Irate Student At Office Hours

 I had an unpleasant exchange with a student in my office hours today. He was unhappy with his mark on a recent assignment and two of his friends and his mother agreed that he deserved a higher mark. I tried explaining my feedback to him, but he wasn't convinced. The conversation became a bit heated, but I managed to just about keep my cool. We were going around in circles, and I had a tough time getting off the call. He later wrote to me apologizing for the tone of our call and asking for guidance on how to appeal his grade while also seeking advice on how to do better for his next assignment. It just occurred to me how bizarre that is. Why seek the advice of someone whose academic judgement you don't trust? Maybe he jsut wanted me to put some advice in writing that he could brandish if his mark on the next assignment didn't satisfy him. After the exchange, I was a bit shaken so I wrote to a senior colleague asking for a second opinion on the assignment. I was confident that the assignment didn't deserve more than 2-3 marks more at best, and I would have increased the grade if my colleague suggested it. No one likes being bullied into raining marks, but beyond a point I can't be arsed. The colleague replied that it was impossible to second mark every and if I was confident in my grade I should leave it be. So, I decided to leave the student's email unreplied. And, I am glad to report that I don't feel as shaken by the incident as I expected.