History teacher gave me a 60 for participation

[RunForWord]

I pay attention and take notes during the whole class but I'm quiet when it comes to group work and i never raise my hand. Because of this i get a 60 for participation? Isn't participation more than just raising your hand and group work? Any advice on this? Its been happening all year with my psychology teacher too. I'm a junior in high school by the way.

 

[BigApplePi]

How is your total grade broken down category-wise? Shouldn't you have gotten zero for participation?

 

[RunForWord]

Participation/Attitude 10%
copied right off the course outline.

 

[BigApplePi]

Participation/Attitude 10%
copied right off the course outline.

Your attitude sounds good but perhaps only you know that. When I was in school I never participated either except in math. If I had to do it all over again, I would participate somehow.

Can you say what kind of participation they are looking for? For example, asking questions is participation and shows interest.

 

[Pyropyro]

I would have given you a lower grade if I were your teacher. S/he was being too nice.

Teacher's aren't mind-readers, they could use a few reminders that you're paying attention and taking notes. Group participation and recitation are tools that can remind them of that.

 

[RunForWord]

We've been doing almost straight notes and lecture all year so the class was great for the most part. It's just that now since that its the end of the year she decided to give us group work almost every day for the past few weeks which piss me off because i actually want to learn about the Civil War and shes just giving us dumb group work which is barely helping with learning anything because the assignments are so simplistic and dull. I guess the group work determined dragging my grade down compared to the rest of the year where i got 75 - 85% for it.

 

[RunForWord]

I would have given you a lower grade if I were your teacher. S/he was being too nice.

Teacher's aren't mind-readers, they could use a few reminders that you're paying attention and taking notes. Group participation and recitation are tools that can remind them of that.

I said earlier i take notes whenever we have the opportunity to and i sit in the front so in my opinion there's enough evidence I'm paying attention.

 

[Pyropyro]

I said earlier i take notes whenever we have the opportunity too and i sit in the front so in my opinion there's enough evidence I'm paying attention.

Have you ever taught students? Try observing the activities of fifty kids at the same time and I'm pretty sure you'll give up soon enough. Teachers would usually remember those who are acting differently than the rest.

Troublemakers and active students would be noted for their behavior and be given suitable grades. Quiet students tend to be forgotten and given a "meh" grade for their rather average performance.

 

[peoplesuck]

I have the same problem, if i just listen they kill me on participation but if i ask questions i am always told to stop being negative. ( I am usually just trying to have it done more efficiently. Robing pual to pay pete

 

[Hadoblado]

Learn this now, because it'll be far more devastating to not know it later.

A teacher marks what comprehension you have *demonstrated*. The burden is on you to ensure they witness your comprehension. Ask difficult questions to show you're interacting with the information critically. Answer questions. If you don't put your hand up much you will be selected to respond much more, so you only need to answer when you have a really tight response.

Observing is great, but if you're attempting a goal external to your own understanding (such as grades), you need to work with your internal to achieve your external. A teacher can't be doing their job properly and give you top marks for a comprehension you're yet to demonstrate.

 

[Hawkeye]

The participation grade here is referring to active, rather than passive. "Turning up and taking notes" isn't a valid way a teacher can assess learning; this type of participation is graded on tests. If you are too quiet in the lesson, the teacher should really be enforcing directed questioning techniques, but then again, this process isn't active participation is it? Your participation grade will still suffer. ^^

I had a similar issue during the interview stage of my teaching qualification. We had to do a group activity, but were assessed on individual performance. I was very quiet during this exercise and it was flagged up during my actual interview.

My response was: I chose to listen rather than wait for my turn to speak. Also, even though I said little, what I did say was quite effective as all my suggestions were applied to the activity.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

What the others are already mentioning.

Observation and listening is for you, if you are interested and if you want to learn and remember.

Activity and participation is for your grades, for "befriending" the teacher and controlling how they see you. It also helps you present the success of your observations and learning progress.

 

[Base groove]

When I was in the eighth grade my science teacher bumped up my overall grade by 3% in the middle of the term because I "actively participated" in one session.

I'm not sure I agree with other posters in this thread, if they're suggesting you are indeed falling short on participation; I believe that from what you have explained... you are participating and you are being treated unfairly.

I can't accept that the 'burden is truly yours' to demonstrate your participation; if the teacher fails to bring it out of you then it is certainly a failure on part of the teacher. They are supposed to lead the way and show you what is required.

The argument "have you ever had to teach fifty students" is a bullshit argument. If you are in Junior High the answer is clearly no, plus... it's not impossible to conceive how difficult it would truly be, which is not very in this case. In the absence of further details regarding your classmates, the state of the nation, the condition of the school, the curriculum, etc ... all extraneous variables notwithstanding, your teacher is still obligated to grade you on your personal participation in class, therefore your teacher is obligated to enable you to participate properly, even if it means treating you different from the average student. Some people can not be normalized and at your age they should certainly not be punished for it.

 

[EditorOne]

"I said earlier i take notes whenever we have the opportunity to and i sit in the front so in my opinion there's enough evidence I'm paying attention"

That's not the point of the exercise. The point of "participation" is "contribute something to the group."

One possible solution is to contribute questions. "Why?" is always a good question and can really expand any topic, like "Why were there riots in New York City in 1863 and who was targeted?" That will lead to an expanded perspective of the ubiquitous nature of what we today consider a shocking level of racism and bigotry even among those tasked as a nation to end slavery. Makes you wonder how it ever got done.

That's participation. Taking notes and sitting at the front of the class are not bad things, but it doesn't let the class grow. Participation takes any class beyond the lesson book, one way or another.

Partipation in the smaller project groups is probably somewhere beyond that, some non-content-related effort to educate you on how to work in small groups to achieve results. Same as algebra teaching you to think logically rather than just learn algebra, same as learning a foreign language not to speak it but to train your mind to learn in different patterns, etc.

 

[Variform]

I pay attention and take notes during the whole class but I'm quiet when it comes to group work and i never raise my hand. Because of this i get a 60 for participation? Isn't participation more than just raising your hand and group work? Any advice on this? Its been happening all year with my psychology teacher too. I'm a junior in high school by the way.

Eh? Psychology class in high school? What land are you from?! I thought things like psychology came at college level....

And why is your attitude measured? That is not done here at all. How alien all this. Who gives a fuck about that. This is stupid. Some people are I, others E, so now we are silent types and we get lower grades because of that?

I never said a fuckin word in class. But the grades come from a test. Not how I act in the group. They should stick to test scores.

 

[Hawkeye]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mtJOu29qbQ

 

[RunForWord]

Eh? Psychology class in high school? What land are you from?! I thought things like psychology came at college level....

It was optional i took it instead of Spanish