So I have this student. Apparently, she has always considered herself very good at writing essays. Being placed into remedial writing at BCMU did not lead her to re-evaluate this particular aspect of her self-concept. Nor did her grade on the first paper that we wrote in class. Or the second. However, when the secoond paper came back, and the grade failed to reflect her unusual skill in the area of essay writing, she did realize that there was a problem. So, after the next class, she came up to the front of the room and said, "Um, I got my paper back, and I saw my grade." Since i had given the papers back, and I knew she was not blind, none of this was new information. "I got ____ out of ___. [Exact numbers withheld] That's like an F. I don't think I can accept this grade."
I've had plenty of grade complaints in my life, but this was the first time one had been stated so baldly. I never know how to handle these things. Finally, I picked my jaw up off the floor and told her that it was not appropriate to inform a teacher that her grade was unacceptable, and advised her not to do it again.
This is where the story gets really funny. She looked at me with complete bafflement and said, "Why?"
I proceeded to explain that it's the teacher's job to decide what is acceptable performance and what isn't. Students do not have veto power over their grades. She looked extremely skeptical about this information, so I added that the immediate consequence of such an ultimatum would be that her teacher would think she was a spoiled brat. Then I asked, "What do you think is the alternative to accepting the grade?" She explained, as if I were a five year old, that the alternative was to go to the head of the English department and tell them that she had recieved an unacceptable grade. I explained that, if she did so, the Head of the English Department would not pat her on the head and give her a cookie and a higher grade. (Fortunately, at my insitution, this is the case. ProfessorDog's Inappropriate Soul Sister
TeacherLady is not so lucky.)
I further advised This Student that if she wished to do better on the next paper, taking a draft to the school's Writing Center would be a very good idea, then began industriously erasing the board.
