Thursday, May 15, 2014

Why Grades Don't Always Matter

I believe in competition, capitalism, and the American way.

I think those who work the hardest and risk it all deserve the biggest pay-offs.  I don't subscribe to everyone getting a trophy.  Emotions are meant to be felt, not blanketed and bubble-wrapped in a magical fairy tale version of childhood.

Kids need to cry.

Then they need to dust themselves off, figure it out, and learn from their failures. 

Despite my wretched and much-maligned Mommy Meanest ideologies, I do not believe in grades.

I know, I know.  It is completely counter-intuitive to everything I stand for.  Why not measure every kid, every class, every grade? Why not dangle little A's out there like golden carrots to keep kids motivated and eager to learn?

I was an A student and I rarely had to work at it.  I smugly blew up the grading curve in countless high school and college classes, and I never once felt an iota of guilt. 

Yet when I look back at how grades influenced my learning, it was clear what actually guided me.  It was not an eagerness to learn.  It was not a desire to develop my critical thinking skills.  Instead, I subscribed to the LIFO theory of educational accounting.

In accounting, there are two ways to measure inventory.  FIFO is first-in-first-out.  The oldest inventory is always the next to go.  Dusty widgets have to be sold before newer widgets.

Contrary to FIFO is LIFO, or last-in-first-out. New widgets have to be sold first.

My entire education was LIFO.  I rammed my brain full of information for the next quiz or exam.  It was all instantly regurgitated and forgotten.  Information had no time to percolate.  Whatever knowledge or insight I was supposed to gain vanished before my number two pencil could hit the desk.

I never considered my LIFO principles problematic until I watched my husband (then-boyfriend) go through paramedic school. Joe would spend hours not only memorizing, but trying to wrap his brain around ideas and concepts. I thought he was wasting his time and encouraged him to get flashcards and make up acronyms.  Just get through the test and let it go.

Joe would just look at me.

And roll his eyes.

Finally, he explained that the information and techniques he was studying were needed for, like, ever.

Being able to assess a gunshot victim, take blood pressure, and administer life-saving drugs requires a level of knowledge and retention that I have never been able to master. 

I have a 10 second memory in a 60 minute world.

Crap.

Not surprisingly, Joe was the valedictorian of his paramedic class.  He is an excellent fireman and medic.  He takes an ongoing interest in new treatments, therapies, and pharmaceutical developments.  He is a proud life-long learner, despite being married to a woman with the attention span of a flea.

When my boys come home with their report cards, I am that rare mother that frowns at straight As.  I want to see struggle.  I want to see effort.  I want to see that they are not just spewing out the latest set of facts assigned to them.

I want them to be life-long learners and not LIFOs.

Now what was I walking about again?

15 comments:

  1. If we are going with FIFO, it must be time for the 80's lyrics and my elementary school friends' hone numbers to leave my brain!

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  2. Very valid points here about grades. Hmmm...there's got to be another way to motivate learning? Food? Just kidding. :)

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  3. I don't understand all those letters you speak of.
    Because I was a C student in high school.

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    1. Which means you are very, very wise. Just as I suspected.

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  4. Here I am almost 70 and learning. I am taking a writing class this summer. I am taking iMovie so I can produce for my YouTube channel. And I am loving learning humor from you, Mar.But nothing is graded so I will benefit from the growth sans the grades. Maybe that is how it's supposed to be! Just grow and blossom!!! And while we are at it, have fun!

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    1. YES! Have fun! And laugh. THAT I have learned. Thanks, Carol!

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  5. That's why you are so hilarious. All that useless info would have crowded out the ridiculous and the witty.

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    1. And what about my insane celebrity recall? Where would that have gone? Thanks, Tina!

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  6. As high school math teacher (at the moment), I appreciate this more than I can say and I wish more people felt this way. I have often asked parents, "What is the ideal grade?" Too many As means it's too easy. I don't believe anyone should be able to earn a 100 average in a class -- it doesn't mean the student is brilliant (he or she may well be!) but that the class isn't challenging. That being said, brilliant kids can and should earn As, but perfect scores? Save it for the gym floor. :)

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    1. I couldn't agree more, Jennifer! I remember a boss once telling me that sometimes, it's good to be the dumbest person in the room. Means you will have plenty to learn. I've taken that concept seriously for a long time. Thanks for reading!

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  7. I am you. You are me. I breezed through school but didn't retain anything I learned beyond 8th grade. The only thing I've retained is grammar (because I knew it all by 8th grade). Well, I've retained water, too. Otherwise, I feel like the dumbest person in America (not that that's you by any means).

    I still consider myself a kid. I guess I'll go cry now.

    -andi

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    1. I'm secretly four years old. Don't tell the others.

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  8. I think you might be able to market your LIFO concept and create a business around SAT prep.

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