One day of the pass week, my co-teacher M felt upset after morning classes and asked me for help. What annoyed her was how to grade a student’s speaking test. Obviously, she was unsatisfied with the student’s performance in the test.
“She speaks little.”M said, “How is she in your class?”
“It doesn’t matter a lot that how she is in my class.” I replied, “This is the speaking test which you just need to grade her performance according to four criteria of the test without considering her average performance.”
“She doesn’t do well at these 4 parts. How many scores should I give her?”
“Full mark for each is four. If she did too badly, give her I point for each part....”
“1 point?”Surprisingly, M seemed to never think about it. “It’s so mean!”
“OK,” Maybe M doesn’t want to disappoint the student so much on scores, especially girls ( Isn’t it true that girl students are always well treated?). “then 2 points at most.”
“Vera, you’re so harsh.” She began to cry, “I’ll give her 3 points.”
“What?” I can’t believe it. “I definitely disagree with you.” On the other hand, if you have already had your own idea, why do you ask me for advice? To judge me “to harsh”?
It was embarrassing.
Should we be harsh graders?
My point is that students have a right to access their real academic level in study which is helpful for their further improvement.
First of all, to be a harsh grader is a teacher’s duty.
Teachers not only pass knowledge on to students, guide them to behave well, help them with difficulties in studies, but also expose their disadvantages and offer suggestions as well. For the latter, harsh grading in test is the first and foremost step. If you are so considerate that always concern about students’ feeling about the given score, thinking that they might be hurt and hate teachers and studies. You’re wrong and you are doing something aweful for your students’ future actually. It’s certainly harmful for them not to realize their shortcoming in time.
For example, student A did so badly in the exam that he should not pass it originally. But his teacher finally let him pass so that he will be encouraged and not be disappointed.
When A gets his final grade which is satisfying, will he think about how to improve? Will he review his performance and ask teachers for help? Or will he just smile happily and relax, and then let it go?
As study graders, we teachers are not to satisfy students, but to show them facts directly that how they perform and how much they still need to make up.
We teachers have many approaches to attract students, make them like us, believe us and follow us. But most importantly, it is the authority that need to be set up first. We don’t need to cover the truth so as to cater students.
Otherwise, when our students suddenly face to the truth directly one day at the important moment in their life, helplessly realizing how terrible they are, how will they feel?
That’s really harsh then.
