I appreciate students doing what they need to do to get a better grade. However, when a student's reasoning, research, and grammatical savvy are downright wrong and he feels the need to resort to malice, manipulation, and ultimatums, this chica is not a happy camper.
K, let me back up. At the end of each year, students turn in their reflection papers. Half of their points are for content and half are for grammar. Boss explains this clearly when he assigns the paper. My job is to read the papers and make notes of misspelling and poor grammar. One student was dissatisfied with his grade. We sent him a file containing his paper and Boss's and my comments on it. He wrote back and gave us a point by point analysis of why he thinks my penalties were wrong. I e-mailed a rebuttal to the student to my boss, as the boss requested.
I know I am in the right on all points but let my boss know that I support him even if he wants to capitulate and claim that I was being too nitpicky. However, I don't think he'll do that. When the student threw around the word "illegal," that's when I knew he was bluffing. Whatever happens to this kid's grade doesn't really concern me, but the way he phrased his argument was too cunning and malicious for me to brush it off. My blood is boiling.
But yay - I get to start my new class tonight! Maybe I'll turn this kid into a short story.
Comments (11)
@harmony0stars -
Hey, I had a parent actually say "My daughter has never done anything wrong in this world!" recently when I called about poor behavior. I wanted to say, "and that belief is why you are part of the problem." But I think she was drunk too and I didn't want to argue. But the kid is bright and you can bet your bum would totally choose to fight a legit grade than work for a better one next time.
Seriously, I'm torn--fighting for better grades beats working for them, but teachers need respect.