Entrance Slip for Oct 17th

As a student, I feel that getting a letter grade or percentage can let me know how well I am doing. But on the other hand, a better way for feedback would just be a direct comment on my work instead of a grade. I feel like a lot of students tend to compare themselves to each other. The comparing of grades helped me because I did not want to fall behind my peers. Throughout most of my post secondary I spent less time comparing myself to others because I was just struggling to keep up with my own work. As a teacher, we are always learning about assessment and ways to implement it. Grades seem like the only realistic option that works for this educational society because of the inherit nature to stick a number to everything.

Getting good grades is for sure a stressful part of a student's education. I do believe that if the grading system was phased out it would prove less stressful for students, but I'm not sure how society would cope. Like the article mentioned about competition and comparison, for me as a student it motivated me, but I can see it being stressful for a lot of people. I strongly believe that if you do not wish to compare your grades to others it should be confidential. This is crucial because students who did poorly would obviously not want to be outed to the class.

Grades for a lot of students are just a means to get into post secondary. I'm not too sure if there is a way around this because post secondaries kind of need a concrete way to assess your academics. As a science/math teacher maybe we could not have grades on a homework assignment. Instead of assigning grades we can provide comments and feedback. The negative part of this though as stated during the article is that students might not be motivated to do homework. During my school visits I met a teacher who let students know that their education was also part of their own responsibility. If we have to constantly remind them to do homework or pay attention, then it's not really fair for us. We as teachers are here to guide them in education but students also have to take responsibility. So I think if we were to phase out this grading system, students will also have to do their part and take responsibility in their own education. Overall this is a very tough topic to talk about as both sides have such strong arguments. For me personally if I had to pick a side, I would stick with the grading system. As I said before maybe the homework assignments could not have grades assigned, but students will need to take responsibility!