As Susan handed me this book I couldn't help but wonder why she would give us a book about driving. I quickly realized this book wasn't about a drive we can control, but about a drive that controls us.
What exactly is my drive? I never really thought about this question till after I read this book. I also thought about how many times a teacher has "encouraged" me to do great in a paper with rewards. I also got to thinking aren't grades rewards as well? Are grades really necessary?
As you can see a lot of questions arose in me. I thought a lot about how when we are little our parents teach us to respond to punishments and rewards. Parents would offer us a cookie if we made our bed. Why couldn't they just expect us to do it by ourselves? I mean we would have done it eventually right?
I have noticed that the natural drive everyone has helps create something much more unique then when we are pressured. I like to surpass my boundaries just like a lot of people. Have you ever noticed how little kids are always wanting to jump higher, run faster, or be better at something. Once we become young adults, we always tend to expect something in return for our achievements. It's time for a change..
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Ooh...you have me on the edge of my seat. More, more, more. Change how?
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is time for change, but people are creatures of habit and braking those habits can be really hard. As to what you said about grades being necessary, I think that it would be benefit some students to take classes on a pass fail basis, like you are allowed to do in college. This would take the pressure of having to get a certain grade, though this might be difficult to do in Highschool.
ReplyDeleteAbout grades being a reward though, I don't think that they are, they do exactly what they should, evaluate. You see you aren't given a grade, you earn it but not as a reward, rather as a recognition to your effort. Grades can be real proof of improvement and this can be quite satisfying. They also allow for a student to see how much they have to improve and to help them set goals.
I mean, when you work really hard for something, don't you enjoy seeing that A or B in recognition to what you have done?
Susan: I mean a change as in we should not expect something in return for our achievements. Our achievements should please us enough to not expect anything because we put our all into it.
ReplyDeleteElber: Of course I feel great when i receive an A or B in recognition. But what about those times when you study so much for a test and you still fail because of how the test is given. A grade can never really measure the amount of work and heart you put into something, nothing can.
It is obvious that the easiest way to evaluate students to go into college is by their grades. It would simply be too hard for school to evaluate students of graduating classes of 200+ by how much effort they have put into their work. But from personal experience sometimes I feel like I have really studied for a test, but when it comes time, oh! the teacher didn't ask for what I studied! Sometimes I feel like the things that you put full heart and effort, they can't be graded by anyone else but yourself.
ReplyDeleteAle when I read the part of your blog about grades being rewards I could completely agree with you. The way I see it though is that there is a positive reward and a damaging reward. For example, when I worked at the zoo the rewards were positive. I already knew I would receive a smile from a student to make my day but I did it anyway because I took on a task and I knew it was my job to complete it. I see the situation to be the same with grades. Grades have become a usual routine for us and so we continue to do it because we know we have something that needs to be completed. I do agree though that grades can sometimes misjudge the intelligence of a student. For example, I don't do so great on the SAT even if I study because I just don't test well in that area yet colleges decide to base a BIG portion of admissions through the printed results. I agree with Becca in the fact that if you really keep trying you will make it. Maybe not at the top but we will be taking the steps to reaching mastery as we spoke of today in senior seminar. All we have to do is set our minds and focus. When I say focus I don't necessarily mean narrow-minded, but I mean be open-minded and seek help when needed and take a break every once in a while when you deserve it:a positive reward.
ReplyDeleteBecca I agree that it would take a long time for everyone to be evaluated accurately considering there's a lot of us. But like you said yourself it's the easy way right? To just give us a grade that isn't really a representative of how much work we put into something. Well, if people want to lead by example, they should try not taking the easy way. I mean yea if we are intelligent enough of course we'll make it either way, but I really think we should have a different grading system.
ReplyDeleteLucy it's interesting that you talk about a positive kind of reward and a damaging one. I never really thought about it like that. When you received that smile that made your day it was a reward, but either way you would have done what was needed right? So i wouldn't call that smile a reward, it's more of a reminder of why you work at the zoo. And yes I agree that with an open mind we can accomplish anything.