Teachers compassionately grade with smiley stickers

By one ¢ent -


Online schooling and the coronavirus pandemic have led to increased stress for students at Aragon. While some students may be returning to campus, for the nearly 60% staying at home, the pressures of college decisions, Advanced Placement tests and finals will remain an obstacle. 


Recognizing that keeping the same standards of normal in-person curriculum for online classes, the district has urged teachers to practice “compassionate grading” this school year. 


A trend has emerged from the teachers in response to this instruction; now, teachers are beginning to practice compassionate grading by screensharing smiley stickers and happy faces while screen sharing students’ test grades. 


“When I picture ‘compassionate grading,’ I think of a kindergarten teacher,” said teacher Cloo Less. “Because aren’t kindergarten teachers the epitome of needing to have patience and compassion? And what do kindergarten teachers do on student tests and homework? Smiley stickers!”


A few teachers have elected to distribute these stickers through Don Distribution Days. Some students on the receiving end of these “you are a star!” golden stickers have seen a significant boost in their mental health since compassionate grading has been put into effect.


“I think I have at least 30 smiley faces now,” said sophomore Baht Mann. “For each smiley face I get, I feel like my mental health increases by 1%! It’s a great alternative to therapy if I’m being honest.”


Senior Agatha Harkness also enjoys this new practice.


“I’m intentionally failing my classes to lower my teachers’ expectations, so I can collect the cute thumbs up sticker,” Harkness said. “It’s pretty rare and I’m trying to complete my collection.” 


However, other students are not big fans.


“I’ve been really struggling a lot these past fews due to personal issues, which was reflected in my schoolwork,” said junior Jean Kirstein. “And I failed a test for the first time the other day. When I got my test back it came with a smiley face and a message saying ‘you tried’!”


Kirstein further highlights other issues with the very effective compassionate grading system.


“These kindergarten stickers aren’t going to change anything,” Kirstein said. “My GPA is falling and my life has changed a lot, but the school seems to be ignoring what’s happened to many of the students that go here. Some teachers are grading even stricter! Why can't we just get unlimited extensions instead?”


However students like Kirstein seem to be in the minority. A recent poll conducted by the Grand Rank of Educators and Teachers (GREAT) boasted a 98% support for these compassionate and empathetic practices. This poll was backed up by a Really Informative and Great Genuine Educators Department (RIGGED) study that a student’s mental health is directly correlated to a teacher’s strict grading policy and how many stickers they receive.

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