Since when have students been able to buy their way to a better grade? Well, according to a few of my brothers...for quite some time now.
I was absolutely blown away when my brother said he had to go to Wal-mart to buy a few things for "extra credit". Really?!? Since it'll be your father's money, will he get that "extra credit" then?
Apparently, the local high school students can earn "extra credit" by purchasing things teachers need, like EXPO markers and pens. Does anyone else see something totally wrong with this?
Now, I know that not every teacher does this and those that do don't do it all the time. I also know all too well that teachers are underpaid and have to use waay too much of their own personal money on needed classroom/student supplies.
Still...
I remember the days when "extra credit" truly was extra credit. After all, the whole purpose of doing extra credit was to raise your grade in that particular class by writing an extra paper, doing extra home work...thus increasing your knowledge as well as your grade in that particular class.
When we allow students to buy "extra credit", what kind of message are we sending to these high school students???
Well, since you are wondering, I'll tell you what popped into my head.
* The idea of working hard to get a good grade is meaningless to students because they can just buy their way to a better grade. So, why work hard?
* In a student's mind, if this works for grades, it will work for other things too. We already know many students purchase essays and pay others to do their work.
* When we lower our standards of what we expect from high school students, they automatically lower their standards of how they will perform. Too little is expected from these young people now-a-days and too much much is freely given.
What do you think about this?
I was absolutely blown away when my brother said he had to go to Wal-mart to buy a few things for "extra credit". Really?!? Since it'll be your father's money, will he get that "extra credit" then?
Apparently, the local high school students can earn "extra credit" by purchasing things teachers need, like EXPO markers and pens. Does anyone else see something totally wrong with this?
Now, I know that not every teacher does this and those that do don't do it all the time. I also know all too well that teachers are underpaid and have to use waay too much of their own personal money on needed classroom/student supplies.
Still...
I remember the days when "extra credit" truly was extra credit. After all, the whole purpose of doing extra credit was to raise your grade in that particular class by writing an extra paper, doing extra home work...thus increasing your knowledge as well as your grade in that particular class.
When we allow students to buy "extra credit", what kind of message are we sending to these high school students???
Well, since you are wondering, I'll tell you what popped into my head.
* The idea of working hard to get a good grade is meaningless to students because they can just buy their way to a better grade. So, why work hard?
* In a student's mind, if this works for grades, it will work for other things too. We already know many students purchase essays and pay others to do their work.
* When we lower our standards of what we expect from high school students, they automatically lower their standards of how they will perform. Too little is expected from these young people now-a-days and too much much is freely given.
What do you think about this?
