Topic: Bang Your Head on Your Desk - the thread of teaching despair!

[marshwiggle]

Some of my students can't fathom dropping their lowest grade ALWAYS helps them. I've had some say "but I don't want to drop a B on a quiz, that's a good grade!"

Oh god, I had a student who complained that their 100 on a quiz was being dropped. They just couldn't understand how this worked.

Then there's the ones who don't understand that not doing a quiz lowers their average on the quizzes.

[fosca]

Then there's the ones who don't understand that not doing a quiz lowers their average on the quizzes.

A lot of students seem to think that if they don't do something it can't be held against them or affect their grade, that no grade equals a zero.  It's part of why I put a zero in the gradebook when students don't hand something in on time, while telling them that they can hand it in late (with a penalty).  That zero seems to shock some of them.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I received three emails between 11pm last night and 5am this morning. Two people waited to the last minute to take a test and missed it. One person has been harassing me for the past two weeks because I caught stu cheating. I'm just tired of dealing with these students. Maybe online really isn't for me. I feel like I'm working customer service again and that really sucked.

[fishbrains]

I received three emails between 11pm last night and 5am this morning. Two people waited to the last minute to take a test and missed it. One person has been harassing me for the past two weeks because I caught stu cheating. I'm just tired of dealing with these students. Maybe online really isn't for me. I feel like I'm working customer service again and that really sucked.

Uggers. I had that cheater in one of my classes in the Spring. What a pain. I finally had to tell him to either challenge the plagiarism charge or leave me alone about it--that I refuse to discuss it anymore with  him. Probably did not get a good eval there.

I still like teaching online, but it gets pretty stupid sometimes.

[Biologist_]

Never teach synchronous online. Only teach asynchronous.

Never teach synchronous online. Only teach asynchronous.

Synchronous online teaching is like a movie made by recording live theatre. It has neither the immediacy of the live performance, nor the polish of the movie which comes from more freedom around sets, costumes, editing, etc.

Just. Say. No.

That description applies if you're lecturing for most of the class. If you're using class time for group problem solving and discussion, the synchronous sessions allow you to do things you can't do asynchronously. That's why I went to a fully flipped classroom model (with synchronous class sessions) when we were sent home for COVID.

I might not ever teach online again, but I'm still using the flipped model in some of my in-person classes.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Got my first, 'Can I make up 75% of the coursework that I didn't do when I was supposed to do it?' This is the 1st email I got from this student and the last week of class for the summer. Oh well. Guess this student is screwed.

[AmLitHist]

Got my first, 'Can I make up 75% of the coursework that I didn't do when I was supposed to do it?' This is the 1st email I got from this student and the last week of class for the summer. Oh well. Guess this student is screwed.

Got the same email, times 3, yesterday (from the same student). I got sharper with each iteration of "NO, you can't" with each response, and dropped the dept. chair's name and email address in the last one.  Let her argue with him for awhile.

[ciao_yall]

Got my first, 'Can I make up 75% of the coursework that I didn't do when I was supposed to do it?' This is the 1st email I got from this student and the last week of class for the summer. Oh well. Guess this student is screwed.

Got the same email, times 3, yesterday (from the same student). I got sharper with each iteration of "NO, you can't" with each response, and dropped the dept. chair's name and email address in the last one.  Let her argue with him for awhile.

I had one do no homework. I don't take it late. He was failing.

He spent an entire weekend doing an entire semester's worth of homework, but I wouldn't reopen the LMS for him to upload it. Anyway, he tried to get around it by sending it through the messages section of the LMS.

I told him to retake the class next semester. And hey, all the homework was already done so he was ahead!

So, he signed up again. Meanwhile, we changed LMS systems so all the previous work was not (easily) accessible. He came to me asking if I had last semester's uploads, because he had lost is hard drive and all his homework!
Nope. Just gotta do the homework on time, buddy.

He dropped.

[apl68]

Have these students had excuses for not doing most of the work for most of the semester, or do they just seem to have woken up late to the fact that passing the class involved actually doing the work?

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Have these students had excuses for not doing most of the work for most of the semester, or do they just seem to have woken up late to the fact that passing the class involved actually doing the work?

I got some vague excuses about things 'coming up' in a family way, which may or may not be true, but I can't just let someone do an entire course in a weekend. Talk to the dean.

[the_geneticist]

I'm getting the "can I do the [basketweaving lab] another day/another week/entirely online" emails.
No.
I do not care if you are "willing to do the lab when you return from [thing]".

Go to your registered lab section or take the 0.  Those are the choices. 

[Parasaurolophus]

If I give you an extension until the 15th, then it shouldn't be surprising that you can't complete the quiz late at night on the 16th.

[Parasaurolophus]

If you're grubbing for a C+, maybe make sure that the grade you have isn't already a C+. FFS.

[Caracal]

If you're grubbing for a C+, maybe make sure that the grade you have isn't already a C+. FFS.

At least that's an easy response...

[arcturus]

I teach a Gen Ed, large enrollment, asynchronous online course. The first discussion posts this semester were encouraging. Many students acknowledged that they would have to be more responsible in an online course, since there are no physical reminders that assignments are due, etc (similar language is in my course syllabus, so it appears that many students read the syllabus!). Nonetheless, the tally is not so positive following the first "major" assignment. 15% of the students did not submit any work. 10% did not follow instructions. Thus, 3 days into the semester, 25% of the students in my class are already exhibiting behaviors that will likely lead them to a failing grade in this class. Aside from the information in the syllabus, class-wide announcements, etc I do not know how to best communicate to these students that their course grade depends on them learning the material, which requires engaging in the course work.