The Secret Sauce of Grades

I’m gonna spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag, clue you in on a big secret about how grades work. 

We’ve ending the third quarter for this school year and panic has begun to set in for some students. I’ve been getting frantic emails and messages:

“Am I passing this class?”

“What’s my grade?”

“What can I do to bring my grade up?”

I’m faced with a group, a disappointingly large group, of students who are just realizing that they have somehow missed the boat when it comes to grades. They have not figured out how academic success works and now they are in a state of apoplexy.

You’re not going to like this. It’s going to seem boring and routine, but here’s the secret to academic success: Do your work. Ask your questions. Come to office hours for help. Talk to your teachers if you’re confused, lost or over-whelmed.

We can help. It’s literally our job to help you succeed.

But, if you’ve basically taken the first 120 days of school off, doing little to no work, don’t expect an extra credit assignment to wash that all away. It can’t, you’ve skipped too much work. 

The best thing you can do is hit the ground running on Monday for the 4th quarter. Do the work - all the work. Get help when you need it. Ask your questions. Come to office hours.

It’s not exciting and it’s not easy.  It’s not the quick fix some kids are looking for, but doing the work - day after day is the secret to academic success.

Do the work and success will be yours, that’s the secret.

Everything’s New, Again

 A couple of weeks ago I did something I have not done for over a year; I taught a class from my classroom at the Bartlett. It was just me, alone with my laptop and two classes of 8th graders Zoom, but it was a big step. We’re comin’ back and things will return to some version of “normal” soon, and even closer to what we’re used to in August.

It's a dichotomy. For many who will return to in-person school, it's going to be different in a lot of ways from what we’ve done so far this year. For those who are remaining remote, it’s going to be pretty much more of the same. 

We’re going to have to learn how to get to school, how to come into the building, how to be in a room with X-number of other students and teachers. We’re going to do pool testing, learn how and when we can leave our seats, go to the bathroom or how Allied Arts will be done. There is a LOT of new stuff coming our way. 

But, at least in my class, the academic work is going to look the same.  We’ll be still be on Zoom. I’ll still be doing short presentations to start the class to provide you new information and to direct your work. We’ll still be doing small chunks of the curriculum at a time with short daily assignments due in a day or two. The biggest difference in my class is that now I’ll be sitting in a room with X-number of other people instead of alone in my home office. 

There is so much to figure out and plan, the adults at the Bartlett are all super-stressed. Not knowing is hard and there is a lot we don’t know yet. But, we will figure it out. 

I’m sure things on your end are going to be difficult as well - whether you are coming to school or staying remote. At this moment, I can’t mentally put myself into your shoes, but I’m sure you will all face challenges in the coming weeks.

Let’s just all agree to be open to change, to be flexible and not to freak out when things don’t seem to make sense.

We have 46 days of school left this year, let’s make the most of them!