Report Cards?

Term 2 has come to a close, and with it comes every student's nightmare - REPORT CARDS!

Ok, so, maybe they aren't that bad. Most of my marks are pretty good, and I'm pretty happy with them.

[Well, expect for English. Ehhh... I don't think any of us want to talk about our English marks. Not that we don't normally do well in English, but this term was sort of unfair. We did these evaluations that were purely for the sake of recording our progress, like with CASI, but then they were marked. And inputed into our grades.]

For most of us [I don't know, do normal people with sane lives like to do this?], we like to compare our marks. A LOT. Not that we don't normally, but this goes a bit further. You get a full scope of all the subjects. And it's a good thing, I think, the comparing. When we see others do well, it pushes us to succeed, too. That doesn't mean our teachers have to like it. Ms. P. has already banned us several times from comparing marks after we get back tests. All for good reason, too. We're way too loud.

Then, there are the dreaded 3rd pages. I don't understand how some people can just come up with "reflections" just like that. It's hard! And worse, sometimes, your teachers make you do it before you get back your report card. How are you supposed to know if you did really well or not? I mean, you should have a general idea of your strengths and weaknesses, but at least let us confirm it with the actual report card!

Oh, and I don't think teachers like them, either. They all cram in last-minute assignments to get marks, and complain that they have to write so much for them. I don't blame them - even with a lot of copying and pasting the same phrases repeatedly, it's a lot of work. Although they might want to reread their comments, just in case they confuse the gender of the student they're referring to in the comments section.

No, really. In my grade 7 report card, which my teacher must have done in a hurry, they put down the wrong gender in the comments section. You know, the "He/she demonstrated blah blah blah...." Or, they were genuinely confused about my gender. You never know. In which case I would be highly offended. Or highly amused. Or both.

If teachers hate report cards, and we hate report cards, and the TDSB wastes paper by printing out umpteen copies of then, then why do we have them?

~Yaning

Er... If you people are wondering, I'm a girl. You can't tell from my name, so to avoid confusion, it's here.