<p>I was enrolled in a Greek course, one of the requirements was to take a trip during April to Greece. I was unable to go on the trip, so the teacher gave me some makeup work to do to make up for it, and I completed the work. The problem is that the teacher was really hurt by the fact that I didn't go, and will most likely give me a D in the class, a class in which I has an A+ average in first semester. I am a 2nd semester senior, already committed to a college (Pomona) how will this affect admissions, and is there anything I should do now to try and sort this out (I tried talking to the teacher, but she is relentless and the administration has no power in this situation) Please help.</p>
<p>I'd be talking with your guidance counselor IMMEDIATELY. A teacher is out of line if they're holding you 'hostage' when you completed work as expected.</p>
<p>Go tomorrow. Seriously. And don't be grumpy, but do be assertive. ASK for help in correcting this unjust situation.</p>
<p>the main problem is that this teacher has been at the school for 35 years, and nobody wants to take her down. I have contacted the College Counselor, who said she will talk to Pomona on my behalf and explain the situation, but is there anything else that I should do in addition to that?</p>
<p>bump..........................</p>
<p>Threaten legal action. It always works around here no matter how respected a teacher is. No school will lose millions for one person.</p>
<p>I would go with a parent to the GC, and if that didn't bring resolution I'd head over to the board of ed. </p>
<p>Having tenure does not entitle someone to ignore (or discredit) work handed in as agreed.</p>
<p>Back when dinosaurs roamed (and well before we were a sue-happy society) my mother had a tenured teacher "released from service" for picking on a kid that wore glasses. The school board took action.</p>
<p>Definitely talk to the guidance counselor, and have a parent call or come in to talk with them as well. If the guidance counselor will do no more than draw unwanted attention to the grade with Pomona (congratulations, BTW!), then talk to a vice principal, then the principal. Make it clear to your GC that if they are unable to resolve the situation, you will go as high as it takes to make sure that somebody does. Just the threat may prompt action, because if you're having to go to the GC's superior because they couldn't get something done, that reflects badly on them.</p>
<p>In high school, I was in band. I chose not to go to an honors band festival so I could focus on two upcoming very large and important math tests, one of which was in a course that counted for college credit. He wouldn't speak to me for a week and also lowered my grade from a 99 to a 90, hoping I'd fail the upcoming test so I wouldn't have an A. (I passed and got 91 in the course). This festival was not required, but he also tried to make me pay $70 for the unused transportation and accomodation, which I had never agreed to.</p>
<p>I took it to one of my trusted advisors, and somehow they were able to get the guy to waive the fee. My grade was actually supposed to be much lower after I didn't attend--he wanted to dunk me to 85, but I guess he got yelled at by the principal after I went in and talked to the advisor.</p>
<p>The same guy almost failed my friend because he thought her essay was too opinionated. Trouble is, the prompt asked for an opinion. He called her something not very nice to her face. She too took it to higher levels and got many of the punshiments revoked. And it happened to another friend who couldn't make the concert because she was in the hospital. Same story, but she had to work harder because if she didn't win the fight she got an F in the course. And this girl usually got 4.0+ GPA.</p>
<p>HAVING to go to Greece for a class, even that is absurd...so that "requirement" should not have even been there</p>
<p>My gut tells me that the teacher may be concerned about his little Greek trip (nice perk) and if kids don't go because of finances, other commitment, parents saying I don't think so, the teacher could lose it, so he was making you an example</p>
<p>Here is what you need to do...write down everything, what you and the teacher agreed to, what the teacher acutally did, why you couldn't go on the trip (did all kids go, and how was money raised, etc- this could be relevant), and in the past what happened to kids who could not go</p>
<p>Make sure you have copies of the work you gave teacher, if not, do a quick summary sheet</p>
<p>Having papers in hand when talking to GC is powerful, it shows you are serious, and that you will just not blow off the grade</p>
<p>And, you have nothing to lose by going higher</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about getting rescinded, you still average a b-c in the class, but for the principle of it, and to protect yourself, followthrough calmly, with lots of documentation...</p>
<p>It still amazes me that a vacation in greece is a course requirement for HS...the gall</p>
<p>Whoa. Slow down. </p>
<p>First of all, your admission won't be rescinded because of one low grade, so you don't need to worry about that.</p>
