Favorite student emails

[marshwiggle]

From a junior in college:

"goodmorning, and i feel like some of the assignments i earned more than what i got my actual work was good just was not formatted how you wanted but aside from how it's formatted the actual work i feel i should have a higher grade in certain assignments"

Wow! ee cummings has reincarnated!

[smallcleanrat]

Hmmmm.... methinks you are granting too much to the notion that ignorance is responsible for this kid's behavior.   He would almost certainly never have dared to email one of his hs teachers this way-- what would he suspect had changed?

Why would you assume that?

[apl68]

From a junior in college:

"goodmorning, and i feel like some of the assignments i earned more than what i got my actual work was good just was not formatted how you wanted but aside from how it's formatted the actual work i feel i should have a higher grade in certain assignments"

Wow! ee cummings has reincarnated!

LOL!

But actually pretty sad, especially if this is not an ESL student.  If the student's work looked remotely like this correspondence, then the student surely earned no better a grade than what fosca gave.

[marshwiggle]

From a junior in college:

"goodmorning, and i feel like some of the assignments i earned more than what i got my actual work was good just was not formatted how you wanted but aside from how it's formatted the actual work i feel i should have a higher grade in certain assignments"

Wow! ee cummings has reincarnated!

LOL!

But actually pretty sad, especially if this is not an ESL student.  If the student's work looked remotely like this correspondence, then the student surely earned no better a grade than what fosca gave.

I'd bet cash money that the message was typed on a phone, like every other communication Stu has with anyone. Punctuation and capitalization are "adulting" behaviours and so VEEERY HAAAARD!

[the_geneticist]

I've been having an email conversation that is basically:

stu: Can I still get points for the assignment I missed?
me: See the syllabus for the late penalty.  You can still turn it in.
stu: But I already did it!  I just forgot to submit.
me: We can only grade you based on what you submitted. 

[fosca]

From a junior in college:

"goodmorning, and i feel like some of the assignments i earned more than what i got my actual work was good just was not formatted how you wanted but aside from how it's formatted the actual work i feel i should have a higher grade in certain assignments"

Wow! ee cummings has reincarnated!

LOL!

But actually pretty sad, especially if this is not an ESL student.  If the student's work looked remotely like this correspondence, then the student surely earned no better a grade than what fosca gave.

The written work isn't quite this bad, but there is definitely a resemblance (no paragraphs, lack of capital letters, not much punctuation, etc.).  So yeah, they earned the C and D grades for the work.

[kaysixteen]

1) because I have extensive hs teaching experience

2) hs teachers are very eager to be shown deference and respect from their students

3) hs kids' parents traditionally would not tolerate this, though I do admit this is perhaps changing

[RatGuy]

Whenever a student does the "Hey there" thing I respond with the way I want them to send emails, something like "Good afternoon Stu...". Most students seem to get it within a response or two.
For those that don't I try to talk to them in-person. Most students, I have found, are coming from a place of ignorance rather than intentional rudeness. When I have explained the importance of appropriate communication, and how that reflects on how they are perceived, I have not had any issues.

Now when I get emails from staff that are addressed that way, well, that is a problem I don't have a solution for.

I've got a section on emails in my syllabus. I reiterate how to spell my name (it's a weird one) and to identify themselves because I have many students over four sections. I generally don't care if they refer to me as Mr. or Dr. or Prof, as long as they're not addressing my by my first name -- doing that WILL get them a response.

I think the "hey there" is a generational thing. My I have friends in the theater dept (age ranges 27-34) who use "hey there" in informal messages (never in departmental emails). So it may be that.

It also may be that many students just don't know my name. At all. The student who prompted my post earlier attends maybe 50% of classes and is struggling mightily. Maybe I should ask "what's my name" on the final exam.

[marshwiggle]

It also may be that many students just don't know my name. At all. The student who prompted my post earlier attends maybe 50% of classes and is struggling mightily. Maybe I should ask "what's my name" on the final exam.

That's areal thing. Years ago, I had students in two lab sections answer a multiple choice survey. One question was "Who was your TA?" The choices were "Alice" and "Bob", neither of which were non-binary, gender-fluid, or anything of the sort. A few students picked "I don't know."

