That drastic action was taken because Dorval refused to go along with a misguided scheme cooked up by educational theorists and school administrators.
Under this scheme, it’s no longer possible for high school teachers at Ross Sheppard and numerous other Edmonton schools to give a student a mark of zero on an assignment or test, even if the student fails to hand in the assignment or write the test. Instead, students are given a final mark based on the work they do complete.
I met with Dorval on Thursday and immediately thanked him. It’s not often any of us see real heroes, people who put their reputations and jobs on the line to uphold a righteous principle. Dorval fits that category. By refusing to accept lower standards in our schools, he’s standing up for all parents and students.
Check out the complete story HERE.
I was the kind of teacher who never contacted parents until the first parent/teacher interviews of the year. It tended to make them curious about who I was and bring them into the school to talk to me. It was then that I could show them the printout of all the assignments we had done up to that point and which assignments the student had failed or failed to turn in.
Often this was a shock to parents but a shock that they could immediately take control of. I always gave the students the opportunity (like Mr Dorval) to make up any missed assignments or even to re-do ones they had done poorly on. Sure it meant more work for me but I was all about getting things done without excuses.
Kids will never remember the facts you teach them but they will remember the learning and study skills they need if you re-enforce and reward possitive behavior. Enough with just GIVING people self esteem. Self-esteem is EARNED and only appreciated when worked for.
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5 comments:
I agree, Cal. School prepares kids for the work force and the real world. If you don't do a job or show up for work, you'll get the biggest zero of all -- a trip to the unemployment office. Rewarding kids for failure to do their work in schools teaches them an unrealistic view of life.
And it robs them of the JOY of learning, maybe for life. If they have to suffer a bit just to keep up while they are living free at home then it's a good thing. Keep 'em busy, keep them geeky I used to say.
Rest assured that if a policy like this ever past by my mother's desk, she'd march straight to whoever wrote it and give them a piece of her mind (right after she complained about its idiocy to everyone else at home).
"Giving a child a zero gives them poor self esteem." I think if a kid truly reaches a bottom number like that, self esteem is the least of your problems.
Maybe its because I grew up with my mother as a teacher and my father a professional writer that when I got poor marks in school, we looked over the work together, identified the weakest points, adjusted my study habits, and worked one on one to make sure that I understood the material. Often they would review my math and english assignment before I turned them in. That way I could recognize the flaws and than they could instruct me on how to improve so that I could truly understand how to do better.
I have told this story many times - neither of my parents went past grade nine but would not tolerate us not working hard in school. I could get away with murder as long as I kept my grades up. It was never a question that me and my sister would go to University. It was my dad's dream. He had no patience for us if we gave a teacher grief. I once punched a hole in the wall and they were going to let me go with some detention but my dad insisted I fix the damage I caused. So I learned how to patch drywall.
I propose a compromise. He can give the students a score of 1 instead of zero. That way he isn't giving out zeroes but he isn't giving the kid a pass.
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