Hello, I’m in the Elementary Ed program and we have two semesters of a math class designed to teach students how to teach elementary math. Now, the teacher for this is know as crazy. She picks favorites and punishes those who aren’t, makes up grades, and grades tests inaccurately (deducting more points from one student than another who had the exact same answer). This morning, I woke up to an email that said that I had failed my third test with a 51% and my participation points were a 0 and that it was likely I would fail the course. She then linked a statement that told me I could schedule my final for the next day (it’s dead week).
In a panic I rushed to my advisor who, upon seeing the email and my explanations was very confused and concerned. She told me that in no way could my professor force me to take my final early, and that I should schedule a meeting with her. I wasn’t sure if she liked the teacher or not (the education program has a lot of people who do not get along) so I was careful to not mention anything derogatory.
Flash forward half and hour and I send a polite email asking if I could schedule a meeting to discuss the email and I was shocked that I might fail since my midterm grade was at an 80%. She responded with a disparaging comment that I was never in class and didn’t complete any homework. I have been absent a fair amount but the majority of my absences are covered by doctors notes which I have given her. I’ve also turned in a majority of my homework, and my first two test scores were Bs. She also offers test corrections, so I could get my third test up to a C, if she grades my test corrections well without making up points.
Now, the way the class is laid out is that homework is worth 17%, the three tests are worth 60%, the final is worth 20% and participation is worth 3%. As long as I score a good grade on my final, I should easily pass the class. The thing is, I’m now worried that she’s going to say my absences weren’t excused and there were more assignments that I missed. Unfortunately, this class has over 5000 points and I can’t prove or disprove, it’s her word against mine. She’s been ignoring my response email in which I just asked when she would be available to meet, and I don’t know what to do.
What should I say in the meeting? I don’t want to sound rude or cry (both are somewhat likely) but I also want to make my case and get through to her since she’s insane and very rude all the time. I was stupid not to take pictures of doctors notes or any assignments that were graded incorrectly, but now I’m trapped and I don’t want to retake this and I still have another semester of a different math class with her. What can I do other than get a high A on my final so she can’t fail me without raising eyebrows?
In some schools, an instructor can deny class credit if a student misses too many classes even if the class participation isn’t worth a lot. If the class is not a distance learning class, then in some schools instructors can flunk a student for not attending. It is called “credit hours” for a reason. The fact that you have doctor’s notes does not obviate the problem. Most instructors are ok with a couple of misses but if it becomes a pattern, then that is a problem. Credit is granted for attending. If you are too sick to attend, take a medical leave. College is not like elementary school where you can still pass if you have many excused absences. The note does not make up for missing the class. Just like you have to work to get paid, and unless you have built up “sick time” you don’t get paid for not working regardless of why you are not working and regardless of how legitimate your excuse it, you don’t get credit for a class you did not attend (enough sessions of).
I would agree is she had a policy that dictated that, but I’ve read over the syllabus and there is no such policy, only the percentage points are impacted and I can still easily pass with my test scores if I pass my final. The concern is trying to explain this to her while remained reasonable since she’s quick to shut people off and refuse to respond if she doesn’t like the conversation. My absences are never in a row either, except for the two class periods that I missed due to being somewhat quarantined for whooping cough.
Roughly how many classes have you missed? Also, what is your average grade on your homework assignments? Have you failed to turn in some assignments that were maybe a significant number of points?
The attendance issue is tricky. I have never come across a time where I had excessive absences, so I can’t really comment on that. My university’s policy states, “At the discretion of the instructor, the student’s grade may be lowered because of class absences.” I’m sure your school’s policy is relatively similar. The attendance policy should be made clear in the syllabus, however.
It’s also odd how she’s trying to make you take your final early. Can you think of any possible reason for that? It’s just all weird to me.
If I were you, I’d just try to come off nice and explain my side of the whole issue. She may shut you down (which is very rude and unprofessional), but you have to get your side out there. I can understand how it would be very hard to be nice about the whole thing because it does seem like she’s crazy, but you have to be as nice as possible. You could try going to the “high ups,” but that can get very messy, so I don’t think I’d recommend that route. Just do well on the final and pray that you pass the class.
See if there are any college rules about absences.
See if there are any rules in the syllabus about absences.
Even though you have a doctor’s note, if you miss too much of the classes you may not be learning everything or participating in everything they want you to.
Never say the teacher hates you. Say that "according to the syllabus, our grade is determined by homework 17%, the three tests are worth 60%, the final is worth 20% and participation is worth 3%. " and then talk about what grades you have.
Also keep in mind that the professors are the gatekeepers…that is, they want to make sure that their students would make effective teachers. But the grading system should be set up to facilitate that…it shouldn’t be arbitrary.
Did you turn in your homework on time? or was it late? Why does she think you haven’t done any? Do you have graded homework? or can you show it in the online system?
Did you do the test correction? What are you waiting for?
Gather all of your homework/tests/etc for this class so you have evidence. Create a spreadsheet that shows all your grades and the percentages of tests/HW/etc.
Ask your advisor for next steps…should you talk to the professor? or the dept head?
There are appeals processes for teachers like this. You have a right to be graded according to standards set out in the syllabus. If you believe you have not been, you should appeal, and you should go ahead and fill in your advisor now that there is a problem.
If you can get any other students to back you up on the inconsistent grading, perhaps with copies of their tests compared to yours, that would help.
I agree that doctor’s notes don’t always excuse you adequately from class - missing a lot of class is still a problem - but if your professor never intimated to you before that your absences were excessive, and according to the syllabus your grades should be rendered in a specific way, she should stick to that.
Does she post grades on your course management system (Blackboard or WebCT)? If so, re-calculate your grade to make sure she’s accurate; if not, ask her (politely!) for copies of your grade on all of your assignments.
However, there are some flags in your comment a that indicate that your professor may not be that far off base. You say that you have turned in “a majority” of your homework, but we have no indication for what your grades were for those homeworks or how many were missing (75% is a majority, but so is 51%). Even if you have an absence with a doctor’s note you could’ve gotten a participation grade of 0 for the days you were out. And you failed the third exam, which is essentially worth 20% of your grade. If your grades on the two tests and your homework average were a mid-to-high B, that would still put you at a mid-C average. If they were low Bs, you’d be at a low C average.
Does the syllabus not have a listing of all the assignments required? Of course this would be easy to prove, if necessary; the department chair or dean could simply ask for the gradebook for the entire class to see whether the other students had fulfilled the requirements your professor says you missed.