Sorry for my lousy spell checking in last post. Not a good example is it?
______________
Randall W. Kindley The Performance Group
5215 45th Ave. S. "Building High Performance
Minneapolis MN 55417-2334 Organizations by Developing
612-721-6752 People and Processes"
kindley@dialupnet.com www.topleaders.com
.
----- Original Message -----
From: Randall W. Kindley <
kindley@DIALUPNET.COM>
To: <
MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, March 14, 1999 9:48 AM
Subject: Are We A Learning Community?
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Edward Hampton <
ehampton@MAIL.UCF.EDU>
>To: <
MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
>Sent: Saturday, March 13, 1999 4:17 PM
>Subject: Re: The Worm! -- Are We A Learning Community?
>
>
>>Bravo!
>>
>>Wonderfully illuminating thoughts!
>>
>>Generalizing this thinking about forgiveness and risk, one can derive a
>>potentially useful lense to look at the practice of failing students and
>>not offering the opportunity to correct the error that an "F"
>>represents.
>
>
>Ed's post reminded me of one of the most illuminating experiences I had in
>teaching. I was teaching a scope and methods class at a major univerisity.
>The class was large - around 150 students. I had several TA's, lots of
class
>and out of class assignments, etc. About a third of the way into the course
>one student visited during officer hours and said he liked my course, but
>did not think the exercises and tests really measured his ability. I
thought
>to myself, hmmmm .... that sounds like the kind of brash thing I would have
>said some years back. OK, I said, (I knew he was not doing badly in class
>and that he was engaged), tell you what I will do, you get an "A" for this
>class. I prompltly pulled out the roster book and marked an "A" beside his
>name for the final grade. Then I said, "Allright, does that take the
presure
>off?" He looked at me ... as if he had just annied up in a poker game. I
>told him what I expected in return - that quality of work - but that he
>would keep the grade regardless.
>
>I was astounded at his performance!! Not only did he do really excellant,
>A-level work (I would have been hard pressed to keep up with him, were I
one
>of his classmates), he also wrote a paper that I had always dreamed of one
>of my students writing - and without any proding from me. Indeed, that
paper
>won _the_ departmental prize that year for best paper by an undergraduate.
>The student later went on to work as an undergraduate research assistant
for
>the highest ranking senior member of the department's faculty and, after
>that, to a prestigous law school.
>
>Clearly for me, if the maverick in me had not known it before, was that
>grades should be taken with several grains of salt. They are more often an
>exercise in hoop jumping - maturity or not. Its performance that counts and
>that can be different for each individual.
>
>______________
>
>Randall W. Kindley The Performance Group
>5215 45th Ave. S. "Building High Performance
>Minneapolis MN 55417-2334 Organizations by Developing
>612-721-6752 People and Processes"
>
>
kindley@dialupnet.com www.topleaders.com
>
>.