A Bad Thing About Teaching
Here is an email that I wrote my department chair this morning, regarding a student who has been a pain in my ass (and continues to be one) all semester:
Unfortunately, I thought I should give you a "heads-up" about a student, XXX, from my Tuesday, 1510-O1522 section. She claims she is going to the dean because I have treated her differently from the rest of the students--which, of course, is not true. She has been a thorn in my side all semester, but I have still given her an equal opportunity to succeed, I assure you.
I usually do not accept late essays, and I constantly remind my students of this rule. The day that our second essay was due, XXXX was not in class, nor did she email me. When she showed up the next period, she wanted me to accept her essay. I took her out in the hallway and explained to her that I expect her to communicate with me, when absent and that without documentation of an emergency, I will not accept a late essay. Anyways, I accepted this essay as a one-time-only deal. She did not have her rough draft, as was required.
When the next essay, classification, was due, she handed in a rough draft of another, different essay. She approached me about this. She always came to me at inappropriate moments, such as, while I am in the middle of a lecture and I break to distrubute a handout. I told her that she could email me the final draft of her classification essay. I told her that I must have it by the end of the day and that this was "the last time." I looked for her email, but alas she did not email me. The next period came and she wanted me to accept it, but I did not.
When an MLA quiz was due, she did not have the actual handout with her, but she claimed to have the answers written down. I said that she should just hand in what she had. As I was collecting an assignment from the class, I noticed that she seemed to be copying off of the student next to her. (In our conversation today, she claimed the student next to her, XXXX, was "reading the questions to her.") I noticed the suspicious behavior of the two students and made sure they noticed that I noticed. When I collected the MLA quizzes from the students, XXXX did not hand hers in, but slid hers in with the peer review I collected at the end of class. This morning I explained to her that I would not accept this assignment.
Finally, as I was sifting through the peer reviews for the argumentative essay, I noticed hers was about abortion--an issue banned by you and me both. I noted that on her essay before I returned it. I have tried to accomodate XXXX.
So, XXXX is now claiming that I have it out for her. Today I explained to her that I do not. I simply have rules and if she wants to operate out of these rules, then she must be accountable.
In short, I have spent way too much time debating with this student. I haven't graded her final essay yet, and I haven't added her total points yet. I just thought I'd let you know about these details.
Sigh. Every semester there's one.
Unfortunately, I thought I should give you a "heads-up" about a student, XXX, from my Tuesday, 1510-O1522 section. She claims she is going to the dean because I have treated her differently from the rest of the students--which, of course, is not true. She has been a thorn in my side all semester, but I have still given her an equal opportunity to succeed, I assure you.
I usually do not accept late essays, and I constantly remind my students of this rule. The day that our second essay was due, XXXX was not in class, nor did she email me. When she showed up the next period, she wanted me to accept her essay. I took her out in the hallway and explained to her that I expect her to communicate with me, when absent and that without documentation of an emergency, I will not accept a late essay. Anyways, I accepted this essay as a one-time-only deal. She did not have her rough draft, as was required.
When the next essay, classification, was due, she handed in a rough draft of another, different essay. She approached me about this. She always came to me at inappropriate moments, such as, while I am in the middle of a lecture and I break to distrubute a handout. I told her that she could email me the final draft of her classification essay. I told her that I must have it by the end of the day and that this was "the last time." I looked for her email, but alas she did not email me. The next period came and she wanted me to accept it, but I did not.
When an MLA quiz was due, she did not have the actual handout with her, but she claimed to have the answers written down. I said that she should just hand in what she had. As I was collecting an assignment from the class, I noticed that she seemed to be copying off of the student next to her. (In our conversation today, she claimed the student next to her, XXXX, was "reading the questions to her.") I noticed the suspicious behavior of the two students and made sure they noticed that I noticed. When I collected the MLA quizzes from the students, XXXX did not hand hers in, but slid hers in with the peer review I collected at the end of class. This morning I explained to her that I would not accept this assignment.
Finally, as I was sifting through the peer reviews for the argumentative essay, I noticed hers was about abortion--an issue banned by you and me both. I noted that on her essay before I returned it. I have tried to accomodate XXXX.
So, XXXX is now claiming that I have it out for her. Today I explained to her that I do not. I simply have rules and if she wants to operate out of these rules, then she must be accountable.
In short, I have spent way too much time debating with this student. I haven't graded her final essay yet, and I haven't added her total points yet. I just thought I'd let you know about these details.
Sigh. Every semester there's one.