[Warning: possible earworm]
Dog goes woofCat goes meow
Bird goes tweet
and mouse goes squeek
Cow goes moo
Frog goes croak
and the elephant goes toot
Ducks says quack
and fish go blub
and the seal goes ow ow ow
But there's one sound
That no one knows
What does the 'A' say?
Well-done-well-done-well-donedonedadone!
Well-done-well-done-well-donedonedadone!
Well-done-well-done-well-donedonedadone!
What does the 'A' say?
You got 90% or better!
You got 90% or better!
You got 90% or better!
What does the 'A' say?
De-de-de-de-de-distinguished!
De-de-de-de-de-distinguished!
De-de-de-de-de-distinguished!
What does the 'A' say?
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
What does the 'A' say?
Big bold type
Pointy head
Causing joy
and spreading dread
...
So that's enough of that. But in all seriousness, the song reminded me of a project I have been interested in for some time: what does a grade of 'A' communicate to students, to their parents, to other educators, to the community? I have often wondered if we are all on the same page when it comes to grades and what they say. At one point, I thought about putting a questionnaire in the mailboxes of my colleagues asking this question, but for some reason I never got around to it.
Until now.
In the comments, please share what an 'A' said to you as a student and what you hope it communicates to your students as a teacher. I'll share what I really think the 'A' says after you all get the ball rolling. Thank you in advance for your participation.
Update: Thanks everyone. My response got a bit long for a comment - so, for what it's worth, you can find it in the next post.
Update: Thanks everyone. My response got a bit long for a comment - so, for what it's worth, you can find it in the next post.
As a student, an 'A' meant I did what the teacher asked of me, that my teacher liked me, that I'd learned some stuff in the class.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher, what I hope an 'A' means to the student is that he/she has succeeded in learning the objectives, that there's value to working hard and being present and engaged in learning. Mostly I hope it communicates the message of "keep up the solid work, and it is work and perseverance."
I agree with Fawn, for the most part.
ReplyDeleteAs a student, I thought an A meant I was smart. At least that's what my parents told me. As I became a more experienced student an A meant I knew 'how to play the game'. I certainly thought that as a university student. That doesn't mean that I didn't value what I learned but it seemed that the learning and the grade were not well-connected.
I hope it communicates to students that hard work pays off. That an A means you have learned 90% of the objectives of the course. But I hope they know that learning is not just about grades!!
As a student, I took it to mean that I had done my best and fulfilled the objectives of the course fully. As a teacher, I hope students see it as validation of their efforts, bit not be as satisfied with it as I was and continue pushing and stretching themselves.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I dig the catchy way you framed this post. And, your face. Well done.
ReplyDeleteStudent: "I figured out what I needed to do to get an A."
Teacher, in my dreams: "Student learned almost all of what she was supposed to learn."
Teacher, more realistically: "Student figured out what she needed to do to get an A."
Interesting! I see an A as exceeding what the outcomes & teacher expects, not as meeting. But, my Canadian brain has "A" set as 90+ percentage wise, not sure that fits with the standard? (@park_star)
ReplyDeleteIt depends :)
ReplyDeleteIn my most recent course Programming in Java I, an A on the quiz meant I could read the teacher's mind and knew *everything* backwards and forwards and deeply. I mostly got B's; I was still learning.
An A on the final? Even harder than an A on the quizzes, 'cause it was quite cumulative. (I got an 86.)
An A in the course? Not so hard, because 50% of the grade was your programming projects and if you met the design criteria and it worked, it was 100%. There would be discussion of how things should be improved, but points not deducted. (He joked about the power of somebody saying, "I was disappointed" about things like not calling those variables 'private,')...
HOWEVER. The students in this course pretty much had learning skills, strategies and habits well formed.
There's no one answer.