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<p>Was she practicing to be a pre-med or pre-law student? GPA gamesmanship is just as important to pre-med and pre-law students as it is for high school students aiming for the most selective colleges.</p>
<p>my entire school is like this, actually. Kids get into harvard with 3.6 GPAs. It’s difficult htough, because we get excluded from auto admit places and scholarships bc of grades that in reality are equal to or better then those of kids at other schools</p>
<p>The average on a test should be a C. That’s what C means. That being said, the teacher should be willing to discuss with a student how to improve. I suspect the answer to doing better isn’t rocket science --practice more, study more, concentrate more, turn the TV off while you’re studying. </p>
<p>Maybe the teacher is tired of hearing students complain that it’s the teacher’s fault that the student didn’t ace the exam.</p>
<p>Now, when everyone in the class does poorly, that reflects on the teacher’s performance.</p>
<p>That isn’t even what a C meant when I was in elementary school.</p>
<p>Much less so 40 years later.</p>
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<p>No, a C grade is supposed to mean a solidly passing performance (sufficient to continue on to the next course for which this course is a prerequisite), not the average performance. B and A grades are to indicate better performance than that, while a D grade is barely passing (probably not sufficient to continue on to the next course, though possibly accepted for credit in completing just this course), and an F grade is outright failure.</p>
<p>Growing up, a C meant I was gonna catch $#|T from my parents.<br>
Indeed, B’s were considered barely adequate (and the same standard
holds for our son).</p>
<p>As regards the original post – yeah, the teacher, if not nuts,
is sadly out of touch and probably has an axe to grind.</p>
<p>Here’s an example of a different teaching philosophy, espoused by
the gentleman who taught my grade 10 Honors French class.<br>
My school was in a reasonably wealthy district, and honors classes
(of about 30-35 students) tended to hold kids destined to do
pretty much whatever they decided to – smart & capable individuals
who were expected to pretty much master the material covered.</p>
<p>So, we’re writing a test one day – and the class is squirming. Sweating.<br>
After about 10 minutes, the teacher says, “Okay folks, pens down.<br>
Tear them up. You didn’t get it, so we’ll do it again.” He knew his students’
capabilities, accepted that the material hadn’t been effectively conveyed,
and adjusted accordingly. I’ve never encountered an incident like that
or a teacher like him before or since.</p>
<p>A couple of college degrees later, walking in town with my better half
and carrying our infant son, I bumped into the teacher, and introduced him
as the most effective, enlightened teacher I’ve ever known. He blushed.</p>
<p>As it happens, this teacher was also known for unerring accuracy with
a piece of chalk, with which you might find yourself pelted if your gaze
strayed out the window of his classroom. :)</p>