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Some folks just do not test well. Another great reason for abolishing
them. I'll always remember my "study pal" in college. She always knew
the material with more depth than I did, yet stressed out at test time,
so I always scored higher. But I know who really knew their stuff! Her
self esteem was really damaged by this and she thought of herself as not
very smart. So sad!
Mary Ellen
If you want to do everything yourself,
insist on being the only one who can do it right.

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Thomas and Nanci Kuykendall

At 08:29 AM 10/21/1999 -0700, you wrote:
>From: megates@...
>
>Some folks just do not test well. Another great reason for abolishing
>them. I'll always remember my "study pal" in college. She always knew
>the material with more depth than I did, yet stressed out at test time,
>so I always scored higher. But I know who really knew their stuff! Her
>self esteem was really damaged by this and she thought of herself as not
>very smart. So sad!
>Mary Ellen

Term/Semester Grades do much the same thing, and can be assigned very
arbitrarily. Grades can be affected dramatically if a teacher grades "on a
curve", gives extra credit that is slanted towards things that the teacher
most likes/enjoys, grades for quantity rather than quality, does not take
effort or originality into account, is unaware of things happening at home
which may affect a student's grade, any many other factors too.

This often happens in IS settings, and the child ends up feeling they have
been cheated and treated unfairly, while paradoxically also having their
self esteem negatively impacted. Even Good grades can have a devestating
effect on a child. I have a niece who is a straight A+ student from day
one of her schooling. However, her self esteem is SO centered on getting
A's (as is everyone else around her) that she is devestated by even an A-,
will spend all summer studying a subject to bring her grade up, and had a
bleeding ulcer by age 10. Teachers refer to her as "My A student" or "My
good student," kids turn to her for peer tutoring and her parents pressure
her to continue to perform well. She feels that she has to live up to
everyone's expectations, including her own.

Nanci K.

The O'Donnells

At 10:10 AM 10/22/99 -0600, you wrote:
Even Good grades can have a devestating
>effect on a child. I have a niece who is a straight A+ student from day
>one of her schooling. However, her self esteem is SO centered on getting
>A's (as is everyone else around her) that she is devestated by even an A-,
>will spend all summer studying a subject to bring her grade up, and had a
>bleeding ulcer by age 10. Teachers refer to her as "My A student" or "My
>good student," kids turn to her for peer tutoring and her parents pressure
>her to continue to perform well. She feels that she has to live up to
>everyone's expectations, including her own.
>

Boy I understand this one - in 5th grade (for me) I had a teacher that was
bent on showing me that anything other than an "A" would not kill me. She
gave me "C's" on my report card and when my Mom went to see her to see what
had happened in 6 weeks she told my Mom why she had lowered my grades. The
result was by the end semester I didn't do any of the work and she gave me
"A's" in areas I had earned "F's" at best! I was very confused that year.
Yuck! Actually, I think the teacher was more than just a little confused.


In His Service,

Laraine
praxis@...
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