<p>Wolfpiper:</p>
<p>Well, I'd welcome you as a student any day (Xiggi, too!).....I'm sure I could expect spirited, insightful, civil classroom discourse. No, you don't sound like a grade grubber (my definition--one who expects something for nothing, makes lame excuses, copies someone else's work and passes it off as his/her own, etc.); rather, I would say you are grade-conscious. Nothing wrong with that--it used to bother me when students would take grade consciousness to an extreme, leaving me wondering if that was all that they cared about (the grade and not what they should be learning). But it finally occurred to me that I wouldn't find my own work quite so fulfilling if it didn't result in a regular paycheck, and if it were suddenly less than expected, I would certainly make inquiries.</p>
<p>I will say, though, that I agree with the other posters who found the CHE grade grubber thread amusing rather than offensive. I've worked in two other settings in the past-- a medical office and a small-town bank. In both of those jobs, we had our own brand of shop talk that would have surprised some of our "favorite" patients/clients (for example, those affectionately known as "Percodan Polly" or "Overdrawn Oscar"). I remember commenting once shortly after starting at the clinic that the lunch room talk sounded just like M<em>A</em>S*H, and that really made the doctors' day. Were we unprofessional? I don't think so--it never went beyond us. In fact, absolute regard for confidentiality is a requirement common to the medical profession, banking, and education (as well as the legal profession and many others--I'm sure their shop talk is pretty entertaining). I see the CHE forum as very similar; although it is out there for all to see, it is anonymous, and when it comes right down to it, harmless.</p>
<p>Regarding your point about reading level and IEP, actually, several of my IEP students are among the half of the class that does read at or above grade level. After I looked at my own post again, I realized I sounded like I was trying to make myself out to be super-teacher. My intent was merely to point out that dedicated (and especially, stressed) professionals do engage in talk among themselves that others on the outside might consider unprofessional (and indeed, it would be unprofessional of us to not keep that talk confidential/anonymous). There are those occasional tough days when that's the only laugh we get.</p>