What if you did not earn something, but you received it anyways?

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In the 4th grade, the last 9 weeks of school report card came out. In Language arts, I merely passed with an ‘A’ at 89.5. But, as I found out, I earned a 89.4, as a ‘B’. My teacher gave me that one little extra point, I did not earn it.

I accepted the Big trophy at our schools honor roll program because I had all 'A’s in my courses the whole school year. I still do 'til this very day.

But, was it moral for me to of have accepted it, even though I did not earn it?

(Note: This was a LONG time ago, the past has already happened, cannot really change this, but was it moral?)
 
JD27076 said:
In the 4th grade, the last 9 weeks of school report card came out. In Language arts, I merely passed with an ‘A’ at 89.5. But, as I found out, I earned a 89.4, as a ‘B’. My teacher gave me that one little extra point, I did not earn it.

I accepted the Big trophy at our schools honor roll program because I had all 'A’s in my courses the whole school year. I still do 'til this very day.

But, was it moral for me to of have accepted it, even though I did not earn it?

(Note: This was a LONG time ago, the past has already happened, cannot really change this, but was it moral?)
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It is the essence of grace. Your professor acted in a Godly fashion. You did your best. He took you the rest of the way.

If you had not done your best, if you had cheated your way through the class, then it would be immoral.
 
JD27076 said:
In the 4th grade, the last 9 weeks of school report card came out. In Language arts, I merely passed with an ‘A’ at 89.5. But, as I found out, I earned a 89.4, as a ‘B’. My teacher gave me that one little extra point, I did not earn it.

I accepted the Big trophy at our schools honor roll program because I had all 'A’s in my courses the whole school year. I still do 'til this very day.

But, was it moral for me to of have accepted it, even though I did not earn it?

(Note: This was a LONG time ago, the past has already happened, cannot really change this, but was it moral?)
Click to expand...
Grades are, generally speaking, arbitrary based on the teacher’s perception. In college you will typically find that MANY professors will reserve a certain “percentage” of points for “participation”… which are basically a measure of their belief that you learned something (for example, a student who performs poorly on tests but demonstrates mastery of a subject might be given more in the area of discretionary points). I had some professors reserve as much as 20% of the class’ grade for discretionary grading.

The question is not “what was your objective score”, but rather “did your teacher have the authority to assign discretionary points?” The answer, generally speaking, is yes. Therefore, move on, my friend! You did no wrong.
 
promethius said:
I had some professors reserve as much as 20% of the class’ grade for discretionary grading.
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And, then, on the other hand, I had professors who graded each test on a strict bell curve. The tests would be graded and then statistically adjusted. So if the lowest grade was a 90%, a 90% became an “F” (instead of an “A”) and a 95% became a “C”. This type of grading is very common in math and computer departments.
 
JD27076 said:
In the 4th grade, the last 9 weeks of school report card came out. In Language arts, I merely passed with an ‘A’ at 89.5. But, as I found out, I earned a 89.4, as a ‘B’. My teacher gave me that one little extra point, I did not earn it.

I accepted the Big trophy at our schools honor roll program because I had all 'A’s in my courses the whole school year. I still do 'til this very day.

But, was it moral for me to of have accepted it, even though I did not earn it?

(Note: This was a LONG time ago, the past has already happened, cannot really change this, but was it moral?)
Click to expand...
No, you did nothing immoral. Your teacher was being kind. If she’s still teaching, send her a note. She’s love to hear from you. 🙂

Luna
 
Accept it in good grace because may have upgraded you for effort and contribution which are always hard to pin point.
 
I think we all have stories like that.

Once, at my old job, I was supposed to get $25 extra for a bonus. Instead they gave me 25 hours of overtime pay :eek: (keep in mind I worked a commission job that paid no overtime). I felt that if I did not report it, they will find out and make me look bad and even make me pay it back. So I told my boss and he said he will take care of it. Next week my check had the extra $25 added to it with my regular pay. 👍

I knew that I was covered and was a happy camper after that. No need to push the matter any further.
 
