Are Your Students Obsessed with Grades?

       Here's a quick checklist to see if your students are obsessed with grades:

1. They are constantly asking, "Is this going to be graded?"
2. They refuse to do anything if it is not being graded.
3. They ask for "extra credit" or make-up work at the end of the marking term to raise their grade to the next letter grade.
4. They only see the grade at the top of their returned work and ignore the helpful comments that the teacher has written.
5. They try to memorize the information they need to know for tests.
6. They follow procedures in mathematics for unknown reasons just to get the right answer.

       In short, students who are obsessed with grades are just "going through the motions" at school; they do what they're told, but they learn very little.  And when they take a test that can't be beat by memorizing (like a final exam) they show their true ability or lack thereof.  The challenge for these students is to do as little as possible to earn the grade they want.

THIS IS NOT THE WAY SCHOOL IS SUPPOSED TO WORK.

       School is supposed to be all about learning.  If students aren't learning, than we are wasting their time.  And if we are (somehow) justifying how these grades-obsessed students are getting A's and B's, then we are giving them (and their parents) a false sense of accomplishment.  Eventually someone will tell these students the truth about their academic abilities, and it would be a shame if they are in college (and paying for college) when they are hit with this truth-bomb.

       Teachers can help their students to de-emphasize grades by praising them for their thinking and reasoning.  They can emphasize learning by asking students to explain how they got the right answer instead of just accepting the right answer and moving on.  Formative assessments that require thinking and reasoning and justifying instead of just repeating information tell students that memorizing isn't good enough.

       We have to help students to be less obsessed about grades.

Growth Mindset Parents

       I'm not sure if the idea of mindsets has broken out of the field of education and into the general public.  I hope it has.  Imagine if the parents of all of your students had a Growth Mindset and imagine if they helped their children (your students) to have a growth mindset.  That would be truly excellent scenario for any teacher!

       If you are not currently living this this ideal world, what can a teacher do to help her students' parents to understand the value of Growth Mindsets?

       Parents often ask teachers what they can do at home to help their children.  In the middle and high school years, sometimes the parents feel that they are not capable of helping their children because the content is beyond their ability.  This is an opportunity to talk about Growth Mindset with parents.  Here are some Growth Mindset suggestions that any parent can do:

1. Help your child to understand that effort yields results.  Read, study, practice, quiz yourself.  
2. Tell your child that true learning takes time.  You might not "get it" the first time.
3. Make sure your child understands that it is OK to make mistakes.  We all learn from our mistakes.
4. Praise your child for effort; don't praise your child for "being smart".  This seems counterproductive, but kids who are rewarded for "being smart" tend to take less chances for fear of losing the "smart" label.
5. Never, never, never, never tell your child that you were bad at math or science or anything else.  This gives children an excuse for not doing well, and it makes them believe that they have some sort of genetic deformity that predestines them to be bad at these subjects.

       So much of these suggestions go against the idea of "playing school"--looking smart, pretending to learn, memorizing stuff for the test, only caring about grades, and not caring about learning.  We want students to understand the value of hard work.  Learning faster isn't learning better.  It's OK to make mistakes.  When students hear this from their teachers and then hear it again at home, they will believe it.

       Learning isn't a competition.  Students with a fixed mindset toward any particular subject can change to a growth mindset if they have supportive teachers and parents that encourage a growth mindset.

       Learning real does take a village--a Growth Mindset village would be a pretty good place to live!