End-of-semester angst
I was going to write about the painful semi-annual ritual of grading, but I've done that way too many times before (see below).
It comes down to this:
- I want to make people happy.
- My job is to give students honest feedback.
- Doing the second may make the first impossible
So I worry and I fret and occasionally lose sleep when some grades aren't As or Bs, even though I know that they can't be. If you grade fairly and rigorously there have to be a sizable number of Cs in each class, since by definition C is average.
Truth is, most of us are average, but none of us want to admit it. My job is to make that judgement and put it on paper.
More
Advice to an "A" student—Nov. 5, 2010
Grades, grading, Gradekeeper—Oct. 29, 2009
The worst part of the job—Oct. 19, 2007
