Just a vent.

[Remudamom]

Ds has been doing fabulous his first year in college. Great grades, top of each class. Until he handed in a writing assignment arguing against public education. Long story short the teacher did not like it. She used to teach in our local ps, knows me, knows we homeschooled. All of a sudden the A he had in her class dropped to a B. He can't do anything right now and she is rude to him. He shakes it off but it ticks me. He's worked so hard and she's just being nasty.

[Impish]

:grouphug:

Can he go to her superior?

[Remudamom]

Nope. Nothing to prove. It's an English writing class and basically she can grade however she wants.

 

She had my dd a couple of years ago. When dd handed in a paper early the witch told her "you are harming your whole class by doing this." Huh???

I think she dislikes my kids because they are homeschooled, they are both straight A students, and she knows that I know what she is like.

[LisaKinVA]

Just as an FYI, if there is no justification for the lowering of his grade (as in, documentation), she can be fired for something like this (well...unless she's tenured). Ask me how I know (and no, I wasn't the one fired). Teachers cannot lower a grade because they agree or disagree with the subject matter within a paper (unless it is wholly inappropriate, or not what was assigned, etc.). He didn't leave his 1st Amendment rights at the door, nor can he be penalized for holding a different opinion than that of the teachers (this is not a gender/race/etc. issue).

 

Just agreeing with you, and saying your son should take this up the chain. I didn't have the guts to do this in college, and shrugged it off. The prof kept doing the same thing to others (had probably done it to people before I came along) until a few years later someone DID stand up to him, and he was fired.

[learningmama]

:grouphug: I think many writing teachers are just nasty by nature. DH has had similar experiences in high school and grad school, although the grade was lower than a B (C-), caused him to lose undergrad college credit and lose his Honors Diploma in hs. Vengeance was paid though last year when he wrote on to Law Review in law school, won an Outstanding New Associate award, and became an editor.

[Guest submarines]

Nope. Nothing to prove. It's an English writing class and basically she can grade however she wants.

 

She had my dd a couple of years ago. When dd handed in a paper early the witch told her "you are harming your whole class by doing this." Huh???

I think she dislikes my kids because they are homeschooled, they are both straight A students, and she knows that I know what she is like.

 

 

Maybe not about the assignment and the grade, but what about her being rude to him? This is not acceptable.

 

On the other hand, your DS must have known that such a paper wouldn't fly well. And yet he thought it was important enough to write it and to hand it in. This is an experience in itself. I wrote a paper in college that I knew my professor wouldn't agree with. I hoped he'd be objective, but he wasn't. I got 70% and I learned my lesson--sometimes it is better to have a stand, sometimes it is better to have an A. My professor, however, didn't start treating me poorly. I'd definitely address that issue.

[bettyandbob]

My ds is in his first year of college as well. His college writing professor is nasty. He's very proud of the fact he's been teaching 20 years and less than 4 students have earned A's from him. He took it upon himself to teach material other than writing for the first part of the semester. Since focusing on writing, anyone who expresses an opinion that does not unequivocally support the ideals of the far right or support the man's religious beliefs receives D's and F's on assignments. This is not a religious school so the view points are out of line.

 

We've counseled ds that since he understands how the man operates ds needs to argue every thing in agreement with the teacher. Ds is trying to do this--it's hard for him because he loves to debate. He has signed up for a different instructor next semester. He's currently hovering between a B and C for the semester (one of the highest grades). Ds went to college with excellent writing skills.

 

You have to decide if you can get through by figuring out how to follow the particular teacher's desires and whether moving up the chain of command at the school could come back to bite you in the rear.

[Remudamom]

This lady is ultra liberal. Dd has suggested we not make waves, because the dean is tight with this teacher. She also told us that lady teacher has vendetta against one of the young men who didn't want to date her dd.

 

I think no more classes from this jewel would be in order. Her last name has replaced our favorite expletive. 8)

[GWOB]

Wow. She sounds like a real peach :/. Sorry you are having to deal with this. Unfortunately, there is no cure for stupid. I've already looked for one ;).

