Tiny Tragedy #5: Midterms.
They aren't so bad, really. The stuff from the beginning of the year is at least slightly still stuck in your mind, and it's really only one semester of...stuff.
But when a teacher administers a midterm exam that is composed mainly of topics that we did not cover in class, was not in the textbook, nor was present in any homework assignments, there will be problems. (Out of respect for this teacher, I will not mention the name nor the gender of this teacher. The teacher will henceforth be known as #1)
For instance, I recently took my midterm for a class that, admittedly, is not my strongest subject. I studied quite hard, looked at the exam, stuck it out, did my best, drew on prior knowledge...and failed. Granted, I tied with the highest grade in the class with a friend of mine, but it was still a failing grade.
As a college-bound senior who had a GPA blip in one class junior year and is counting on seventh semester grades to be accepted to universities, I cannot afford to fail anything. My semester average went down an entire letter grade (as it did for all students who took this exam).
What can be done?
#1 is of a nature that is quite respectable. #1's intentions are pure, but are sometimes executed inappropriately. #1's general inflexibility has been detrimental to many students' grades, although I will point out that at many times #1 has bent #1's set rules for various assignments, etc. on occasion, which has helped us tremendously. With these facts in mind, the questions are: Who do we approach to request a curve for the exam? and Will #1 provide us with this tool we need to succeed?
Thoughts are always welcome.
I'll let you know how it ends up!
Now, time to get some sleep for my last high school midterm ever...