Fun with students -- for LJ Idol
Last Fall, we had a few tech issues at the college*, which affected my class, since I use the technology so much.
As a result, I had to extend deadlines and arrange other ways to collect some multimedia assignments.
Most of the class adapted quickly, and by the middle of October, all but two were completely caught up.
However, those two students? They three weeks behind in their weekly recordings. Their other work (you know, the stuff they turned in) was good, but they had these zeroes, which weren't helping them. Students who can do the work but can't be bothered to are the most frustrating ones. I just wanted to grab them both by the neck and shake some sense into them.
Instead, I pulled them aside before class one night and pointed out that their grades were in jeopardy and they needed to get their acts together. Only not that politely.
Credit where it is due, one of them got his act together, came in on his own time and caught up on all his work. I mean, he didn't get full credit, but better than a zero, and he still managed to ace the class.
The other one? Not so much. No matter how many reminders, how many breaks I gave him, he did not turn in those three recordings. The weekly recordings make up 50% of the grade in my class, so missing three of them hurts your grade.
The night of the final, this student walks into my office, and we had the following conversation:
Me: Hi! What can I do for you?
Student: Can I have extra credit?
Me: What does the syllabus say about that?
St: But this isn't my fault... I mean, with the system crashes...
Me: So? You had plenty of time to make up that work.
St: But I need an A in this class.**
Me: But you didn't do A-level work.
St: Could you exempt me from the stuff I didn't turn in?
Me: Absolutely not. You chose not to do those things, even after I extended the deadlines.
St: Can I do the recordings now?
Me: Your final starts in under an hour. No.
St: Why?
Me: Normally, my answer would be "Because I'm the professor and I said so", but, here goes: I'm grading your finals tonight and turning in grades either tonight or tomorrow. Even if I wanted to grade things that you had well over two months to turn in, at this point, I just don't have time.
St: Can you cut me a break?
Me: I gave you so many chances. You took none of them. None of this is on me.
St: I'll complain to your department chair.
Me: Have at it.
At that point, the student left my office. To my knowledge, he has not complained to my chair about his grade.
______________________________________________________
*I'm still not sure what happened. IT did not communicate any issues with us.
**Whenever a student says this, they know they haven't come close to earning that grade.
As a result, I had to extend deadlines and arrange other ways to collect some multimedia assignments.
Most of the class adapted quickly, and by the middle of October, all but two were completely caught up.
However, those two students? They three weeks behind in their weekly recordings. Their other work (you know, the stuff they turned in) was good, but they had these zeroes, which weren't helping them. Students who can do the work but can't be bothered to are the most frustrating ones. I just wanted to grab them both by the neck and shake some sense into them.
Instead, I pulled them aside before class one night and pointed out that their grades were in jeopardy and they needed to get their acts together. Only not that politely.
Credit where it is due, one of them got his act together, came in on his own time and caught up on all his work. I mean, he didn't get full credit, but better than a zero, and he still managed to ace the class.
The other one? Not so much. No matter how many reminders, how many breaks I gave him, he did not turn in those three recordings. The weekly recordings make up 50% of the grade in my class, so missing three of them hurts your grade.
The night of the final, this student walks into my office, and we had the following conversation:
Me: Hi! What can I do for you?
Student: Can I have extra credit?
Me: What does the syllabus say about that?
St: But this isn't my fault... I mean, with the system crashes...
Me: So? You had plenty of time to make up that work.
St: But I need an A in this class.**
Me: But you didn't do A-level work.
St: Could you exempt me from the stuff I didn't turn in?
Me: Absolutely not. You chose not to do those things, even after I extended the deadlines.
St: Can I do the recordings now?
Me: Your final starts in under an hour. No.
St: Why?
Me: Normally, my answer would be "Because I'm the professor and I said so", but, here goes: I'm grading your finals tonight and turning in grades either tonight or tomorrow. Even if I wanted to grade things that you had well over two months to turn in, at this point, I just don't have time.
St: Can you cut me a break?
Me: I gave you so many chances. You took none of them. None of this is on me.
St: I'll complain to your department chair.
Me: Have at it.
At that point, the student left my office. To my knowledge, he has not complained to my chair about his grade.
______________________________________________________
*I'm still not sure what happened. IT did not communicate any issues with us.
**Whenever a student says this, they know they haven't come close to earning that grade.