Words that Students Don't Know

[Caracal]

"sick"
Waking up with a mild headache does not mean you are too sick to go to class.  Sorry for being skeptical, but this only seems to happen to students who have 8:00am classes.

Yeah, although if you think about it, the way we use "sick" is hard to pin down. In the context of "too sick" to do something, the model is one in which there is a continuum of wellness and at some point on that continuum you become "too sick" to carry out normal activities. So, first of all,  its a subjective description of pain or discomfort, and we also use it as a catchall in ways that deliberately make the actual symptoms vague. I have to have a pretty bad headache to decide that I'm not going to teach my classes, but my bar for nausea or "digestive" problems is much lower. If I'm feeling like I'm going to throw up, I'm going home. Then to add to the problem we all kind of assume that someone might be too sick to do some things, but not others, depending on the level of activity required and the importance of the activity. You don't need to be on your deathbed to miss class. There's also the question of what its reasonable to expose others to. I've pretty much decided post covid that if I have the kind of cold where I'm going to be wiping my nose or coughing all class, I'm going to cancel class even if I'm not actually sick in the sense of not being able to teach.

You can sort of see where students get confused with all of this. You don't need to drag yourself to class if you're clearly not well, but if you convince yourself that you can't do anything with any minor discomfort, you're going to end up missing a lot of your morning classes.

[marshwiggle]

"sick"
Waking up with a mild headache does not mean you are too sick to go to class.  Sorry for being skeptical, but this only seems to happen to students who have 8:00am classes.

Yeah, although if you think about it, the way we use "sick" is hard to pin down. In the context of "too sick" to do something, the model is one in which there is a continuum of wellness and at some point on that continuum you become "too sick" to carry out normal activities. So, first of all,  its a subjective description of pain or discomfort, and we also use it as a catchall in ways that deliberately make the actual symptoms vague. I have to have a pretty bad headache to decide that I'm not going to teach my classes, but my bar for nausea or "digestive" problems is much lower. If I'm feeling like I'm going to throw up, I'm going home. Then to add to the problem we all kind of assume that someone might be too sick to do some things, but not others, depending on the level of activity required and the importance of the activity. You don't need to be on your deathbed to miss class. There's also the question of what its reasonable to expose others to. I've pretty much decided post covid that if I have the kind of cold where I'm going to be wiping my nose or coughing all class, I'm going to cancel class even if I'm not actually sick in the sense of not being able to teach.

You can sort of see where students get confused with all of this. You don't need to drag yourself to class if you're clearly not well, but if you convince yourself that you can't do anything with any minor discomfort, you're going to end up missing a lot of your morning classes.

I think the bigger problem is that students think that being "too sick" to do something somehow magically means that there will be no repercussions from not doing the thing at all. ( For example, "too sick to write the midterm" means the midterm grade just kind of disappears from the course.) "Too sick to come to class" doesn't mean you're not responsible for the material covered in that class.

[the_geneticist]

"sick"
Waking up with a mild headache does not mean you are too sick to go to class.  Sorry for being skeptical, but this only seems to happen to students who have 8:00am classes.

Yeah, although if you think about it, the way we use "sick" is hard to pin down. In the context of "too sick" to do something, the model is one in which there is a continuum of wellness and at some point on that continuum you become "too sick" to carry out normal activities. So, first of all,  its a subjective description of pain or discomfort, and we also use it as a catchall in ways that deliberately make the actual symptoms vague. I have to have a pretty bad headache to decide that I'm not going to teach my classes, but my bar for nausea or "digestive" problems is much lower. If I'm feeling like I'm going to throw up, I'm going home. Then to add to the problem we all kind of assume that someone might be too sick to do some things, but not others, depending on the level of activity required and the importance of the activity. You don't need to be on your deathbed to miss class. There's also the question of what its reasonable to expose others to. I've pretty much decided post covid that if I have the kind of cold where I'm going to be wiping my nose or coughing all class, I'm going to cancel class even if I'm not actually sick in the sense of not being able to teach.

