Let me just start out by saying I'm pretty sure on this one I am a total hypocrite.
My son has an IEP in place that, in fact, prevents his teachers on grading him on results alone in several areas such as spelling, computation, etc.
But this morning I received an email that has me wanting to challenge a teacher's policy for doing just what it is I usually want - for my child's effort to be valued even if the end result isn't as good as what his peers can do.
My son's class is working on a project that will result in a book published through a vanity press that will be a keepsake for him. It is a book of poems, and writing the poems has been in and of itself a total headache, but he's plowed through each assignment and produced a poem that meets (but definitely does not exceed) the teacher's requirements. His only motivator has been that he is worried about his grade (he is the only one of my kids who has ever cared about his grades), so he is doing his best to produce work the teacher will accept.
The last assignment is the artwork that will go on the accompanying pages. He has been told under no circumstances is he going to be allowed to draw stick figures. This is all he ever draws.
If this were not a keepsake book, I'd recommend that he suck it up and just make the kinds of drawings the teacher wants. But because this is something he will be keeping as a memory, I would at least like him to be proud of his illustrations. I emailed the teacher and asked if she might reconsider about the stick drawings. Her response is that she is grading him on effort, and stick figures show very little effort. So now he truly has to make the choice of whether he wants the better grade or drawings he likes.
I personally don't think stick figures show less effort, but that is my opinion. I am always amazed at the amount of story - action, humor, emotion - he is able to incorporate in just a few strokes on a page.
And so here I am struggling with my own values. Is it about effort or results? I realize I'm wanting it both ways, and that it probably isn't reasonable.
I'd love to hear your thoughts so I'm not looking at this in a vacuum. I have added one of his old drawings here from when he was five - this is what he drew when I asked to him draw a picture of me.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...263327.232507.49045723327&type=3&theater
