4th Grade (Teacher's) Logic
Here is another bit that goes along with my Friday Ergh! post of last week.
First up, a bit of the teacher's bonus-word-only-counts-sometimes spelling logic. The girls have a bonus word on the spelling list each week. If you get that bonus word right, it can only help you if you've actually spelled a word wrong. Therefore, if you get 13 out of 15, and the bonus word correct, in the end you get 14/15. But, if you get 15/15 and the bonus word correct, you get a big old nothing.
Where is the logic in that? You tell me. Why can't they get the extra point and use it for later? How fair is that to the students? Let's only help the kids that screw up!
And along those lines, you have the retake-a-test-if-you-get-a-D-or-an-F logic. It should be obvious what that one concerns. Here's the thing, though. You get to retake the test and then take the higher of the two grades! Last year, they would average the two grades if you had to retake the test. That seemed fair. But take the higher grade?!? Let us imagine a child that messes up regularly and retakes the test (I hope it is a different version) to go from a D to an A each time. How do we know that the child isn't deliberately doing poorly so that they can have a second chance? I wouldn't put it past some kids I know (I don't think ours have thought of that yet, thank goodness) to try to retake tests regularly. And again, let's only help the kids that screw up!
Am I overreacting? Do I express these concerns at some point to the teacher and/or principal? I don't have a clue! I've complained enough to Tim and my mother, but some things just get to you, you know?
By the way, over the weekend I figured out a way for the teachers to make the kids pay attention to details, but to still focus on content, too. Give out two grades! For each test or worksheet, the teacher could have a content grade and an exposition grade. They could assign whatever weight they want to each, although I personally would assign a heavier weight to content. Simple, yet brilliant, don't you think?
First up, a bit of the teacher's bonus-word-only-counts-sometimes spelling logic. The girls have a bonus word on the spelling list each week. If you get that bonus word right, it can only help you if you've actually spelled a word wrong. Therefore, if you get 13 out of 15, and the bonus word correct, in the end you get 14/15. But, if you get 15/15 and the bonus word correct, you get a big old nothing.
Where is the logic in that? You tell me. Why can't they get the extra point and use it for later? How fair is that to the students? Let's only help the kids that screw up!
And along those lines, you have the retake-a-test-if-you-get-a-D-or-an-F logic. It should be obvious what that one concerns. Here's the thing, though. You get to retake the test and then take the higher of the two grades! Last year, they would average the two grades if you had to retake the test. That seemed fair. But take the higher grade?!? Let us imagine a child that messes up regularly and retakes the test (I hope it is a different version) to go from a D to an A each time. How do we know that the child isn't deliberately doing poorly so that they can have a second chance? I wouldn't put it past some kids I know (I don't think ours have thought of that yet, thank goodness) to try to retake tests regularly. And again, let's only help the kids that screw up!
Am I overreacting? Do I express these concerns at some point to the teacher and/or principal? I don't have a clue! I've complained enough to Tim and my mother, but some things just get to you, you know?
By the way, over the weekend I figured out a way for the teachers to make the kids pay attention to details, but to still focus on content, too. Give out two grades! For each test or worksheet, the teacher could have a content grade and an exposition grade. They could assign whatever weight they want to each, although I personally would assign a heavier weight to content. Simple, yet brilliant, don't you think?
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