Online Grades

Student: Ms. Schley! I got an 85 on the last test! It brought my grade down from a 100 percent to an 88 percent.  That is TERRIBLE.

Me: Well, it’s not reasonable to expect to keep a 100 percent for the whole trimester. An 88 percent is a great grade–almost an A-.

Student: Gahhhh.  I prefer 100 percent.  Is there any way to get my grade back up to 100 percent even though I failed the test?

Me: You didn’t fail the test! You got a B!  It was a hard test.  B is a good grade.

Student: Ewww.  Are we going to be able to do test corrections?  It makes my Parent Connect look terrible.  I hate seeing the grades go down in there.

Me: Of course you can do test corrections.  You can get half the points you missed back. 

Student: Will that bring my grade back up to 100 percent?

Me: (blank stare)  How are you doing in math class?

I have conversations like this all the time at my school.  It makes me wonder–what are we teaching the kids to be concerned with in regard to their grades?  Are online grades really helpful for learning?  Or are we teaching students to be concerned with meaningless metrics and numbers, rushing through work they don’t understand to ensure good judgement in some futile online system?  

So much judgement for teenagers comes from the digital realm.  Likes on Facebook and followers on Instagram. Virtual competition in gaming.  Badges on FourSquare. There is even an app to measure and judge how much water you drink every day.  

Should we be teaching students how to make judgements about their achievements on their own, instead of relying on a variety of technological tools to create their reality?  It feels like with every online grade I post, the students get further away from their actual learning and more invested in an algorithm of judgement numbers posted online.