Mrs. Martling at CHS is driving my daughter crazy!--- anyone else?
EBennett said:
As a teacher of an AP class, I am heartened by most of the posts and disturbed by what others have already pointed out - that instead of taking responsibility, the students and parents are blaming the teacher. And @berkeley is correct, colleges know which programs are challenging and which are the easy A.
My apologies for the length . . .
I know that many parents and students consider my class a GPA killer. I also know that my name is recognized by college admissions officers at several elite colleges. They know that some teachers do not inflate grades and judge accordingly. My B students have been accepted to some impressive colleges.
More importantly, don't trust that "everyone is getting low grades." More than once I've had a parent or student tell me that they know that their B+ was the highest grade in the class. It never was, other students had earned higher grades, but since everyone was bashing the teacher, they weren't going to correct the misconception. Just this week I heard from a mother concerned about her son's C on a test who told me "I know everyone did poorly." I explained that the highest grade was a 100% and her son should come in to talk with me himself.
We should be more concerned about grade inflation. When the majority of students get an A and then earn a 3 on an AP exam there is a disconnect. I see this in another department. Students love their grades, but realize that they don't know enough for the AP exam. Most of my students earn grades in the B range with a few well-deserved As. They earn 4s and 5s on the national exam. Then, like Mrs. Martling's former students, they return from college to tell me how well-prepared they are. I never "give" a low grade, but sometimes they earn them.
Paul Tough wrote a best-selling book on how our students lack "grit." This is the generation that has received trophies for participation. How are they going to keep a job if they don't know how to work? At some point we have to challenge them to do better, let them realize they need to work harder, and learn to pick themselves up.
In general, I agree with you. But I also want to point out that many of the parents who are complaining are parents of freshmen who are accelerated in English. They are not in an AP class.
Your comment about grit seems to be condescending. Challenge is fine and you will find many parents asking for it over and over again. But challenge without condescension would be even better.
Edited for typos
I didn't check MOL yesterday. I tried to delete it the day before but couldn't figure out how. I clicked all over the site, searched the topic etc... to no avail.
I think the teacher is definitely a good teacher which is, in the long run, the most important thing. I do appreciate the real debate regarding the topic (28 more comments yesterday) At the very least, I know that my student is not alone in her struggles. And, I did hear from her that the next assessment was on the calendar which is a departure from the pop test.
Love this.