3 Different Ways of Dealing with a Curve

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Grading on a curve can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. I've found that most teachers do one of three things when faced with using a curve.

1. They max out the curve
If you take a TEFL course you will find out that many of us are teaching required courses. Even if it's not required, I highly recommend you take a course even if you've been teaching for years; there's always something new you can learn. Some popular online courses are the CCELT (100 hours) and the University of Toronto (100, 120, and 150 hours). Due to this, many of the students don't care as much about these classes as they would about classes in their major. Although English is important, a basic course probably isn't going to make or break their career, so why fight it? If the curve allows for 30% A's, then they'll give 30%, no matter how low the scores are.

There are a couple of exceptions to this, one is when teachers save a couple A's just in case there are mistakes. If they have students with identical scores, they might bump them both down to B's, though some teachers will take a look at how much they improved or their effort and give one an A and one a B. I personally find that difficult to do. Some students are naturally better than others and will score higher with little effort. So what do you do in that case? Reward the student who has slightly better English or reward the student who tried the hardest? Either way, these teachers will do their best to max out the curve.

2. They use cut-off scores
Commonly referred to as a cut-line in Korea, these teachers ignore the curve. The purpose of the curve is to put a cap on how many grades you can give. They don't state that there has to be a minimum number of A's. Therefore, these teachers might use a straight 90-80-70-60 cut-off, or make up their own. If the highest score in the class is a 79, then no one gets an A or a B. The highest score will be a C. Of course, this might set you up for a bunch of student complaints, but I've found that most teachers who do this don't care about complaints and are very firm with grading. They believe that students get what they deserve.

3. They look for a natural separation
This method kind of combines the first two methods. The teacher isn't going to max out the scores nor are they going to use per-determined cut-off scores. They're going to look for bunches. Let's say you're allowed to give a max of 30% A's and the top 23% of your students have scores in the 90s and then there's a huge drop from there and the next score is an 84. Teachers who use this method are going to use the drop as a cut-off score since that's where the divide naturally falls. Of course, even with this method, you're going to get students who complain, however, there will always be students who complain, even when you max out the curve.

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A Quick and Easy Way to Decrease the Complaints You Get About Writing Scores

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At once time or another I'm sure every teacher has been asked by a student to re-grade their writing. Usually what happens is that they'll come to you and say something like they think they deserve a higher grade. Sometimes, they'll bring their friend's paper and say their friend got a higher score and they think that they also deserve a higher score.

In the past I made the mistake of increasing their score. In hindsight, this definitely was a major mistake to make. First of all, it tells the student that you didn't do a good job grading. Second, it lets them know that if they complain, you'll raise their grade. The only reason I would give them a higher grade when they came and complained was to appease them. Once students find out you'll raise their score if they come talk to you, you'll be bombarded by students.

After over a decade of teaching at the university level, I know what grade a student deserves. Due to the that and the fact that it can be depressing for students to see red all over their paper, I don't correct every single mistake. Plus there's the fact that very few students will actually look at the corrections I've made.

One little change I've made has dramatically decreased the amount of complaints I have once I hand a writing activity back.When students come to me and ask me to re-consider the grade I gave them I start at the very beginning and correct every single mistake. Usually after a sentence or two the student will realise that they got a higher score than they deserved. If not, I'll refer to the rubric and start deducting points. Then I'll give them the option of keeping their score or changing it. When they come with their friend's paper, I do the same to their friend's paper and they quickly realise that their friend will lose points.

Some people will say that it sounds mean, but I personally know that I do a good job grading and grade fairly. I don't play favourites. More often than not give them higher scores than other teachers would. This isn't a problem since all my students are graded against themselves: not against other teachers' students. In addition, there's a curve involved.

Granted, there are times when I've made a mistake with the math involved and when that happens I'll happily change their score. However, if you make this one change, students will realise that complaining will not necessarily raise their score and if anything, it will decrease it.

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Pros and Cons to Entering Grades Last Minute

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'Tis the season. Here in Korea, the school year is coming to an end and so is the semester. All Korean universities work in a similar way. You have X amount of time to enter the grades, students have X amount of time to complain about their grades, and then you have X amount of time to change their grades if needed.

I've found that teachers can be divided into two groups when it comes to the grading period: those who enter their grades as soon as possible and those who put off entering their grades as long as possible.

