grades

I may have mentioned before how the Spanish grade on a scale from 1-10, with 5 or higher being passing and basically 8.3-ish or higher being an A (or sobresaliente as they call it). That standard in and of itself seems a bit low, coming from a background where a 70 is passing and a 93 or higher is an A, but this post is inspired not by the differences in determining the different levels of achievement but rather how these achievement levels are viewed. In the States grades are a private matter- between you and the professor, no one else. In Spain the teachers are known to go down the list, calling out everyone's test grades so that everyone in the class knows what everyone else got. Not only are the grades announced but commentary is also added, such as "you need to study more" or "for you this is good work" or "if you keep this up I'm going to fail you", etc. I have gotten used to hearing grades announced in this manner, but I'm still not entirely okay with it. I guess it is motivation to do well though. Another thing I found interesting is that some teachers also go down the list and ask everyone if they've done his/her homework. The students are shockingly honest. I know in the States students would say yes even if they hadn't done the homework, but here they'll say if they've done it or not, or even what parts they did complete if they only did part of it. I mean I'm sure the teacher will found out eventually but I was still surprised.