Entitlement

 Yes, it’s that time —grades are closing, and the weird emails show up.

Last week I had one I get like clockwork at the end of each quarter—a girl who literally does nothing asks what she can do to raise her grade. Uh…how about the assigned work? This is every quarter, and I’m not the only teacher getting that email.

This morning I had another one. A boy—quite a smart boy—wrote saying he has an 89% in the class, and can I bump it up so he can be on A Honor Roll. I took a quick look at his grade and saw the problem right away. I’ve been out a lot this quarter, and apparently that meant he didn’t have to do his assignments. Since he is quite a smart boy, I carefully crafted my response below. 

Thank you for writing.  Since the class average is 92%, it immediately let me know that your 89% means you skipped assignments. 

I took a quick look and found you have not turned in the following:

Subtopic Migration

Research Snap Practice 1

Research Snap Practice 2

Your grade would be a whole lot lower if I hadn't given you half points for these, which is something I was doing because I had to be out so much. But it didn't mean you didn't have to do them! 

Just doing one of these would probably change your grade, which you could do (no later than today, btw.) 

However, what disturbs me most is that you sat in class not doing assigned work, and then expected me just to bump up your grade. I hope you will think about the ethics of that in your life...why your lack of action meant I was supposed to fix it in your favor. It appears you did not even consider why you had a grade below the class average. If you want A Honor Roll, you need to be working every day toward that goal, not expecting a last minute save by  the teacher. 

Please email me if you complete any of these by 4 pm March 14 (Thursday), and I will be happy to update your grade. After that time, there are no guarantees. 

Sincerely, 

Ms. Sadler

The boy has some work to do!