Pros to Entering Grades Last Minute

• You will get fewer complaints. The reason behind this is that if you enter grades last minute, students will have less time to check their grades. Less time means fewer students to deal with. 
• You will spend less time checking your emails. Koreans aren't exactly known for their patience. I've had students email me an hour after they sent their first email demanding why I hadn't answered them. If you're lucky, the office will keep your personal details from your students. Sometimes, the secretaries will give out your personal email and cell phone to students. I've had students text and call early in the morning. 
• You will have more time to do your grading. This way you can double check to make sure there are no mistakes.

Cons to Entering Grades Last Minute

• If you enter grades at the last minute then your students will have less time to check their grades before the grievance period and this means that mistakes might slip through the cracks.
• More students will complain to the office that they can't see their grades right away. Korean professors might only teach 1-2 classes a semester and then have TAs do all their grading. Foreign professors typically have 5-6 classes a semester and forget about getting a TA. 
• You have the deadline hanging over your head which means more stress for you.

The complaint or grievance period is definitely one of the most stressful and annoying parts of the semester. With that being said, I love working at a Korean university and have even written about how to get a job at a Korean university, as well as some of the best places to work at. During the grievance period, students can be very persuasive. Some try to give you gifts. Others will play the pity card and beg and plead with you. However, you need to be firm and let students know that you don't give grades; they earn them.

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Allow Your Students to Give Themselves Participation Points

In 2012, I wrote a post about having students grade themselves and I still stand by that post today. I don't think it's fair for a teacher to judge how much effort a student puts forth. After all, you could get a student who's lived abroad and speaks English fluently, so English is easy for them. Or you could have a shy student who isn't comfortable talking in front of the class.

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I used to have students grade themselves at the end of the semester, but found that it was hard for them to remember what they did on a daily basis. Now I have them grade themselves at the end of each class. Below you can find what I do. Here's another rubric a teacher uses. It discusses participation, collegiality, and conduct. Some teachers downright refuse to grade participation. Here are their reasons why.

The first day of class I give them all a note card. They write their name, school ID, and class ID at the top. On the front there are two sections: Active and L1. On the back there are also two sections: Phone and Materials.

The first section is worth 3 points each. If they're active in class they can get up to 3 points. If they use their L1, they can lose up to 3 points. The back is worth 1 point each. If they didn't use their phone for texting or social media they can get 1 point. If they didn't bring their materials (pen, book, A4 paper), then they can lose 1 point. If they're absent, even if their absence is excused, they get no points for that day.


At the end of the semester, they add up all the points and subtract the points they lost. I then grade them on a curve and give participation points out in increments of 5. The top people get 25%. The bottom people get 5%. I don't usually give 0% for participation unless they never showed up or slept in every class. I've found this works as you have proof of their participation, makes grading easier, and students are becoming responsible for their grades. It's also much better to do this daily as they are more likely to tell the truth.

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Grading Shy Students on Participation

From collegetocareers.com

Most of the classes I teach are based on conversation, however, not all students like to talk in class. Being an introvert, I understand where they're coming from. Just because they don't like to talk every single class does not mean that they deserve a low participation score. There are other ways they can participate in class. Below you can find 7 ideas to help you grade shy students.

1. Tries to use English when working in partners or small groups. Some students don't like talking in front of the class, but feel more comfortable in small groups.
2. Pays attention to the teacher and classmates. Even if a student volunteers all the time, if they're talking while you're talking or on their cell phone, then they should get a lower grade.
3. Doesn't use their cell phone. Students are addicted to their phones, but don't you think the shy student should get points for not using their phone while the outgoing student is constantly texting?
4. Listens actively. They take notes and/or give people their undivided attention.
5. Does the activities and stays on task. They concentrate on the task at hand and get it done.
6. Helps other people out. Just because they're shy doesn't mean they don't understand.
7. Actively seeks out help. They ask a classmate or the teacher if they don't understand.

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Motivating Students in a Web-Enhanced Class

Daniel R. Bailey

           
Instructors should understand how to motivate students in a web-enhanced class. Research shows that the most successful learners use a wider variety of learning strategies and use them more often than less successful ones (Oxford, 1990). Knowing this, we should try to maximize learning opportunities for our students by having them use in-class learning strategies during class time and technology enhanced ones at home. Integrating learning managements systems (LMS) like Moodle and Schoology.com are terrific for getting students motivated to use a wide array of learning strategies both inside and outside the classroom.  

