What is a Grade?

When a teacher gives a student a grade, what does that grade signify? Does it signify the effort and care a student put into an assignment and/or class? Sure. Some students bust their hump to do they best work possible. Some students, for whatever reason do not.

But this is only what a grade represents, in the least bit. A grade's true meaning is the value a student has placed in a class. A student who got a D did not get it because he did not care. He got the grade because the class or the assignment stunk. Students do bad work because the work they are given is bad to begin with.

Under achieving students are a clear sign something is wrong with the quality of a course. The readings are vague and arduous. Assignments do not reflect a student's knowledge. Discussion is not moderated to filter out or stifle superficial and meaningless comments.

Teachers cannot assume students do not care or are poorly prepared. If they do, then they are letting too much opinion and full blown bias get in the way of compelling the student to grow. In this sense, grades are given, not earned.

Teachers need to look at a course, the material, the assignments, the lectures, and the discussion from students' perspective. Will the student find significance in the learning experience? Sometimes being able to understand the material is enough. Sometimes its not. Sometimes showing how the material can be relevant later in life can help, but probably not.

I'm not trying to solve the answer of how to get students to find meaning in a class and the work. I think it depends on the student and the class. The main point though, is grades should not ultimately reflect a student's achievement and how much they gave a shit in class. The grade is ultimately a reflection of how much a student was compelled by a teacher, enjoyed classed discussion, found quality in the readings, had desire to express learned knowledge through assignments.

Ultimately students are teaching themselves. Yes, teachers put lots of time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears into preparing and delivering a class. But students are paying for a worthwhile experience. They have to decipher lectures, comprehend readings, contribute intelligently to discussion, and build elaborate assignments and projects. And they do not know anything about the material from the start! It is the teachers job to make this process awesome! If they do not and a student gets a good grade, well then shit-damn. If a student gets a bad grade, then their is a good chance the class has no value.

Around the Corner

With warmer days ahead, I look forward to basking in summer air reading books and fighting off bugs. It will be great to revel in my romantic side during the long daylight hours of the year. I am reading my second book of the year which feature Theodore Roosevelt. As the warm air nears, I imagine myself voyaging at will and tackling the adventures that come as Teddy would do. I would love to pass my time hiking through woods and swimming in small lakes, taking breaks here and there to eat cheeseburgers.

There is no rest however, from my studies or my job. Four to five nights a week spent at a certain grocery store I no longer wish to name aloud. I have three classes on my plate for the summer. They will run, unfortunately, from May all the way into August. It may prove to be quite a long summer in fact. I hope at least, my classes are more compelling than what I have taken so far. My mind is in dire need of stimulation, something I feel it has lacked for some time now. My imagination still turns, but I ashamed myself in admitting that I have been lazy in exploiting it. It seems the lackluster courses at Kent State and the absence creative energy in Newbury has stifled my creative passion.

Yet with summer around the corner and the return of certain people in my life I cling hope that energy and passion laying dormant within me, will find some medium with which to escape. It also seems, that warmer air puts an extra step in my stride and adds an extra inch to my smile. It is difficult to be bored when the leaves are green and the grass is dry and inviting.

Generation Gap

In a class I recently attended, a fellow classmate made the comment, "People like to see themselves in others. People go to people they understand."

When I take part in job interviews for open librarian positions, one thing I may say is that I believe I can have an immediate impact. I believe this because when I do have the interview I will be 25 or 26 (hopefully!) and fresh out of grad school. I will still be young, full of energy, full of goals, full of passion. Yet, I will still have the taste of confusion and uncertainty lingering on my tongue from my years in high school and undergrad. I believe I can be a person that students will see themselves in.

There is a generation gap between college students and many if not most librarians. Granted, most college students probably do not make great use of their libraries because they do not give a shit. I feel though, in part from my own undergrad experience, that there is a disconnection between students and librarians. It may be because there is no forced interaction between the two. I will argue still, however, that if you had given me a reference librarian 26-33 years of age, I would have consulted her or him more often than I did. Which was very little (and I am ashamed that I did not know better). And I bet you my classmates would have too.

Academic libraries need young librarians. The library needs young librarians to draw patrons to the library and to design the future. Students need young librarians. Young libraries may serve as the image which students relate. Through this connection students may then discover the possibilities the library offers. Young librarians are like a blossoming flower opening up and spreading its beautiful pedals for all to enjoy.

What they don't prepare you for.

At the end of four years of intense schooling, I got a piece of paper that says my name and Bachelors of Arts. The idea was that I was an enlightened person ready to take on the world. Problem is, they do not know where you are going to go and what you are going to do. You are sent out to the world and you have got to make it.

What they do not prepare you for is life disconnected and the inescapable feeling of loneliness. Four years are spent with people who got to know you for you. After four years then, you are all supposed to go home and start your lives. What if your friends were your life? Now you have hundreds, maybe thousands of miles between you and the reason you gave a shit for four years.

I wish my inspiration for writing this was a result of boredom and to much time to think. And maybe it is. In the cold and compelling torment that is northeast Ohio, it has become common to feel like this daily. I do have my dreams and I am working towards them. Undergrad has most definitely prepared me for grad school. What I cannot seem to escape is the dullness of life between childhood and accomplishing ones dreams. You see, when children become adults and have to fend for themselves, they are thrown into a big muddy hole with everyone else who is an adult. Anyone who wants to make something of themselves has to get dirty and climb out of the hole. What they do not prepare you for is at school is this hole. Just because you made yourself a better person, does not mean you are exempt from the pit.

What they do not prepare you for is that you never get to take a break. You never get to be care free. You are not entitled to anything. There are always going to be stupid people. There is more meaning in your life than a party with your friends. They do not prepare you for how awful this all can feel. But they do show you something in yourself that you did not know was there and if that is not enough to get you through, then you're fucked. This is the brutal truth. It's not a happy story, unless you make it one somewhere down the road.

A new year and a fresh start

In the past I have not been very found of the whole New Year's Resolution thing. This year however, I have bought into it. Although, I've given it my own moniker: New Year's Revolution!

There is much I want to do with my life but I find myself failing to live up to my desires be it starting or continuing. I do not like being a follower, but I tend to take notice of fine quality of character and will emulate a person who lives a admirable life. Someone I look up to is following her passions for science and travel, going on a round the world journey visiting numerous countries while studying biology. It makes me so jealous knowing what she will get see and do. It inspires me however, to live up to my own passions no matter how big or small they may be.

Follow your passions and let there be light.