# i think i never should have emialed my teacher. what should i do?



## enfield (Sep 4, 2010)

i looked up my grade in a class yesterday, my final grade, and saw it was a D-. i am used to getting low grades so it wasn't anything new. but i had hoped i would be passing. i had never looked at it before, nor had any idea how it was calculated until a week ago, when i looked that up. i knew i wouldn't be passing by much, if i did, given how much i saw the quizes and homeworks were worth (half the grade). there were 11 quizzes but i missed being there for 9 of those, but i did make up for like half the homework by turning it all in on the last day.

anyhow i decided to ask the teacher to pass me (and plead my case to her a little). but now i am almost sure i did that too impulsively, and that i didn't actually need to. i didn't think the teacher would review the grade in person! i thought what it said would be what i got. but she probably would have passed me anyway. i was too worried to think straight. and now she wants me to meet with her!

my email to her



> I did a good job on the last 4 homeworks and i got an A- on the midterm and an A- on the final. My grade, however, is still in the failing range (61%). Is there any way i can be passed? I'm asking just in case.
> 
> Here is a picture of my grade and the breakdown:
> 
> ...


her email to me



> I would like to talk to you before I will give you a grade. I would like to know the reason why you did not submit several homeworks and quizzes?
> Could you come to the University On Thursday at 2:30?
> Best
> AP


i attended class 5 times in total, twice for tests. i don't know what i would say. i don't have a good explanation. what should i say. if i went i would so anxious! should i show up at all? do you think she'll pass me if i don't do anything?


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## KelsKels (Oct 4, 2011)

I don't think she would pass you if you didn't go talk to her.. I mean you could either tell her you don't have a great reason, and tell the truth. OR you could exaggerate and give her some excuses as to why you weren't there, tell her you've been having a hard time or somethings happened. Personally, I would probably lie and fudge the truth a little. But that's just me. I know Id be anxious about meeting up.. but its probably in your best interest if you do. If you ignore her I don't see how she would change your grade.

Meh.. just my advice.


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## enfield (Sep 4, 2010)

i appreciate your advice! i think you settled it for me. i think i'm going to do the right thing for once. i think i'm going.


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## Earl of Lemongrab (May 15, 2012)

Why are quizzes and homework worth that much? Seems backwards, IMO. Over here, the final is always worth 50% of your grade in math courses and if your final exam grade is better than your midterms, your midterm marks get reweighted to the final exam. We also only have 2 midterms and 3-4 assignments to hand in per class. Also, here, 60% is a C-, not a D-. :/
I am confused. If you attended my school, you'd get an A- in your class simply because that's the mark you got on your final - and that's the way it should be. The final exam is the best measure of how well you've retained all the material, so it's the most important by far. My professors don't seem to give a **** about assignments - they were only worth 20% of your final mark at most (usually more like 10).


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## Raeden (Feb 8, 2013)

Considering you performed well on the midterm and final, I think there is a great chance that you will be bumped if you go and talk to the professor. However, for the future, you should try to now miss so many days of class. You never know when you will need to suck up to get bumped.


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## phillyy (Mar 6, 2013)

Tell her the truth. Tell her you're struggling with SA and sometimes can't bring yourself to class. Tell her you're getting help and working on it. Tell her your grade doesn't have to do with not understanding the material (as demonstrated by your exam grades), but rather an inability to physically bring yourself to class. Offer to do some extra work (maybe write a paper or something) to show her how badly you want to pass and your willingness to do anything. 

Your professor sounds like she wants to help. Not showing up at all is a bad idea, she might fail you if you just ignore her and hope for the best. 


Wish you luck.


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## blueidealist26 (Dec 16, 2012)

Of course show up. She probably won't pass you if you don't. If she asks why you haven't been to class tell her that you've been coping with personal issues, and you realize that it was wrong to not show up and plan on showing up for class regularly in the future. If there are any more classes left of this class, come to all of them.


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## blueidealist26 (Dec 16, 2012)

Sorry, I missed the part where you said all of the classes were over.. but still, show up to the meeting.


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## enfield (Sep 4, 2010)

trisquel said:


> Why are quizzes and homework worth that much? Seems backwards, IMO. Over here, the final is always worth 50% of your grade in math courses and if your final exam grade is better than your midterms, your midterm marks get reweighted to the final exam. We also only have 2 midterms and 3-4 assignments to hand in per class. Also, here, 60% is a C-, not a D-. :/
> I am confused. If you attended my school, you'd get an A- in your class simply because that's the mark you got on your final - and that's the way it should be. The final exam is the best measure of how well you've retained all the material, so it's the most important by far. My professors don't seem to give a **** about assignments - they were only worth 20% of your final mark at most (usually more like 10).


yeah it is a little backwards. the tests were really easy, like the most basic examples of the material you could think of, and hardly comprehensive, while the homework problems were harder. so i can kind of see why the different parts were weighted the way they were. but why not make the tests not wholly simplistic and a larger part of the grade? i think because you can't collaborate on tests or copy each others tests (that would be cheating!), so then too many people would fail. you have to get kind of inventive about how you assess college students on material that is too hard for them, or you'll flunk them all!