One thing an LMS allows is comparing learning accomplishments and grades between classmates. This is possible through online writing assignments (i.e. forums, wikis, and blogs) viewable among class members or private groups. Learning management systems like Moodle allow instructors to privately show student scores and rankings for individual assignments. 

Students might feel stressed because others can see their grade, but stress at much more manageable levels since the grade is for a single assignment opposed, for example, to an unwarrantedly heavy weighted item (i.e. end of semester presentation worth 10% or more of their final grade). I suggest grade comparison composing of multiple assignments that carry minimal weight on the final grade could be beneficial for motivating students who fear unwarrantedly (and possibly unethically) heavy weighted grade items. I feel this is a form of affective strategy training. Training which is accomplished through administering multiple assignments, with manageable increments of weight deviation, opposed to debatably unethically heavy weighted tasks. This allows students opportunities to face their fear of using English in public or online environments without the burden of bombing their course if, by chance, they fail such heavily weighted assignments (e.g. 10% plus tasks like end-of-course presentations).

Moving Forward

I have had success with grade comparison when administering assignments through forums, wikis, and blogs. These platforms allow students to compare their work in groups or with the entire class. The instructor sets up the online assignment in an LMS, the students do the writing, and the instructor rates it. In addition to these steps, the LMS also allows me to correct crucial grammar mistake so students can give clear presentations in class. Presenting this material in class is another opportunity for students to compare their work with one another which hopefully motivates them to excel.

Instructors can use platforms like forums to quickly review and edit writing assignments. Forums can be graded quicker than individual essays because a group of students are working on the same forum thread. This means the instructor doesn’t need to scroll between different pages for each student, but review and edit a group of students at the same time. I find this to be great for grading, providing corrective feedback, and correcting grammar mistakes. In addition, forum assignments familiarize the student with using forums for purely social online discussions in a second language. My personal hope is eventually students reply back and forth with one another in English without grade incentive to do so, perhaps on a social network site like Face book or Twitter.

              
In addition to forums, wikis can be used to deliver writing assignments. Wikis allow the instructor to correct the students’ writing through the first draft up until the due date. The instructor can directly correct grammar mistakes and provide comments. The original writing contributions from the student are stored in the wiki database so writing quality and grammatical errors can accurately be assessed and tracked after corrections have been made. Students are able able to review their mistakes by comparing the wiki page history.

              
Like forums, wikis can also be used as platforms for writing assignments. Traditionally wikis have a group of people working on one project, but this is not the only way to use them. Instructors may also have a group of students independently work on their own writing within the same wiki page. As with forums, this promotes motivation through comparison and competition. Grading is made faster because the instructor doesn’t have to navigate between different pages to see each assignment.

              
Blogs are a third option instructors can use for giving writing assignments which can be compared between students. Blogs are assigned to each student and span the entire semester. Blogs are structured and edited by the student. The instructor can give corrective feedback, and classmates can leave comments. Unlike forums and wikis, blogs are not group activities. Students completing their writing tasks through blogs can have access to all class blogs which hopefully promotes motivation through comparison.

              
Forums, wikis, and blogs differ in presentation. Blogs are web-pages that the student contributes to during the entire course. This means that each writing task will be stored in his/her blog in chronological order throughout the course. Forums and wikis on the other hand are group activities assigned to specific writing tasks. Therefore, writing assignments are delivered through a series of forums, a series of wikis, or just one blog. Each of these platforms can be edited by the teacher, commented on by others, and easily copied into learning portfolios which is why I find them all ideal learning tools.

              
From personal experience I find students are overwhelmed if I use multiple platforms to deliver writing assignments during the same semester. Instead, I recommend using one platform for the majority of writing assignments; preferably whichever one suits your teaching style.

              
Each of the three platforms described above can contribute to learning portfolios. Barret (2007) defines learning portfolios as the cumulative collection of work learners have done from the start of the semester to the end. They can transform and enhance curriculum. They also have a potential to display to learners and educators the interactions between their learning and assessment. Students are given a continual repository for their academic achievements which they can store and take with them into the workforce. Portfolios are something tangible students can be proud of, not just a letter grade or number.

              
 Teachers help students become self-regulated learners through developing and managing portfolios. Students reflect on past writing achievements and witness how their language proficiency has grown. The assessment of portfolios is a continuous act which does not evaluate students with a test but rather a constructivist approach to project completion (Johnson, 1996). Students set goals for their learning and then begin to monitor, regulate, and control their cognition, motivation, and behavior as guided by their objectives. Highly self-regulated learners approach the learning tasks in a mindful and confident manner and develop strategies to accomplish objectives (Alexioua & Fotini, 2010).

              
In addition to motivation through writing assignments, I use my LMS to award students digital badges for meeting assignment criteria or displaying role model behavior. Teachers can use digital badges for anything as trivial as electronic stickers to something as complex as a course certificate of completion. Digital badges can also add an element of entertainment to the classroom. Entertainment in education is often about smiling and having a good time with students as well as providing opportunities for them to compete together in activities. Teachers can award badges for completing class activities or showing exceptional communication skills. Giving students a symbol of their achievement, however big or small, provides a source of pride and motivation.

              
Flipping classes is a concept growing in popularity and made possible with learning managements systems. A flipped class might refer to a teacher who provides take-home video lectures and spends class time doing other activities like homework-style assignments or student presentations. Through LMS delivered writing assignments, students get started on learning objectives in the classroom and complete their assignment at home. For example, students begin a first draft in class and finish it at home through a forum, wiki, blog or essay. Online instructor feedback allows instructors to spend class time doing activities like student presentations since writing assignments can be guided to fruition through the LMS. This is only one example of how an LMS can flip a language learning classroom.

              
Language acquisition is a long term goal which doesn’t have to be accomplished in class alone. The time teachers spend with their students in oversized classrooms falls pitifully short of meeting the requirements of mastering English. As teachers, we should provide more opportunities for students to learn outside the classroom, and we must get them motivated to do so. If done correctly, student-centered curriculum design using an LMS motivates and provides extra opportunity to study. Sure, both students and teachers will feel stressed at first when learning how to navigate LMS assisted assignments, but hardly an unreasonable amount and arguably much needed.

            

References

Alexiou, A., and Fotini, P. (2010). Enhancing self-regulated learning skills through the implementation of an e-portfolio tool. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 3048-3054.

Anderson, T. and Miyazoe, T. (2010). Learning outcomes and students’ perceptions of online writing: Simultaneous implementation of a forum, blog and wiki in an EFL blended learning setting. System, 38(3), 185-199.

Barrett, H.C. (2007). Researching Electronic Portfolios and Learner Engagement: The REFLECT Initiative. Journal of Adolecent & Adult Literacy, 50(6), 436-449

Johnson, K. (1996). The Role of Theory in L2 Teacher Education. Tesol Quarterly, 30(4), 765-771.

Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should. New York. Boston; Heinle and Heinle.

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Teachers Don't Give Grades, Students Earn Them

From Dr. Adam Cox

It happens every semester without fail. After grades are given, there's a complaint/grievance period when students are allowed to write emails to teachers asking them to raise their grades. I try to explain to students that the grades are outside of my control. There's a curve in place and the computer will not allow me to give more As than allowed. I also tell them what constitutes as a legit reason to ask for a higher grade.

Nevertheless I still get students email and ask for a better grade. I've been told that they've been told to always, always ask for a higher grade. In a way I can understand. I tell people to apply to jobs even though they may not be qualified for them.

After years of dealing with this I've come up with a set response that I tell students. I explain that there's a curve in place and that only X% of students will get an A or whatever grade they're asking for. I also tell them their rank in the class and what rank they needed to get an A. I explain that effort or needing to keep a scholarship or what have you aren't legit reasons for me to raise their grade. Finally I explain that I didn't give them their grade, they earned it. Other teachers do things differently.

I keep to the facts. I don't get emotional even if they do. I email them back promptly and offer to go to school and sit down and explain their grade to them. I've never had an issues with this. Students just want an explanation and more often than not they will thank you and tell you to have a nice vacation.

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Quick Tip: Offer Your Students the Chance to Earn Extra Credit

From http://www.girlgoneblind.com/i-could-be-the-extra-credit/

After the semester ends I invariably get a few emails from students asking me to raise their grades. Unfortunately I have to grade on a curve and that means some people don't get the grade they deserve. More often than not students will cite effort as a reason for getting a higher grade. As much would like to give them points for effort, they are graded on results. I can try as hard as I want in a Chemistry class and I still won't end up with an A.

