Hobgoblins with Little Minds

[offbalance]

This article is pissing me off for oh, so many reasons. I saw this kind of thing occurring when I was in high school - people who would study for 6 hours a night for a week before a test, having nervous breakdowns about highlighters and note cards, and then screaming at a teacher if they got a 94 instead of a 98.

The person I really want to slap in the article is the whiny brat who complains that he deserves an A just for working hard. Talent should be also recognized. If a paper or test is only worthy of a B, it's only worthy of a B - it doesn't matter if you worked for fourteen hours or for four. I have always believed it's a matter of quality over quantity. It doesn't matter how long you worked if your thesis makes no sense or is completely unsupported or, even proven wrong by the contents of your paper. If you worked for weeks on end and lived in the library and you still leave your arguments without support and conclusion, you don't deserve an A. Sorry. It's just the way it is. It's not just about working hard, it's a matter of picking your head up and thinking - yes, thinking! - about what it is you're working on. Quality should be the only judge. Perhaps a kind-hearted professor might be swayed to raise a B to a B+ or a C to a B- if you go during office hours with your notes and beg them to reconsider, but in my experience, the paper, the end product of all that work - has to be of a certain quality to deserve a certain grade.

Or at least that's how we rolled up at SUNY Albany.

Comments

[antheia.livejournal.com]

For me, this all goes back to the concept of giving awards to everyone in elementary school, and celebrating "graduations" from Kindergarten and such. It's all well and good that you want everyone to feel special, but it negates the hard work and talent of those who really achieve. Which means that the mediocre minds are totally fucking entitled by the time they hit college.

You deserve an A for effort? Eat me.

Then again, I was the kid who could throw a good paper out into the world with two hours and a cup of coffee...

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

It's all well and good that you want everyone to feel special, but it negates the hard work and talent of those who really achieve. Which means that the mediocre minds are totally fucking entitled by the time they hit college.

This point exactly. Achievement needs to mean something, or else, why would anyone need to bother trying.

A for effort renders the A meaningless. An A should MEAN something. I mean, it used to be that D= well, you didn't fail, C = Eh, B = Not bad, A= Good job. Getting a B or a C made me want to try harder. If people weren't so worried about the fragile self esteems of their pwecious widdle snowflakes, that might still exist.

(and I did that, too. Oh, boy. Finals week Junior year I thought I was going to have a psychotic break. And so did a few people who saw me around.)

[firynze.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure I DID have a psychotic break one year. Let's just say that no sleep + lots of work + reading ancient magic texts = scary things

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

Eeek. Not good!

[antheia.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY. A is for something great, A+ for phenomenal.

SIGH.

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

I hate that. Yeah, you need to make sure kids develop healthy self esteem, but you know what? You are not a special and unique snowflake. You will not get life handed to you on a platter; you shouldn't.

"Merit" promotions and "social" grade promotions? Fuck that noise. Kid deserves to fail, he should fail - be held back a grade, whatever. He shouldn't get the A and the grade bump just because he'd feel "left out" otherwise.

[antheia.livejournal.com]

I know I'm an extreme case, but my father always used to say "Second place is the first loser". And to a certain extent, I would like to see that idea reintroduced.

Trying your best is for the Special Olympics.

[valjean615.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Those students there just piss me off. You don't deserve shit if it's crappy and not quality work. I never bitched about my grades and I never felt entitled to earn a certain baseline grade. Some kids these days. AARGH.

Though there is a point the article made where a number of kids are taught in elementary and high school to do well for standardized tests. This takes them away from critical thinking and when they get into college where it's not a formulaic way of going about things, the ones who aren't used to thinking for themselves seem to suffer. Kids attitudes and clouded sense of achievement combined with systemic shortcomings in the education system leads to this grade grubbing crap.

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

Though there is a point the article made where a number of kids are taught in elementary and high school to do well for standardized tests. This takes them away from critical thinking and when they get into college where it's not a formulaic way of going about things, the ones who aren't used to thinking for themselves seem to suffer.

That's really true. I almost wonder if critical thinking at a young age is discouraged to make the kids easier to deal with. If they think less, they're easier to control, etc. But that doesn't seem fair. I knew plenty of kids in high school that did brilliantly in science or math where they had a specific right answer, but when asked to interpret something, they'd badger the teacher (usually English or sometimes history) for clues to the right answer. And there was none! It was the strength of your argument. God, the looks on their faces when the DBQs on the history AP exam were introduced. That was priceless.

But I agree - they have to get past the grade grubbing and start wondering about HOW these kids are learning, and how that's going to help society as a whole improve in the future.

[valjean615.livejournal.com]

Oh, the DBQs on the AP Euro and American History Exams. What memories...I think I was more worried about my handwriting than putting together something. I found it sort of fun looking at the documents that were given and trying to put together some sort of valid argument.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

I admit to having flipped on a teacher once or twice because of grades that I didn't think were appropriate - not because of the amount of work I put in, but rather because, in one specific case, I was accused of plagiarism because my work was too good.

*ahem*

I was a BITCH when I was a TA. I make kids work for it. None of this "but I did so much WORK" crap. None of this "but I'll lose X if I don't get an A!" You should've done quality work, jackass. If you fix it, we'll talk. Maybe.

[antheia.livejournal.com]

That happened to my mother in her freshman year, actually.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

At least I'm not the only one...

[whtegrlwthehair.livejournal.com]

i think you should get points off if you worked on something for a really long time and it still isn't good. ;)

[aliasa.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad those days are long gone for me. I can't imagine what it would be like to be back in school nowadays. I had a similar conversation with a few friends who are teachers. They say this particular generation, the kids are about entitlement and nurturing. I'd say that's what parents are for. ;)

These days, I think we baby and coddle folks too often. Punishment is not part of the vocabulary. How will they ever learn to succeed from their mistakes? Beats me.