Do you think my teacher was too harsh?

[DrumminBoy]

Story:
For my English 4 Honors class, we had to write a 7-8 page paper on one of the books we've read this year. The paper was worth 200 points, and had to be turned in at 10:05 AM on the morning it was due. I stayed up late the night before finishing it, and thought I did a pretty good job. When I got done, I uploaded the file to my 1and1 account, planning to print it at school in programming class the next day as I've done for all of my papers this year. Well, it just so happened that the internet was down in our school that day, so when I found out, I drove home, threw the file on a floppy, and went back to school, planning to print it in the library. I get on a computer, and it wont read the file. I tried 3 more computers, all with different versions of MS word, and it would not open. I went and told my English teacher, because by this time it was well past 10:05, and there was no way I would get it printed by the end of the period. She told me to get it to her by the end of the day, so I went and got paper and printed it at home, and gave it to her about an hour later. I knew she would dock me somewhat, I figured maybe 5-10 points, because it was obvious I had the paper done and wasnt trying to get out of turning it in. Well today I went and got the paper and...she took 50 points off. My B+ turned into a D+ :| Doesn't this seem a little harsh? She said shes trying to make it just like college, so we'll be prepared next year. I understand its important to get us prepared for college, but we're not there yet. Honestly, I don't feel like 1/4 of my points should be lost because it was an hour late.

Cliff Notes:
Turned in High School English paper 1 hour late, got 50/200 points docked.

 

[GasX]

Lesson: Tell your boss/supervisor/teacher that you will miss the dealine BEFORE the deadline has passed.

 

[Rufio]

no she is not being harsh.

it's not like she assigned the paper due OVERNIGHT.

You had time to do it, and you decided to plan poorly and wait until the last minute. Take it like a man.

That being said, that sucks!!

 

[toekramp]

i feel for ya

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
Lesson: Tell your boss/supervisor/teacher that you will miss the dealine BEFORE the deadline has passed.

Agreed.

EDIT: It was fair, but it sucked.

 

[Jzero]

She said shes trying to make it just like college, so we'll be prepared next year.

Funny, I never had that happen to me in college. Most teachers took off one letter grade if they did anything at all. I'd hazard that in those circumstances, most of my teachers would have let me off.

 

[Frdm51472]

Perhaps a lesson is responsibility. If it were me I would have treated it just as a late paper, and 50 points off seems leniant for a late paper. Your excuses don't matter to anyone. You were responsible for it, you get it done, period.

 

[mpitts]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
Lesson: Tell your boss/supervisor/teacher that you will miss the dealine BEFORE the deadline has passed.

Agreed.

That and ALWAYS have a plan B.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: Jzero

She said shes trying to make it just like college, so we'll be prepared next year.

Funny, I never had that happen to me in college. Most teachers took off one letter grade if they did anything at all. I'd hazard that in those circumstances, most of my teachers would have let me off.

Agreed. Plus, usually you could just leave the paper in their box anytime before they left for the day, so this situation didn't come up all that much.

 

[ggavinmoss]

I know a lot of college professors that wouldn't have accepted it since you didn't make an arrangement before it the assignment was due.

-geoff

 

[AlienCraft]

Who was it who said, Digital Data does not exist until it is in at least three different forms in at least two different physical locations?
You bleu it.
Do it like they did before the Internet.......




Print first.






Sux to be you.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Your future boss' and professors' don't want excuses after deadlines. Maybe before but not after.

 

[VictorLazlo]

She said shes trying to make it just like college, so we'll be prepared next year.

Trust me, the same BS goes on in college. For many people, college is just high school, part 2. Students still procrastinate, and professors still cave-in to good excuses.

BTW, how is she preparing you for college by hurting your GPA and your chances of getting in??

 

[Frdm51472]

Yeah because GPA's should be falsely inflated so everyone gets into college!

 

[VictorLazlo]

Originally posted by: Frdm51472
Yeah because GPA's should be falsely inflated so everyone gets into college!

This teacher made a choice to dock 50 points for a late paper. What if this guy had a different teacher who chose not to deduct anything. Would his GPA have been falsely inflated then?

 

[minendo]

Learn to live with deadlines and meet them.

 

[emb09]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
Lesson: Tell your boss/supervisor/teacher that you will miss the dealine BEFORE the deadline has passed.

also -

always print your paper immediately. (preferrably with home printer)

 

[kranky]

It's harsh, but if all the late papers got the same 50-point deduction it would seem fair. I understand that it would be frustrating that not only didn't their net connection work, but the floppy failed, yet you could have printed it before you went to school.

I guess the lesson is never assume technology will work. I read a story the other day where someone did a test to measure the reliability of email. He asked for 200 volunteers, then composed a text-only email, no attachments, and sent it to the 200 people. 40% of them never arrived.

Just yesterday at work, we reset a software licensing tool because it wouldn't release unused licenses for other people to use. We have done it dozens of times without any problem. But for whatever reason, yesterday when we did it it locked up 12 PCs which were actively using the application. Each user lost about two hours of work. 12 users x 2 hours x $30 hour = $720 lost. Unhappy boss: "Don't EVER reset the license tool again while people are using it!"

Is it possible that it may not even affect your final grade?

 

[Saulbadguy]

Should have printed it the night before, BUT, your teacher is a b!tch for not being understanding.

 

[DeRusto]

Originally posted by: kranky
It's harsh, but if all the late papers got the same 50-point deduction it would seem fair. I understand that it would be frustrating that not only didn't their net connection work, but the floppy failed, yet you could have printed it before you went to school.

I guess the lesson is never assume technology will work. I read a story the other day where someone did a test to measure the reliability of email. He asked for 200 volunteers, then composed a text-only email, no attachments, and sent it to the 200 people. 40% of them never arrived.

Just yesterday at work, we reset a software licensing tool because it wouldn't release unused licenses for other people to use. We have done it dozens of times without any problem. But for whatever reason, yesterday when we did it it locked up 12 PCs which were actively using the application. Each user lost about two hours of work. 12 users x 2 hours x $30 hour = $720 lost. Unhappy boss: "Don't EVER reset the license tool again while people are using it!"

Is it possible that it may not even affect your final grade?

that would be Fred Langa, and 10,000 volunteers

linky

 

[WinkOsmosis]

I hate when teachers pull that "I'm preparing you for college" bullshit. Most of the time, college isn't anything like what they try to prepare you for. What's more, they may be hindering your chances of you getting a better college with their making-an-example grades. But what kind of school do you go to where you can drive home to pick up papers? And why didn't you print it AT HOME in the first place?

 

[dirtboy]

I'll side with the teacher. She made her requirements clear. You choose to finish it at the last minute. You choose to upload it and try to print it at school rather than at home. Then rather than print it at home, you still tried to print it at school, but that didn't work either. I have no sympathy for you. She is right though, some college profs wouldn't even accept it after the deadline.

 

[UncleWai]

Next time you should take preemptive action.
When the school's internet is down, it's the best excuse for you to make to your teacher.
Don't wait until the deadline is over, because then the teacher will think you haven't finished it.

 

[RedPickle]

First it was your fault for procrastinating, you will learn that in college. Second, she was not too harsh. Sometimes late in college = failed paper.

 

[Sid59]

she's prepping you.

lesson: print your stuff at home when you are done. stick it in your backpack and sleep well.

i've had professors who made you turn the paper in before they got into class and got situated. right after they put down their lecture notes and grab the papers, it's late. no matter what. suck it up next time.