Learning and Grades the Magical Connection
What does learning look like to you? How do you know you have learned something? What do grades mean to you? What is the purpose of grades?
posted by annes @ 9:23 AM
Smith's 9th Honors Class Blog
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27 Comments:
Learning to me looks like flashcards and repitition. It's also very visual. I learn better when I can put learning with a word, phrase, or picture.
I know I have learned something when I can remember it on demand and teach other people.
Grades to me are a plot of where you are, on paper. It doesn't mean much, all it means is that you can do homework and remember things.
Grades are for a reference as to how well you do work on paper. It doesn't tell what you know, just what you can spit back out.
Wow. I just lost my comment. That stinks.
Well, to me learning takes on different appearances, depending on what is being learned.
I know I have learned something when I can recall the information on command.
To me, grades are a way to measure my progress. They measure different things depending on the class.
Sorry that is so short, everyone, but I really didnt want to te-type everything.
I think that learning comes in many forms and it is up to you to recognize it. I know that I have learned something when it sticks in my head and I can remember it when it comes up later in that class. I think that the purpose of grades is to show you where you are academicially. If you have bad grades, then you know that you are not trying hard enough.
I'm not the most metaphorical person so I can't really say what learning "looks" like to me. I guess it looks like...pizza. There are bunch of ways to do it and there's one or more ways for you specifically do it right. Some might like pepperoni. Some Cheese. Just like some people are visual learnes, some people kinetic learners and others may learn by hearing. I myself am a visual learner. I also prefer pepperoni though i doubt anyone cares. It's important for people to know what kind of learner they are so they can learn more easily.
Grades are semi important to me. I say semi becuase sometimes if the grade doesn't reflect the work I know I totally ignore and instead use it to learn how to play the game of doing what the teacher wants even if you disagree. However, if my grades fall below a certain point i get a little frustrated and want to fix it.
I think the point of grades is for you and your parents to know how you are doing. They aren't the most important thing but they are worth something. They show your intelligence and demonstration of knowledge.
Learning should be fun. That way, it will stick in my head and won't just be something I memorize and forget right after the test. I know I've learned something when I think about it outside of school and not feel overwhelmed right after the test
Grades shouldn't be the most important thing in school, since the goal of school is to learn. But since grades are looked at by so many people and can judge your colledge career and the rest of your life, they are hard to forget about. Grades should just be a measure of what you have learned, not so much of a test that determines who you are.
I agree with everything that has been said, but I do have a bit to add of my own. I feel that I have truly learned something when I can not only REMEMBER it, I can truly understand WHY we have to learn about it.
For example, if I just knew how slavery was abolished, that'd be good, but I would not know what to do with this information. It would get me a good grade on the test, but then what would happen to it? It would be tucked away in a corner of my mind or forgotten.
In this case, I would know that I had truly learned something if I understood WHY we were learning it in the first place. In this example, we had to learn about the abolishing of slavery in order to understand why it happened and figure out how to prevent anything like it ever happening again. In understanding this, I have really LEARNED the information.
This is why I love learning. If you don't look at school work as drudgery (as hard as it may be when we get our homework out of our lockers and in doing so empty it out!) and instead look at it as a way to develop oneself into a better person, school seems like a lot more fun!
Grades, as everyone else has said, are simply a measurement of how you're doing. They serve as a marker of where you are, and allow you to figure out where you want to go.
I think that grades are sort of like a measure of the effort that you put into the class. A student can't get good grades in a class unless they turn in work and do well on tests. No matter how smart someone is, they need to put forth effort to do well. I think that grades are also a motivator. Students wouldn't work as hard if they wern't being "compared" to other students.
I think people learning look like they're enjoying it. Learning may not be fun like playing games or sports, but I think people are more likely to remember information if they enjoy learning it.
Learning to me doesn't have to be just in a class. Learning to me happens all the time. You can be learning whether you are at the dentist office or sitting in a desk.
I personally learn the best by puzzling something over amny times and moving things around myself. This I way I know I learned if I can repeat rationally to myself how I got there and why I know it is right.
As far a grades go as long as I turn in my assignments and try my hardest grades don't matter at all to me. When I feel like I didn't graspe something, that is when grades began to matter. Then I start worrying more about the grade then my understanding of the concept.
When we come to the purpose of grades, I agree with everyone else, that gardes are merely indicators of did you turn your work, did you study etc. Unfornutatley, too often grades are used as the end be all of what kind of person you are without regard to your character.
