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Anxious Student?

Started by evil_physics_witchcraft, June 23, 2020, 01:49:25 PM

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downer

Quote from: kaysixteen on June 27, 2020, 01:53:49 PM
Unfortunately it is essentially a vicious circle... if adjunct x has never had a real ft academic job, he'll not likely have the samoleans needed to have any such safety net allowing him to tell the boss to take this job and shove it, resulting in it becoming even more necessary to not get fired, and potentially to head off that fate by acceding to student demands proactively.

And I strongly maintain that the new employment realities attendant to covid will make these jobs even harder to acquire, and  thus make it even more likely that the struggling adjunct will have to do much to avoid the possibility of discharge.  Just look at how many k12 teachers are being laid off now, as tax revenues' toileting are forcing the hands of many districts, however much the unique conditions of students' returning from the extended covid layoff should be rendering such layoffs all but unthinkable. 

Someone who has not taught a course before, teaching it for the first time, with little or no experience teaching college, will be in a very difficult position to begin with. But they won't be looking to keep the job in the long term, and hopefully new full time jobs will start opening up. And it is not as if lots of new adjunct positions are going to be opening up.

Adjuncts who already have previous experience teaching will have a strong advantage over those wanting to get into the adjunct bizness. Most dept chairs won't want to take on several total newbies, unless their previous job experience is directly relevant to the courses they would be teaching.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."—Sinclair Lewis

Baldwinschild

Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on June 27, 2020, 10:57:00 AM
Happy to say that the student hasn't been emailing me-at all. Well, I don't mind if the student emails me, just not 5+ emails a day. I'm wondering if the grades that I posted have something to do with it?

I am wondering if perhaps it was a manic moment.  Seeing the grades may have helped relieve some of the anxiety.  I've found that giving and returning assignments in the first weeks seems to calm down anxious energy.  It doesn't even matter if the students do poorly assignments sometimes.  They seem to be relieved just to see grades. 

Perhaps some kind of fear of the unknown?  In a highly strung student such fears could become a source of deep anxiety . . . .
"Silence were better."  -- Charles Chesnutt

evil_physics_witchcraft

Quote from: Baldwinschild on June 27, 2020, 06:53:50 PM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on June 27, 2020, 10:57:00 AM
Happy to say that the student hasn't been emailing me-at all. Well, I don't mind if the student emails me, just not 5+ emails a day. I'm wondering if the grades that I posted have something to do with it?

I am wondering if perhaps it was a manic moment.  Seeing the grades may have helped relieve some of the anxiety.  I've found that giving and returning assignments in the first weeks seems to calm down anxious energy.  It doesn't even matter if the students do poorly assignments sometimes.  They seem to be relieved just to see grades. 

Perhaps some kind of fear of the unknown?  In a highly strung student such fears could become a source of deep anxiety . . . .

Could be...