<p>So my teacher messed up my grade at the end of last year and she promised to change the grade. I receive my report card and lo and behold...it's not changed.
How should I approach this teacher? This one is known to be bipolar
I already had to kind of grade grub for that grade so I don't want her to change her mind.</p>
<p>One of the most non-threatening ways to talk to someone in power is to ask,
"Can you clarify for me..."</p>
<p>In your case, "I was surprised to see the unchanged grade. Can you clarify for me why it still says X, after our conversation when we agreed it should change to Y?"</p>
<p>That way, she can save face. She might point to someone else's clerical error. She might be surprised (real or fake) right along with you. </p>
<p>By saying it this way, you've defined the terms and are just asking her to "clarify" which is a lot different than ask her to explain, justify, or re-debate the topic.</p>
<p>Does this sound like it might help?</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>If she surprises you and starts disagreeing with what the grade should be now, don't continue to debate it with her. Say, "I'm sorry, but my recollection of that conversation is quite different." </p>
<p>Retreat and then write the same question to her ("Can you clarify...") but send carbon copies to the principal or guidance counselor. </p>
<p>Always stay polite but don't give away any ground. When she sees that you're alerting someone higher than herself in authority (the carbon copies..) she'll realize she's accountable to them, and search her own memory a bit better.</p>
<p>But sometimes these things are clerical mistakes so no need to start out by alerting others. That's only Step 2 if Step 1 doesn't work.</p>
<p>Whenever I'm in a situtation in which I have to confront a teacher about something, I usually play it off like I'm the one that's wrong/confused about whatever's happened. Even if it's an obvious grading error, you can go to them and be like, "I don't understand how to get the right answer on this one, because I put this. Can you explain the question, and how to get the answer, to me?" And in explaining it, they'll be like "Huh, that's actually right," or something along those lines anyway. In your situation, you can say [like paying3tuitions said as well] something that gets across the point that YOU are the one that is confused about the grade [not saying to the teacher, "YOU messed up" but rather "I'M confused"], and thus you seem yes offensive in your question, etc etc.
Anyway, hope you get your grade sorted out!
That same thing kind of happened to me as well last year [1st semester though] but it was with a teacher that I'm... "friends" with outside of school [lol, only on CC...] and so I just came up to him and was like "Yeah my grade is messed up" and he fixed it. But I don't know the relationship between you and the teacher, so I wouldn't recommend that haha.</p>
<p>^ Glad to know, I'm not the only one who's friends with my teachers. :)</p>
<p>thanks for the advice</p>
<p>i mustered up the courage to ask her and she completely forgot the situation
she said that she would check my final test and see if she wrote the changed grade on it...</p>
<p>when should i talk to her again? in a week?
is this a good sign? (at least she didn't blatantly say no to me :])</p>
<p>buummmmmmmmppp</p>
<p>As soon and often as possible. Though bluntness is sometimes not preferred, I think it will help in your case. Teachers have a lot going on that they might often forget to do something.</p>