Favorite student emails

[Larimar]

Did I Miss Anything

I love this.

[Sleepy72]

Student responds with some righteous indignation that he had contacted me twice and I never responded, student includes screenshot of emails. Turns out student was emailing another student who has the same last name as me.

I've had something similar with a student over the summer, but when I checked the screenshots, it turns out the student had emailed themselves rather than me - and there is nothing similar about our emails.

I asked her about it and she thought she was copying herself into the email!

[the_geneticist]

We are on quarters so classes haven't started yet.  Got this one today:

I'm reaching out to both yourselves because I'm currently on the waitlist of your course and I am eager to be in your course this upcoming quarter. If there was an possibly action you could take to help me fulfill this wish I would greatly appreciate it.

Polite, reasonably well-written, and asks a specific question.  But if I had the power to grant wishes I wouldn't use them to add more students to my already full classes.

[mbelvadi]

Student responds with some righteous indignation that he had contacted me twice and I never responded, student includes screenshot of emails. Turns out student was emailing another student who has the same last name as me.

I've had something similar with a student over the summer, but when I checked the screenshots, it turns out the student had emailed themselves rather than me - and there is nothing similar about our emails.

I asked her about it and she thought she was copying herself into the email!

To quote many previous posters over the years, "Digital natives, my arse!"

[secundem_artem]

I had one a few years back sent his assignment to the first "secundem" that popped up on his email.  It ended up in the inbox of a friend of mine that teaches O-Chem.  Kid got a D in the course. Took it again the next year to bump his gpa to enter a professional program.  Ended up with an F.  Dropped out of college as far as I know.

[EdnaMode]

This was polite and pretty well written, but it's not the only one I've received...

>>>>>>>>>>
Dr. Mode,

I hope you are well. This is Stu from your [class]. I was making sure that I am ready for lecture and laboratory tomorrow morning and saw that there was no submission box open for the [items] that we need to have ready for [task] in the laboratory portion. I thought I remembered you saying that we did not need to submit a [thing] before class, just to have them ready, but I just want to double check to prevent myself from missing out on any points for simply not submitting anything. Just to confirm, we do not need to submit anything before lecture or laboratory?

Thank you,

Stu
>>>>>>>>>>

He's right, I told them in class there was no dropbox, and I looked at Canvas, it does specifically state to just have the items ready before lab, and that there is no dropbox. For many of them, the time they take for prep work is excruciatingly long and if they want any hope of having the work on this assignment done during lab, they need to have certain things done before they get there **sigh** I just replied and told him that no, there was no dropbox, just to have the prep work done before lab. I have had colleagues complain about the uptick in "double-checking" emails this semester so it's not just me. 

[downer]

Student: "When can I resubmit my work?"
Me: "What???"

[FishProf]

Student: "When can I resubmit my work?"
Me: "What???"

Next semester, when you retake the class.

[the_geneticist]

Student: "When can I resubmit my work?"
Me: "What???"

Next semester, when you retake the class.

I think we are going to see a LOT of this for the next few years.

My vote is "not after it's graded." If they want to show that they understand the materials better, that's great since it will be on their exams.

[OneMoreYear]

Student email at 8:50pm yesterday: I don't understand Item #5 on the quiz.

Student email today at 11am: did you get my email about the quiz question?

WTF? Not only are your emails less than 24 hours apart, but I was guest-lecturing in a class you were in from 9-11 today! When do you think I've had time to answer email?

[apl68]

Student email at 8:50pm yesterday: I don't understand Item #5 on the quiz.

Student email today at 11am: did you get my email about the quiz question?

WTF? Not only are your emails less than 24 hours apart, but I was guest-lecturing in a class you were in from 9-11 today! When do you think I've had time to answer email?

The student is conditioned by texting culture, where any message sent to one's family or circle of friends elicits a response within a very short time.  It's easy to see how many students have no clue about the realities of professional communication.

[downer]

I was a bit perplexed by the email sent by the Jewish student saying he couldn't really work on a Friday night. Sent on a Friday night.

My puzzlement was largely because I don't have any weekend due dates.

[mamselle]

Before or after sundown on Friday?

M.

[downer]

Before or after sundown on Friday?

M.

After.

[Dismal]

A student last year was venting about many things in my office and said, "And once you sent me an email at 3 am!"  First of all, earlier in my career with very young kids I might have sent 3 am emails but I definitely did not send an email at that time to this student.  And what if I did? Jeez.

I followed up after this odd declaration by emailing her that I could not find any evidence of a 3 am email and she responded by saying that she had mixed up her stories and it was another faculty member who had emailed her classmate. What.