Snape's grading may not be fair, but...

[Christy Jewell]

No: HPFGUIDX 74930

Marina said:

Why would any kid be motivated to work harder by the
knowledge that 
he's going to fail no matter what he does?  To
motivate somebody to 
work harder, you must give them at least a tiny
glimmer of hope that 
their hard work will be rewarded.  In five years,
Snape has yet to 
give Harry such a glimmer.

My reply:
Has Harry ever failed Potions? Never once do we hear
of Harry getting his end of the year grades and
finding he failed Potions. In fact in one book, he
notes that he did indeed pass, despite his thinking he
failed.

Marina said:
Harry fails to hand in a potion.  Snape gives him a
zero.  

My reply:

Darn right he got a zero. No work, you fail, end of
story. Why should he give Harry a grade for NOT
completing his work?

Marina said:
That only works if you actually do give them a better
grade if they 
work harder.  Snape doesn't do this.  If he doesn't
like somebody -- 
like Neville or Harry -- it doesn't matter how hard
they work, 
they'll never do any better.  And the kids know this.

My reply:
Well, again, we have no real proof of what grades the
kids actually get. Harry perceives that his grades are
horrible. Lots of kids in my classes feel the same
way, until they get a report card and find out that
they did well. 

Marina said:
Have we ever seen a single student with whom Snape's
methods 
succeeded?  A single student who started out being bad
in potions, 
worked harder in response to Snape's bullying, showed
improvement 
and got a better grade?  Or is this going to be
another one of 
those "they're all over the place, Harry just failed
to notice them 
over the course of five years" arguments?

My reply:
Again, we don't ever see the actual grades, so there's
no real way to know, is there? All we have is Harry's
perceptions and feelings.

Marina said:
If that's true, it certainly explains a lot about the
state of 
modern inner-city schools.  If I was an inner city kid
and a teacher 
treated me the way Snape treats Harry, dropping out to
join a gang 
would seem more attractive every day.

My reply:
Well, the only proof I can offer is this. I live in
New York City where better than 50% of most kids will
never pass their Regents exams. Close to 75% of my
kids pass, compared to an average of 30 - 40% with
most of their other teachers. Their reasons why?
Because I made them work harder. Tough? You bet. Does
it work? Absolutely.

Marina said:
Teachers are not there to be the kids' enemies,
either.  Or at 
least, they shouldn't be.

My reply:
I don't honestly believe that Snape hates Harry. Does
he love Harry? Nope. But who says he has to? I don't
love all my students. But I do want them all to do
well, and I push them to do their best. They don't
always see it that way immediately. Youth has a way of
doing that. 

Teachers need to be FAIR, and we have little evidence
that, as far as grades are concerned, Snape is unfair.


Remember, that despite thinking that Draco is Sanpe's
favorite, he still does worse than Hermione, and he
doesn't like her either. How much more fair can Snape
be?

Christy



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