One point can separate an A student from a B student or a B student from a C student. Since I believe that students should have multiple ways for earning points (such as quizzes, tests, exams, being prepared, attendance, participation, homework, etc), I also offer them two chances to do extra credit.

My classes are based on 100 points and each extra credit assignment is worth 1 point. Other teachers may do things differently. Perhaps offering more points or a scale (1-5 points) depending on what is done. I just started offering extra credit about two years ago and am happy with the results. Students get more chances to use English and they may earn enough points to bump them up a grade.

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10 More Exam Tips for Teachers

From teacherplus.org

A couple years ago I wrote 10 tips for assessing students. Since then I have thought of 10 more tips, so here you are!

1. Schedule students: if you're giving oral exams, don't just tell the whole class to show up at 9am. Give them a specific time. That way they won't waste time waiting nor will they make tons of noise in the hallway. 
2. Have a waiting room: it's annoying for both the teacher and the student when other students are in the hallway making noise.
3. Bring exta materials: white out, pens, pencils, and erasers.
4. Have different exams: give exam A to one row of students and exam B to another row. It'll cut down on cheating.
5. Use rubrics: especially if you have a subjective exam.
6. Walk around the room: before you give the test make sure there are no answers on the desk, walls, chairs, etc. Walk around during the exam to cut down on cheating and afterwards to make sure no one forgot anything.
7. Have a place for their stuff: since backpacks, coats, books, etc aren't allowed at desks you need to provide a space where students can put them.
8. Don't use names: if you have a subjective test you might favour students you know. Have them use their student ID instead.
9. Write new tests: don't re-use old tests, you're just asking for trouble.
10. Make sure students leave: there's no reason they need to linger outside the classroom when they finish. If they want to wait, send them to the waiting room. 

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Theories about Learning Styles

I wrote about different learning styles back in 2010 and have recently expanded on this topic. If you're interested in reading more about learning styles, there are a number of good books out there that can shed some light on the subject. Here are some articles about learning styles.

• Bloom's Taxonomy: having learning objectives
• Dale's Cone of Experience: best ways to learn 
  
• Dunn and Dunn: environmental, emotional, social, physiological, psychological
• Gardner: multiple intelligences theory
• Gregorc: abstract, concrete, random, sequential 
• Honey and Mumford: activist, reflector, theorist, pragmatist
• How boys and girls learn differently: different ways of thinking between genders
• Learning Pyramid: how teaching methods affect how much you learn  
• Kolb: converger, accomodator, assimilator, diverger
• Meyers-Briggs: sensation, intuition, feeling, thinking

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Dale's Cone of Experience

 From http://www2.education.ualberta.ca

Learning styles teach us that everyone learns differently. Dale's Cone of Experience shows us how to help our students use what is taught in the classroom. For example, people usually remember 10% of what they read but 90% of what they do.

After reading you're able to perform basic tasks such as defining, listing, describing, and explaining. However, after doing something you can analyze, design, create, and evaluate.This might be one reason why role plays are so popular in TEFL classes.

It's really interesting to see how people learn differently and what people are able to do after learning something. Bloom's Taxonomy and the Learning Pyramid also have to do with this.

Education Canada has info about how we can use Dale's Cone in second language classes. Not everyone agrees with this. Brain Friendly Trainer wrote about how Dale's Cone has been debunked. The best thing to do is do the research yourself and try different activities with your students.

• Dale's Cone of Experience: best ways to learn
  
• Dunn and Dunn: environmental, emotional, social, physiological, psychological
• Gardner: multiple intelligences theory
• Gregorc: abstract, concrete, random, sequential 
• Honey and Mumford: activist, reflector, theorist, pragmatist
• How boys and girls learn differently: different ways of thinking between genders 
• Learning Pyramid: how teaching methods affect how much you learn 
• Kolb: converger, accomodator, assimilator, diverger
• Meyers-Briggs: sensation, intuition, feeling, thinking
• VAK: visual, audio, kinesthetic

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Hot Topic: How Heavily Should Grades Be Based on Exams?

From collegetocareers.com

When I was in school I hated tests. I simply didn't test well. As a result, my ACT and SAT scores were lower than my brothers, but my grades were much higher. Many schools weigh exams, tests, and quizzes pretty highly.

