I have received my bachelor's degree in business education from a pretty respective "teacher" college 18 years ago. I have worked with many teachers from many other colleges and universities who seemed to struggle with some aspect of teaching. I have always felt confident that my undergraduate teacher training made me a successful teacher. I still hold my undergraduate college on a pedestal in terms of its ability to train teachers, but...
Wow!
I wish I had read (or had been forced to read) the Art of Possibility when I was earning my teaching degree. Better yet, this book could be a great resource for new teacher mentoring programs (which I may recommend to our administration).
The chapter pertaining to Giving an A was a very intriguing chapter. I was particularly enlightened that by changing the point of view, we can all earn A's. There are plenty of things in today's education that can deter a student from reaching academic perfection but that should not hold us back from trying our best and giving ourselves an A. Although we may not have earned a 100% or even a 90% on our school report card, that does not mean that we did not perform our very best.
I have been blessed to work in a true "college prep" school for the past 12 years. Being a nerd here is actually pretty cool and earning top academic grades is very competitive. Our Academic Team has won the season long academic tournament for our surrounding counties since its inception and our Math Team has consistently placed in the top two (nationally) for the past six years on the Math Facts Competition while taking top honors this year with a field of 12 countries being represented. Around here, geek is chic!
The downside of having a bunch of brainiacs running around campus is that we have a large population that only get a 4.0. Yep, I said it... ONLYa 4.0. With that said, there many combination of why can kid ONLY gets a 4.0. Likely this student did not take any Advanced Placement (AP) which does factor into a weighted grade when determining grade point averages (in our case, AP courses are valued at an additional .4) or they may have taken all AP courses but got a B in Physical Education (no stereotyping intended).
Now, getting a B in PE sounds like a heck of a way to see your GPA drop to a 4.0 especially because we know that PE can be a subjective grade at best. These types of scenarios can cause much heartache because the academics are so competitive and everyone is shooting for the stars in terms of college acceptances in the Ivy League schools and other top notch colleges and universities.
Giving your self an A? I believe this is a great concept for many students. Getting a 4.0 with a B in Phys Ed? I'd give myself an A on that one too!
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