December 3, 2009
When Teachers Seem Mean
It’s the time of year when I begin getting emails from students who want to make up work or find out why their grades are low or contest their grade in the class in some other way. It’s the time of year, too, when I begin to feel very, very mean, and thus, I hate this time of year.
This morning, I got two emails from students. One student wanted to know if she could make up a quiz that the rest of the class took before Thanksgiving and she missed because she went home early. I had given the class the chance to take the quiz early if they gave me notice, but she did not know, as she said, that she was leaving early for break – she wrote to inform me of this fact the morning she was leaving, which gave me about five minutes – five minutes that I didn’t have because I was conferencing – to get the quiz printed and to the proctoring lab for her. I told her that I couldn’t do so and that in the future she would need to give me more notice. Still, she asks if she can make it up. I know she is angry; I know why she is angry; I know this seems unfair, but I must set standards and hold to them. Part of my greatest struggle in teaching is that I know I’m not just teaching these folks – especially in my developmental courses – how to write; I’m also teaching them the practices and senses of responsibility that will, hopefully, make them better students and, maybe, people. (Oh, and I also know that the quiz is not enough to bring up her grade. She has missed a lot of work.)
The other email was from a student who has a high C in the class but says there is a “problem” with her grade. Knowing that email is an imperfect medium, I try not to read into this phrasing, but it still bothers me. I try to be especially careful to calculate (or at least enter and let the computer calculate) grades for me, and I know her grade is accurate. She has made a lot of progress in the class, but honestly, she’s doing C work. She does, however, have another paper that I will grade this week as well as a final exam, which could pull her up to a B. She has worried about her grade from the second week of class, and while she has worked hard, I do wonder what she could have done if she spent more time worrying about how to understand the material instead of what percentage she will receive.
My biggest struggle in these situations is that I am a nice person. If I thought it would be in their best interest, I would simply give the students A’s and be done with it. I hate hurting people’s feelings; I hate having people mad at me; I hate being disliked. But the truth is, this, too, is part of my job, the part I hate most.
But still, I push on, trying to hold my ground and helping them hold theirs. It helps, when I can believe it, to know that I am only a tiny piece of the puzzle. I hardly remember the grades I got, but I do remember the teachers who pushed me. I hope my students will be able to do the same for me.
Filed by Andi at 7:28 am under Teaching Triumphs and Travails
5 Comments
You have so eloquently and perfectly summarized what I have been feeling the past two weeks. I am so weary that I am now truly questioning whether I have the tenacity and thick skin to continue teaching. And yet…..I truly do enjoy those rare times when students who are willing to put forth the effort realize the value and joy that literature can bring to their lives.
I deal with this all the time with middle school students and their parents. I had one once who wanted me to give her son make-up work in October for his grade in the previous semesters class, the class that had ended in June. She did email me the week after school got out, she said……
I say stick to your guns with college students. The three years I taught at SFSU I had every assignment for the semester listed in the course syllabus that I handed out on the first night along with my “NO LATE PAPERS” policy. When anyone ever complained about a grade during the semester I just pointed to the syllabus.
It wasn’t fun. No fun at all, but it worked.
This is always really hard, Andi. Hang in there. I have a no late work policy — no reason, no time, not ever. I have every assignment deadline for the whole semester laid out on day one. The no late work policy is very clear in the syllabus, and I reiterate it over & over weeks prior to each paper needing to be turned in. I send e-mails. I leave announcements posted in the course.
Still, someone will ask. Someone will not actually ask, but demand I take their work. And the answer is no. And sometimes they go to the dean, who, of course, because it’s clear in the syllabus, says, um, no. And they get madder.
I think we teach (or try to teach) personal responsibility more than anything else. It’s more parenting than teaching, and I do resent it. Hold tight!
It’s almost over!
I ran into a former student a few years later and he said “I remember you. You gave me a D.”
To which I replied, “No, you earned that D yourself.”
You are not mean! As Laraine said, it’s about personal responsibility, and so many students just don’t get that.
I love you & the other teachers who have policies like this. It should help students learn responsibility. If if it doesn’t, it helps the students who actually attend class/tests and turn in assignments. Keep up the good work.
{{{HUG}}}
My daughter once had a teacher that wouldn’t accept any homework early! It was turned in on the day it was due or it didn’t count.