Of Hope and...Less Hope
I got this very charming email yesterday:
Note the tone: contrite without snivelling. Note the information: all relevant material included, all bullshit omitted. Note mainly that the student is not asking ME to do extra work to make up for her absence.
This shouldn't be such a rarity, but it is. I think she might just get extra credit!!
Anyway, I was mooning about, my faith in studentkind restored, when I got this one:
Now, they're asked to write one just one author because it increases the likelihood that they will actually say something interesting. Or just something. I have explained this rationale to them. It's too hard in a short paper to write about multiple works and show what's at stake in comparing them. These papers are inevitably some kind of summary.
The kid who wrote the email has ALREADY turned in a paper in which she simply catalogued where each "theme" (how, oh how, I HATE this word) appears in 5 different works. We talked about how this is not interesting.
But what pisses me off most is that she think that I'm some kind of referree, assigning "penalties" for infractions of some rigid set of arbitrary rules.
Is it summer yet???
Feemus,
Sorry I missed class. I took a nap and set my alarm for 1am instead of 1pm. Can you believe it? Anyway, sorry, and I put my essay in your mailbox.
-Your New Favorite Student
Note the tone: contrite without snivelling. Note the information: all relevant material included, all bullshit omitted. Note mainly that the student is not asking ME to do extra work to make up for her absence.
This shouldn't be such a rarity, but it is. I think she might just get extra credit!!
Anyway, I was mooning about, my faith in studentkind restored, when I got this one:
Dear Feemus,
Will there be a penalty if I write on more than one author? I know you said to write on just one.
thanks,
AlreadyKnowsEverything
Now, they're asked to write one just one author because it increases the likelihood that they will actually say something interesting. Or just something. I have explained this rationale to them. It's too hard in a short paper to write about multiple works and show what's at stake in comparing them. These papers are inevitably some kind of summary.
The kid who wrote the email has ALREADY turned in a paper in which she simply catalogued where each "theme" (how, oh how, I HATE this word) appears in 5 different works. We talked about how this is not interesting.
But what pisses me off most is that she think that I'm some kind of referree, assigning "penalties" for infractions of some rigid set of arbitrary rules.
Is it summer yet???
posted by Feemus at
7:33 AM
4 Comments:
Every now and then someone comes to my AA group wanting to do their "own version" of AA. "I found another book on the 12 steps that I like better. I'm just going to do that program instead. It's the same thing."
But they want to call it AA. It's not AA, it's something ELSE.
It sounds to me like these students want to make up their own curriculum and call it yours. It's not yours. It's something ELSE.
Why is that so hard to get?
By
Anonymous, at 12:03 PM
Hi; I'm just a random internet person.
However, I wanted to say that I just discovered your blog and I'm really enjoying it. You're hilarious!
I teach in a college myself (physics) so I can relate to soooooooo much of your student interactions. Also, your thoughts on education itself are very well-formed and inspiring in their idealism.
Thank you for putting out a very enjoyable blog! :-)
By
jjdebenedictis, at 5:41 PM
That's a great analogy, Claud. In both cases, it seems that the person doesn't believe s/he really has anything to learn, but wants the external validation or status of the program.
If they know all the answers to sobriety, why turn up to AA meetings?
Hi, random internet person (JJ?). Thanks so much for dropping by and for the kind words. Physics students are a pain in the ass, too? I guess I'm relieved that the humanities don't have a corner on the market!!
By
Feemus, at 1:09 PM
JJ is fine; so is Jen. :-)
Physics students are a pain in the ass, too?
Hey, it's the same student body. How could they be anything but?
Example: I'm a lab instructor. Their weekly mark is out of ten, they do about ten experiments per semester, and the lab is worth 25% of the course grade.
And some of them will do backflips to try to make me retract a half-mark penalty. They will snivel, they will whine, they will make desperate and passionate appeals to my humanity.
All to undo the tragedy of a 0.125% decrease in their final course grade.
I mean, sheesh; they are science students. Couldn't they do that math themselves? -0.125% ain't gonna sink ya, kiddies.
If only they obsessed that much over the comment I scribbled beside the -0.5 penalty...
By
jjdebenedictis, at 8:31 AM
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