Teachers/School

Although I don't think teachers just make up a bad grade for a great student- I do think when a student's work is bordering between two grades, the teacher will mark up or down based on if she likes the kid or if the kid is good in class. Say the kid usually gets low 90s and high 80s on tests and assignments- the average is sort of between an A- and a B+. The kid who behaves is going to get that A- the kid who acts up (but does his work) is going to get the B+ or even a B.

My mother used to come to my school and talked to my teachers and I did well in elementry school. She did the same in middle school and high school, but it did not matter in middle school if she had or had not because I just did not like middle school, my one instructor called me "The Beast", which I found ridiculous because Beast of "The X-Men" is one of the smartest mutants on the planet in my eyes, my other instructors could have cared less if I ditched my classes, my ex-boyfriend (who was just a friend at the time) went into a seisure in front of me for the first time, my female friend was killed my eight grade year, and I contracted pneumonia for the first time in middle school. Yes, I hated middle school because it was Hell for me.

I had a teacher in high school that was a complete flake. I don't think she was out to get me but she was just a little off and so were my grades. There was one incident where a bunch of us missed a couple classes because we had been on a trip for another class we were in. We were not supposed to be responsible for the stuff we missed those two days since we were out of town. There were 5 of us in the class and when we got back we were told there was a quiz that day. We had no clue and one girl asked if the 5 of us could be excused since we didn't know and she said no. So we took the quiz and every single one of us failed it because they had started to study something new while we were gone. We were all mad and it made our grades drop. Then when we were doing semester finals she wandered around the room sweeping and mumbling to herself and humming and making a racket while we are taking a test that is worth like 30% of our grade. 30 minutes into the exam and half the class was just glaring at her because we couldn't concentrate. We all got pretty bad grades on that test. When she taught she would go off on tangents so often we never knew what the heck we were supposed to be studying and no one in class was doing very good. My mom finally complained after I brought home yet another d or c. I always got Bs and As in school until that class. I was so frustrated. But nothing changed. Everyone in school agreed she was just flakey and not a good teacher.

In highschool, all of my teachers thought I was great, and I do not think my folks ever went to my conferences, if they had them.I could fake my way through almost any class. When my kids were in school, there was a rude teacher that neither of my kids responded well to, and I did not really respect, either, but he was the only one teaching his subject, an upper level math class. I also had other teachers say about my son in particular that he was very smart, and that they had misjudged him because he was quiet. I feel like my kids got basically what they deserved in class, with the exception of the one teacher.

I never had that problem in school but I was always an over achiever in my academics. I had 2 years of college under my belt by the end of my high school senior year and graduated with a 4 year degree in 18 months. So I was always the "great student" they all loved. I do have this problem with my daughter though. She's the one everyone loves to hate, including me when I was a kid. The cute, petite, adorable little cheerleader type. Sometimes ditzy but still smart enough to be an honor student. You know, the girl you loved to hate. For this reason I've had certain teachers that I KNOW hate her by their comments. One teacher went so far as to tell her one day she was stupid and she better not think she can get through life on her looks. LOL I called him up and reminded him that first he was her TEACHER and supposed to be setting an example. Then I explained that if he ever told her she was stupid again I'd make sure the issue was brought to the right authorities. He did apologize but he still has an attitude with her. You could tell he was the big ol' ugly kid in school and now with his position feels the need to get back at kids like her that he envied. Kind of weird.

I hated teachers like that. Unfortunatly, they dont go away. Luckily though your kids got their grade back up. I dont get how teachers consider that as getting your kids ready for the future.

