what circumstances are ponyboy's teacher referring to?

chapter 12 page 169

it bothered my english teacher, the way i was goofing up i mean.He's a real good guy ,who makes us think, and you cn tell he's interested in you as a person,too.One day he told me to stay in after the rest of the class left.

"ponyboy,i'd like to talk to you about your grades."

"thre's not much to taked about , judging from your sores right now,but taking into considertion the circumstances,if you come up with a good sesmester theme,i'll pass you with a C grade."