Unpleasant part of the job...

Today was one of those days that reminds me that teaching isn't all fun and roses. I gave back a major project today. The students had five weeks to take a shoebox full of receipts, select a software package, learn the package, put in the 51 transactions, and produce financial statements for a months' operations of this fictitious company as though they were the company's accountants. I spent most of last week and all weekend grading the 20 group submissions, representing 80 students. I've used a version of this project for more than 15 years, and every time I use it, I change it somewhat to improve it, altering transactions to make them more clear, eliminate ambiguities, enhance meaning, etc. I also change most of the numbers to prevent cheating. Over time, it's gotten pretty well polished. This semester the students did pretty well. Out of 20 projects, I had 6 A's, 4 B's, 4 C's, 2 D's and 4 F's. The thing that bugged me are the D's and F's. Usually out of 20 groups, I would have 5 A's, 5 B's, and 10 C's, with an occasional D sprinkled in. I often go several semesters without an F on this particular project. So on the four F projects, I wrote that I would appreciate meeting with the groups to give them an opportunity explain. I said I was interested in what they had to say, and would listen. Three of the four responded. Plus, one of the D's responded. So, four groups asked to meet with me in the office. So far, so good. Here's what happened. Two of the group meetings, I'll call them Groups U and V, were very humble, and came in and apologized for not checking their work. They admitted that all the errors were their own fault, and they had learned a lot about the need for audits, checks and balances, edit checks, validation checks, controls, and everything else. The other two group meetings, I'll call them Groups E and J, just wanted to argue about their grade. They acted as though their low score was my fault for grading so harshly. They never admitted any mistakes or errors, simply insisting that my grading was too nit-picky and way over the top when it came to "punishing them for minor mistakes". Keep in mind that no one single thing on the project counted off more than five points; the low scores were due to the huge number of mistakes on these projects. I was exhausted after the four meetings. It's not easy arguing with people. Even when you are on solid footing, it's not easy standing your ground. If you were the educator, which groups would make you happy you're a teacher, and which ones remind you that being an educator can sometimes be very frustrating.