Favorite student emails

[Langue_doc]

Downer, Stu does get extra time for timed tests and exams, but not for assignments that are open for an entire week.

Then it is something for the student to negotiate with your disability services office, not you.

Pretty sure any student that asks for "more time" on an untimed assignment that has been available for 5 days would be told "NO".  Might be better to direct them to a time management or study skills class.  You know, the whole "the due date is not the day you do it".

Stu was told "no" in no uncertain terms, and directed to the syllabus and the "student success" checklist for online courses.

[mamselle]

10% of the class has some kind of disability accommodation - typically more time on exams, quiet testing place etc.

For some people, real life is going to be a serious kick in the balls.

No for real life, some peoples' contributions, which they would have been unable to make otherwise, in a few years, will be much appreciated.

M.

[secundem_artem]

10% of the class has some kind of disability accommodation - typically more time on exams, quiet testing place etc.

For some people, real life is going to be a serious kick in the balls.

No for real life, some peoples' contributions, which they would have been unable to make otherwise, in a few years, will be much appreciated.

M.

You and I live in different worlds with different expectations.

I teach in 2 health fields.  The pace of practice is brutally quick.  The environment can be chaotic.  "I need more time and a quiet place to do my work" is NOT going to cut it when the patient is seizing or the phone is ringing off the hook with people wanting to know if they qualify for a 3rd covid shot or worried about the last disaster Dr Facebook warned them about.  I bet your graduates actually have time to eat lunch and pee in their workplaces.  Mine often don't.

[the_geneticist]

Got one today:

Hello Professor [Geneticist],

Hello, my name is [slightly baffled] and I am in your [Basketweaving lab] this quarter. I am confused as to whether the lab course, [course number], is online like our lecture or is it in person. I originally was under the impression that our lab would be in person but I am not so sure now since you instructed us to log into [LMS]. Thank you for clearing up my confusion.

Sincerely,

slightly baffled

They were so polite & obviously planning ahead!  But seemed confused that an in person class would still use a class website.  I told them that yes the class is in person.  Also, that I use the LMS to post important class information like the syllabus.  Poor confused student.  It's been a rough 20 months.

[FishProf]

I have a student who interpreted "we will not meet tomorrow, because XYZ, so we will catch up on Friday in Lecture and Lab" as "we won't meet AT ALL until 'some unspecified even occurs and I send you a new announcement".  He missed 5 classes in the meantime.

[mamselle]

10% of the class has some kind of disability accommodation - typically more time on exams, quiet testing place etc.

For some people, real life is going to be a serious kick in the balls.

No for real life, some peoples' contributions, which they would have been unable to make otherwise, in a few years, will be much appreciated.

M.

You and I live in different worlds with different expectations.

I teach in 2 health fields.  The pace of practice is brutally quick.  The environment can be chaotic.  "I need more time and a quiet place to do my work" is NOT going to cut it when the patient is seizing or the phone is ringing off the hook with people wanting to know if they qualify for a 3rd covid shot or worried about the last disaster Dr Facebook warned them about.  I bet your graduates actually have time to eat lunch and pee in their workplaces.  Mine often don't.

OK, agreed, if it's a healthcare field, the need for slower pacing in the actual caregiving setting might not itself be possible (I've worked in two hospitals as a unit coordinator/EA). So I get that part.

But there are related, applied areas where the basic information may be used in other ways, too: research, publications, editing, transcription, etc.

I didn't know the level of expectation, so I can see why that might seem unrealistic.

But I was responding, perhaps more generally, to the idea that people who need and ask for accommodations are all slackers, gaming the system, etc.

Some may be. But I've also had serious students who worked hard within their own limitations, whose work was respectable and solid, and at times made contributions precisely because they "saw the world slant."

So, maybe not apropos here, and my apologies.

But overall, there are ways people use what we teach them in ways that differ from our expectations, so maybe an expansion of goals may be useful.

