Report cards...

I remember my friends dreading report cards.....I was a geek and always got good grades, so I didn't care so much. What I didn't realize was how much teachers dread them too. I've been working on them for hours this weekend, and I'm almost to the point of 'well, sure, I think he's a 2 on "applies the processes of scientific investigation"'. And this is based on what, exactly? Exactly. If it weren't for parent/teacher conferences, and the threat of actually being asked to explain why I gave a student a particular grade, I think I would be even more casual about it. This whole standards-based reporting thing seems like a great idea in theory, but in practice it lends itself towards extreme vagueness. I mean, who can give a meaningful grade for a category like "recognizes literature as a record of human experience" when the options are "exceeds expectations", "meets expectations", "sometimes meets expectations", and "below expectations"? Hello, subjectivity.

Luckily I was given a great excuse for putting off working on report cards this evening, when I just had to go to a party my sister was hosting as a benefit for an organization fighting to end children's hunger. Who can argue against ending children's hunger? It was a lot of fun -- great food (ironic?), plenty of wine, and nice people. I particularly loved seeing her living/dining space transformed into one enormous red-checked table, with candles jammed in wine bottles. Very Italian. It's a good thing she still doesn't have any couches!

Now I am off to bed -- more report cards in the morning. Argh.