What came first-- learning or the grade?

My Intermediate Composition students have just finished reading an essay entitled "A Young Person's Guide to the Grading System," by Jerry Farber. I've just finished grading their summary essays of it, and am happy to report that the class average is a B+. They should be well pleased with this.

The main point of Farber's essay is that overemphasis on grades detracts from "true" learning. I asked my students which was more important to them: grades or learning. Learning, they answered almost in unison. Well, if that's the case, I replied, why do you all take your grades so personally? Like, if you get a C on a paper, but you have a new set of skills you can use in other classes or in your future career, why does it matter that you got a C? Because we worked so hard on that paper or project, they said.

I tell all my study skills students, grades aren't a measure of how intelligent you are. They're a measure of whether or not you mastered certain concepts or ideas; and, in some cases, grades are an exact measure of how much effort you put forth. No need to define your self-worth by what you earn. It's what you learn, not what you earn.

More preachiness on this same topic later. I have to go teach my little grade-mongers.