Or maybe not.

M.   

[Liquidambar]

Downer, Stu does get extra time for timed tests and exams, but not for assignments that are open for an entire week.

Then it is something for the student to negotiate with your disability services office, not you.

Pretty sure any student that asks for "more time" on an untimed assignment that has been available for 5 days would be told "NO".  Might be better to direct them to a time management or study skills class.  You know, the whole "the due date is not the day you do it".

I wish!  Unfortunately, one of our disability office's standard accommodations is to allow students 2 extra days when they have a flareup of a condition.  I have no problem implementing that for major assignments like a term paper.  However, some students think that if weekly homeworks are due for the rest of the class on Wednesdays, then their weekly homeworks can be due on Fridays all semester.

[Langue_doc]

Downer, Stu does get extra time for timed tests and exams, but not for assignments that are open for an entire week.

Then it is something for the student to negotiate with your disability services office, not you.

Pretty sure any student that asks for "more time" on an untimed assignment that has been available for 5 days would be told "NO".  Might be better to direct them to a time management or study skills class.  You know, the whole "the due date is not the day you do it".

I wish!  Unfortunately, one of our disability office's standard accommodations is to allow students 2 extra days when they have a flareup of a condition.  I have no problem implementing that for major assignments like a term paper.  However, some students think that if weekly homeworks are due for the rest of the class on Wednesdays, then their weekly homeworks can be due on Fridays all semester.

Seconding secundem_artem: how do these students manage to get extra time/days at work?  For the most part, most of the students who need accommodations in my courses are quite responsible as they usually sit in front, take notes, ask questions before or after class, and come to office hours. Occasionally I get students majoring in social work, nursing, and/or education needing extra time and distraction-free environments, and wonder if these students expect similar accommodations at work.

[ergative]

10% of the class has some kind of disability accommodation - typically more time on exams, quiet testing place etc.

For some people, real life is going to be a serious kick in the balls.

No for real life, some peoples' contributions, which they would have been unable to make otherwise, in a few years, will be much appreciated.

M.

You and I live in different worlds with different expectations.

I teach in 2 health fields.  The pace of practice is brutally quick.  The environment can be chaotic.  "I need more time and a quiet place to do my work" is NOT going to cut it when the patient is seizing or the phone is ringing off the hook with people wanting to know if they qualify for a 3rd covid shot or worried about the last disaster Dr Facebook warned them about.  I bet your graduates actually have time to eat lunch and pee in their workplaces.  Mine often don't.

OK, agreed, if it's a healthcare field, the need for slower pacing in the actual caregiving setting might not itself be possible (I've worked in two hospitals as a unit coordinator/EA). So I get that part.

But there are related, applied areas where the basic information may be used in other ways, too: research, publications, editing, transcription, etc.

I didn't know the level of expectation, so I can see why that might seem unrealistic.

But I was responding, perhaps more generally, to the idea that people who need and ask for accommodations are all slackers, gaming the system, etc.

Some may be. But I've also had serious students who worked hard within their own limitations, whose work was respectable and solid, and at times made contributions precisely because they "saw the world slant."

So, maybe not apropos here, and my apologies.

But overall, there are ways people use what we teach them in ways that differ from our expectations, so maybe an expansion of goals may be useful.

Or maybe not.

M.

I agree with mamselle here. And also, I'd like to point out that students are entitled to take a class and learn the material even if they never plan to use it in a workplace. There's nothing wrong with taking a class and learning something for the sake of learning.

[marshwiggle]

I agree with mamselle here. And also, I'd like to point out that students are entitled to take a class and learn the material even if they never plan to use it in a workplace. There's nothing wrong with taking a class and learning something for the sake of learning.

The issue that I see is raised by this:

10% of the class has some kind of disability accommodation - typically more time on exams, quiet testing place etc.

For some people, real life is going to be a serious kick in the balls.