You can sort of see where students get confused with all of this. You don't need to drag yourself to class if you're clearly not well, but if you convince yourself that you can't do anything with any minor discomfort, you're going to end up missing a lot of your morning classes.

I think the bigger problem is that students think that being "too sick" to do something somehow magically means that there will be no repercussions from not doing the thing at all. ( For example, "too sick to write the midterm" means the midterm grade just kind of disappears from the course.) "Too sick to come to class" doesn't mean you're not responsible for the material covered in that class.

Yep, that's what I'm running into.  Students aren't realizing that they still have to learn the material.  Missing class for any reason means they will have to work harder to get caught up.  I can excuse you from participating (if there are participation points), but not from being responsible for learning the material. 
I'm not writing different versions of the exam for students who were sick in [Week X] vs [Week Y] vs haven't missed any days.

[HappilyTenured]

Exacerbate. It just means making things worse.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Exacerbate. It just means making things worse.

Now that's funny.

[apl68]

Exacerbate. It just means making things worse.

Would that mean that the student who writes "I have come to college hoping to exacerbate my qualifications for intended career" is actually telling the truth?

[sprezzatura]

Beowulf is not a novel.
Othello is not a novel.
Paradise Lost is not a novel.
Dear students, what on earth do you think the word "novel" means?

[marshwiggle]

Beowulf is not a novel.
Othello is not a novel.
Paradise Lost is not a novel.
Dear students, what on earth do you think the word "novel" means?

Thick book without graphics or speech-bubbles. JUST WORDS!!!!!!!!

[Langue_doc]

Beowulf is not a novel.
Othello is not a novel.
Paradise Lost is not a novel.
Dear students, what on earth do you think the word "novel" means?

"The Chrysanthemums" is not a novel, nor is "Young Goodman Brown". I've had students complain bitterly that I was making them read long novels. Sprezzatura, your students unlike some of mine do seem to think that any long work of literature does count as a novel. Some of mine seem to think that anything longer than three or four pages is a novel and is therefore too difficult for them to tackle.

[sinenomine]

Beowulf is not a novel.
Othello is not a novel.
Paradise Lost is not a novel.
Dear students, what on earth do you think the word "novel" means?

"The Chrysanthemums" is not a novel, nor is "Young Goodman Brown". I've had students complain bitterly that I was making them read long novels. Sprezzatura, your students unlike some of mine do seem to think that any long work of literature does count as a novel. Some of mine seem to think that anything longer than three or four pages is a novel and is therefore too difficult for them to tackle.

Same experiences here -- and an article isn't a story!

[apl68]

I recall students from when I was a TA who characterized a nonfiction memoir as a novel.  I guess for them any long(ish) book that wasn't mostly pictures was a novel.  This was 30 years ago, so it's not a recent thing.

[the_geneticist]

"submitted". As in "your course grades have been submitted to the Registrar"

That is not code for "please send me an email begging/asking/demanding that your grade needs to be higher". 

[Puget]

Causal. It's not the they don't know what it means (I think), but I've noticed a significant minority of students saying it, and even spelling it, as "casual". Not sure what's up with that.

[apl68]

Causal. It's not the they don't know what it means (I think), but I've noticed a significant minority of students saying it, and even spelling it, as "casual". Not sure what's up with that.

I try to read "causal" as "casual" all the time, although I do know the difference.  But then I'm the one who in my interlibrary loan days kept trying to read Journal of Plant Physiology as Journal of Plant Psychology.

[Myword]

Causal. It's not the they don't know what it means (I think), but I've noticed a significant minority of students saying it, and even spelling it, as "casual". Not sure what's up with that.
[/quote]

I try to read "causal" as "casual" all the time, although I do know the difference.  But then I'm the one who in my interlibrary loan days kept trying to read Journal of Plant Physiology as Journal of Plant Psychology.
[/quote]
   When I was teaching, NO ONE knew the meaning of causal. They always confused it with casual. As  informal logic, that sounds casual. Hey, it is a college word, not for everyday use. I would explain what cause really means.

Sometimes when students ask what a word is, they mean to you! How do YOU mean it?