To me learning is gaining knowledge in a way that helps a person truly understand a topic and be able to remember the information for use during both the present and future. I know I have learned something when I am sure that I can teach the information to someone else or when I can make connection to another text, to myself, or to events that have either taken place or are happening presently around the world. To me grades are a reflection of how much I am understanding the topic and also how much effort I am putting in to the assignments and my willingness to learn.
Learning and Grades:
I think that learning looks like students getting involved with the class and applying what they learn to everyday life. It also looks like the teacher beginning to build a relationship which their students and learning about their life. If a teacher knows something about a student, it can help the teacher know how to approach the student's learning habits. The student will also feel comfortable about responding in class if there is a comfortable enviornment. For example, a student will answer more in class if they feel like they will not have their ideas cast aside in class, as opposed to a place where they would be.
To me, grades are a representation of how much the student is learning and how good of a job the teacher is doing at teaching the student. What I don't like is when a teacher sets aside a great portion of the students' grades to tests, and tell the students that their tests are difficult. I had a teacher last year who gave extremely difficult tests and exams, and then gave most of the overall grade to the test. Some people are not good test takers and have a hard time getting a good grade on tests. Providing most of the students' grade for the tests doesn't give the teacher a good idea of how the student is progressing. Daily homework assignments are better in the respect that the student can practice and learn each night. There also isn't as much stress on daily assignments as on tests and exams, so students won't stress out and make themselves go crazy over a tests. Daily homework is much easier.
To me learning is when you gain any new information that you didn't know before even if it is something very like how to spell a word, or whether you just learned a whole new subject. To learn you have to participate in class and ask any questions until you fully get something. You also have to complete all of your work, study good for any tests and quizzes and do your class work.
Grades are just based on a letter and number scale used to evaluate your work. Good grades usually show that you fully know the topic and that you have been doing all of your work. Teachers don't give you the grades, you give yourself the grade when you do the work, but they use the grades to tell you how good your work is or how well you did on an assignment or test.
Grades certainly matter a lot. Its what colleges first look at. If you don't have an acceptable GPA, they probably won't look any further into what you are actually like. However, that doesn't mean that that is the best thing to use to get to know someone. Or the best unit to use to find out how much the student really learned. Most any one could memorize a few things for a test and pass with flying colors, but forget it all once the test is over with. But another student could really learn a lot over the coarse of the year and hold onto that information, but their final grade wouldn't be as close to the beginning of the alphabet for other reasons. When you really learn something, you understand it. It's not all memorization and reciting facts and numbers. It's knowing why you do that to get the right answer or why an event happened in history. Grades don't represent how much a student understands. They represent how well the student was at turning in assignments and getting the right answer(not necessarily if they know why that answer is correct).
To me, learning information is having your eyes opened to a new understanding or idea. Something that is new to you.
I don't think that grades really show how much you know on a subject or class. You could be the smartest person in the class and know the subject the most but not do homework or do badly on test and therefore have an F in the class. I think that grades mainly reflect on the amount of work you put into the class and not if you know the material or not.
To me learning is when you discover and retain iformation that you will use later in life or at that moment. ANYTHING you know how to do you've had to learn!!
When I have learned something I remember it always, do it all the time, and hardly ever if ever forget how to do it. To me grades are SUPER important!!!! I have always thought this way probably cause my parents ingrained that into my head since PRE-K but still.... The purpose of grades is to show yourself/teacher/parents how you are doing in class. Where you need to improve and hopefully the areas that you exell at. You should not however OBSESS about them. Do your personal and sincere best that's all anyone can ask for.
I do not think that learning has a certain look. We all have different learning styles whether we are kinethetic, auditory or visual learners. I know I have learned something when an idea or piece of information sticks in my mind and i remember it. Also, when I am able to teach someone what I have learned, then I know I have retained information. To me, grades are very important. I know that probably isn't the healthiest or best thing for me, but why should I come to school if I am not going to work hard and be the best student I can be? I think the purpose of grades is to measure the amount of effort you put into your school work. I do not think grades are meant to measure how intelligent you are because I think that would be completely inaccurate.
I pretty much agree with what has been said, and think lanec put it especially well. However, there is one thing I would like to add: grades are often not completely objective measures. A lot of time a teachers opinion plays into a grade. Many teachers love to say that they don't give grades, the students earn them. But many grading elements, especially in a class such as English are not black and white. Things like whether a paper was well organized or whether the sentence structure was varied enough are mattters of opinion.
Ok, maybe there is one more thing. Grades are often not comparable. If I get an A in one English, someone else in another class might have gotten a B. What I would like to know is this: what do you think grades reflect? Do you think an A in Ms. Smith's 9th grade English Honors at AHS should be the same as an A earned in a class taught at a Cherry Creek school?
