Great Expectations

Tonight I received a most unexpected phone call. Normally I never answer my phone if I don't recognize the caller, but I was caught off guard while checking out at E-Mart, and thus it happened.

Anyway, the caller was one of my students. He was curious to know his score on the final exam -which he took yesterday. (Since he's one of the more dependable and conscientious students, I didn't initially freak out over his call, although I did find it bold and presumptuous.) I told him that he had done well and from what I could recall, scored around 95%.

His response? I'm disappointed. Was hoping for a better score. I want an A+. Then he mentioned his class rival and wondered aloud about his grade. 

At this point I was totally flabbergasted, and it took all self-control to refrain from telling him that calling his teacher period, let alone the day after the exam, was not a smart way to go about getting that A+.

Instead, I tactfully said that phoning about his grade was not appropriate since, as a teacher of 170+ students, I'm not in a position to field calls from all of them regarding such matters. He seemed surprised.

I can't help but think back to my own college days. It would have never crossed my mind to:

• call up a professor (under any circumstances)
• challenge the professor about my grade -without even reviewing the exam or my mistakes!
• state my expectations for any grade, let alone an A+

Kids these days...! I feel like an old-fashioned granny in some bizarre time warp.