It’s time for teachers to submit our third quarter grades, and I have to wonder: if a teacher is to be expected to “bump up” a kid’s grade from a D to a C if he gets, say, 69.5% (as many parents and others will expect), then why can’t I also just bump a kid down from a C to a D if the grade is 70.5%? Why can’t unethical subjectivity run both ways?
Also, looking over a recent quiz given to my sophomores after reading Julius Caesar, I see the most popular answer to the question, “Which of the leaders in Julius Caesar would make the best leader for America today, and why?”, was “Obama.” Perhaps the question was confusing. I also notice that none of the students who put Obama answered the second part of the question and explained why he’s the most qualified. Perhaps they thought that was implied, or sacrilegious.
Gently Hew Stone 
I used to do an adult seminar at St. John’s College in Santa Fe during the summer. One year, I sat in on a lunch discussion of Plutarch’s Lives by four or five baby-boomer women who’d been discussing the book for a week. The topic: Who’s the sexiest guy in Plutarch? Julius Caesar? Mark Antony? It was hysterical.
Joanne, that’s outrageous! Imagine the silliness of debating the relative sexiness of Plutarch’s Greek and Roman heroes…when everyone knows it was obviously Pericles. :)
By the way, I got to use one of your recent links in a paper I wrote this week for a professional development class on “diversity.” Keep up the great reporting, and thanks for reading!