JD27076 said:
In the 4th grade, the last 9 weeks of school report card came out. In Language arts, I merely passed with an ‘A’ at 89.5. But, as I found out, I earned a 89.4, as a ‘B’. My teacher gave me that one little extra point, I did not earn it.

I accepted the Big trophy at our schools honor roll program because I had all 'A’s in my courses the whole school year. I still do 'til this very day.

But, was it moral for me to of have accepted it, even though I did not earn it?

(Note: This was a LONG time ago, the past has already happened, cannot really change this, but was it moral?)
Click to expand...
You very well may have actually earned it - through participation in class and effort.
 
As others have said, your teacher may have given you the extra credit for participation and attitude. When I was in college, I got a D on one big test which should have pushed my overall grade to a C for the class. But because my attendance was good, I showed interest in the subject matter even though it wasn’t in my major area of study, and I participated in class, the professor threw out that D and I ended up with a B as my final grade. So accept that grade and be happy! 👍 (and BTW, your teacher raised you only one tenth of a point. That teacher rocks!).
 
“What if you did not earn something, but you received it anyways?”

That’s a nice summary of salvation history right there. 😉

There is a certain fluidity in grades. It is certainly at the teacher’s discretion to give some “extra credit” if he/she thought the student deserved it. If you had broke into the teacher’s desk/computer and changed your grade, that would be a different story. 😛

Be at peace!
 
You did not receive anything that you did not earn! Did someone twist the arm of the teacher to give you that extra point? No – she deemed that you had indeed earned it, and gave it to you.

Accept it - it’s yours - you earned it!!

~Liza
 
CarrieH said:
As others have said, your teacher may have given you the extra credit for participation and attitude. When I was in college, I got a D on one big test which should have pushed my overall grade to a C for the class. But because my attendance was good, I showed interest in the subject matter even though it wasn’t in my major area of study, and I participated in class, the professor threw out that D and I ended up with a B as my final grade. So accept that grade and be happy! 👍 (and BTW, your teacher raised you only one tenth of a point. That teacher rocks!).
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I have one like that… for classical mechanics (I was a physics major).

We had 6 homework assignments worth 15% of our grade, and a take home final (there were no other graded components). I “neglected” to do any of the homework assignments (that’s not how I learn)… but I showed up in class, participated vociferously, obviously understood the material, and ran my lab station like a boss :cool:

The prof asked us to write on the front page of our final what grade we thought we deserved in the class. I figured I got one question wrong on the final (I knew I was close and knew I didn’t have it… I even wrote on the answer that I knew it wasn’t right). I wrote that I deserved a B- based on no homework and one problem wrong.

My prof gave me an A- and said that, as the dean of the physics department, he didn’t feel that a student who tied for highest score in the class on the final deserved a B-… 🤷 I certainly didn’t complain.

Incidently, he was a rabid atheist who loved to debate my protestant colleague… I got brought into it one time and earned his begrudging admission that he couldn’t disprove my God’s existance (I argued the Catholic proposition that God exists outside the universe… she was arguing that God lives within the universe).
 
I am a teacher. It is a pretty common practice that if a student is “on the bubble” to consider attitude, participation, extra work, interest, and promptness of work completed.

I have bumped students up, and I have kept students where the percentage shows, depending on various “intangible” factors. Attitude and participation and showing an interest can count for an awful lot.

The same is true in college, as my sons have attested to. One son was getting Bs and Cs on his papers, attended every study session, went to the professor’s office hours, asked questions, and showed a great interest. He earned a final grade of B+, and his professor said it was because he earned it through his attitude and interest and perseverance.
 
Teachers have some discretion in grading, as do some other professions.

If you received a grade by mistake, I think you would be obliged to bring that to someone’s attention. Does anyone remember the “Brady Bunch” episode where Jan won an essay contest? But then she discovers that they added her score up wrong. She decides not to tell, so she’ll get the prize. But then her conscience gets to her so tells the teacher, and the right girl the recognition.

Congrats on your great grades!
 
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