I did NOT just get this e-mail

[Lori]

But, I did. This awful student I have, who sleeps in every single one of our class meetings, just sent me an email that he disputes the grade I gave him on his last paper. His paper didn't even fulfill the assignment, and was a baseless rant against affirmative action when I hadn't asked them to write an argument paper. I gave him a much higher grade than he deserved, because honestly I feel somewhat bullied by conservative students. Not all the time, but a lot more often than you'd hope or imagine, if you give them a low grade on a paper where they express conservative views, they'll claim it's because you're biased against them and trying to silence them, even if it's objectively an awful paper. And this was objectively an awful paper, and I gave him a B because I could tell right off he was that kind of student, and I really just did not feel like fulfilling his fantasies about how oppressed he is as a conservative white man. You would think a B on a really bad paper would be enough to satisfy him.

But, no. He believes that it was an A paper, which is just delusional. He's lucky he got a B, because the paper really should have gotten a C- or D.

I'm just so not surprised that this student is the first one to complain about a grade from me since I've been teaching at this university, because I totally pegged him as a pain in my butt from the first day.

[Jejune]

Lori, I'm sorry. I know my friend's least favorite part of her master's program was dealing with students of this sort. One, in particular, actually came to her and said, "I didn't get into Stanford to get a B!" I'd read the paper in question. A B was generous. It blew my mind that she thought her work was done once she'd gotten into a prestigious university, as though getting into Stanford was it, and now she could coast for the rest of her life. Given that she'd written an art history paper in which she'd apparently gotten all her information from The Da Vinci Code, what did she expect?? Well, actually, I guess she expected an A.

Go on. Show your bias against the conservative white man. Because, if it's not about his being a conservative white man, there's no problem, and even if he complains to a higher authority, it sounds like his paper will speak for itself.

[Lori]

Thanks, Kristen. My favorite is that Sean gets students all the time who insist that his is the ONLY class they need to pass to graduate, and so he HAS to give them a passing grade. But we have access to the student's transcripts, and every single time Sean has checked, the student is nowhere near close to graduating.

And I realize this seems kind of petty, but I absolutely and completely despise getting grade complaints, especially from students who want As and especially because I'm a pretty easy grader.

The paper was supposed to be an educational biography, and this student just basically wrote about how much he hates affirmative action, including statements like "Now that affirmative action is banned in Michigan, all racial problems have been solved." Seriously. He also believes he failed to get into Michigan State University because of affirmative action, because apparently MSU is extremely difficult for a white student to get into nowadays. Personally, I think the sleeping in every class and writing bad papers might have more to do with it...

I really hate e-mail sometimes. People will ask for things over e-mail that they would never, ever ask for face to face.

[Danielle]

Go on. Show your bias against the conservative white man. Because, if it's not about his being a conservative white man, there's no problem, and even if he complains to a higher authority, it sounds like his paper will speak for itself.


ITA! Sounds like this guy needs to be put in his place.

[Danielle]

The paper was supposed to be an educational biography, and this student just basically wrote about how much he hates affirmative action, including statements like "Now that affirmative action is banned in Michigan, all racial problems have been solved." Seriously. And he wants an A.



Um... WHAT???? Well then, problem solved. I wonder why no one thought of that one before.

[Polly]

Did you give the students a rubric for grading? If not, email him one with comments explaining each area he failed in and succeeded in. That usually shuts them up.

Polly

[Maleah]

I'd email him back and let him know I reviewed his paper more closely and I was mistaken. It was a D paper, not a B. Apologise for the error and move on. But I am pretty mean. ;)

[Val]

I never understood the people that would go complain to the teacher over a grade. Sure, I was bothered here and there but I just figured "Oh well, do better the next time" :shakehead

[malcontent]

Did you give the students a rubric for grading? If not, email him one with comments explaining each area he failed in and succeeded in. That usually shuts them up.

Polly

I think that's a good idea. It sounds like a B was very generous indeed.

[Mu Shu]

If you need a basic rubric, go to rubistar.4teachers.org (no www). There are customizable rubrics you could use.