I can't imagine the proportion of accommodations ever going down. So what happens when more than 50% of the class have "accommodations"? Why wouldn't any parent try to get their kid "diagnosed" with some sort of condition to get them more time on tests, etc?

It's a "tragedy of the commons" issue; the more people use it, the less meaning and value it has.

[apl68]

10% of the class has some kind of disability accommodation - typically more time on exams, quiet testing place etc.

For some people, real life is going to be a serious kick in the balls.

No for real life, some peoples' contributions, which they would have been unable to make otherwise, in a few years, will be much appreciated.

M.

You and I live in different worlds with different expectations.

I teach in 2 health fields.  The pace of practice is brutally quick.  The environment can be chaotic.  "I need more time and a quiet place to do my work" is NOT going to cut it when the patient is seizing or the phone is ringing off the hook with people wanting to know if they qualify for a 3rd covid shot or worried about the last disaster Dr Facebook warned them about.  I bet your graduates actually have time to eat lunch and pee in their workplaces.  Mine often don't.

OK, agreed, if it's a healthcare field, the need for slower pacing in the actual caregiving setting might not itself be possible (I've worked in two hospitals as a unit coordinator/EA). So I get that part.

But there are related, applied areas where the basic information may be used in other ways, too: research, publications, editing, transcription, etc.

I didn't know the level of expectation, so I can see why that might seem unrealistic.

But I was responding, perhaps more generally, to the idea that people who need and ask for accommodations are all slackers, gaming the system, etc.

Some may be. But I've also had serious students who worked hard within their own limitations, whose work was respectable and solid, and at times made contributions precisely because they "saw the world slant."

So, maybe not apropos here, and my apologies.

But overall, there are ways people use what we teach them in ways that differ from our expectations, so maybe an expansion of goals may be useful.

Or maybe not.

M.

I agree with mamselle here. And also, I'd like to point out that students are entitled to take a class and learn the material even if they never plan to use it in a workplace. There's nothing wrong with taking a class and learning something for the sake of learning.

Well, yes...but today's students don't seem to take classes very much any more just for the sake of learning something.  These students are likely angling for a career in these health fields, and are likely to find the difference between having their needs accommodated in class, yet not accommodated in the world of work, a severe shock.

[onehappyunicorn]

This semester we had a student who interpreted the accommodation for extra time on tests to mean that they had extra time on every assignment. That was a fun email, we had to get the student accessibility services coordinator in on it before the student relented.

[Caracal]

This semester we had a student who interpreted the accommodation for extra time on tests to mean that they had extra time on every assignment. That was a fun email, we had to get the student accessibility services coordinator in on it before the student relented.

On some level, I basically do grant students this accommodation, at least in the sense that if you want an extension on an assignment, and giving you that extension doesn't cause any problems for me, I'll give it. Of course, this doesn't work for assignments that will lose their purpose if they aren't completed on time, like reading responses due before class. It also doesn't work at the end of the semester when I need things done so I can grade them.

[mythbuster]

We have a student this semester who tried to use their extra time on test accommodation to get double time on all lab exercises. We think this is partly because this is the first semester in 18 months with in person labs again.  All the students are moving more slowly and having issues getting things done in the allotted time. But no way are we turning a 4 hour weekly lab into an 8 hour weekly lab!

[onehappyunicorn]

This semester we had a student who interpreted the accommodation for extra time on tests to mean that they had extra time on every assignment. That was a fun email, we had to get the student accessibility services coordinator in on it before the student relented.

On some level, I basically do grant students this accommodation, at least in the sense that if you want an extension on an assignment, and giving you that extension doesn't cause any problems for me, I'll give it. Of course, this doesn't work for assignments that will lose their purpose if they aren't completed on time, like reading responses due before class. It also doesn't work at the end of the semester when I need things done so I can grade them.

I agree, in my courses this is my standard practice. In this case the student is a graphic design major and learning how to meet deadlines is pretty central to the learning outcomes of their courses.