At the end of every quarter, teachers pull some tricks out of their sleeves and change your grade from an A to a C with just a few clicks.
They can magically change your grades by delaying putting in big assignments until the last possible day, which can change your quarter average drastically.
X2 is a great way for students to know exactly what their averages are and to stay on track with their school work. It’s helpful for us to know if we need to work harder.
There’s even the diligent students that will crunch numbers and figure out exactly what grade they need on their upcoming test to maintain that A average.
When teachers don’t enter in grades until the last day of the quarter, it’s especially aggravating for these students. You check X2 and think you’re all set and have a steady grade that you want, only to look deeper into the assignments, and realize that huge paper, lab report, or test isn’t included. These harder assignments are usually worth the greatest amount of points and thus affect your grade the most.
Teachers do have a lot on their plate, with several classes’ worth of work to grade, but students’ stress is soaring through the roof as well. We try to balance all of our classes’ grades, which makes it extra frustrating when we don’t know exactly where we stand.
The ultimate goal in school is to try your hardest in all of your classes, but students do also need to prioritize. Sometimes, you have to make the decision to spend more time studying for one subject rather than another.
If you have a stellar grade in math, then you might choose to spend less time studying for your upcoming math test, and to divert your time and energy to the upcoming biology test, which you know you need to get a 95 on to keep the average you want.
But it’s difficult to prioritize the right subjects when you have no clue what your actual grades are. There’s no way teachers can possibly update X2 the minute they finish grading every single assignment, but waiting until the very end of the quarter is hurting the students immensely.
The last week of the quarter is stressful enough with an overabundant workload, but when students see their grades plummet down the last day, when it’s already too late, they lose all hope of success.
If teachers keep X2 updated, and don’t procrastinate putting grades in, then students would be much more aware of their academics and won’t be having meltdowns when their grades take a drastic change the last day of the quarter.
Mrs Juster
Nov 7, 2015 at 11:59 am
You raise many good points, Bella. What many may not realize is that you are using the anonymous and collective noun “teachers” to express concerns about a few teachers.
Your concerns with the minority who do not post grades regularly are mixed in with concerns that a “big” grade can change a final term grade. That’s only logical isn’t it? All courses start on the same date and end on the same date. Isn’t it logical to expect the “big” grades, reflecting the end point or culmination of a unit of study, to come at the end of a term. And wouldn’t it then also follow that such an important assessment would take much more effort to grade with thoughtful comments intended to provide students with the opportunity to reflect on academic performance?
While I don’t want to excuse, in any way, poor practice on the part of a few teachers, it remains the student’s responsibility to give each course his/her best effort. If a student is having to short change one class for another, then the student might need to consider a course change.
You should also know that X2 was “down” for an upgrade for part of the weekend following the close of grades – a critical time for teachers and their grading workflow.
Liz
Nov 4, 2015 at 9:32 pm
Totally agree with this article… I think Bella isn’t trying to attack teachers for not putting in grades in a week later, but on a more serious level: entering grades in LITERALLY two hours before the grades are due. I totally understand that teachers have lives and have hundreds of papers to grade, I really do. However, last year I had this one teacher who didn’t enter in ANY grades until hours before the quarter closed. The teacher somehow got past the mandatory “progress report” and we received no grade halfway through the quarter. Instead, most of the class logged on the day after the quarter closed to come to the realization that they averaged out C-. I don’t expect teachers to have assignments corrected over the weekend or after a week, but in a reasonable timeframe. Students need to see their “progress” or lack thereof throughout the year, and not simply for 2 hours before grades close.
Ms. Gagnon
Nov 4, 2015 at 7:51 pm
I think students forget we all have 100+ students, which for every one three page assignment, is 300+ pages to correct. They also don’t understand we have two weeks according to district policy to input grades. We all do the best that we can. Students are in some cases very egocentric and don’t see the big picture. They also forget we have lives outside of school. Just saying….off to rehearsals! ?
Katlyn Brutus
Nov 4, 2015 at 7:48 pm
I think it’s interesting that you wrote teachers shouldn’t procrastinate doing grades, maybe students shouldn’t procrastinate on their work and they would’ve gotten the grade they wanted.
Emily
Nov 4, 2015 at 7:46 pm
Alright, here’s the thing… I update my grades anywhere between one and three times a week, so I realize I am not necessarily one of the teachers being spoken about in this article. However, I also write the grades students are getting on each of their papers that I return. Therefore, even if I did not post grades students should have a decent idea of how they’re are doing. I also almost like that some teachers hold off on posting the grades, because students are so obsessed! It seems that their motivation is far more based on the number I right vs. the learning they are actually doing, and that is so unfortunate.
Mrs. Goulet
Nov 4, 2015 at 7:27 pm
I totally understand your article. As a graduate student I would often be frustrated when my assignments were not updated in a timely manner. I have only one objection to your article. The term procrastination implies an act of will on the part of the teacher to withhold information from students just to keep them stressed about quarter grades. I personally have students begging me to put this or that assignment on the quarter at the last minute thinking it will be the last minute boost they need. That immense work load you have has to be graded by someone. If grades close on a Thursday, a teacher must also consider what he or she can grade and record in less than a week in order to have everything complete by grade posting. In defense of my fellow educators, I would like to assure you that last minute grade posting is not the result of procrastination but an equally “overabundant (grading) workload” so that students can earn every point they can to succeed.