My dad is one of the smartest people I know. I would say that he's the smartest, but between a family uncle who went to Harvard Law and some of the interesting, or at least odd, people he introduced me to from Argonne and the University of Chicago, I think it is safe to say at least he is among a group of very smart people I know. He doesn't often share stories from his childhood, as he never wanted us to compare our lives to his, but occasionally he drops a fun nugget for us to learn from or at least laugh with. One of his stories was of the economics class in undergraduate which he got something like 30% on the test. He explained that with the "curve" it was a "B." Moreover, students had gotten less than zero because they had missed the extra credit questions on the test and the professor subtracted points for the errors on that question also. He shared that he hadn't known the extra credit so he simply didn't bother to answer the question. I remember being stunned, this from the guy who missed one on the SAT didn't know the extra credit, 30% being a B. Sure, it was the 60's but there certainly were some interesting grading practices.
One of our coaches shared a story of her two children in high school taking the same class at the same time. They both were assigned the same project and being children of the same household took two completely different approaches. The youngest, a studious worker, began working that night. For a week she researched, wrote, and toiled. A week later she submitted the assignment and earned 100 points. The elder son waited to start the assignment until 9pm on Sunday night and whipped it out in an hour. He turned his product and earned a 95. At home that night at the dinner table he looked at his sister and his parents and simply asked, 5 points, was it worth it?
I was a 3.0 student in high school and college. Exactly 3.0. There was a reason for this. After floundering my first semester at Downers Grove South, my dad simply told me that if you want to drive, you need to earn the good student discount for car insurance and that requires a 3.0. Immediately that next semester I raised enough GPA points to bring my Freshman year average to 3.0 and maintained that average at exactly that point for the next 7 years. For every C there was an A. I calculated exactly what points I needed to have in order to maintain that average each semester. For car insurance, it was worth the 3.0. For everything else your work didn't matter. I learned a lot. I shared a lot. I simply created just enough product to insure I kept my car insurance.
That's the funny thing about grades. We want to see them as motivators, but they're not. They are just ways of ranking the output. They truly don't tell us how much someone is learning, but rather what hoops you are willing or unwilling to do. Pernille Ripp wrote an amazing article earlier this month in MindShift about how she has made the choice to become the change we need to occur. She looked deeply into her sole about her classroom practices and the learning environment and opportunities we need to create. The best part of the article was that it was shared with me by a coach and a 5th grade teacher that is working herself to become the change her students need her to be in order to promote their growth as learners, not 5th graders.
As I look at my work in my current district, I think of my legacy as a student that wandered its halls and what my legacy will be as a leader that went through its buildings. I reflect on the great heritage and our amazing work with assessment, 1:1 learning, our biliteracy program, and content area instruction. I look at the children of my friends growing up who sit within the rooms of our schools and I see the opportunities we are creating. I look at all of our activities working together, and wonder which thing will make the difference. I look into the big sea that is our district and wonder which stone thrown into the water will truly send the ripples through that cause the change that enhances their lives as learners. I am pretty sure that stone was thrown this week. In a district of 5000 students and 350 teachers, 100 children didn't receive a math grade. Three teachers made the choice to send home a progress report that simply had what the children had learned and what they needed to learn next. A simple binary list of you either have this or you need to continue to work on it. A two-page document whose story is not that of the grade or what was covered in this quarter but rather what we are working on, what you are done with, and what you need to work on that. Half of those students are 5th graders who through dialogues with their teachers didn't ask what would we do without grades but rather when will we have this for everything else. Half of those students are kindergartners who perhaps will never know what it is to fail math but rather be always pushing themselves to learn more math. The biggest question amongst the parents to the principal was what will the local video store do for the free movie that children earn with A's in the class. He replied to them, we'll figure it out.
I am so proud of this risk led by these teachers. I am so proud of world of learning and expectation they are creating for our students. And I hope, as Cameron reads this blog he will realize that his mom and I never care what the grade is but rather has he learned it. We are unwilling to bend about him not needing corrections because he got 5 points off nor are we willing to scream when he gets a C after studying for days. What we expect is for him to learn it, understand it, and be able to communicate it. For us, it is not about the rank but rather the learning. These are our bricks we add to your house. We hope it is a glorious palace you build.
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