The Depot #7

By OLAYENI OLADIPO ‘19

Hey, Team! Welcome to ‘The Depot,’ a storage facility for the topics of our time: the victories and defeats, the reliefs and worries, and the mindsets in the space of Milton Academy. Today, I present no other deposit than my own. Let me begin by stating my claim. I believe that we, as students, should have an open grade book that allows us to not only view our grades the instant they’ve been recorded but also trace our cumulative grade throughout the semesters.

Opponents of my theory worry that students will obsess over grades, thus forgetting the true value of learning. I assume they fear that an accessible grading platform could foster competition and academic stress. As valid as these points are, I want to draw your attention to the positive aspects and what I believe are the needs for an open grading system.

Transparency. I can’t think of a student who dislikes transparency. Regarding our education, all we wish to know is the truth about how we’re doing and where we can improve, and to that truth we wish to have unlimited access.

I most prominently feel a need for an open grade book when interim or semester grades arrive. We, as students, just received our interim grades this past Tuesday. Note the word choice of “receival” implies that grades—something that solely our work constitutes—are like presents, things to be given. These periods of getting our grades capture a mix of heightened schoolwide anxiety and excitement. The hype around these periods of time not only places more pressure on our grades but also makes it seem as though we have no control over them. An open grade book would eliminate uncertainty. By having access to the symbols of our achievement, we could hold ourselves more accountable for our work, and we could hold our teachers more accountable for their grading process as well.

To know exactly what an interim or semester grade consists of allows students to see where they need to improve. No longer would any student fear asking teachers for their grade. Now, if you’re surprised by this last sentence, take my experience as evidence. I feel that some teachers have a distinct distaste for students who ask to see their grades. Whether it be asking to view an assessment grade or their cumulative grade at any point, students who request to see a symbol of their progress are often viewed as too “grade-focused” or simply annoying. What I don’t understand is how one can be annoying for asking to see the product of their hours of work. While many teachers insist that grades don’t matter, the simple fact is that they do. So, instead of hyping them up for the four days a year we receive the cumulative grades, why not decrease the apprehension by making grades always accessible?

I believe that having an open grade book would pacify the tension around grades. Students would look at their grades when they want and get bored after a while, thus making grades less “important.” When contemplating having an open grading system through Schoology, in which our grades are currently inaccessible, you should ask, Why not? From the conversations I’ve had, many students believe this system would decrease stress, and stress relief is Milton’s ultimate goal these days. Is it not?