[Remudamom]

It's a good lesson. It's like genscharm said. Sometimes you take an A, sometimes you take a stand.

[TranquilMind]

Ds has been doing fabulous his first year in college. Great grades, top of each class. Until he handed in a writing assignment arguing against public education. Long story short the teacher did not like it. She used to teach in our local ps, knows me, knows we homeschooled. All of a sudden the A he had in her class dropped to a B. He can't do anything right now and she is rude to him. He shakes it off but it ticks me. He's worked so hard and she's just being nasty.

 

Well, call me calculating, but I'd play her game, since she is so obvious. Does he continue with her after Christmas, or is this only a one semester class?

 

I'd go to her, and tell her I'd been thinking about this paper, and wondering if she could show me where she thinks my argument is weak (if she didn't already do this in writing). Then, I'd say that I was seriously considering her perspective, as I had not considered from the point of view of a public school teacher before, and I'd thank her for spending this time with me, and say I hoped I would get to write on this topic again some time, because I'd now have a deeper perspective of the issue.

 

Blah blah. You do what you have to do. If he does nothing, he cannot get her to see him as a multidimensional person who is capable of being taught different perspectives.

 

Decades ago, I worked for a difficult boss. He was a diabetic who also drank, and would go into rages at everyone. There were two different jobs that were done here and I wanted to do one, but always got stuck in the other. As long as I resisted this boss for the jerk he was, we never got along and I never go to do the preferred job. My attitude was obvious, I'm sure. Tension always is. One day, I decided to take a different tactic. I went to him and apologized to him for having had negative thoughts about him and resisting him all the time. I was being honest. I just thought maybe this would "re-set" our relationship, and work could be less stressful. I said that I would support him 100% from now on and I hoped we could have a positive working relationship.

 

I never had to do that undesirable job again, and we got along well from then on. He was just so surprised that anyone would actually approach him and try to make it better. Connecting with someone as a person, instead of just in a role, seems to make a difference.

 

So, it could be worth a try, if they have an ongoing relationship past this semester.

[gardenmom5]

yes, it's unfair and retalitory.

yes, that's also the reality. yes, this is college, but it will also happen in the work environment. there will be bosses who undermine, but there will also be coworkers who undermine. consider it an opportunity for him to learn how to "play the game". (i'm sorry, but that's reality.)

 

My dd really grated on one of her "*very* agendized" professors. (basically she would ask questions in front of the class that shot the agendized presentation full of holes.) it was a mandatory class, and her grade was dropped from A - B in retaliation. this woman finally let loose a rant at her one day about how "you're brilliant and you're wasting your talents". we basically told dd - iow's she's mad you don't want her as your mentor. it didn't hold her back, she still graduated summa.

[jujsky]

I despise teachers like that! One of my college teachers did something similar to me. I went from an A to a C in her class because of a view I held. She had us working in a poor, rural, junior high school for a few days, and we had to write about the experience to say whether or not we would like to work in a school like this (this was for an education class, btw). I was honest. I said no. I told her that first off, I wanted to work with high school students and not junior high students. I did a lot of substitute teaching during school breaks and I did not enjoy the junior high level. The hormones are too crazy. I also said that I did not wish to work in a low-income district because teaching is difficult enough without adding financial hardship into the mix. I thought I was just being honest and realistic about what I could handle, but in her eyes I was all of a sudden an "elitist who would have a difficult time finding a job," and she "pitied my future students." Hmmmmm..... guess that's why my freshmen nominated me for teacher of the year at the school I taught at fresh out of college. I must have frightened them into voting for me with my elitist attitude ;)

 

Teachers like that suck. They need to be able to separate their opinion from those of their students. If they can't be objective, they shouldn't be teaching.

[countrygal]

It must have been an excellent and convicting paper by the way she reacted to it! Her behavior is evidence of what he probably wrote about! Maybe that's why it doesn't bother your son. It's sad that teachers can't separate their views from actual writing.