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

[apl68]

You could try carrying a measuring tape wherever you go.  That way, if you wander into the wrong room you can pretend to take measurements of windows, desk, wall screen, or whatever else may be handy before going out. 

[the_geneticist]

You could try carrying a measuring tape wherever you go.  That way, if you wander into the wrong room you can pretend to take measurements of windows, desk, wall screen, or whatever else may be handy before going out.

I love it!  Look very serious and write down things on a legal pad. 

[ciao_yall]

You could try carrying a measuring tape wherever you go.  That way, if you wander into the wrong room you can pretend to take measurements of windows, desk, wall screen, or whatever else may be handy before going out.

I love it!  Look very serious and write down things on a legal pad.

When I needed to walk and think at work, I would carry around a file folder and walk with a sense of purpose.

[mythbuster]

That what the old school lab timer is for. Back in grad school, those got me out of many a chat with the chatty Cathy's in the department!

[RatGuy]

Why do students sign up for a 4-week course knowing that they're going to miss a full week for vacation. I just heard a 20yo say , "I'm gonna miss June 1-8  because my daddy is taking us to the Bahamas." I wanted to respond "then this is not the class for you."

[FishProf]

I have a similar case.  Seven week class (12 meetings), student will miss 3 of them.  STU emailed me asking how he could "make up the labs"? 

You can't.  This is a field course.  Tomorrow we will be in the field for ~8hrs.  There is no way to recreate the experience of tromping through, and working in, a bog.

[apl68]

There is no way to recreate the experience of tromping through, and working in, a bog.

You must never have visited the dorm room my brother shared with his roommate before flunking out.  Or certain other dorm rooms I've heard about.

[FishProf]

There is no way to recreate the experience of tromping through, and working in, a bog.

You must never have visited the dorm room my brother shared with his roommate before flunking out.  Or certain other dorm rooms I've heard about.

I'd be afraid to set, much less recover, the traps.

[Istiblennius]

We still have two weeks of Spring term + finals week. Day after memorial day and 1/3 of students are in class. And several of them have informed me they probably won't be back after this week. Why are we still doing this?

[kaysixteen]

You wanted to say that to the Bahama-bound sprite, but what *did* you say, and perhaps more importantly, at your school, what *could you do about this*?

[RatGuy]

You wanted to say that to the Bahama-bound sprite, but what *did* you say, and perhaps more importantly, at your school, what *could you do about this*?

I reminded her of the class policies -- due dates, hard copies, must be in class to submit work -- and suggested that she could submit the first assignment (due Monday) early. Instead, she dropped the course.

As an aside, my other fantasy response is to remind her that she's 20 years old, and maybe she's too told to call him "daddy."

[OneMoreYear]

Ugh. I just can't with this group of students. I assigned a scaffolding assignment for the final project, and a good number of students biffed it, mostly due to not fully following directions. I offered a small-points optional extra credit extension assignment to help students move forward. Two students plagiarized the extra credit. It wasn't worth sending academic integrity violation paperwork up the chain, as I would not be supported sending it for an optional extra credit assignment that was not on the syllabus, so I just assigned a 0 grade (with clear explanation to the students) and moved on. One of the plagiarists emailed asking if they could re-do the extra credit for a better grade. No, just no.

* kicker? grad students

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Ugh. I just can't with this group of students. I assigned a scaffolding assignment for the final project, and a good number of students biffed it, mostly due to not fully following directions. I offered a small-points optional extra credit extension assignment to help students move forward. Two students plagiarized the extra credit. It wasn't worth sending academic integrity violation paperwork up the chain, as I would not be supported sending it for an optional extra credit assignment that was not on the syllabus, so I just assigned a 0 grade (with clear explanation to the students) and moved on. One of the plagiarists emailed asking if they could re-do the extra credit for a better grade. No, just no.

* kicker? grad students

Yikes!

[apl68]

Ugh. I just can't with this group of students. I assigned a scaffolding assignment for the final project, and a good number of students biffed it, mostly due to not fully following directions. I offered a small-points optional extra credit extension assignment to help students move forward. Two students plagiarized the extra credit. It wasn't worth sending academic integrity violation paperwork up the chain, as I would not be supported sending it for an optional extra credit assignment that was not on the syllabus, so I just assigned a 0 grade (with clear explanation to the students) and moved on. One of the plagiarists emailed asking if they could re-do the extra credit for a better grade. No, just no.

* kicker? grad students

Yikes!

Yes!  A most discreditable way for aspiring future professionals to try earning credit.

[the_geneticist]

One of my TAs has been autofilling the grade book with full credit for all assignments for all of their students.  They did not understand why that was a problem!