I am pleased to report that a new spec has finally been completed without any further attacks of the esophagus.

Though I will be drinking half a bottle of Mylanta before going to sleep, just in case.

In craft news: [link]

A work has to be exemplary and not just merely proficient. And a C means a kid has met the standards as given.

this. so much this.

I've taught high school, college, and grad school. The point at which I became truly "this is my not caring face," (to quote - I think - a very wise Fay) was when a 4th year college student argued a B because she'd "worked very hard." I'd been clear with standards. There were reviews given regularly and this student knew both where she stood and how she could improve.

I assumed then, and I will go on believing now, that everyone works extremely hard. I think that is one way we will continue to be a civilization that dreams of things, and creates things, rather than just consuming things. With that expectation.

HA! Sox, that is so true. I actually used to say to the B students who were using the "I tried hard!" defense "And I can tell you worked so hard. You got a B! That's great. That's so much better than the people who just met the standards and got a C!"

Speaking from the other side of the grade war, as a student, I adored my 9th grade algebra teacher. She gave certificates of achievement to everyone in her classes who made a C or better. She gave us this big pep talk at the end of the year, explaining that if you got a C in her class, that meant you had worked hard, mastered the material in a very satisfactory way, and were capable of learning any future level of math that might be required. I can attest that I worked very hard for my B in algebra, learned scads of good study habits because of how that teacher required us to do the work, and gained enormous confidence in myself.

I have long known as a student that a hard-won C often means more than an easy A.

[link]

I have long known as a student that a hard-won C often means more than an easy A.

t raises hand

I have long known as a student that a hard-won C often means more than an easy A.

This. College was a rude shock to me, that my professors didn't just see how brilliant I was and hand me the A's I was used to and never had to work for before. It didn't take me long to get up to snuff, but it actually ended up making all those A's I got in high school feel like I cheated somehow and that I never actually deserved them.

College was a rude shock to me, that my professors didn't just see how brilliant I was and hand me the A's I was used to and never had to work for before.

College was actually easier for me gradeswise than high school, for the most part. Grad school was the easiest by far. But good grades weren't really the point there.

But good grades weren't really the point there.

I think that was the problem for me. I started doubting that I'd really learned anything in high school. I knew, even with a B in college, that I had worked for it and had to really learn how to put all the information given to me into a useful context and not rely on sheer memorization of facts.