A high school English teacher in Massachusetts gave a commencement speech.
When he illustrates the meaningless of excessive awards, I can't help but think of my own school. We give out way too many awards. Does Perfect Attendance need to be an award? I can't imagine that sick fifth graders are telling their parents, "But I have to go to school today [cough] [cough] I want the Perfect Attendance award."
I also hate the Super Citizenship award. One might argue that we quantify it by using marks on the communicator. Yeah, but each teacher is making subjective choices about what to sign, how often to sign, and who needs signing.
Even honor rolls need an overhaul. Given the choices that teachers make regarding types of assignments and their philosophy of grading (by the way, participation grades should be burned at the stake), A's in one class aren't necessarily the same as A's in another.
Anyway, my ranting is delaying the enjoyment of this video...
I also hate the Super Citizenship award. One might argue that we quantify it by using marks on the communicator. Yeah, but each teacher is making subjective choices about what to sign, how often to sign, and who needs signing.
Even honor rolls need an overhaul. Given the choices that teachers make regarding types of assignments and their philosophy of grading (by the way, participation grades should be burned at the stake), A's in one class aren't necessarily the same as A's in another.
Anyway, my ranting is delaying the enjoyment of this video...
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