Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

It's ironic that I talked about alternatives to special exams yesterday, because that's exactly what Maila did when I talked to her. Instead of giving the two late students last Saturday another exam, she just said that she would give them a maximum grade of 75%!

Did I mention that her previous teaching experience was in the state university?

I was able to finish computing the grades for Mathematical Methods 1. Four students failed, with the percentage grades of 51%, 43%, 41% and 28%.

Some students were already asking for their grades while they consulted with their other teachers, so I asked the director if I could already give mine. She allowed it.

The four students were surprised they failed. They thought all along that I would pass them, unlike their previous teacher, Maila, just because I joked with them.

Maila, on the other hand, was thanking me for proctoring last Saturday because she said she could not have been as strict as I was in disciplining the students during their exam.

Somehow one of the four students got it into their heads (talking among themselves) that I should give them an "all-or-nothing" retest, a last chance.

"The Finals was your last chance," I said. "That's why it's called Finals and why it's the same weight as all of the exams or all of the seatworks and assignments."

And it's not as if they didn't know their class standing before going into the home stretch. I showed them all their scores in the previous exams and quizzes.

Then they admit they didn't compute for the score in the finals they needed to pass because they knew they'd find it "depressing". That's not an excuse. Well, it is, but a very lame one.

The finals was already part of what had been taken up in the last quiz. That means we had been studying it for the last MONTH. I particularly told the guy who got 51% that if he had just shown a little more effort and gotten 29% in the Finals he would have gotten a one-point-zero.

He went on to say that from 8 to 10 am last Saturday (before their exam) they were practicing solving problems in one of the classrooms, but that it all went away when they sat down for the test.

That's the problem with cramming, I told them. But seeing the scores in your exams do not show an improvement on your part, being consistent low (and one-digit) since the start, I cannot, with a good conscience, give them a passing grade. I left them with those words as I walked away.

That wasn't the end of it, though. The guy who got 28% appealed again, not for himself but for the guy who got 51%, who was despondent. Just to get him off my back (and to continue with our practice for our performance in the Christmas party) I told him I'd discuss it with my co-faculty and leave my decision with the secretary for them to see Wednesday morning.

I didn't need to discuss it with my co-faculty. I have never had the habit of giving removal exams, but it seems I was going to start now. But only for the guy in the red zone, Mr. 51%. The rating of the others were just to low to merit reconsideration.

I left my exam with Maila to give him this morning; the same exam I gave the student last Thursday. He has to get 60% to get a passing grade. Maybe 1.5 for 80%, 2.0 for 100%. We'll see.

I asked one of his schoolmates to text him for me. Maila, since she feels she owes me so much from last Saturday, even said that she would check the student's paper for me.

My grading sheets are already with the secretary, but the deadline is this Friday. If this guy surpasses all previous expectations and shows even a small gleaning of his potential, then I'll gladly take my grading sheet back and change his grade.