Grades 2

I took a look at the economy professors posts on grades, and I couldn't agree more. I liked his final words that "one size doesn't fit all". I think that is true. I have seen many of my friends and even myself at some times pay too much attention to the pressure from parents, guidance counselors, and the numbers on college admissions sights to get high grades. As I thought about this, I realized that the only authority figure in my life that I'm not receiving pressure to receive high grades are my teachers. While (most) of my teachers have genuinely wanted their students to do well, they place the importance mostly on learning and grappling with the information than getting an A+. Some teachers even outright state that they WANT you to not understand the information, because that is when you ask questions, and therefore learn more.

Another question I asked myself after Monday's class was this: in a writing center, as a writing consultant, is it more effective to strive for a position of authority over the students you are tutoring, or to strive to come off as their "friend" or just a peer trying to help them? I think this may vary student to student, but I will definitely keep thinking about this.

Grades?

Our discussion about grades and their importance struck particularly interesting to me because this is something that I have always wondered about, but never thought was a valid argument because I have been brought up to believe that grades are important and heavily impact your future success. As for my opinion on the issue, I'm not entirely sure. I think there are plenty of smart people out there that don't try hard enough and therefore their grades reflect their effort. In that case, their grades would not reflect their intelligence, but they would reflect how much they learned if you are following the rule that you learn more if your put more effort in. As the course goes on, I will continue to think about this issue because now I realize that this is worth pondering and definitely a valid argument!