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Why did I get this grade?

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  • #1

    Why did I get this grade?

    BG/ I teach writing to college writing, but most of my students are adults, not 18-year-olds. /BG

    Every teacher gets the "why did I get this grade?" question. I know there were times as a student where I felt I didn't get the grade I deserved. We all want to do well and hate it when we get lower than we were expecting.

    I do my best to write out detailed feedback/comments and make it clear what was wrong. I'm certainly happy to discuss a grade and hey, I do occasionally make mistakes.

    But I hate this particular question, and I've been getting it a lot more lately. It smacks of entitlement -- "So what that you wrote I did X, Y, Z wrong, I still should have gotten an A/B/Passing grade." It suggests the student didn't read my comments, which is disrespectful to the amount of time I put into it. And plus there's the suggestion I don't know how to do my job.

    I wish I could just say, "Because that's the grade you got."

    But no, we have to work through the various comments and talk about expectations and this and that.
    Last edited by Miss Fatale; 09-14-2012, 03:44 AM. Reason: eek, typos!
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  • #2
    My reply to someone who said that would be "This is a writing class, but I have to read everything you've written to grade it. You are expected to read everything I have to say on your paper, then you will know why you got the grade you did. This isn't a nursery."
    Dealer hits... 21. Table loses.

    This happens more often than most people want to believe.

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    • #3
      I'm getting more and more fed up with the attitude that students cop with teachers. It comes from the parents though, instead of punishing the child or encouraging them to work harder, they whirl around and blame the teacher for their own child's laziness or lack of motivation.

      I apologize for students everywhere (even though I just recently graduated...) for these entitled pimples on society's ass.
      My Writing Blog -Updated 05/06/2013
      It's so I can get ideas out of my head, I decided to put it in a blog in case people are bored or are curious as to the (many) things in progress.

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      • #4
        I used to ask that question back in HS and Uni, though the teachers often didn't write more than a couple of words (sometimes just the grade). So I needed to ask why I got that mark so that I could learn and improve for next time. I did graphic design in uni so asking that question was important as we were often given a chance to rework projects and resubmit. On the rare time that a teacher wrote more than a sentence, I would still ask for advice on how to improve and if my new ideas were what she/he was looking for. Actually, in Uni, they purposefully didn't write much in order to get students to go to them.

        In your case, I can definitely understand the frustration as you've taken the time to explain why they got the mark they did beforehand. The entitlement part, is it because they're arguing with you and insisting that you change the marks regardless of feedback? Or is it literally just the "why" question that leads you to that impression? Like they're expecting you to remember what you wrote and not even try to go over the points with you to understand better.

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        • #5
          Quoth AmbrosiaWriter View Post
          .. the parents though, instead of punishing the child or encouraging them to work harder, they whirl around and blame the teacher for their own child's laziness or lack of motivation.
          I can definitely agree with that. My mom sees that quite a bit as she teaches elementary. The kids learn young that they can manipulate parents into doing that. Doesn't help that certain parents see their kids as perfect angels.

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          • #6
            I was born at the wrong freaking time.

            My parents never would've taken my side against the teacher in a dispute over grades. Never.

            Now I get to deal with all those kids as they enter the workforce and do absolutely nothing because nobody's ever had expectations of them that they hold them to. Joy.
            Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

            "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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            • #7
              Quoth Irving Patrick Freleigh View Post
              My parents never would've taken my side against the teacher in a dispute over grades. Never.
              Same here. A bad grade back in my day (by cracky!) meant "Well then, you need to study harder. No more TV before you've done your homework and shown it to me as proof".
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              • #8
                Quoth Slayer View Post
                I can definitely agree with that. My mom sees that quite a bit as she teaches elementary. The kids learn young that they can manipulate parents into doing that. Doesn't help that certain parents see their kids as perfect angels.
                Great, more to look forward to! (which is the reason why I'm planning on getting a tape recorder and/or cameras hooked up in my classroom .)

                And admittedly, I didn't manipulate my parents at all in high school when I received my first failing grade. My mum actually went and screamed at my English teacher about it without me prompting her at all. I was thinking "oh shit, is he going to find excuses to fail me now?"

                ETA: The teacher I had after him frankly sucked and the teacher I had for second semester English-where we did Shakespeare-was MUCH better and still teaches at the school! He tends to say things like "Time is like a block of ice kiddies" (yes he called us that) and "We are all sponges". He had this great sense of humour and made English FUN.
                Last edited by fireheart; 09-18-2012, 02:43 AM.
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                • #9
                  My answer to "Why did you give me this grade?" would be "That's the grade you earned."

                  And like Irv, my parents did not believe in "it's the teacher's fault."
                  When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth MoonCat View Post
                    My answer to "Why did you give me this grade?" would be "That's the grade you earned."

                    And like Irv, my parents did not believe in "it's the teacher's fault."
                    And you know, one year I actually had a teacher that really disliked me. One visit to the classroom was all it took for my parents to realize it.

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                    • #11
                      From a studio art perspective, I often had to ask why I got the grade I did. Of course, with art, the grade is just as subjective as the piece being graded... the prof's tastes factor into it whether they want to admit it or not. *shrugs* It wasn't uncommon to find a poor grade on a piece you put weeks worth of work into...

                      From a parent perspective, if my kid is doing his level best and still failing, I will be having a chat with the teacher.. to find out how the heck we can help him.* If he's slacking off his work... well, internet use is an earned thing and he won't be seeing it for a while until his grade improves.

                      * I never could get algebra, so.... it's easy to try your best and still fail. I'd never blame the teacher for that. However, I will find some way to help improve things.
                      If I make no sense, I apologize. I'm constantly interrupted by an actual toddler.

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                      • #12
                        Quoth manybellsdown View Post
                        And you know, one year I actually had a teacher that really disliked me. One visit to the classroom was all it took for my parents to realize it.
                        Same. Third Grade. She'd fail me on things I followed the instructions on. At least three other classmates got their parents to transfer them out. A few other of us who tried weren't able to since there simply wasn't enough room in the other classrooms.

                        Not that the school could do much to her. She had been there for decades and was a town councilwoman.

                        I gave up really caring about schoolwork after dealing with her.

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                        • #13
                          I've only ever had one instructor that I feel I can actually caused me to fail. She had personality conflicts with the majority of the class, and would tell us how much she hated teaching Algebra and wished she were still a dancer. I ended up tuning her out and trying to do the stuff myself - led to my first failing grade and years of math fear. Even then, I wonder if I might have passed if I'd been able to get past her abrasiveness (in my defense, I *was* only 13). My mom didn't get mad at me, but she sure made sure I took summer school.

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                          • #14
                            It's something I noticed when I was in school. If the student gets a good grade, it's because they earned it, they studied hard, or they're really smart. If they got a bad grade, it's because the teacher gave them that grade and hates them or something. It's never because they messed up or didn't bother studying. Even though you said you're dealing with college level students, I'd hate to go back to high school during this time and listening to the things that students are saying nowadays.
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                            • #15
                              My step-daughter and her mother play the "blame the teacher" game all the freakin time.

                              If she were doing well in (or even getting by) in most of her classes, I might be inclined to consider the possibilty...but when she consistently fails and does poorly in the majority of her classes...with many different teachers...well...I'm inclined to think it just might be the fact that she doesn't do her homework or turn in her assignments.


                              The only time I ever asked "why did I get this grade?" was when I got an A on an essay for my history class...considering I had plagerized a light beer comercial because I didn't think my teacher was paying attention.

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