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Grades Are Earned, Not Given
A mother confronted me once about the grade on her son’s writing work in my class. “But he spent so much time and effort on this paper!” The young man was also studying in a vocational education environment. His course of study at the time of the parental conversation was welding.
I listened to the mom. When she finished her passionate defense of her son’s work, I mentioned his welding class. “How would it be,” I began, “If, while testing the weld, a trailer was attached to the truck’s ball joint, the weld broke, and the trailer fell to the ground?”
As the mother contemplated the scenario, I asked another question, “Would the welding instructor think your son’s weld merited an ‘A’ because he had spent so much time and effort on the project?”