you are NOT in school to graduate; you are in school to learn the utmost knowledge your brain can handle.
i was once alarmed by the fact that ‘chika’ have been circulating about me that i terribly give ‘low’ grades. at first i was disturbed, because it’s not true, i mean as far as i know i give grades in accordance to what they deserve, i am not saying that most of my students are ‘slow’ or ‘stupid’, but the reason why they are in school is because they have to ‘learn’ and to have ‘sky rocketing grades’ are just secondary.
i know that some might react and tell me that getting high grades is part of their ‘university life’ but at least try to grasp this- how many students come to school to actually learn? how many students come to class to ‘graduate’? to get their diploma?
you see students in this generation are far more concern on the ‘numbers’ they get (grades) than the actual learning experience. in fact, i would always end my lessons early not because i want to but because there are no students, and i mean no students who asks me questions that would produce a worthwhile ‘intellectual intercourse'.
i for one believe that ‘education is not a compromise’. you go to school to learn and grades are just a prima facie on how you actually performed during the semester. kids these days get high grades because they resort to ‘not so’ good techniques in claiming what they think they deserve. they loose their integrity and their humanity because they act as if it is the only option available. they thought professors never notices the way they tilt their head to look at their classmates answer, on how they centralize their eyes on the person whom they think has the right answers. i mean they party the night before and then they also want to get high grades the next morning? they want the best of both worlds; the word priority doesn’t mean anything to them? kung makakahamig- hahamig.
so my solution to that is to always give essay or analysis for examination. one teacher asked me ‘diba mahirap yang chekan?’ i answered ‘yup, but this is the only way i could motivate my students to speak their minds’ then my colleague answered ‘pano kung daanin ka sa chika?’ so i answered back ‘chika o hindi i’d still get an ounce of what they think’.
education can never be a concession, a kid should get the grade that he/she deserves, i am not saying that teachers should not give them ‘considerations’ in the numerical sense but I think it would be better for the students to walk tall knowing that the grades they have is something that they actually earned.
a lot of students seek their teacher’s favor because they want an easy way map for the semester, what they don’t get is that if the teachers liked them personally, the expectations from the professor becomes higher, leaving a little for consideration.
so the key, make learning the priority.