<p>Second, by the looks of your post it doesn't seem that the teacher has actually done anything yet. "Will most likely give me a D in the class" also means "or may not give me a D in the class." Go to the teacher and ask her directly, "What grade are you about to give me?" If she says that she is about to give you a low grade, make her tell you exactly why. Press the question until you get a detailed response. The more concrete statements you get from her, the more information you will have to work with - either to resolve the situation with her directly (if she says you didn't do the make-up work to her satisfaction, find out exactly what should be done to correct it), or to present to the administration. </p>
<p>It would be such a waste if you were to go in there with guns blazing, threatening lawsuits, only to find out that she was about to give you a B+.</p>
<p>she said i didn't do the makeup work to her satisfaction, but that there is "nothing else" that i am "done" and that i cannot rewrite the paper, do anything else to remedy the situation.</p>
<p>do you have a copy of the paper you wrote and what she expected?</p>
<p>I agree, no reason to go in with guns blazing, but you do need to have all your ducks in a row (okay to many metaphors), but just be prepared just in case</p>
<p>you guys are all nuts. Who is a GC going to believe, a student or a respected teacher. Let me ask you all this. The teacher claims you didnt do the work up to her satisfaction and all you have said on that issue is that you handed it on time. So what? That doesnt mean ****. Maybe you did a poor job and you deserve your grade. Everyone on this site is so hasty to blame a teacher, but never think about maybe the student did actually do something wrong. Are you leaving anything out of your story perhaps?</p>
<p>Before you go talk to anyone at the school, you need to "build your case" so you can go into a meeting prepared. Gather any graded papers, progress reports, etc. you have gotten from this teacher, so that you can show the principal, guidance counselor, or whomever you meet with that you should have an A in the class. If there is any proof of the reason why you couldn't go on the class trip, bring that too. I don't know what your reason was, but for example, if it was medical, you could bring a doctor's report. Someone who posted earlier suggested that the school will believe a veteran teacher over you, and this is exactly why you need all these papers - to support your side of the story. </p>
<p>Meet with your guidance counselor first. Get him/her on your side in case you need to go to the principal. Show him/her all the papers you have gathered. If this doesn't work, talk to the principal, and again, come prepared with all those papers. If all else fails, get your parents involved. Someone else already said this, but if necessary, you can threaten legal action. I'm not one of those people who thinks everyone should sue everyone else for every little thing, but if getting a D is going to affect your college admissions, then it's certainly important!</p>
<p>What if this student deserved a D? Second semester senior, the class is away on a trip to Greece. The student had an A the first semester. There is the possibility that you got a D because your work was D level work. I would be careful because my bet is you are going to end up embarrassing yourself.</p>
<p>So what was the make-up work - what kind of assignments and how many? Was it just the single paper? How many other assignments had you completed during the semester, and did you receive high grades on them? Also, do you think the paper you wrote was good?</p>
<p>What kind of coursework did the other students complete while in Greece, or was their A just for showing up?</p>
<p>she told me to write a paper, and gave me some stuff to read, we discussed a thesis statement, and then I asked her how long it should be. She said, and I quote;</p>
<p>"how ever long you believe is neccesary to cover the subject material"</p>
<p>my first draft was about 5 pages, she wouldn't return it to me for a second draft because the paper was (and i quote again) "bulls**t"</p>
<p>you wont believe this but that happened to me too! My class(latin) went to rome during the summer. It was like $2000! I didnt go and now my teacher hates me in latin 2. He hasnt taken it out on my grade yet though. Language teachers like trips dont they!</p>
<p>Haha, my teacher for econ/govt was the same. I had to go to CPW for MIT because campus visits make or break decisions, and she had, on a whim, changed cteam practice to the weekend i was leaving after I told her 3 weeks in advance, which she gladly ignored. She gave me a 70 for the semester from a 92, but I, luckily, don't give a damn about grades, but my parents were ****ed at her and she almost got fired. What is funnier is the where I got back, she gave a test that I had no knowledge of nor did I have time to prepare. She said too bad, and I responded by saying that MISD (the school district) gives me a week to make up the work. She responds: "This is Morse (her name) ISD, not McAllen (the city) ISD." I got a 100 on it though cause I own at ToK.</p>
<p>First of all even IF you get a D second semester, that ends up being, around a B for the year. This will not affect your admission to Pomona. The only reason I would complain is if it affects your class rank. (ie if you are ranked 1 or 2, although usually val/sal's are usually chosen before the end of the school year)</p>