how to get your mercy?

amother

Fri, Mar 20 2009, 1:05 pm

I posted this in working womens section but now I see I need a teachers advice. What does it take to get you as a teacher to be merciful to a student. I'm doing very poorly in one of my grad courses and I need my professor to give me some xtra work to bring my grade up. The reason I'm doing poorly is because the nights before both the final and the midterm I stayed up fighting with DH (we're not doing well). How do I talk to a teacher to get her to want to help me?

Fox

Fri, Mar 20 2009, 1:53 pm

Although I'm no longer in education, I taught in colleges for about 18 years. I can tell you what would have been most effective with me:

1. Visit the professor during office hours. You can call to make sure she's available, but you should see her personally outside of class. If she's a part-time instructor who doesn't maintain office hours, you can call ahead of time to ask if she can see you for a few minutes before or after class.

2. Explain that for a variety of reasons, you didn't test well, but that you feel you know the material. Do NOT launch into any explanations about why you didn't test well. If she asks, just answer that you had a great deal of anxiety about the tests that affected your performance. Then reiterate that you believe you know the material far better than your test scores indicate. No tears, no drama . . . just calm and professional.

3. Propose a specific project that entails significant work -- far more work than most students would be willing to do -- to raise each grade a certain number of points or percentage. I'm thinking of something like an extra 10-page term paper, a major class presentation, or even a small research project. The point is that you want to propose something that shows you are seriously committed to showing what you can do -- not just a grade-grubber. Have a few proposed thesis statements, etc., ready to discuss with her.

I can't promise that this will work. A lot of my reaction to such situations depended on the student's general deportment over the course of the semester. I tried to have rachmones on the students who seemed to have truly put forth the effort to learn, not just get a good grade.