Being too focused on the grades, and not worrying enough about what is learned, this, is what the education here is comprised of, from the Front Page Sections, translated…
Right after the sectional exams, Yu came over to discuss the answers to one of the fill-in-the-blank questions on the test, she said, “Teacher, the answer I’d put down here is grammatically-correct, why did you mark it wrong? I would’ve made a perfect score, had I gotten this question correct.”
I’d explained to her, “I believe you’re right, but, as there were two vocabulary terms thought up by two separate teachers who wrote the exams, you must find the answer that fitted the question the most; as for if you’ll get partial credit, I think we should consult the teacher who wrote this test question.”
kidnapped by the grades…
not my photo…
And, as Yu returned back to her seats, she’d started crying; afterwards, I’d gone to my colleague, told her what happened. She’d said, “This student is too excellent, but, she’d cared too much about the grades, she kept worrying about her first-place status will get taken from under her. She has a very low level of withstanding pressure, that, was what her parents were most worried over too.” After I’d returned to the offices, I’d started thinking about the way we’d graded, most were clear-cut answers, especially for the mock exams for the multiple choice sections, it’s a wonder that Yu was upset.
In the lunch hours, Yu came to see me, still looked worried. I’d become more than patient, reasoning with her, “I know you are very hardworking, and demanded so much of yourself, actually, having a 98 is just as excellent as having a perfect score. But, I saw how you’d become so upset, got kidnapped by your emotions because of the grades, don’t you think it wasn’t worth it at all?”
I hope, that in the three years of your middle school life, you learn not just to master the examinations and study hard, more importantly, it’s the ability to withstand defeat and the ability to resolve the difficulties, because only when you’d gained these skills, can you survive in the real world. Watching Yu leave, I’d felt a bit burdened. Yeah! My dear students, how cruel and harsh the world you guys will face in the future will be, there are just, too many trials of life, waiting up ahead for you. The teachers can’t forever be behind you, giving you supports, I hope, that in the path to growing up, after you’d, tripped and fallen, you have what it takes, to get back up again, and to keep going.
and once in awhile, you just might get this…
and what wll you do??? That, is what’s most important! Not my photo…
Well, because this kid was excellent, made all the perfect scores, and, this time, she didn’t, and she felt defeated, and, that merely meant, that this child hadn’t had her SHARE of trials yet, and, the teachers, not changing her grades is the right thing, because this young woman needs to learn, that life doesn’t ALWAYS go as she wishes, and if she couldn’t even cope with not getting a perfect score on a middle school English exam, then, chances will be, that she’ll be, too ill-equipped to cope with life later on too.
Life, the Obstacle Course 