Final Grades

A couple weeks ago, Mr. B left a message for his students in the Google Classroom. The last day to turn in late work was the Friday before finals week. And so, every day I reminded them of this deadline.

Then Ms. P (the instructional aide) called out sick, which meant I was doing the grading. I told the students this was good for them as I tend to grade easy, and I wasn't sure how many points to deduct for late work (so I wasn't going to deduct any).  

(I didn't expect them to take advantage of this. So, when I wasn't getting loads of late work being turned in, I wasn't surprised.)

It was the last week before finals. And I reminded them that any late work they turned in was only going to benefit them. They turned in their last assignment for the semester, and still many had empty spots where points for assignments should be. I pointed out that any late work was only going to boost their grades.

Still, nothing.

And then I really looked at their grades. A few of them had dropped from a C to an F. 

The problem: I hadn't given the C students progress reports. 

There is a rule. A teacher cannot fail a student at the semester if they did not send out a progress report with the note "in danger of failing". 

I did the progress reports. I sent progress reports out for every D and F student. The students who had Cs, however, I figured would still have Cs at the semester.

But, sub. I don't know why, but students slack off with long term subs. There is a grade dip. I just didn't think the grades would dip that much.

There were five students who now had Fs who had not gotten progress reports. Sigh.

Two of them were just missing the last assignment due to being absent. They turned in the assignment, and their grades popped back up. 

Two of them were up to date on assignments, but those assignments had not been completed thoroughly. I gently suggested to one that if she completed some questions that she hadn't done, she could pull up her grade. 

She did a sloppy job, earned eight points, but that was enough to take her to just above 60%. A D. Whew.

Another boy turned in a missing packet, and that was enough to bounce him into D territory. Whew. 

There's still one, though. I will have to tell Mr. B I messed up and didn't give him a progress report. I imagine he'll end up getting a D at the semester as well.

I did what I could. But I can't do the work for them. And next time (and there will be a next time), I may just have to give progress reports to students with Cs. Because, seriously. They do let things slide when there's a sub.