Grades Don't Matter

It's been several years since I've had a confrontational parent teacher conference.

When the grade is the focus instead of the learning, which one suffers?

In any case, when the parent heard their child say, "My teacher said that grades don't matter" it didn't go over too well because grades mattered to him.

High grades often just reward the student who learned the skill first. I sought to encourage instead of discourage by shifting focus from the report card, to what skills the student had learned.

This post is going to require a follow-up because there is much more to this. Grades probably mean much less and do more harm than many will care to admit.