I enjoyed the discussion we had last week about parents accessing grades via online, the impact it has on educators, etc. I found it interesting because when I thought back to my high school days technology was always used but the whole grade situation was handled by mail. We had three trimesters that each had three, six week grading periods. Every three weeks, our grades/progress in each class were mailed to our parents to inform them of where we stood academically in our courses. Now granted, I understand that as students we could confiscate these letters that were addressed to our parents. However Steve and Cindy (my parents who I love dearly) knew these would be arriving. I have an older brother, Jason, so before I entered high school they had the game plan down and memorized. Even if I wanted to hide these letters I wouldn’t have gotten away with it. I wasn’t afraid about them finding out my grades because I worked hard in school and wanted to do well. Cindy is more laid back but Steve-O is the father who expects A’s and B’s otherwise Kim wasn’t going out for the weekend.
This process of letters being sent through the mail seemed so simple but I understand that everything has and is now accessed through the Internet. I understand the computer systems for school that have evolved for the use of parents, students, and teachers but instead of making everything easier, it seems they are causing some issues too. As future educators, it is expected that we must have grades in by certain dates and times, like my teachers had too for every three-week, six week, and final grading period. What is unfortunate is having to consider the parents who will breathing down our necks to know about their child’s grades if they are not posted. On parent teacher night, I will have that game plan set and explained.