As a teacher I can understand this. It's less work for the teacher if they don't have to constantly grade homework, participation, etc. It also makes sure the students understand the concepts they've studied and can use them.

Of course there are problems as well. Making a test that's reliable and valid is difficult. And you also have to think about objectivity and subjectivity. Not to mention that some students simply don't test well.

How heavily a class is based on exams depends on a lot of factors, such as the class, the teacher, and the admin. It's hard to find a balance that pleases everyone.

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Hot Topic: Being Forced to Pass Students

From profalbrecht.com

While I can see the pros and cons of grading on a curve, some people take this a step further and are being asked to pass students. Sometimes there are good reasons and sometimes there aren't. Some of the excuses I've heard for passing students that should otherwise fail are:

• it'll set back their therapy
• they or their family recently went through a crisis
• their family donates a lot of money to the school
• the school wants to have a high graduation rate

Obviously the first two are understandable, nonetheless, crises or therapy shouldn't mean that students can simply slack off and expect to pass. Personal circumstances should be taken into account, but there must also be a way to catch the student up to the class. The last two examples are pretty pathetic, but time and time again I've seen it happen. Hopefully when teachers are considering whether to pass or fail a student they take a variety of factors into account.

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Quick Tip: Use the Pause Procedure in Class

From gradhack.org

The Pause Procedure is one part of enhanced lectures. The principle behind it is simple: stop talking. Attention spans for adults are only about 10-20 minutes long, so a lot of what is said during a lecture will be shortly forgotten afterwards. Kids have even a shorter attention span with some saying it correlates to their age. So if they're 5 years old, they can pay attention for 5 minutes.

Research backs the pause procedure up. Lectures would talk for 12-18 minutes and then stop talking for a couple of minutes. During this time students would work in pairs without the teacher interfering. After the entire lecture finished students had 3 minutes to write down what they learned.

The results were shocking. 12 days after the lecture a 65 multiple choice quiz was given. Teachers who had employed the pause procedure had students sore up to two letter grades higher than students whose teacher did not use the pause procedure. Teachers are only lecturing about 6 minutes less than if they don't use the pause procedure. It's all about quality not quantity.

Some people say that the pause procedure isn't good since it cuts down on lecture time, but the results speak for themselves. Teachers work less but get paid the same. Students are more active in class and learn more. Students and teachers are happy so the admin is happy. It's a win-win-win situation.

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Should You Take Attendance in Class?

From larremoreteachertips.blogspot.com

Some people say yes and others say no. Most schools have an attendance policy. Some places might deduct points for being absent and others might fail you if you have more than X number of absences. But is being in class important?

People think it's necessary

• In order to learn they have to come to class. 
• It allows them to interact with people as well 
• It helps them know what's going on in class.

Other people don't think it's necessary

• They think it's a waste of time. 
• They say they learn better on their own. 
• Or maybe they already know the material and are simply required to take the course, but would rather just do the assignments and take the exams and not attend class.

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Hot Topic: Should You Tell Your Students Their Grades?

Here in Korea we have a grade notification period and a grievance period. Since being highly organised is one of my traits (good or bad, you choose), I always know my students grades a little bit before the grading period starts. In the past I have usually given them their class rank and grade.

Since the university where I worked before had a very lenient grading curve and because I'm a nice teacher, half of my students would end up with As and 40% would get Bs. More likely than not all of those As and Bs would be A+s and B+s as well. Only 10% of my students would get a C+ or below. That's a pretty good curve. However, it just goes to show how useless grades have become since they're so inflated.

The university required students to evaluate their teachers before they could see their grades. I found out that when students knew their grades ahead of time they tended to give me a lower evaluation; revenge perhaps. If they didn't know their grade than it couldn't skew their evaluation. Because it seems that teachers get higher evals if they don't tell students their grades, most of the teachers I know downright refuse to tell their students their grades ahead of time, even if they have everything graded and ready.

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Hot Topic: A Fine Line Between Gifts and Bribes from Students

From formspring.me

When I was in grade school we'd always get our teacher an end-of-the-year gift as a way to thank her for teaching us that year. In return we'd get a thank you card from her. Nothing else was expected.

Now that the tables are turned and I'm the teacher I find that many gifts have strings attached. Students may give gifts when they come to ask you to raise their grade. I've seen gifts range from a coffee to expensive jewelry and cosmetics. I've heard that in the Middle East gifts can be even more extravagant, such as designer clothes or vacations. In order to avoid this situation I let my students know what is an acceptable complaint and what isn't.

