Is A the New Average? or How will I change the world?

"You're not going to believe what my dentist asked me yesterday when I went for my checkup!"

I wasn't expecting too much out of the ordinary, after all, my colleague and I talk often and about everything. 

"He asked if the kids were getting smarter because most of his young clients tell him they are getting all As." My colleague then told me she sarcastically replied to her dentist, "Don't you know that A is the new average?"

We happened to be walking to our classrooms while having this conversation, and I promptly halted at the words, "A is the new average". It is very apparent that we have this issue on our campus, several factors involved: inflated grades, parent expectations, etc. But what shocked me was that for the first time the greater community was beginning to see the problem, meaning it is a huge problem.

I'm not going to get into why we have this problem or what should be done to combat it because I have learned that I can only affect what I can control, with the hope that by sharing what I do will slowly help to bring about change. So as part of my #youredustory blog challenge, I want to talk about how I will make the world a better place by staying true to my practice in my classroom.

Staying true to my practice means taking the emphasis, as much as I can, away from letter grades. It is so ingrained, with every activity or assignment garnering questions like, "How many points is this worth?" or "Is this worth a large part of my grade?". My response is always, "Do you plan on doing less than your best?". My students look at me like I've busted them somehow. Well, I have.

I've busted them for playing the game of school. My students have been conditioned to complete to do, not, complete to learn. Staying true to my practice means providing engaging learning opportunities that give my students purpose and authenticity. By no means have I mastered this, but I'm getting better. Our latest writing activity was writing book reviews that were published in our library. Only 1 student out of 166 asked the aforementioned questions. I'm making strides.

Staying true to my practice also means focusing on process, not product. Experience tells me that if I help my students focus on process, then naturally the final products will be their best work. I like to also help students realize that when you work, you use all the resources that are available. Halfway through the year and I am beginning to see students pull out resources, ask to use them, and begging for more time because they haven't gotten to use them yet.

Making the world a better place means helping my students realize their potential in spite of a grade system that has their focus in other places. The more I can empower a student to become a learner through the practices I use as a teacher, then little by little I have the potential to change the world through these empowered learners. 

To change the world, it is not likely that I will do anything on a grand scale. To change the world, I will make decisions on a small scale that will increases the chances of my students changing the world on a larger scale.

This is part of the #youredustory blog challenge. It's not too late to join.