I'm a professor at Pepperdine, and my students attach their self-worth to their grades. I'm struggling to change that.

The author (not pictured) is a college professor at Pepperdine.

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• As a professor, I use grades to help my students identify strengths and areas for improvement.
• Students panic when they get bad grades because they attach their self-worth to their performance.
• I'm working to change that by teaching my students that bad grades can be valuable.

When I was a college sophomore, I stopped looking at my assignments and exam grades to loosen...