I don't want to give out grades. I just want to teach the material, and see how I can get people to learn it. Right now I'm teaching an essay writing class. The most interesting part is trying to coax better writing out of students. The most boring part is trying to attach numerical values to their learning. The easiest way for me to manage this disconnect is to make my grading system as transparent and obvious as I possibly can. Yes, some of the grade is based on quality but a LOT of it is based on effort which is easier to quantify and be out in the open about.
Ultimately I want to just teach writing, and see a real difference in skill between the start and end of the semester. But I am stuck having to give grades as well. On the other hand, I'm also taking an art class right now of a different sort. Two weeks in and so far it's a great experience. Everyone just shows their work off. The work is critiqued. No one is given a grade so far. You can tell based on the feedback you get if a you're improving your personal best and b you have a long way to go compared to other students.
I want an amazing piece of work from the class. I do not care if a score is assigned to it, but I want it to be the best I can personally do. However, when I was younger, I was programmed and conditioned to want As. Then given the exact means by which to get there, or not. This isn't a good way to teach children. It will take a hell of a thing to fix it though. This is very interesting, and I think explains a lot of the educational dysfunction that we see in my story and in the stories shared by other readers.
People talk about reform, textbooks, unions, low pay, and curriculum, and certainly these things can all produce dysfunction. Halfway through the school year, Mr. B leaves Vo-Tech and is replaced with Mr. C, who looks exactly like the dad from the comic strip Family Circus.
B was, and less of a teacher. Some of the kids really hate him. They see him as obtuse and unfair. This is what school is to her. You memorize some crap for a test.
