Pike Mall Tech: 11 May 2022
Rethinking the Honor Roll
Itâs time for educators to make honor a core value in schools. Itâs time to build honor into our curriculums and establish it as one of the primary social and emotional learning goals we work to help students achieve.
Full disclosure: I am a reformed honor roll student. I made that list all the freaking time, save for my middle school years.
Why not in middle school? Because I refused to do homework. It was pointless for me. I didnât need the work and did just fine on any and all exams. But my middle school teachers insisted on grading homework, of which there was more than a metric ton each night.
I had better things to do, like read comics. Or watch Jeopardy. Or Star Trek reruns.
So, like many other students, I missed out on the perks of being on the âhonor rollâ that many of my friends were enjoying. As a matter of fact, Iâm pretty sure I lost some friends because I wasnât on the honor roll.
Personally, the idea of the honor roll disgusts me. And itâs probably time we get rid of it.
Students donât make the honor roll for any number of reasons. Whether itâs because they simply donât care about getting the grades because they realize for most people the grade they got in 10th-grade geometry is no indicator of success in life or because their life away from school isnât set up to support a great learning environment, many students just donât care about the honor roll.
Letâs also think about the lengths that some students are willing to go to earn a spot on the honor roll. Yes, some will cheat. Iâd venture to say that a studentâs desire to cheat is directly proportional to their pressure to get good grades.
And how many students will lose precious sleep to stay up and cram information so they can âbrain dumpâ on a test to get the grade?
Trust me, folks, sleep is way more important than a high GPA.
Perhaps itâs time we either get rid of the honor roll altogether or rethink the purpose it serves. Maybe we should focus on teaching students what honor really is and how to do work that is worthy of honor, not just a grade.
Stop Cancelling Recess
I admit I have taken recess time away from students. OK, maybe not recess time since we didnât have recess in my middle school but we certainly incentivized certain achievements with a ârecess rewardâ.
Yes, we even used recess as a reward for students who achieve our version of the honor roll.
What a horrible policy. Kids need time to play, at every age level. And using the excuse of placing them in an âactivityâ class doesnât cut it.
They need time to decompress and just goof off. Iâm 45 and I need time to do that every day.
Recess is an essential part of childhood (and adulthood) and we have to stop taking it away. Some states are moving to create laws to protect that time.
Which is pretty awesome.
Linkus Randomus
The Untold Story of the White Houseâs Weirdly Hip Record Collection
After more than 20 years, Apple retires the iPod
Colophon
Currently writing:
Volume 1: The Heretic Chronicles â a fantasy story about a girl, her sword, and extreme fundamentalist religion (WC: 15,457)
Untitled Sci-Fi novel â a group of students race across the stars, avoiding an evil empire (WC: 275)
Sci-fi short story â earth as a farm for aliens (WC: 492)
Currently reading:
The Library Book by Susan Orlean (52%)
Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris (17%)
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (1%)
Upcoming Appearances:
2022 Technology & Teaching Summit â Murray State University (VIRTUAL)Â (June 7)
2022 Kentucky DLC Summit (Private event for KY DLCs) â June 14
TeachMeet Central & Northern KY (IN-PERSON)Â â July 20
TeachMeet Kentucky (IN-PERSON)Â â July 22
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Cory Doctorowâs work at Pluralistic inspired the layout, focus, and work displayed here. Hat tip to Cory for all his fine work.













