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Failing

I have a senior who is failing a class with me that (s)he needs to graduate. Mine is not the only class that will keep her/him from graduating, but it still feels bad.

What does it take to fail one of my classes?  Few students do so. I provide weekly feedback as to their progress in the class so a primary filter is the deadline for withdrawing from the class early enough to prevent the F from appearing on their transcript.

I typically offer around twenty assignments per term, so failing one of my classes requires consistent failure across a large a number assessments.  It is possible to do poorly on all of my exams (which typically add up to 50% of the term grade) and still pass assuming that there is something on the exams worthy of partial credit.

So I'm having a meeting (at the student's request) later this week with a student with a 12% overall average. It's not going to be a happy meeting, and there's nothing I can do in terms of preparation other than make sure I am familiar with the students grades.

There is no point in chastisement as the punishment the student has imposed on themselves which I will truthfully report to the Registrar is greater than any words I can offer. I will try to offer encouragement to work with their instructors as soon as the feedback is not good. It may not be a teachable moment.

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