Klarinet Archive - Posting 000267.txt from 1996/02

From: "ALLEN J. BUFFINGTON" <ajbuffington@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Weekly lessons
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 1996 11:21:45 -0500

Shelley,

I, too, give a weekly grade to my students. This is mainly for my benefit,
and not the students. I have a certain grading scale that I use. It provides
room for the given student to show improvement, as well as no improvement.
The whole object of my grading weekly is to give me(and the student) some
type of evaluation and progress being made. It also helps in providing a
repertory sheet for juries.

What happens if a student does extremely well in lessons, and does poorly
on their jury? This can also help to bring the grade up. I have had
students that missed lessons and performed poorly in lessons. These same
students worked really hard the last couple of weeks before juries, and
played an almost flawless jury. Which do you think would be the fair
assumption. I woould tend to lean harder on the student who wasted lesson
time, than the student who worked hard over the semester.

Each student needs to be graded at their ability level. Some students spend
the first part of the semester learning fundamentals, while other are able
to work on more literature. I can't, in my right mind, grade these students
on the same level. Most of my studio is made up of non-majors. I don't
require any lesser of a stndard than I do of my majors. I do, however,
expect my majors to cover more extensive literature.

If your teacher is grading fairly, the weekly grade should be reflective of
you weekly progress.

Hope this helps!

Allen Buffington
Southern Arkansas University