Grading is tough work

I never thought that assigning grades would be difficult. I just can't justify holding students accountable to a certain standard of what an "A" student or an "A" paper looks like. Some of them fit what I think it should be, while others just don't. Those students probably never have and probably never will. But they come to class every day and they try and their writing shows effort. Does that mean that I give them a "C" because they pale in comparison to my obvious "A" students or do I give them an "A" because they wanted to do well and they tried hard? How much of the grading do I make purely subjective and how much do I make a standard of the curriculum I outlined through the course? How much is it worth to me to grade students down when they answer their phones in class or admit to me personally that they are big procrastinators? When they write me a good letter explaining why they think they deserve an "A" should I take that into full consideration? What about that student whose mother died just before school and whose father was soon after hospitalized? Who dealt with a son who refused to finish high school and a daughter who was in a severe car accident? Who fell to depression and couldn't attend class for a month? What about that student who had three deaths this semester in his immediate family? What about that student who came to class every single day and was only late once - on the day she came to class after being at the hospital for experiencing dizzy spells - because coming to class meant that much to her? What about that student who was always present and early, except for all those days she was late because she rode in from Nampa with her always late boyfriend? Do I grade them all the same? Is it fair to grade them all the same? How do I compare the 45-year-old woman who has been out of school for 23 years with the recent high school graduate who knows full well that he's wasting both my time and his? How do I compare the student who has always been a success in school with the one who has never been able to live up to teachers' standards?

sigh

These are the things I've been battling for some time now. It's just that I'm finally at that stage where I'm filling out the final grade reports and my quandries have to take a tangible form. I'm pretty sure where I want to go with all of this and how I'm going to grade...I want to find a way to restructure my class so that it's done in a way that will beyond reasonable doubt give everyone in my class a way to achieve an "A" without worry. Because then they won't have a reason to complain when they don't get that. Or will they? I just don't know...

I wish BSU just did narrative grades. I would much rather type out a letter to each of my students telling them their strengths and their weaknesses. How ridiculous is it that they have to try and figure out their strengths and weaknesses on their own by looking at their grade report and seeing: B. What does that "B" tell them? Nothing. It's an arbitrary letter corresponding to an arbitrary number. It doesn't tell them "Your in-class participation was great, but you're missing four assignments," or "I don't think you put the right amount of effort into your final portfolio to prove to me that you learned valuable tools throughout this class. I think that's reflected in your attendance record as well," or even "You were a jerk to your classmates."

I need to do some rethinking. I want to work it so that my students will all get an "A" next semester because they will all have worked hard for it.

Something has to work for me that will make this whole "grading" thing easier and seem more fair for all students, regardless of their aptitute. And easier and fair for me, rather than making things subjective or imbalanced.

I think grades and absolute standards should be abolished. Why is a 4.0 so wonderful? I've received an "A" from classes I learned nothing in and I've earned a "C" from classes I learned tons in. What's the difference? Which class benefitted me more? Which felt like a waste of time for me? The classes I learned the most from are the ones I've liked the most, regardless of my "average" grade. The grade, in the end, meant nothing to me because it was all about my aptitude in the class. I just performed poorly on the assessments - and for that I received something less than what I thought I deserved grade-wise. Did I think it was fair? No. Was there anything I could do about it? No. Do I want my students to experience the let-down of having the teacher hold them to an absolute and irrelevant standard that does not measure their ability or what they think they have learned throughout the semester? No.

I never thought that assigning grades would be difficult.