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## Frostbite (May 14, 2013)

Just go, if she's asking you to come in she wants to help you. She's not going to grill you. If anything she'll ask you to do the homeworks you missed. 

And if it's anything like the porno I've seen, you're probably going to get laid. She'll be like oh enfield how can we resolve this as she unbuttons her blouse. You'll be all coy at first and say you don't know....


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## Zeppelin (Jan 23, 2012)

I would go meet her. The worst thing she could say is no. I know this is easier said than done ( I hate emailing teachers), but many students do it all the time, especially if they aren't doing to well.


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## kittenamos (Jun 23, 2011)

I would email her and tell her about your anxiety issues. I know that this can be hard for some of us, but I have started to do this whenever I find out that there is a participation grade for the class. The teacher's are usually very understanding of this and it would also be away to explain to her why you didn't attend some classes without having to talk to her in person (if that is the reason why).


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Professors really don't like it if you miss class a lot. 

How come the image was removed?


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## enfield (Sep 4, 2010)

thanks for the replies everyone.



kittenamos said:


> I would email her and tell her about your anxiety issues. I know that this can be hard for some of us, but I have started to do this whenever I find out that there is a participation grade for the class. The teacher's are usually very understanding of this and it would also be away to explain to her why you didn't attend some classes without having to talk to her in person (if that is the reason why).


-gasp- i would _never _tell anyone like a teacher about something as personal and embarrassing as anxiety issues. i only support people doing that to get out of presentations. because then what choice do you have - you can't go through with the presentation!



komorikun said:


> Professors really don't like it if you miss class a lot.
> 
> How come the image was removed?


don't scare me like that. well i'm just going to show up and introduce myself. and see what happens.

and i don't know why i did that. i should have said REDACTED. i wish i did that now. it had my name and school on it. but here, now i don't mind as much.

http://i.imgur.com/9OunU1E.png


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## enfield (Sep 4, 2010)

okay so she gave me a B. i just mumbled. she said since i was a freshman she would be lenient. we talked about how easy the final was. it turns out why it was so easy was because half the class failed the midterm. so rather than curve the tests she made the final as easy as it could be. 

then she passed me off to the chair of the department. he was really nice. he helped me figure out all my classes for the fall, one by one, so i am not getting dismissed after all.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

That's good. How did you do in your other classes?


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## enfield (Sep 4, 2010)

komorikun said:


> That's good. How did you do in your other classes?


i forgot to drop linear algebra and never went to it. so i got an F there.

in calc 3 i showed up to the midterm and final, turned in almost half of the homeworks, but missed the 2 quizzes, which were during classes i didn't show up to. outside of the tests i only made it to class once or twice. while i was talking to the stats teacher the department chair talked to my calc 3 teacher. he reported back to me that i'm getting a B from him.

so together 2 B's and an F.

oh yeah and the stats teacher (the person i originally went to see) said she was thinking about what to give me all week. weird. but that probably means she would have passed me. so my email to her was likely unneeded. and while nice, the department chair i ended up having to talk to is arranging a schedule for me that i don't like. for example he wants me to retake a class i got a C in because he swears having an A in that one is really important since it lays the groundwork for all these future classes. (plus, he is trying to look for my transcript. but it will never be saved). yet the only reason i got a C was because i completely ignored the research paper which was 20% of the grade. and there was no way i was going to do that, not then, not now. so the idea that i can retake it and get an A makes little sense. i will probably make my own schedule up and not email him it like he wanted me too. then, since he is a busy guy, he will forget all about me.


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## kittenamos (Jun 23, 2011)

enfield said:


> -gasp- i would _never _tell anyone like a teacher about something as personal and embarrassing as anxiety issues. i only support people doing that to get out of presentations. because then what choice do you have - you can't go through with the presentation!


Why not? Telling your teachers about this can make a *huge* difference, especially when it comes to your overall grade. Like I said in my last post, I know it can be hard to admit that you have this problem to someone, but most teachers are very understanding about this and if they know, they will keep it in mind when it comes to grading. Honestly, I don't understand why more people don't email their teachers about this at the beginning of semesters.


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