gave me an F on it! For all I know she’s failing me.” Tyler complained, a mouth full of tater tots.

Growing up, both of my parents were always working, that left me at home without adult supervision. It was great doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, which was mostly hanging out and playing with my friends. School was always an after thought and when it was time for me to turn in assignments or take a test I performed miserably, but I was quick in coming up with excuses. Worst part was that I believed them. This trend followed me through high school and into college. My excuses finally caught up with me when I got dismissed from Long Beach City College for having poor grades.

Perfectionism. At 14 years old, I didn't know the exact meaning of it, but I assumed it meant wanting to be perfect. I don't know, I had a very limited vocabulary at that time. The time of starting high school. A completely different world from middle school. I mean, assignments are harder and turning them in on due dates is a very important thing! The stakes were definitely raised and I was no longer going to be babied around. I'll be honest with you, my teachers from before would let me get away with turning in assignments later than the due date. Yeah, middle school was totally a breeze. For that, I was thankful but it actually only brought me to my doom in high school.

The class reflection/review discussion this week is regarding what benefits might letter grades offer over pass/fail grading systems? A grading system performs many functions and has many purposes for instance it supplies information regarding a student’s academic progress, reports which contain a student’s overall progress can provide motivation for students, and they can also be used as a guidance tool to evaluate weakness and strengths regarding a student’s performance.

One time in middle school, I was struggling badly with following through on my commitments. I did not have the initiative or desire to start something and complete it, especially if it was something I did not particularly enjoy. During this time, I was participating on the school cross country team, and I was not good at it. As a result, it was very difficult for me to finish out the season with a positive attitude. It actually got to the point where I decided to take control of the situation and get "sick" suddenly. Through a long process of lying and deceiving the school nurse and my parents, I was able to avoid cross country practice for two days. On the third day, however, I was caught up in my lies and punished by my parents.

Teachers have always used grades to measure the amount a student has learned. This practice is becoming ineffective. Many students have a wide range of grades, which show that grades may not show what a student really knows. Therefore, the standard grading system should be replaced. Some reasons why grades should be replaced are bad grades can hinder a child’s performance, grades define who a student is in the classroom, and grades are not an effective way to see if students have learned the material. The current grading system should be upgraded and every school should incorporate the plus/minus system in their method of grading.

Subsequently, my mother saw my pain and decided to relocate back to Atlanta. I became acquainted with some children from the wrong side of the tracks and my life began to spiral out of control. I would stay out late on school nights and often missed school because I thought hanging out with my new found family was more important. Soon my grades began to plummet. I saw no way to bring up my grades and decided to drop out of high school in the twelfth grade.