Grade woes

As expected, the last part of the week was a little rough. I got the papers graded and returned to my students on Thursday. I had one very disappointed student stay after class and talk to me for a while, but that was no surprise. Actually, I thought there would be more questions. It's always hard to give back the first essay, knowing there will be at least a handful of students who are unhappy with their grade. It kind of disrupts whatever good classroom dynamic you have had going, because, suddenly, you become the bad guy. Well, after Thursday, I thought maybe I had somehow escaped without many complaints, but, as it turned out, a whole group just waited till after class on Friday to talk to me. Of course, I encourage them to ask questions if they don't understand my comments and all that, but the problem was that they not only wanted to ask questions, but to argue about the grades. These were tough conversations, and I've realized that dealing with grades is my least favorite part about the job. Not only do I spend a lot of time on grading (which is fine), but it can be hard to explain grades to students, and it's especially difficult with those who seem to feel that hard work should equal good grades. Or that because their scholarship or their GPA or whatever "depends" on their grade in this class, that it's somehow my responsibility to get them to that grade (rather than their responsibility to earn it). I found myself saying over and over that yes, I see you're working hard, and yes, I know you've never written anything like this before, and yes, I want you to do well, BUT, I have to grade what's on the page, and I have to stick to the standards I've set. It's tough. Thankfully, I came home to Mark, who so patiently listens to my commentary about all of this, then encourages me to essentially stand my ground. So, after yesterday, I am excited to have a couple days off to relax a little and try not to think about my class and my students so much. I've been only somewhat successful with the not thinking about it part, but I have been able to relax. (And also get the chores done!) I'm certainly thankful for the little break before charging back in on Monday and collecting another set of essays on Tuesday.