(no subject)

Source: A Teacher's Perspective

"It seems that more and more students feel that they deserve A’s and B’s simply because they worked hard on something regardless of the fact that what was turned in was simply “average” work. Now I am very carefully to set up a detailed rubric based on the specific instructions that I give before an assignment so that I know I am being as objective as possible. The problem is that so many of my students chose to ignore the little details like format, proper heading, 6-traits writing (yes even in a science class) and answering in complete sentences. And yet it is those students who come up to me at the end of the grading period saying “I just cannot come home with anything less than a B in your class”. I know this is a wacky notion but I think only those people who follow directions and put in the effort should receive the higher grades. But again, when did a C equate to “failing”?"

This is something I encountered back when I was dealing with students (and one of the things that lead me to drop teaching), the idea that they have paid to receive a particular grade, as if their enrollment (but not presence) in a course means that they should, with no effort, achieve a passing grade. I have been told that this is a way of life in pre-university... A student is not permitted to be failed. In my day, students had to contend with the very real possibility of failing a grade, and some did. Then they hit unversity and expect the same treatment, and who can blame them. This is their experience with the educational system, the idea that you are entitled to receive by just being you.

Perhaps I'm old-school, but I believe that one purchases the opportunity to be educated, so it is incumbent upon the student to maximize the return on their investment. You don't buy stocks and claim that you are entitled to making a profit, nor should you expect that a certain grade is guaranteed. The whole "you owe me for being me" is prevalent in much of North American society. The concept of having to work, put in effort, for things seems to have become a quaint and niave notion.