Friday, April 06, 2007

Keepin' it Real...our kids deserve it

A few years ago, one of the 11th grade students in my neighborhood came to my door beaming. He couldn't wait to show me the research paper he had written and the big 100% written on it. Actually, the front of the research paper had 100/100/100/80.

Skeptical, as usual (...come on! Who makes a 100% on a research paper??!!), I proceeded to flip through the paper. As I suspected, the paper was full of grammar and structural errors--incomplete sentences, misplaced punctuation, lack of capitalization, and many other mistakes. Yet he had received three 100's and one 80. I have no idea what any of those scores were for...there wasn't a single mark throughout the entire paper. There was no rubric for a guideline. Nothing.

Though I hated to burst his bubble, I felt the obligation to tell this teenager that his work wasn't 100% work. As I suspected, a year later as I walked him through the process of registering for El Centro, I had to break the news to him again. His scores on the Placement test determined that he needed all three developmental courses (Reading, Writing, and Math) before he could even enter college. I explained that he was going to have to work extremely hard to catch up. I explained that it wasn't impossible, but it would take a lot of effort.

Why don't people realize that these inflated compliments are hurting our urban, inner city kids???

In our After-School Academy we always make the kids correct their work--erasing the entire page if they wrote sloppy or didn't do it correctly. Way too often I hear them say, "It doesn't matter. My teacher doesn't care." I emphatically tell them, "Well, it matters to me. Correct it!" Sometimes I'm harsh. Sometimes we get tears. But I love seeing the pride of a kid who gets to the point of knowing they can do something...and knowing they did it well.

Our kids deserve so much better...and they are perfectly capable if we would stop giving them empty praise because we feel sorry for them. It's not fair to them. It sets them up for failure. Some of them have mentioned their confusion of why they make A's in class, but then can't pass the TAKS. We're not doing them any favors. (Read here for a recent study on praise.)

Do them a favor. Expect something out of them. Praise their effort, encourage them to keep working, and work with them to help them get to where they need to be...but don't feed them false praise.

We will all benefit in the long run.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree, I personally hate getting back papers with nothing more than a grade. Tell me what my mistakes are and how I can make it better and be honest with it. It will help out in the long run. I think that if a person calls themselves a teacher and hands out grades, I think they fail at being a teacher period. The definition of being a teacher or any educator is to teach. In order to teach, someone has to be on the recieving end to learn. I believe that a person will learn more from their corrected mistakes. As a future teacher myself I must ask myself which is more important, high self esteem for one moment in time or an eduacation that lasts a lifetime?
-Jessica

Unknown said...

I remember this very incident and have had numerous conversations on this very topic with you. The problem with inflating grades is that the real world works nothing like that. If you can't step up to the plate and do the job correctly, never fear, someone will and you'll lose your turn. So we aren't boosting confidence, we're setting kids up for failure.

Everyday my students gripe that it's "impossible" to make an A in my class. I'm one of the few who feel that just putting forth effort and turning in every assignment equals out to an AVERAGE grade...meaning a C. However, superior work goes above and beyond expectations...and students clearly know an A in my class means they have earned it.

Over the last 13 years of teaching, my motto has become "Which is better? Customer service? Or quality product?" There's a difference....which is why McDonald's offers "service with a smile" and Steak'n Shake offers "fresh steakburgers cooked to order."

All of my students know the answer to that question...and when, like today, a writing assignment needed to be a minimum of 300 words and a student approaches me to ask "Ms. Daugherty, I'm at 281 words is that okay?" I can look at her with my teacher look and she turns around to head back to work some more. No words ever exchanged.

Jessica...have high expectations and make sure your students know EXACTLY what they can do to reach those expectations. The fun part about being a teacher is that when the kids reach it...you get to show them what they earned.

Janet Morrison-Lane said...

Jessica and Casey~
Beautifully stated...by both of you. :)

I'm honored to have friends (and educators) like you guys around because I know you expect the best.

Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Casey, I like that analogy customer service or a quality product? I am sure you are a great techer and that your kids are learning a lot and thats the important part. Thanks for the advice and I can't wait to be that teacher that shows the students what they have learned.

Ms. Janet, we are grateful to have you to write these blogs and unite us together to talk about what we love. Thanks a million!!! I have to say that YOU always expected the best of me as a camper, church member, teacher, college student, and friend. You are leading the way for us future teachers.

~*Jess*~