Low marks in a pass/fail course
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Not from the DC area, but was wondering what you guys would do in this situation (there's no website like this for my area  )
there's a class that is required for grade 10 students to take that is necessary for graduation. the school offered kids to take it online before the grade 10 year so my DD took it online. She barely passed the class, 2% away from failing. She didn't hand in a majority of the assignments, but the ones she did hand in were A's and high B's. I know my DD and she gets great grades when she tries and when it's a class she likes, but she didn't care for the required class, said it was a waste of time, didn't learn anything etc. She's a great student otherwise and I know this class doesn't count for universities, isn't included for her GPA, but still. I honestly don't know how to react. I'm just disappointed. i don't know if you get where i'm coming from, but I just thought she would try harder. This is also the first time i've kind of backed off, usually i check the online gradebook every week to see the status, but this time I thought she was old enough and mature enough to handle this on her own What would you guys do? Would punishment help, and if so what kind of punishment? I hope I didn't sound like a mess, I just don't really know what to do. thanks |
Anonymous
|
You want to punish her for passing a pass/fail class?
She did the bare minimum required for the class because it's summer and she didn't like taking it. Will punishing her cause the grade to go up? Will punishing her change the way she performs in other classes she takes? Most likely not. Let it go because it does not matter one iota on her future life what percentage grade she received in this class. In 5 years, you won't even remember the name of the class she took. |
Anonymous
THIS x100 My son also had to take a pass/fail course, and to be honest, we encouraged him to just pass the damn thing instead of worrying about a certain %. He has other classes in which he has to work hard and make good grades. We felt this wasn't something to get hung up on - all he had to do was pass it. So he passed it with something like a 75%, but I don't even really know (or care) what the actual percentage was. It's pass/fail - and he passed it! So, yay. |
Anonymous
| It actually sounds intelligent to me to calibrate the work to what is required to pass -- seriously ... why do you want your kid to work extra hard for nothing? |
Anonymous
Yup, well played. Why work harder for no marginal return? |
Anonymous
+1. Agreed. I actually encourage this sort of cost/benefit analysis when deciding how much to prioritize work (or stress out) for a course. She got the grade she needed. She did what she needed to do. Getting a higher score would not have changed the result reflected in her records. Assuming this course was not a prerequisite for another course that built upon the same information, it also would have had no tangible other benefit to her. This seems like a good strategic decision especially since the class was taken over the summer when she likely didn't want to be dealing with schoolwork. Why do you want to punish her for getting done exactly what she agreed/needed to do? What is your concern here that you're trying to address? |
Anonymous
|
As long as she doesn't think this is license to blow off any other class she doesn't like or thinks is a waste of time.
Hopefully it also isn't something that faculty can see the actual stats on because it could reflect badly about her work ethic. |
Anonymous
|
No big deal - seriously. I get the disappointment, but kids now are pushed so hard. I completely get wanting to do the minimum to get by once in a while.
I have ONE pass/fail class in all of high school (grammar) and I just barely squeaked by with a D equivalent. I typically worked my butt off, but it was boring and I really needed a break. My parents weren't happy, but it really had no I,pact whatsoever on my life except that I suck at sentence dissection. |
Anonymous
| I tried to convince my kid to do this with FCPS P/F Econ and Personal Finance class. She couldn't bring herself to not do all the lessons. But my kid has anxiety. I think your kid made much wiser choices! |
Anonymous
|
Pulling this off is a skill that should be celebrated. Seriously. She correctly assessed exactly the amount of effort that was required for something that was of little interest or use to her.
It is a myth that people should "always give their best effort." No adult in the real world does this, and if you think you do you are lying to yourself. We don't do our children any favors by pushing this fairy tale, IMO. |
Anonymous
|
eh, I would be aggravated with my kid for taking that lazy approach. She is lucky that she passed the class. 2% less and she would be retaking it. She was overconfident and wound up cutting it way too close which means she didn't have a handle on things as well as she thought that she did. She lucked out.
|
Anonymous
|
As long as it wasn't health or driver's ed. When my oldest started high school I told him "What you do to shape your future is up to you. I will help you any way I can. The two classes I want you to learn everything they teach are driver's ed and health. You will use the information from these classes DAILY. This information can keep you alive. In life, you don't need to know how England was colonized or how diverse protozoa are."
So as long as her pass/fail class wasn't driver's ed or health, high five her for managing her time well and move on. |
Anonymous
My DS just finished that class. He got through 10 lessons and couldn't take it anymore. Then he decided to skip the remaining 150 lessons and just take the tests and final. He got an 85 and said most of the questions and answers were just common sense. Meanwhile, his GF was going through every lesson and even taking notes! I was fine with his approach for this class, but if he had an online class with graded assignments to turn in, I would have expected him to do them (or at least the vast majority of them). I probably would have told him to aim for at least an 80 and wouldn't be too happy if he nearly failed. (But I wouldn't be looking for a punishment geez!) |
Anonymous
My kid was exactly the opposite! Didn't do any of the work until three days before the class was over, and then did all the exams at once. He wound up passing - phew! |
Anonymous
|
I'd back off because it's a learning experience for her. She saw that without your oversight, she could still pass. She will also realize she was very close to failure. It's a good lesson for her and one she will be able to use when gauging how much effort to put into different things along the way.
In other words, Without your saying anything, she may choose to put in MORE effort next time. Because the Martin of passing seems to close for her. But at this age, if you step in, that lesson might get lost. Another PP is right. We as adults have to make decisions all the time about what we put tons of effort into, and what we can cut back on. We have to do that to manage everything we have and stay sane. Yeah, is he a little disappointed if that's all she had to work on during the summer. Especially if she has no job or other obligations (unknown). But again, view it as a lesson in life management skills. |