It feels like every time a team builds some solid momentum, a key piece just vanishes overnight. Does anyone else feel like the constant roster churning is killing the actual team chemistry?
hiddendriver34 said:Based on everything I’ve seen, those horror stories about sadistic teachers who actually enjoy tormenting kids in school are nothing more than urban legends. (It’s the exact same thing when people talk about those "saintly" educators who act like they have a literal halo over their heads because they live for the job.😁) In my experience, the absolute worst cases aren't even malicious—they just don't care. They’re just punching a clock. You usually see this with people right on the verge of retirement who have completely lost their spark, though you definitely run into younger ones like that too.
I've definitely seen fresh college grads act that way too. Generally, they fall into two camps: either they don't demand anything and hand out easy grades for no reason, or they hold you to PhD-level standards for everything. 😁
Anyway, I don't really buy into that whole "she just hates me" drama. I actually told my daughter once that her teacher doesn't care about her any more than she cares about anyone else in the class; if anything, the kid probably just gets on her nerves because there's always something to complain about. 😂
Sarah Hall53 said:The thing is, though, with how much grade inflation there is nowadays, your grades would probably be straight As or pretty much a 4.0 anyway.
That’s honestly the worst part—kids who actually earn their grades end up getting screwed over.
If you just look at art class—their work ethic, how much they put into their sketches, their notebooks—and then technical studies, where we see their independence and sense of responsibility, plus PE, which shows how active they are and their overall discipline... there’s plenty to find there. You don't even need to bring music into it. 😁
Yeah, mine had a 3.7 GPA once, which was enough to qualify for an A- average of 3.85 I'm fine with it 🤷 My only issue is not giving kids the chance to earn those top marks through their own hard work.
says: Not to mention that grades really should be calculated to two decimal places. Right now, it’s way too easy to just round a 3.5 up to a 4.0. Keeping decimals would prevent that frantic end-of-semester scramble where kids sitting at a 4.3 or 4.4 fight tooth and nail for an A, essentially putting them on the same level as students who maintained a steady 4.8 or 5.0 all year long. I honestly can't wrap my head around why they won't just implement two decimal places. This current simplification puts so much unnecessary pressure on teachers at the end of the term, and it feels totally unfair to the kids who have been consistently high achievers. So many people are calling for this change, yet it keeps getting ignored—I'd love to hear the reasoning behind that. 🤔 Have we ever actually used two decimal places in the American grading system? I don't recall it ever being a thing, though I haven't looked closely into the history. 🤔
Switching to two decimal places for GPA would just cause a massive wave of straight A's starting as early as elementary school, whereas before it was mostly just middle and high schoolers. Because that second decimal point could seriously change a student's class rank. You really have to think about what you want for your kid.
I personally feel like every child deserves the right to have a bad day, a rough test, or a chance to do a retake... In my opinion, using those extra decimals would just lead to more kids skipping school, followed by a spike in medical excuses. We really need to rethink how elective credits are graded (or at least stop weighing non-core subjects so heavily).
But why aren't they looking at the decimals right now? A 4.9 in fifth or sixth grade ends up being less than 80 points on those calculators. 🤔
says: I've never heard of a school making those kinds of final decisions, just individual professors coming to their own conclusions.
Yeah, you're right. I got the impression from Sarah Hall53 that they don't handle grading or conclusions that way at her school. Maybe I should rephrase: why is it that some professors decide things arbitrarily while others don't? 😁
So, why is it that some schools seem perfectly fine with grading below average, while in others, it’s treated like a major crisis? Is it actually possible that the principal is the one calling the shots on this?
stormymarlin22 said:I mean, how else would they do it? High school exit exam scores are basically the foundation for getting into most colleges. Most places just tack those results onto your entrance exam points, and you pretty much have to pass the core subjects just to stay in the running, I guess.
Yeah, once you finish high school and finally see what your score actually looks like 🤷
Kate Jackson4 said:Yes, it looks like the rush will start as early as February with applications
That's pretty wild; it’s basically like trying to apply for high school before middle school grades are even finalized actually, it’s even more intense than that 😂
I was reading an article about college admissions this morning, and they mentioned something along the lines of "high school seniors can change their college preferences right up until the SAT scores are released." What does that actually mean? Are kids picking schools without any clue how they performed on their exams? So when the scores finally come out, you just find out whether you actually made the cut for your top choice?
In Small Town, USA, kids from all over the county get driven around; it was the same way back in the eighties, and honestly, not much has changed since then.
Michelle Nelson4, I was looking into it, and it seems like most of those kids come from language academies, right? I guess it just makes sense that students who aren't big on math tend to lean toward language schools.😁 Jokes aside, I’m actually going to look into where those kids are heading based on what she wants (for now); maybe that'll help her make a decision.
I’ve always had a thing for spreadsheets and data, so I think I got a little lost in this 😵. It actually seems pretty interesting to me, though—I want to try my best to wrap my head around everything you're seeing and what it all implies. 😂