Grading in a Dangerous Time

Posted On Apr 30, 2020 Von Administrator Mit Kommentare deaktiviert

Blog: Confessions of a Community College Dean

We all have lyricals that stick with us, for whatever reason. One of my perennials is from an aged Bruce Cockburn song, though I favor the Barenaked Ladies cover. The song is “Lovers in a Risky Period, ” but the line that gets me applies to all sorts of situations:

“Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight/

got to kick at the darkness’ til it bleeds daylight.”

There’s a defiance to it. “Fragile bodies of touch and taste” are stronger than they gaze. And they’re strongest together.

Our students are fragile, extremely now. Everybody is. It would be easy to try to hide from that, which cultivates until it doesn’t. Some of us are isolated and lonely. Some are sick. Some are caring for the sick. Some are abruptly trying to coach their children while doing their jobs. Some lost their jobs. Some are stuck in abusive situations and can’t get out. Some are in mourning already, even as they’re sick themselves.

It’s ever a good time to recognize our common humanity, but this time is better than most.

We can each do that from our own angles, in our own ways.

The tools at my jettison — and merely in partnership with other people — are pretty specific and limited. But so are everybody’s.

At my college, we’ve put through a series of changes to our grading plan for the spring. We’ve moved the’ withdraw’ date later, so students who are trying to hang in there have more time to see if they can. We’ve gave the deadline to finish’ incompletes, ’ so those individuals who precisely is therefore necessary to step away for a while to deal with life, can. We’ve made a pass/ no ascribe alternative much more broadly available, so students at their wits’ end don’t have to sweat the difference between a B and a B-minus.( We’ve collaborated with the other community colleges in the commonwealth to push the four-year academies to accept’ pass’ in carry-over, with some seeming success .) We’ve even provided us with an “in progress” grade for trends that were interrupted because students couldn’t finish without coming to campus, and they’ve been prohibited from coming to campus. We’re turning some of our internal plans upside-down to make this work; I wouldn’t blamed the registrar if she impounds up a cross and garlic the next time she sees me. But we’re all doing what we can.

We’ve lent the ventilators from our Respiratory Therapy program to a local hospice. We’ve loaned sewing machines to students in the Fashion program. The college bought 400 laptops, cobbling together fund from multiple sources, to lend them out to students who needed them, and has been previously administered a assortment of them. We’ve even lent laptops to module and staff who discovered that the tech they had at home wasn’t capable of doing what needed to be done( oder, in some cases, who didn’t have tech at home at all ). We’ve facilitated kinfolks find free wi-fi where they are unable to.

We’ve had some restorative moments of parish, more. Last week we had a retirement celebration for a beloved 29 -year employee over Zoom; just seeing all the faces, and hearing everybody laugh, was heartening. It serves as a reminder of everyone’s humanity.

And yes, we’re distancing. We don’t have any in-person classes scheduled until July. I’m hoping that July doesn’t turn out to be too optimistic; we’ll realize that call later.

Every message to department and staff has had the same subtext: we’re all merely parties, and this is a dark time for all of us. With every gesticulate of decency, every recognition of humanity, we kick at the darkness. Sooner or later, it will bleed sunlight. It always does.

Show on Jobs site: Disable left side advertisement ?: Is this diversity newsletter ?: Is this Busines Advice newsletter ?: Advice Newsletter publication dates: Wednesday, April 8, 2020 Diversity Newsletter publication date: Wednesday, April 8, 2020 Trending: