I gave finals in each of my two classes scheduled for today, and got little Christmas miracles in each one.
In the first class, one of my students has already received a scholarship to college. He's put money down on housing, he's ready to go. All he has to do is maintain his GPA during his senior year. Can you see where this story is going? Of course you can! He let his grade drop to a C going into the final, and he needs a B in the course to maintain his GPA. Also, he calculated that he needed 94% on the final exam to get his grade back into the B range. As a little encouragement, I told him I'd award him a B- if he earned 90% or more on the final. I'm not giving away much; after all, what's the probability that he'd score 90-93%? Actually, since the final was worth 50 points and I don't award half-points, he'd get the B- if he scored a 90% or a 92%, and he'd earn a B- outright if he scored 94% or above.
45, 46, or 47+ points.
He studied, I know he did. He asked clarifying questions during the final exam today. I'm told he spent over $100 on tutors in the last week or so.
I grade tests a class at a time, a page at a time. So once I've graded everyone's Page 1, I turn the paper over and grade everyone's Page 2. This has some powerful advantages, including significant consistency in the awarding of partial credit as well as my not knowing whose paper I'm grading (after the first page). After everyone had turned in his/her test, I started correcting.
I correct papers very quickly, I have a system. With over two hours in which to give the final exam, I had plenty of time to grade the papers after the last had been turned in.
After I'd graded everybody's Page 4, it was time to add up the scores. I start from the back page and work my way forward, adding up missed points along the way, until I get to the front page, the one with the name on it, and that's when I write the score.
47 points. 94%. He earned the grade on his own. Perhaps he now understands the sentiment behind the motivational statement I've had written on the board all week:
In my next class, one of my students gave me a gag gift. Attached to it was a note:
I've learned more in this 1 semester than in my prior 2 years of math. Thanks for the knowledge.I think the note was the real gift.
1 comment:
I love stories like that. A few years ago I had a smart kid in my foundation art class. He told me Day One it was just for the credit. So he did the minimal and moaned like a wounded buffalo when we did an art history project. I told him that he would never know when this knowledge would come in handy. He took the APUSH test that year. When he came back to class he was really quiet. Then he said "Eight questions, eight, over Hudson River School and Manifest Destiny." I just smiled. Later that year he was the same kid who said "Doggone it Ms. K, it's like I see EVERYTHING as art." Cherish those moments. They are few and far between. Merry Christmas.
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