When I was growing up I had the good fortune to be a student of a school district that gave two grades in every subject. On every report card there would be a grade received for the subject and then a grade given for effort made in that class. So, for example, I might get a C in math but if the teacher thought I made a strong effort she might give me a B+ for effort. While unlikely, it was feasible that a student could get failing grades and yet have straight A’s for effort. Of course the opposite was possible for a very gifted student but I wasn’t one of those.
My second stroke of good fortune was that my parents were wise and paid more attention to my effort grades. I can remember my dad telling me that he was most interested and concerned that I do the best that I could. He said he could live with whatever grade I received as long as the teacher felt I had put my all in to it. And they lived it. My effort grades were what they and I were more concerned with. Continue reading »
