Teaching High School: Arguing About Grades

Educator Readings

Gotham Writers' Workshop: Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide from New York's Acclaimed Creative Writing School
As much as I would love to take on of the courses online with this book, this book is much cheaper ($15 vs $350) and possibly will be just as good.
William Glasser: The Quality School: Managing Students Without Coercion
I saw Glasser speak a few years ago. Just as powerful in person as this book is in your lap and then in your mind.
Neil Postman: The End Of Education : Redefining the Value of School
From the back of the book: "...today's schools promote the false 'gods' of economic utility, consumerism, technology, or ethnic separatism and resentment."
W. James Popham: The Truth About Testing: An Educator's Call to Action
Shows much more than I thought possible about the dangers of too much testing. (*****)
Martin L. Gross: The Conspiracy of Ignorance: The Failure of American Public Schools
This affirms for me many thoughts I have had about the public schooling system in the US. (*****)

Monday, December 08, 2003

Arguing About Grades

I am feeling very frustrated with my students. In particular, I'm frustrated with my beligerent students, the ones who constantly and consistently confront me with accusations that I want them to fail. (A note: The grades resemble a perfect inverted bell curve, which seems to be the common-place plot of grades for the last number of years in my experience at junior high.)

I feel that these students are very disrespectful. And I fear what others may say: That I am not being respectful to them. To that I would have to say: Not true. However, I also do not feel I need to defend to this blog whether I am respectful or not to my students, and here's why: Their disrespect extends beyond me. They have no regard for themselves, no regard for the time they are wasting of their peers, and no regard for the administration.

When the keep coming at me, demanding things, I chalk that up to having no respect for themselves. They do not feel that the work they have done should represent the grade they have earned. They feel that they can talk and bull-doze their way out of a poor mark.

When their peers complain to these students directly that they are wasting time, the beligerent students do not care, they tell their peers that they don't care whether they are being fair to them. When these peers come back with telling the beligerent students are not being fair to me, the beligerent kids roll their eyes and come back to me.

When the administration does nothing for behavior referals for plagiarism and insubordination, I am left with little choice. It is obvious from the beligerent students' behavior that they must have learned it somewhere, and I will not call home to confront more of the same but from an adult. I also will not discuss any matters with the administration since it is quite obvious they will do nothing but give warnings.

I have five more of these times to go through with these students. I doubt it will get better. I will not back down from the grades and will not 'fix' the numbers. That I will leave to the milk-toast administration if they want to appease the parents.

Monday, December 08, 2003 at 06:25 PM in Students | Permalink

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