Fail

I was told that therapy dogs for social therapy and assistance are dogs that failed the training as service dogs. It made me wonder, again, what is considered failing and what is considered passing. Social therapy dogs are used to help children with trouble socializing better communicate and get along with people. Social therapy dogs are also used for the invalid and extremely ill patients, to help control depression. These dogs are exceptional in their work and valuable to their charges.

In education, we fail students for not passing a particular baseline of achievement. But all that is telling us is that the student was not suited for that work, it does not tell us what that student is suited for. It also teaches the student to feel like a failure. My goal is not to punish the student. My goal is to educate the student, in whichever way fits the student. Let's rethink "fail" and how we manage a student who "fails" in a particular area. Let's not slam that student back against the same wall to fail again and again, but rather let's find what the student has for strengths and capitalize on those.

Toxic Grading Practices?


The post The Report Card Blues states it this way:

It turns out that how you handle first grade doesn’t just affect your report card in future years, but it also affects how you feel about yourself. In turn, it could link up to feelings of depression way down the line in seventh grade.