Have you ever had that dream where you’re alone in the woods, and out of nowhere a giant, fanged B+ jumps out of the bushes and starts chasing you around, vying for a taste of your blood? Yeah, neither have I; however, from the panic and chaos that receiving a B+ creates in many people, one would believe that this is a recurring dream for a large portion of the population.
It’s not too much of a wonder why this idea is implanted in the minds of so many. High schools, for one, create competition among students through class rankings, with the top prize promising special privileges: a special page in the newspaper, a marking on your transcript, a chance to speak at graduation, special stoles and/or chords…oh yeah, and bragging rights, everybody's favorite (although most won't admit it.) On top of this, there are lies about the expectations of the nation’s top institutions that are fed to innocent, naive high school students who tend to eat it all up without stopping to check the facts. Oftentimes, these false ideas are fed to them by those who are equally as oblivious and do not have the facts completely straight and therefore shouldn’t be talking, like classmates or parents who applied to college in the last generation when things were a little bit different. “Did you know that such-and-such school won’t accept you unless you have a 4.0 GPA?” Who are you, a spokesperson for the school? Each school has its own standards for accepting students, and GPA is only one element of the application. There’s a reason that applications consist of more than just merely sending in a transcript, you know.
When I was a senior in high school, Yale University invited me to attend an information session about the school. With no desire to apply to out-of-state schools, but still curious as to what an Ivy League school would possibly expect of potential students, I attended the session. The most shocking revelation to me was when the representative told the crowd that Yale rejects 64% of applicants with perfect ACT and/or SAT scores. He went on to say that many of the applicants accepted did not have perfect GPAs either. I wish I had tape recorded that part of the presentation so I can play it back to many of the parents I encounter over the course of my teaching career. Perfection does not necessarily equate to getting into the college of your dreams!
But students and parents are not aware of this. They are under the impression that a 4.0 GPA is an instant pass into any university of their choosing; therefore, some parents send their kids to school and expect perfection: answer every question on the quiz correctly. Receive every point possible on this paper. Get every extra credit point. While these things sound like a solid formula to mastery of the material, this mentality is ultimately making school itself into a “system” that must be “mastered” as opposed to a place where people learn new concepts and grow as individuals.
And what do grades truly say about the student's ability? Sometimes, they are an inaccurate indicator of a student's progress in mastering the skills that they are supposed to be learning. For instance, as an English teacher, I am naturally aware that almost every single piece of literature that is covered in the classroom also has a page on Sparknotes. I would also be naive if I said that I believe that every single student reads the assigned readings from the book instead of taking the "easy way out" by looking up the plot on Sparknotes. Sadly, as I observed in my student teaching, some can do this and still manage to pass the quizzes. Let’s say that I have two students who are given a reading assignment: Student A read the assignment from the book; Student B read the plot on Sparknotes. Both students were able to pull off an “A” on the quiz, and we move ahead in the curriculum. What ends up happening, though? Student B is satisfied with his grade because it is the “A” that he desires, but he’s ultimately not developing the same skills in analytical thinking, critical thinking, and vocabulary as Student A. Again, while both students received the same grade on the assignments, they are getting very different things out of them, and the differences in the reading and writing skills of these two students will increase as the years progress. Sadly, many students see school one assignment at a time and are not paying attention, or are oblivious, to the effects their choices now are going to have for them down the road. As in so many other aspects of life, everything you do (or don't do!) will come back to haunt you later on.
One of my pet peeves about teaching is the fact that it takes me so much time to grade papers because I like to provide each student with a sufficient amount of feedback. Why? So they can take my advice and not make the same mistakes again. In the ideal world, where school is about growth and – gasp! – getting smarter, students would review their papers and think about the comments I left for them so that next time, their writing will be much better. What happens instead? I return the papers, and they are either immediately stuffed in a folder, crumpled up and thrown in a trashcan, or, in the case of those who want to show off that they did well on the assignment, “conveniently” left on top of the desk so that those with wandering eyes can get a look at the student’s superior mark. It’s all about the number at the top of the page, the letter on the report card, or the bragging rights that one has over his friend when he gets a higher score than she does.
So what do we do about this problem? Eliminate grades entirely? No, that causes laziness in many students (if it’s not graded, students don’t put effort into it…) I think it’s time to, first of all, dispel the rumors that parents and students are hearing about what colleges these days expect. Let them know that there’s nothing wrong with a B+, assuming that the student has put his or her best effort into the assignment. Secondly, we need to constantly remind students that it is okay to make mistakes. As much as I despise clichés, there really is a reason that there are erasers on pencils, and it has nothing to do with adding a pink flare of decoration to the otherwise-motonous yellow paint. To err is human, and unless you are some sort of robot or alien or super-sized, floating brain, you will err. Keep errin’! You’re good at it! Most definitely learn to fix your err, but don’t be ashamed that you erred! Okay, time to stop overusing one of my favorite words. (Well, okay, one more time: ERR!)
Additionally, remember that if you see a B+ on your paper, don't scream; it's for the best, I promise.
