#Gradekeeper converted and now there are no grades series#
In the summer of 2018, I took an educational trends and issues class in which we were required to pick a current topic and write a blog series on it. In addition to switching schools, I also started working on my master’s degree. Learning wasn't the primary goal for my new students and I wanted them to develop a love for learning, to embrace mistakes and to grow. It was exhausting! At my old school, I had to get the kids to care more about their grades, and at my new school I had to get them to care less.
They tried to negotiate for a higher grade after claiming they “misclicked” on an assignment. They hounded me and begged me for a few extra credit points. They immediately compared grades with each other after a test. My students expected to make straight 100s.
As you can imagine, there were night-and-day differences between the schools, but one of the most striking differences was how obsessed many of my students were with their grades.Īnd not just good grades. So, I put in for a transfer and took a position at a school on the other side of town (I mean that literally and figuratively). I had a great relationship with my students, and despite the hardships associated with teaching children in poverty, they made great academic progress during their years with me.īut after six years at the same school under the same administration, I was looking for a change. My test scores were great, I was a semifinalist for teacher of the year in my school district, and I won Georgia Council on Economic Education Teacher of the Year.
Prior to the move, I taught middle grades social studies at a Title I school, and I had a lot of success there.
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