The worst part of my job.

The semester ended this week. Finals are completed. Grades are submitted. My last class is finished. I thought I was done being a teacher for two months. I was wrong. I thought the worst part of my job was having to figure out how to grade 230 students. I was wrong. The worst part of my job is facing students who are upset about their grades.

I submitted my grades Wednesday afternoon which means my students were able to see their grades Wednesday afternoon. I got a frantic message from one of my students that night. How could he have failed my class? What did he do wrong? This can't be right. Can I change his grade?

Thursday, another student had his classmate ask me why he failed. Using his classmate as a translator, I explained to him why he failed my class. He didn't seem too upset. Later that day, I walked out of my last class feeling a sense of freedom, until I saw the student that was messaging me the night before. So I explained to him, once again, through a translator, that he failed both of his tests and I would not change his grade.

Thursday night rolls around, a call from a third student that wants to meet with me. I tell him I'm busy and he can call me tomorrow. I know that I failed this student and I know exactly why he wants to meet with me. Friday morning, this student decides to call me non-stop and show up at my apartment unannounced. Needless to say, I avoided him all morning but finally made an appointment with him later that afternoon. I brought another teacher to back me up. This student was clearly upset and brought with him a friend to translate to me that he could not possibly fail this class and I needed to change his grade. The excuses and stories just kept coming from this student. I stood my ground though and I did not change his grade.

Later on Friday, I received yet another message from the first student. He met with a counselor and no one can believe that he got this grade and I have until tomorrow to change his grade. Not gonna happen. At first I felt sympathy for the student. Now I'm just annoyed.

I do understand that failing a class is not acceptable for them. In China, their test scores and grades are extremely important. But, there is one common theme for all three of these students...none of them could speak to me in English! They all had to use translators to speak to me! The class they failed...Oral English. I've learned to point this out to them to try to prove my point. It's not fun having to fail students but it's less fun having to argue with them about it.