Thoughts on Grades

I'm taking a sociology class this semester. This is really not my game. Rarely do I come across an article or book that isn't far too scholarly or heavy for me to enjoy. It kills me how these people write. For example:

I would like to suggest to you that the competition for grades, which you have already experienced for 12 years and will experience for at least four more, is a very dehumanizing and damaging system that has its roots deep in the injustices of our society. - Bell, Inge, Bernard McGrane, John Gunderson. This Book is Not Required: An Emotional Survival Manual for Students. Pine Forge Press, 2004. Print

When first I read that, I nearly laughed out loud. I thought, "That seems awfully dramatic. It's just a letter. These people really take this too seriously!" But... do they?

They go on to explain their point of view:

Throughout our school years, society teaches us to believe that grades display our intelligence. Because of this our motivation, learning, and personal growth are placed second to attaining the ultimate goal - the grade. Society first teachs us about societal norms and codes, yet it is in the school system where we are ultimately taught to imitate. We are programmed to imitate what the teacher wants. If we don't, we get a bad grade. This idea of imitation is so strong because it is reinforced through schooling for a minimum of 12 years. Imitation is the main cause for our stifled and structured society. Imitation, competition, and fear of grades hinder our discovery. - Bell, Inge, Bernard McGrane, John Gunderson. This Book is Not Required: An Emotional Survival Manual for Students. Pine Forge Press, 2004. Print

Okay. If grades are one leg of the tripod that is stifling our discovery and our entire society, maybe they aren't taking it too seriously. Still, I wasn't sure I could make the connection between letter grades and ruining society. Can you?

Do you remember getting gold stars for little achievements? I gave my kids skittles for using the potty. When I was in 3rd grade, we had a sticker chart that showed who had mastered their multiplication tables. As a little kid, letter grades don't really make any sense to you, but your authority figures want to reward you for doing the correct thing in hopes that it will motivate you to continue in that direction.

When you're a little older, the letters start to make their way into your life. You strive for an A in your math class (or maybe you just struggle to get a letter good enough to pass) instead of setting a goal to understand each new mathematical rule before moving on to the next. In this way, letter grades might be motivating kids to cheat, but more commonly letter grades are encouraging students to just get by.

Some students will turn school into a competition to have the most stars or the best grades. That's how we get valedictorians. Some students will find a tutor to help them get their grade just high enough to stay on the football team. Some students will still fall in love with learning, because you can't stop them.

Those who do will still try to build a solid foundation by understanding each new bit of information before stacking something else on top of it. They will study and try to comprehend instead of just memorizing, because they want to really know this stuff and not just be able to regurgitate it for the test. But we aren't inspiring these kids with letter grades and we aren't inspiring other kids to become like this.

We might be losing our critical thinkers, our scientists and mathematicians. We're not investing in bringing out the best in future adults but in getting the correct, immediate response out of children and teenagers. And you may ask, "Then, how are we supposed to provide incentive for our kids?" But I think the real question is, "What should we provide incentive for?"

Encourage your kids to learn, not to be right. Just be excited about teaching and learning. Instead of labeling your child with a letter or percentage score thus comparing them to their peers, be patient with them when they struggle and be excited for them when, suddenly, the light bulb blinks on. Enjoy those moments, because they are beautiful. Struggling is a part of learning. Everyone struggles with something. Help each other instead of flaunting one child's success over another's difficulties.

That's what I think.

This Book Doesn’t Work

Last November, I did my first black Friday, doorbusters shopping spree. I managed to avoid it, despite having children, for years and I was curious what all of those other people were raving (or ranting) about. I only went to Target. They had a great deal on a huge, flat-screen TV that I successfully bought for my partner.

I also bought Leapfrog toys. Specifically, I picked up two Tag pens and a Tag Junior pen and a few books to go with them. My mom also bought some books to go along with the bundle when she found out.

I loved the idea of my kids being able to explore stories with a pen to help them sound out the words. I imagined them learning to love the colorful and interesting stories written on pages, and I thought it might be a helpful back up for ultimately teaching them to read. But that’s not what happened.

Now, when people started complaining that Baby Einstein was failing to turn out smarter kids, I was one of the first to raise my hand and say, “maybe you’re doing it wrong.” After all, it seems ridiculous and counterproductive to me to sit your kid down with a DVD and expect great things to happen. Maybe it would work, mixed in with active parenting. I don’t know, though. I’ve never tried Baby Einstein with my kids and I certainly don’t know what all of the Baby Einstein parents were doing.

But I did buy this Leapfrog stuff, and now I’m thinking about taking it all away.

I’ve been turning the idea over in my head for a couple of months. Then, this week, my five-year-old came to me with a board book that was not compatible with the Tag system, “brown bear brown bear what do you see” and said, “this book doesn’t work.” That really made me think about what’s happening.

We read them a story almost every night (unless it’s especially late and they need to get to sleep asap), and sometimes in the middle of the day. We have classroom learning books called “Bob Books” that we help them read on their own. And, many times, when they want to know what something says, we help them sound it out instead of just telling them. But, recently, I’ve noticed that my strongest reader gives up when I say, “let’s find out”. She doesn’t want to know what that word says if it’s not going to be handed to her. And they certainly aren’t going to try to read a boring book if they can have one read to them.

I don’t like this attitude at all. My kids shouldn’t think that a book is broken because it doesn’t read itself. I know that parents want to get the new, popular toys for their kids, especially if it seems educational, but this one is unconvincing for me. Maybe I’m not doing it right.

When it comes to educational programming, we have DVDs of Signing Time and Sid the Science Kid. We watch Wild Kratts, and Nova. But it’s easy for me to watch with them (or watch over the bar while I’m cooking) at least enough to be able to talk about it and make sure they’re learning something. Maybe that’s the key for these reading pens, too. Maybe they need assistance and supervision and I shouldn’t have just given them the books and the pens to play with at their own leisure. But I did, and now I’m thinking I need to pack them up and remind my kids that books that don’t read themselves to you are wonderful.