1964
Just got back from sitting at the Ks - another $1.50. That vest pattern still hasn’t arrived! I’ll probably not finish it by Christmas, still, I’m mad at Barton’s. We had a conference with the other committee heads and they don’t agree with a lot I say. I don’t think the Juniors and Seniors should be allowed to help too much with the Talent Show. It is supposed to be the Sophomore Talent Show!
Comment 2022
Class warfare, high school style! Each class in my high school had its own annual fundraising event. For the sophomores, it was a talent show. While the performers could be from any class, the leadership and decision-making was generally restricted to the sponsoring class. For the life of me, I can not remember what was being proposed that offended me so deeply. But with three underlines and an exclamation point, it must have been serious.
Barton’s was that now-extinct main street staple, the local department store. I had ordered a sewing pattern from them so I could make a vest for my brother for Christmas, and a week from the big day, it still had not arrived. Would it come in time? Could I sew a vest (buttons holes and all) before Christmas? Stay tuned.
Only ONE diary entry between 1964 and 2023? It had to happen. So, a bonus.
For your reading pleasure, a collection of grading whines from my social media self.
2012
My week so far. #gradinghell
2013
This week I am thankful for Peapod.
(Waves from the grading treadmill...)
2014
Today’s great moment in #gradinghell : when the student who has not attended class since September hands in a final paper. Joy.
My comment, same thread, 2014:
Full disclosure: I got an F+ on my first exam in college. Had no idea how to study; never learned how to take notes in high school. Went to the professor and he explained an F plus meant that a freshman shouldn't taking that class. Offered to change it to a D- so I could get a "withdraw passing". 50 years later, I am still that frantic, failing freshman and that softhearted teacher.
Also 2014
Initial attempt to bring joy to #gradinghell. Next semester I might add a spinner.
2023
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times. I love teaching; I hate grading. Over the years, I have devised ways to pare down the task or eliminate it altogether. “Devise” is the perfect word choice, since many of these are actually quite devious. But at this point, nearly seven years after retirement, what can they do to me? I am ready to share my secrets.
My quibbles with grading are numerous, but boil down to two issues. The first is that in my courses, students do not take the kinds of tests where a numerical score or letter grade is meaningful. Decades ago, I taught design courses. As I shifted more into cultural studies, I assigned research papers, multimedia projects, portfolios, and reflective journals. When I give the rare exam, it’s essay, not short-answer, true/false, or multiple choice tests. I will happily write a detailed written evaluation of a student's work, but translating that into a number or a letter (which is then turned into a number when their GPA is calculated) is beyond irritating.
The second problem with grading is that, in my opinion, most students are too focused on grades as a proxy for learning. It seemed no matter what I did, after an exam or project, I was more likely to be asked "what can I do to raise this to an A", than any other question. This only got worse in 1999, when the University of Maryland adopted plus/minus grading, supposedly to curb grade inflation. (Ha ha ha!). At first all letter grades in the same range (B-, B, B+) had the same point value. Eventually, the policy was changed so that they were weighted differently. This resulted in a lot frenzied calculations when grades came out, like this one from the UM Reddit forum:
If anyone can answer this it"ll be really helpful, I came away with two A-, two b flats and an A. It comes down to a 3.48 overall if the deans list is 3.5 did i not make it?
This would be followed by an email to all of the instructors, in search of relief so that the student could make Dean's List/keep their athletic eligibility/get into med school. They all have reasons. At first I tried just incorporating them into my existing grading scheme. The result was that every student who got a B+ or C+ came knocking on my door for a few more points so they get a higher letter grade. So would a few others whose GPAs came up a fraction short of some cutoff. At the end of the fall semester, I even had students who emailed me ON CHRISTMAS EVE to lobby for a higher grade.
Devious solution: I stopped giving plus grades. If a student fell into the plus range, they would either be given the higher minus grade, or the lower flat grade, depending on how their work compared to others in those ranges.