<p>I received a B+ in a class while my written work was a solid A-. The teacher even wrote that I deserved an A-, but wouldn't give me one because I had below average class participation. I've always had problems with participating in class, although I'm outgoing outside of class, I always get shy about participating in class. I feel like this is a really unfair grade because I worked hard on the assignments and got A-'s, yet no college will ever know that. Is it fair that I'm being penalized for being shy? It's not like I want to be...What can I do?</p>
<p>And yes, I realize it's not a C or anything, but I'm not a straight A student like some people on here, so it's important to me that I get A's in the classes that I know I can get A's in.</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat as you–I got a B+ twice in English this year (going from an A average): 89.9 and 89.94. My teacher refused to round up because I had three tardies, and on participation for second semester she gave me a B-, which moved my grade from a 90.02 to 89.94. </p>
<p>Sadly, there’s nothing you can do. If a teacher gives you a grade and refuses to change it…then that’s that. I tried to find out if I could include the percentages in my transcript, but no luck. Sorry…</p>
<p>IMHO, you knew the grading standards. You had the option to talk. Take it or don’t. The participation/speaking grade is partially there for shy students to come out and share ideas. Whether or not it works is a different story, but nonetheless, you had the chance and didn’t take it. If it was a big deal during the school year you should have discussed the problem with her and should have seen if there were any other options.</p>
<p>Really? The participation grade is there for shy students so they can have a chance to share their ideas? Doesn’t that seem rather contradictory to you? The participation grade helps those who enjoy talking in class and raise their hand every other second. It penalizes those who don’t. And no, I did not know the exact grading standards ,because our syllabus did not list the percentage that participation was in the grade</p>
<p>Participation is there so you don’t sleep in class, will do the readings, and won’t just be a passive learner (you’ll have plenty of that in college).</p>
<p>Was participation listed as something you’d be graded on? Even if it’s not a percentage given, you were probably in a precarious position and your lack of action in class bumped you the wrong way.</p>
<p>Yep, I was screwed by that too. Nothing I could do about. Just because some days I don’t feel like raising my hand more than 2 times in Spanish class (oh, and you have to be called on also) to get a A in participation. Its BS in my book and one of the most fascist things in school. Can’t do anything bout it though.</p>
<p>no, arguing for the A- is… yeah ><em>>
You had low participation; this will teach you to participate more -</em>-</p>
<p>Besides, isn’t high school supposed to prepare you for college? You have to speak up in college and etc. Plus what’s there to be shy about? I’m sure no one will ponce on you for making a stupid comment or something… and i’m sure your teacher will go with your flow of discussion. In all the classes I ever had, no teacher ever embarrassed a student for speaking up, especially if he or she was shy… yup, just speak up from now on :)</p>
<p>Participation should be outlined in the syllabus as doing your working, finishing stuff, etc… Read it over, and complain if you did everything of the above yet the teacher still being a jerk. If nothing works out, parents! Complain with your parents to say how unfair the teacher is. B+ and A- is a huge difference. It’s not about being a perfectionist, it’s about pride in ourselves for doing hard work and deserving what we earn.</p>
<p>chrisxluna: apparently you’ve never been shy…i know there’s nothing to be shy about, but i can’t help it if i actually get so nervous that i can’t make myself raise my hand…i WANT to be able to participate</p>
<p>“I did everything in class but failed my final. Even though I knew the final was 15% of my grade, I chose not to do any of the work because I hate tests and I have always had problems liking tests. Can I get my teacher to scrap the final because I had an A in the rest of the class?”</p>
<p>So you never took part in your discussions in class? or at least spoke up in class? It’s not like I always wanted to talk in class… my participation for classes were never that great anyways…
Besides, your teacher never told you what was factored in for participation? What class were you even taking? If it was english, obviously discussion is part of the grade… and I have never seen participation (in high school) lower than 10% of the grade…
But that’s just my speculation after taking english classes for four years… I’m assuming you are a junior going to be senior, so you should know how the grading works in your school… or the general idea. Teachers usually have similar grading anyways.
Also adding on to proace
“It’s not like I wanted a B in my class… it’s just that I always came late to class even though I wake up an hour before… my sisters always take a while to get ready. Can you disregard the fact that I was constantly late and leave my participation at 100%… I have mostly gotten A’s on all my assignments, essays, and homework.”
Yup true story… Not like I complained… he said tardiness was part of the grade and i was late, so w/e… (but then again it was a senior year grade and it didn’t count since I was already accepted to my colleges :))</p>
<p>Well, if class participation is part of the grade, then I don’t see what kind of argument you have.</p>
<p>Part of high school is overcoming your obstacles; I got nervous when I had to give speeches in speech class (which was required for us). That did not prevent me from giving the speeches becuase you have to overcome that fear.</p>
<p>I only ever had one teacher (in HS) that made general discussion/participation part of the grade, and it was in Gov/Econ.</p>
<p>I also had an English teacher that had discussions with half the class at a time where he specifically said you had to make two comments/questions to get full credit for that assignment.</p>
<p>A teacher cannot grade you on something they haven’t told you will be graded that way.</p>
<p>Our school must be different; we have class participation for a grade in multiple classes; orchestra, mostly all language classes above 3rd level, APUSH for our teacher, and AP English Lit for all teachers.</p>
<p>When students ask why, mostly all teachers said that in their opinion, social interactions >>>> academic learning. And to be honest, the more that I’ve gone through life, I found this statement to be more true.</p>
If a teacher gives you a grade and refuses to change it…then that’s that. I tried to find out if I could include the percentages in my transcript, but no luck. Sorry…</p>