"Report cards. They don't make 'em like they used to."
Consider the above statement. Sounds like I'm crack, neh? But hear me out. I might give you
a free sample ;)
For our first lesson, I want you to think about your most recent report card. Not so much what
your grades were, as to how they were presented. I figure most high schools of the U.S probably
have about the same report cards. I.e. yours looks like mine. Only I have better grades than
you :P Moving on, is it just the class title and then a number grade? Do they bestow you with
a list of premade comments like mine does?
Now, think about your report cards from early elementary school. I was looking over my kindergarden
report cards today. They wrote out paragraphs about us. It was kind of nice to read. To know that,
at one point at least, our teachers gave a damn about us. Of course, it meant nothing to me then.
I guess the grass is always greener, ya know?
Comments are good. I want comments. I want to know I'm worth people taking the time to say what
they think about me. In this day and age it seems impossible to get an opinion out of anyone.
Trust me, I've been working on a novel, it's about 20,000 words long now. I've only been able to
get four people who I don't know to read it. And out of the people I do know? Three. Only by
nagging them consistinently. If I'm going to write an essay for a class, I feel that I deserve
more of a comment on it than say "95 % Good Work". Tell me what you liked, what you hated, what
was funny and what was stupid.
Comments serve two main purposes. They help us improve. A number is a relatively meaningless thing,
while a comment gives a reason to the number, and a way to make it better. They also guarantee
that something has actually been read. That someone cared enough, be it reading your poetry
or grading that insanely long essay you had to write, to actually pay attention to you.
