So yes I have asked this question numerous times now, but I have recieved no answers of substance. Most of you automatically judge me and assume that I am just not prioritizing school. However, this time I will give the entire explanation. Then, if you choose still to judge me, so be it. However, this may change your idea, and I am hoping that you will be willing to give me advice and feedback. Thank you. I would really appreciate you taking the time to read this; I am very upset. I apolagize for the length.
Backround:
I created a very large project for this class. It is extra credit. I spent an excess of 20 hours working on it. Initially the teacher promised that it would be worth a minimum of 5-10% however now it is only 2%. I am including this fact only so you realize the magnitude of the assignment.
Insight into me:
I had the project done weeks in advance, and the teacher was well aware of this. I am a very hardworking student. However, that isn't always enough in this class. I do not suck up to the teacher because I can't and also because I personally think it is actually disrespectful. I choose to be very respectful. So, because of this, my grade depends on this project. I do very well in school and accept nothing less than my best.
Situation:
I brought the project in as requested. I was going to be presenting early. It did not work because the format didn't correspond. I further attempted to make it work. I bround my computer in, the hard-drive, passport, jump drive, saved it to a disk. None of these methods worked. She told me that she would talk to one of the other teachers who had a mac and we could see if it played off his computer. The morning when I was to play it, I came late because I came from an unexpected doctor's appointment. She told me that I could not present because I was not there before school to try it on the other teacher's computer. I politely said that I must have missed something because I did not recall her telling me to come early to try the project on the other computer. Others backed me up here. She got really annoyed at me and said that I am just stubborn and will believe whatever I want to believe even if it isn't true. At this point, I started crying. I was really upset. I had put tons of effort. I explained the situation to her and also told her how my mom is in the hospital. She didn't care. I didn't expect her to care about any of it but I thought she would accept my reason. However, she didn't. When I went back to my seat, students around me asked why I was upset. I told them simply that I was upset that I had put so much effort into a project that didn't work that I wouldn't get credit for because I was absent earlier this morning. The teacher eventually decided to let me present on thursday, the next class. I was very relieved. However, she also expressed that she was mad at me for telling the other students what happened. I asked her what I was supposed to do when they asked me why I was upset. Her response was that I should have just said I was upset about my imovie. She continued saying that everyone has choices and that I made a poor one in telling the students who asked me why I was upset what happened.
Problem:
I just got home. My mom is home from the hospital; she had a surgury to remove cancerous tissue. I just found out from her that I have my driver's license test this thursday during the class. Taking a license test is not an excused absense. Based on the teacher's behavior, I do not know how I should handle the situation. I cannot reschedule the test because I have it in not even 48 hours and paid for a behind the wheel drive before the test. My parent have already paid for it and you cannot reschedule unless it is more than 48 hours before the exam. Thus I cannot reschedule either the test or practice.
Please post answers! I am trying to get some legitimate responses. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and answer my question!Final posting with full information: WHAT SHOULD I DO? Teacher hates me,taking license test,presenting project?Your teacher does not hate you and has done nothing to show that she hates you.
For starters, a teacher does not have to offer extra credit at all. That she is offering it is extremely generous of her, regardless of if it is worth 10, 5, or 2%. And since this is EXTRA credit, not doing it is not going to hurt your grade *at all.* If your grade is so bad that it is necessary that you get this 2% to get through the class, then you weren't working as hard at the class as you thought you were, which is not the problem of the teacher at all.
Second, it really is ultimately your responsibility to make sure your program works. You had your project ready weeks in advance, and with all that time the very first thing I would have done would have been to make sure it will work for your presentation. While you might feel it makes you seem very prepared to have something finished in advance, you're not any more prepared than the student who does it at the last minute if you don't test it to make sure it will run without problems.
You tried your program and the formatting was bad. That the formatting did not work on anything you tried to use shows a lack of preparation on your part. Your teacher was being very generous in letting you try and try again to present. It seems she always wants the presentations in the start of class, and yet you came late to class and was then surprised to find out she expected you to arrive early.
But what did you expect? You should have been able to infer without her telling you that she would need you to try to run the program on the other computer before class. To be honest, it sounds like she's wasted a lot of class time trying to work in fitting your project and getting it to work, but you don't seem to be aware of that. Why would you think it would be okay to come to class when it begins to then try to see if it works? And why would you want to give it a try after getting to class late? I don't see you giving her an apology anywhere, just that you came late and then seemed to expect to be able to do your project. You should have come in, apologized for being late, and taken your seat to let her continue with class. And then after class you should have apologized again, explained the situation, and ask for one more chance. Instead, you interrupted and made a scene during instruction time.
Third, don't you understand why she was upset? Imagine you in her situation.
Imagine you're conducting a class and a student comes in late. You only have a short period of time to teach a lesson and that student interrupts the class by coming in late and then asks to do an extra credit project in the middle of class. You tell her that's not possible and she begins to cry, making a scene during class and distracting everyone. And then when she returns to her seat and is asked why she's upset, she blames you.
But you weren't the one late.
And you have done quite a lot to try to help her get her project running. You let her try out all different methods and you even offered to borrow a colleague's computer.
Yet she's calling you the bad guy?
That's not really fair of her, don't you think? You're not to blame for her family's situation, or her doctor's appointment, or her file's bad formatting. And now she's turned some of the class against you.
Finally, before or after class you need to talk to your teacher and you need to say sorry. You need to say that you're very sorry. You need to explain to her that you will not be able to do your project AT ALL because you just found out last night you are scheduled for your driver's license test at the exact time as this class. You need to tell her that you are very sorry for how much you've interrupted the class, and with that I honestly think you should give her a card expressing these same sentiments in writing.
Trust me when I say this: those 2% extra credit points do. not. matter. in the long run of life. You will survive without them. I understand that you worked a long time on your project, but disappointment is a fact of life. It happens to everyone and always at the worst times. But a grade is not important in the long run. What is important in your life is your character, your integrity, and your personal strength.
You need to admit that what has happened has been a series of unfortunate events, but one that does not just have one victim. Both you and your teacher have been touched by them, and by growing through this you're going to realize in hindsight that it really didn't matter what happened on those days. No one is going to remember your project, I guarantee it. Even you won't remember in a few years. But what will stay with you even unconsciously is how you handle the situation. Sometimes we need to admit defeat in order to grow stronger, and sometimes we need to be taken down a notch in order to realize our situation and put it truly in perspective.
Your teacher was not mean to you. Life was mean to you. And life is only mean to teach us a lesson for our experiences are the ultimate teacher of our lives. If you rage against life, you will only hit brick walls and trip over your own feet. When you allow life to teach you what it is trying to teach you, you will grow stronger as a human being.
