Google had determined that “G.P.A.’s are worthless as a criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless. ... We found that they don’t predict anything" (Friedman, 2014, para. 1). This is so refreshing to hear, when I was younger I had to make a decision of what college to go to and after spending so many years working through high school AP classes and IB classes. I decided I wanted to attend a school where grades didn't matter, what matter was how you applied your knowledge. For this reason, I decided to attend the University of California Santa Cruz, where we did not have GPAs (I still don't for my undergrad) but we were given narrative evaluations based by our professors. I still cherish those evaluations because they are a testament to knowledge and not grades. In the classes I have taught unfortunately I have to give grades but I also know that not all education is equal and that not all students are equal so when ever I grade I look at the whole individual. I look at their ability to deal with set backs and how they manage those. I won't say my system is perfect but I know that when I was a student I always hated getting judge by some test that was out there to trick you and I feel my students feel the same. After reading the article I feel like I am preparing my students for a job at google!!! Yes there are definitely things that my students still need to work on and these became apparent when I decided to "allow" my students to research their own project. As I pointed out in my Storify, my students were not ready for so much responsibility and they required more guidance than I could of imagined. Having said that in the end my students pulled through and were able to create projects that achieved the point, but it did open my eyes to all the work I still have to do with my students to bring them to the level of what I believe a 21st Century scholars need to reach. Side note, unfortunately due to pressure from several different sources, UCSC no longer gives narrative evaluations but now provides GPA's for their students. For those who are wondering, I've never had to worry about my GPA in either job interviews or when applying to schools. Reference: Friedman, T. L. (2014, February 22). How to Get a Job at Google. The New York Times. Retrieved June 21, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html?_r=3
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AuthorI'm Mr. D and I have been teaching technology for a better part of 12 years. Welcome to my blog! ArchivesCategories |