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

[Parasaurolophus]

What caused the headdesk is the conflation of an example from, with the author of, the article. They're analyzing the argument from a particular paper by Joe Schmoe, but have decided, based on Schmoe's example, that the paper is actually written by Cobain. It's a reading comprehension issue, and a new one this term (though as Caracal notes, it's very similar to calling everything you read 'a novel'). It's especially glaring because it involves a well-known public figure (though admittedly less well known today!).

I have a separate complaint about misuse of a technical term when they ought to know better, but that's not what caused my head to hit the desk.

[Caracal]

What caused the headdesk is the conflation of an example from, with the author of, the article. They're analyzing the argument from a particular paper by Joe Schmoe, but have decided, based on Schmoe's example, that the paper is actually written by Cobain. It's a reading comprehension issue, and a new one this term (though as Caracal notes, it's very similar to calling everything you read 'a novel'). It's especially glaring because it involves a well-known public figure (though admittedly less well known today!).

I have a separate complaint about misuse of a technical term when they ought to know better, but that's not what caused my head to hit the desk.

I think this is one of those things where you have technical problems with reading interacting with issues of motivation and effort. I sometimes assign a reading in an intro class and realize that students are struggling with it in a way I failed to anticipate and that I should have given them a framework to understand what they are reading. That's on me and it's something I keep trying to work on, because things like argument and genre and author can all be taught.

Other times, however, I have the same issue you are having here. I have spent time working on this stuff and students still screw it up. I think it's often just that you have to want to try to understand what you are reading. A student who doesn't start off with the reading comprehension skills to figure this stuff out can learn, but they have to be paying attention and applying the previous lessons to what they are reading. If they think of everything as just another thing to read for class and never stop to think things through when they get confused, there's not really much we can do.

[AmLitHist]

Just got an email from a student:

Good Morning Mrs. Hist,

I have been reaching out to you everyday this week wether it has been an email or phone call. I am trying to regain access to your class. I need the credits and do no want to miss my window off opportunity. I did not know I had been removed from the class. I was trying to access canvas to check to see what I had due for the class yet I could not access it. How do I regain access to the class?

Thank you for your time.
--
Thank you,

Student

I think I showed great control in my response, particularly considering my mood at the time <interthreaduality>.  I simply explained that at the end of Week 3, it's too late, especially since he was admin. dropped for never contacting me or turning in a damned thing until today.  (I checked my office voice mail and all my Canvas and email in-boxes; crickets from him.)

I suppose we're supposed to just sit and wait until the urge to actually think about/do work for a class strikes them?  Pfft.  NOPE.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

You've got to love some of these dingdong students. When shit hits the fan, they almost always put the onus on you to fix their problems.

[the_geneticist]

We offer Summer term classes here.  I got an email from a student asking if they could miss 1/3 of the lab course I teach because it conflicts with another class they are taking at another university.  And they were already planning to skip the other class on the other 2/3 of the term (what? why?).  And they NEED to take both because they have [big life goals] and [complicating issues].  They promise that they are a "very dedicated student".  I'm not convinced.  They missed the first day of lab & didn't do the make-up assignment that I offered.  Fingers crossed that they drop.

Makes the "I didn't know classes started in Week 1" emails look easy to deal with!

[AmLitHist]

Sadly, you win, the_geneticist!  Put a pillow on your desk before you hurt yourself!  (And if Murphy is any guide, that's the student who won't drop, come hell or high water.)

[the_geneticist]

The student dropped!
I think I've used up all my good luck/karma.  But it's worth it!

[dr_evil]

We offer Summer term classes here.  I got an email from a student asking if they could miss 1/3 of the lab course I teach because it conflicts with another class they are taking at another university.  And they were already planning to skip the other class on the other 2/3 of the term (what? why?).  And they NEED to take both because they have [big life goals] and [complicating issues].  They promise that they are a "very dedicated student".  I'm not convinced.  They missed the first day of lab & didn't do the make-up assignment that I offered.  Fingers crossed that they drop.

Makes the "I didn't know classes started in Week 1" emails look easy to deal with!

Wow! That's a new one. We're more likely at my college to get students who think they can take time off during the summer term for vacation. "But it's only a week." SIGH.

[Langue_doc]

I once had a couple of students who were friends decide that one of them would attend class on Tuesdays and the other one on Thursdays. Why did they think that this was a good idea? Because according to the syllabus, students who miss a class should ask a classmate for their notes so they can come prepared for the next class. Both students failed; one complained to the chair who was most sympathetic when I showed Chair the attendance sheet and also the student's responses to the take-home final exam.

[the_geneticist]

I once had a couple of students who were friends decide that one of them would attend class on Tuesdays and the other one on Thursdays. Why did they think that this was a good idea? Because according to the syllabus, students who miss a class should ask a classmate for their notes so they can come prepared for the next class. Both students failed; one complained to the chair who was most sympathetic when I showed Chair the attendance sheet and also the student's responses to the take-home final exam.

WOW.  I'm trying to wrap my brain around how they came to the conclusion that they would succeed with this scheme. 
Get notes from a classmate = we can alternate who skips!

[Hegemony]

To be fair, in my senior year of college I had a psychology course which met at 9:00 am, which was way too early for me to get up on a regular basis. The psychology course was the least science-y course that fulfilled our science requirement, so I had to take it (and pass it). I had a friend in the course who lent me her notes every week and let me know when the exams were. I showed up for the first class and the exams, and not for one other class session for the whole semester. But she took very good notes, and I studied them, and I passed. So it's possible with the right degree of focus.

I think the problem for your students, Langue_doc, was that they alternated coming. They needed to designate one student the official attendee, who would actually understand what was happening, and then the other student could just debrief the official attendee.

[apl68]

I think the problem for your students, Langue_doc, was that they alternated coming. They needed to designate one student the official attendee, who would actually understand what was happening, and then the other student could just debrief the official attendee.

But then one of them would have to attend and do the work all the time!  Who wants to do that for a college class?

[Langue_doc]

I think the problem for your students, Langue_doc, was that they alternated coming. They needed to designate one student the official attendee, who would actually understand what was happening, and then the other student could just debrief the official attendee.

They could have passed the course if they had both taken notes, not only of the lectures but also of the discussions, reviewed each other's notes, and also reviewed the assigned readings. One of them had abysmal study habits, as I recall. The other didn't seem to benefit from Friend's notes as Friend was a poor note-taker.

[Hegemony]

But then one of them would have to attend and do the work all the time!  Who wants to do that for a college class?

Of course — what was I thinking? <thunks self on head>

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

But then one of them would have to attend and do the work all the time!  Who wants to do that for a college class?

Of course — what was I thinking? <thunks self on head>

Ha!

I have a student who let me know that stu has 'fallen behind' because stu is taking four classes this summer. Stu wants to know if I can open up assignments so that stu can complete them.

*Sigh*

It's times like these that I wonder if I am evolving into an ancient, cantankerous, fossilized hard ass. I feel bad for them- I remember being a student, but I was anal retentive and stubborn as hell (I didn't fall weeks behind in my work), but I also remember how stressful it was.

Does anyone else kind of vacillate between, 'Damn, there's a lot of shit going on in the world, maybe I should cut this kid some slack? You know, everybody gets "one" freebie.' and 'Dammit! Why the hell are you telling me this now? I'm not responsible for you deciding to take FOUR classes over the summer!'