Having to actually remember a prof's name; that takes it to a whole other level.

[apl68]

It also may be that many students just don't know my name. At all. The student who prompted my post earlier attends maybe 50% of classes and is struggling mightily. Maybe I should ask "what's my name" on the final exam.

That's areal thing. Years ago, I had students in two lab sections answer a multiple choice survey. One question was "Who was your TA?" The choices were "Alice" and "Bob", neither of which were non-binary, gender-fluid, or anything of the sort. A few students picked "I don't know."

Having to actually remember a prof's name; that takes it to a whole other level.

I wonder why that is?  Is it simply a symptom of lack of engagement?  Is it due to a tendency of youths to outsource their memories to their phones? 

If you have students who keep asking for extra credit and bonus opportunities, I guess you could use "What is my name" and "What is your TA's name" for those.

[marshwiggle]

It also may be that many students just don't know my name. At all. The student who prompted my post earlier attends maybe 50% of classes and is struggling mightily. Maybe I should ask "what's my name" on the final exam.

That's areal thing. Years ago, I had students in two lab sections answer a multiple choice survey. One question was "Who was your TA?" The choices were "Alice" and "Bob", neither of which were non-binary, gender-fluid, or anything of the sort. A few students picked "I don't know."

Having to actually remember a prof's name; that takes it to a whole other level.

I wonder why that is?  Is it simply a symptom of lack of engagement?  Is it due to a tendency of youths to outsource their memories to their phones? 

I call it "information triage". Many *people, as information is being presented to them, automatically filter it by saying "Is this relevant to me RIGHT NOW?" If the answer is "no", they don't bother to record or remember it. The idea that it could be relevant someday is too esoteric to be considered.


*Especially young people, probably at least in part due to the idea you alluded to of everything important being "google-able", so therefore not necessary to pay attention to.

[RatGuy]

I'll also say they don't know names of things in other contexts either. One of the most missed questions on quizzes are things like "what's the name of the main character" or "Who wrote this essay" or "Which of the texts was written by Harriet Jacobs." In class discussion, students generally say "they say...." and I make them clarify "they." Do you mean author, narrator, character (the differences of which we cover in the first few weeks). Heck, many of them don't know the names of any of the other people in class.

I think that for underclassmen it's incredibly difficult for them to think with any specificity. Why? I dunno. I do know that I spend more time than I used to on things like vocabulary -- the story is called "The Piazza," so what is a piazza? What's a pew? What's a cottage?

[kaysixteen]

So you have forgotten prof's name-- 'Dear Sir:' worketh well, or at least, 'Dear Professor:'.

[apl68]

I'll also say they don't know names of things in other contexts either. One of the most missed questions on quizzes are things like "what's the name of the main character" or "Who wrote this essay" or "Which of the texts was written by Harriet Jacobs." In class discussion, students generally say "they say...." and I make them clarify "they." Do you mean author, narrator, character (the differences of which we cover in the first few weeks). Heck, many of them don't know the names of any of the other people in class.

I think that for underclassmen it's incredibly difficult for them to think with any specificity. Why? I dunno. I do know that I spend more time than I used to on things like vocabulary -- the story is called "The Piazza," so what is a piazza? What's a pew? What's a cottage?

I've noticed several observations along these lines at The Fora over the years.  I wonder whether this problem with specificity and joined-up thinking has to do with the pedagogical methods that have been used with their education, or if they might be cognitive effects of lifelong media exposure.  Or a combination of the two, or something else altogether.

[apl68]

So you have forgotten prof's name-- 'Dear Sir:' worketh well, or at least, 'Dear Professor:'.

Didn't forget his name, but in grad school I can recall addressing one of my profs--an older Latin American history specialist--in an e-mail as Vr. Md. (Vuestra Merced).  This same prof had a key chain doohickey that croaked like a frog when he pressed it.  I once answered a phone call and heard that sound, and answered "Hello, Dr. <Emeritus>."  He appreciated that.  He had little ways like that of keeping you on your toes. Interesting guy to know.