Learning to me can be alot of things. Most of the time i think of learning as a text book and lectures from teachers. Yes, i think of education as usual. I usually know that i learned something when i can explain it to my friend not just write it out because if i write it out it usually is just copied, but if i explain it it means that i completely understand it. Grades mean alot to me and not because my parents care because they really dont put pressure on me, but i want to get good grades for the future.The purpose of grades is to have goals for the students and help measure how well the students are doing.
I'm not entirely sure that learning is something that you can see(other than on other people's faces). I think learning is a state of mind in which you absorb information.
I know I've learned something when I can teach someone else or help them--that means it doesn't confuse me and makes perfect sense.
Grades are a prety high priority--I need those to get a good college/job.
Grades are meant to show your academic acheievement(I'm not saying it works, but I can't tell you any other way).
Learning to me looks like when a student is being told imformation they did not know or have learned before. You can know alot about a subject, but you can always learn new things about that subject and although you knew a great deal about it, you are still learning because it is NEW information. However this brings up the point that just being told somthing doesnt mean you have LEARNED it. To learn somthing you must aquire and store that information.
I know I have learned somthing when I am able to repeat the information I have been taught and be able to use the information. What is the point in learning somthing if you wont apply it? Teachers wouldnt teach you somthing that you wouldnt or couldnt apply, it would just be a waste of time. Its like my spanish teacher always says, you can learn and remember all the words in spanish and what they mean, but if you cant speak the language, have you really learned spanish?
Grades to me are just evaluations on how hard you are willing to work in a class. Espescially in an eniglish class where grades are more subject to the teachers opinion, unlike math or science where you are either right or WRONG! Grades do not really show how smart a student is, its just how hard they work. But by working hard you can become smarter too.
Basically these topics go hand in hand. The purpose of grades is nothing UNLESS you have learned somthing in the process of being graded.
I think that learning is something that looks different to everyone. You cannot always see learning, but it is always happening. You know you have learned something when you can remember it, and use that info daily. Grades are supposed to be a reflection of your knowledge, but I don't think that this is always true. You never truly know the cpacity of your knowledge.
I know that I have learned something when I can use it in an everyday situation. If I use something that I have been taught to prove a point in a debate, then I feel confident that I know what I am talking about. Grades are performance and how one performs after learning something.
Learning is where somebody is teaching others to understand something they don't understand, and they understand it and understand how it is applied to life. You know you've learned something once you can explain it to someone else and use it in a real life situation.
Grades are just showing what you do, but not proving you've learned anything. Someone could be extra smart and just know the answers and not work for them. Or where a extra smart person doesn't even study for a test, but still gets an A, and there is another student that works, studies really hard everynight for a few hours then comes testing day they feel great about it, but still get a B or C
To me,learning, is something where you educate your slef about something you did not already know. I agree with jess b, when part of learning is what you take in and think about it. You challenge yourself to find out things that you don't know or understand. Grades, are a measure of progress, althought they do no always show was you have learned. I know this because in 7th grade when I was taking pre-algebra, I was getting an A in the class but I had absolutely no idea what I was learning. It never occured to me that I shouldn't be in the class until after the fact. Grades do show your progress in a class but they are not always showing what the student is thinking and how well they understand it. They might get an A on the test but only becuase the information was pounded into their head, they might not have any idea what it means. Therefore, grades can be useful or they can mean nothing.
To me, learning is gaining knowledge or even just a basic idea about anything. We learn things every day but we don't realize it. I know I've learned something when I can spit the information back out. Maybe not on someone else's command, but when I need to. Grades, to me, are only for my parents. I know if I have learned something and gotten something out of the class or assignment. The purpose of grades are to show progress in what you've learned. Once again, I know what I've learned, grades are just a representation of that.
I learn mostly through hands on and reading. I know I have learned something when I remember it past the test. Grades are an indicator of how I'm doing. They aren't life or death normaly, but I know I need to understand something.
Mrs. Smith,
I was looking over the blogs and I know that i posted one but it looks like it was never on here so here it is again:
I think that learning something is being able to fully understand it not just rattle it off to somebody. Grades determine if you can rattle things off or not which is unfair but when it comes to school important. It is one thing if you are a good learner and are a good test taker, but another if you memorize things and then do not ever fully understand about what you are reading.
Another late response: To me learning is when someone tells me something that i didn't know that is important for me to know. In know I've learned something when i try to remember if I had known about something before someone told me and my answer to my thinking is that no, I didn'y know that. If that made any sense. To me grades are a way to know if you understand something the right way. If your grades are high, it means that you understand what someone taught you and that you are able to remember it and apply it to real-life situations.
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