I also refuse to accept gifts from students because I don't want them to think I can be bought. I know that some students are accustomed to giving gifts for holidays or at the end of the year. If they really want to give me a gift I ask them to wait until the semestre is over and all the grades and grievances are done with. I simply don't want to be accused of favouritism or taking bribes.

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It's the Little Things in Life

Things are always stressful at this time of year. There are holiday parties, end of the semester grades, and for some of us it's the end of the school year. It's always a frantic couple of weeks for me. Here are a couple things to help you relax that I got from a past co-worker as well as from Self-Care Goals.

• Getting a good night’s sleep
• Crying with laughter
• Sleeping in
• Sleeping in freshly washed sheets
• Making someone smile
• Catching up with a friend
• Morning coffee
• Popping bubble wrap
• Curling up on the sofa with a good book
• Listening to a baby laugh
• Watching a sleeping baby
• Getting a massage, manicure, or pedicure. Or all three!
• Getting into bed after a long, hard day
• Taking an afternoon nap
• Getting a nice compliment from someone
• Breakfast in bed
• Looking at old photos
• Eating takeout
• Enjoying the first snowfall of the winter
• Having dinner or drinks with friends
• A cold beer after work
• Browsing in a bookstore
• Going to the movies or a show
• Getting tipsy
• Getting a haircut or a new hairstyle
• Getting dressed up for a night out 
• Taking yourself out on a date and enjoying your favorite activities
• Making your favorite meal or trying out a new recipe
• Stretching 
• Eating fruit daily
• Going on a weekend getaway
• Seeing a museum exhibit
• Organising your office, room , kitchen, or closet
• Drinking tea
• Journaling
• Making holiday cards

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Avoiding the whole "Teacher, please raise my grade" fiasco

In the schools and universities I worked in before I had students complain about grades. They often want a higher grade because they made an effort. While I appreciate the fact that they tried hard, effort isn't incorporated into my grading scale. It's like running a marathon and saying that everyone deserves first prize because they tried. It just doesn't cut it.

Furthermore, most universities in Korea have a cap on the number of As and Bs you can give out. My university is very generous. Many other universities only allow 30% As. 50% of my students can get an A or A+. 40% can get a B or B+. Grades are being inflated as it is.

That's the max I can give. I don't have to give that much. I could give 0% As and give 90% Bs. Or I could give 10% As and 80% Bs. As long as As and Bs add up to 90% it's ok. Taking this a step further, I try to give out as many pluses as I can. Since an A and an A+ are different in terms of GPA.

Since I give my grades out before I enter them into the computer, sometimes I have to deal with telling students that they'll not be getting an A. It's hard. Yes, I feel bad. But like I said, it's impossible that everyone gets As. The computer won't let me give more than 50% out.

We have a specific grievance period that usually lasts about a week and that's when the emails start pouring in. In order to try to lessen the number of complaints I get, I give my students bad examples of complaints.

These are not reasons to ask for a higher grade 

• You want a higher grade.
• You need a higher grade for a scholarship.
• You need a higher grade to stay in the dormitory.
• Your parents will be disappointed.
• You did your best in class.
• You put your best effort into class.
• You tried very hard.
• You came to all the classes.
• You did all your homework. 

Reasons for grievances

• You have a legitimate concern.
• You have a legitimate question.

I'm only human. I make mistakes. If I make a mistake, like not recording a grade correctly, switching numbers around or anything like that, I'll fix it. I always max out the number of As and Bs that I can give, but I usually don't enter all the As I can at first because of the fact that I might make a mistake. Later on at the end of the grievance period I go and change those Bs to As. I know I teach required courses and want to give out the highest grade possible. Unfortunately, everyone can't get an A. That's just the way it is.

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Quick Tip: Open Book Grades

Open-book management is taking the world by storm and there's no reason why this method can't be carried into the classroom. Students deserve to know how they're being graded and what their grades are. They shouldn't be surprised when the end of the term comes.

While it's not necessary to hand your gradebook over to your students, you can have them keep track of their grades. By doing this, you're creating responsible students and as an added plus, they won't be coming to you all the time asking you about their grades.

Got an idea for a quick tip?
Email me with your quick tip, name, and website (if you have one) and I'll post it ASAP.

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