My granddaughter had a teacher, that when I first saw her, when I drove my granddaughter to school the first day, I felt that she didn't like kids.. I excused it as perhaps my imagination... and even tho I wasn't the one to go to the parent teacher conferences, I felt perhaps I was right, when my granddaughter towards the end of the year (1st grade) basicly said the same thing and I'd never said anything to her about the teacher. This year I got a really good impression on her teacher just by the note of welcome she sent to the students to introduce herself just before school started - she's a new teacher at the school. Now this teacher you can tell loves her job and the kids and she's always finding interesting and fun things and ways to learn for the kids.. my granddaughter has even repeated to me little points of humor she's noticed in her new teacher.. and she seems to be enjoying going to school a lot more than she did last year. There are some great teachers! But there's also some, who shouldn't be teachers.. and we've all heard of the mean ones! Maybe had one or two ourselves..

I feel some teachers behave like this, by showing some kind of indifferent attitudes. But an outstanding student can over come such silly mischiefs.Ultimately the teacher has to admit that a bright student is realy bright.But in case of average studentsthisplayes a demoralisng effect and some times it may affect the student's future.The teachers should try to help such students.

my sister had experienced same.

Once I hit highschool (i'm still in highschool, this is my grade 11 year) I found teachers my marks were dropping. But I sort of expected it. A lot of the work got harder and the teachers were all in that "we're preparing you for college or university" stage. Now that I'm in grade 11, I'm really preparing for post-secondary and I understand why teachers are looking for higher expectations than in elementary school. However, I did notice that with certain teachers in certain subject areas, my marks were horrible. But umh, My nephew had a grade 1 teacher who really picked on him because she didn't like me.. and my sister went in and complained about it to her, and the principal. And after they bickered for a few, there was an improvement in his marks. Sometimes you need to complain. Although you have to remember you can't do that when they're in college and their marks suddenly drop.

I think some teachers just like some students and not others. I don't think it has to do with grades. If the teacher does't like the child his marks are not as good. If you stand up to that teacher as a parent you can get further than if the child does. If a child gets bad marks after getting good ones they wonder what has happened and start believing they just can't do it.

I think it's terrific that you love your kids enough and are concerned enough about their education to go to their parent-teacher interviews. I am a high school/junior high school teacher in a small, isolated community in Canada and it is very disturbing how few parents there are like you. So, first off, thank you for taking your job as parent seriously! As for the problem with the marks, I feel that some of the comments made below were right to an extent... if a student is bordering between two grades (say, a pass or a fail), I will make the decision on whether to pass or fail that student based on their performance in class. This is not based on whether or not I like the student (although we are all human and there are certainly students that I realize do not make my life easier). I have students that give me hell in class but do all of their work and do it well, and naturally they are getting good marks. I also have students who try their hardest all of the time just to scrape by. If each of these students got 49% in a subject come report card time (for whatever reason), I would pass the student who was trying and came to class regularly but probably would not pass the other student. That's not really a good example, because if it was only one percentage I would probably pass them both, talk to both of them and make suggestions for improving their grades. But you get the idea - attitude, attendance, performance, work ethic... it all counts. I tell the students this, too, so it's not a surprise for them. If your sons are coming to class, doing their work, passing in assignments... i can't see what the problem is. And whatever the case, if the teacher was acting legitimately, their marks should not have gone up significantly after this meeting unless something changed in their work. I think you have the right to be upset. If you notice that something is not adding up, take it to the principal. Perhaps a different, more objective teacher can grade your sons' work for the remainder of the year. Best wishes. Ashley

My economics teacher in highschool always gave me really really low grades. I don't know why. I compared my answers with those of my classmates and we had basically the same answer but I would still flunk a very easy exam. Once, I didn't write my name on my test paper. when she returned the papers of the class I didn't get mine then she asked who the paper belonged to. I said it was mine. Guess what, I passed the exam.

hei,you are a parengt?oh to raise a child is very hard isn't it?i am a college student in China hope we can make friend with each other.

yes, i think i experience this before when i am still in school... i don't really like my geography teacher and the subject... and she knows it... that's why she always give me a bad grade for it... but i don't really care... as long as i pass the subject, that's all that really matters to me... i think it is very unfair though and it has to be reported if it keeps on happening...