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

[downer]

                                                                         Why, oh why, can't they read the syllabus?                                                                                                         

Wrong question.  Why WON'T they read it.  They choose to not do so.

Which is why I have a syllabus quiz.

Hmmmm.   Even then, some don't even read the announcements enough to know there IS a syllabus quiz.  I had a student last week (week 4of7) asking when he would see a quiz to take and why his grade was showing up as a Zero.

I would be lying if I said it was the first time I've seen this happen.

This is why we need Administrative Drops. Notifications from the Registrar that you've been removed from a course tend to get a response.

At that stage I have no interest in engaging in any dialog with them. It is too late.

[FishProf]

This is why we need Administrative Drops. Notifications from the Registrar that you've been removed from a course tend to get a response.

I second this request.

[the_geneticist]

This is why we need Administrative Drops. Notifications from the Registrar that you've been removed from a course tend to get a response.

I second this request.

Me too!

Our summer classses are "pay as you go" so I've been told I can't drop non-attending students because they have paid to take the class. Even if the waitlist is full and dropping them would open a seat for a student who actually showed up.

[dr_codex]

                                                                         Why, oh why, can't they read the syllabus?                                                                                                         

Wrong question.  Why WON'T they read it.  They choose to not do so.

Which is why I have a syllabus quiz.

Hmmmm.   Even then, some don't even read the announcements enough to know there IS a syllabus quiz.  I had a student last week (week 4of7) asking when he would see a quiz to take and why his grade was showing up as a Zero.

I would be lying if I said it was the first time I've seen this happen.

This is why we need Administrative Drops. Notifications from the Registrar that you've been removed from a course tend to get a response.

At that stage I have no interest in engaging in any dialog with them. It is too late.

Exactly. That's the point. You don't field the response.

[marshwiggle]

                                                                         Why, oh why, can't they read the syllabus?                                                                                                         

Wrong question.  Why WON'T they read it.  They choose to not do so.

Which is why I have a syllabus quiz.

Hmmmm.   Even then, some don't even read the announcements enough to know there IS a syllabus quiz.  I had a student last week (week 4of7) asking when he would see a quiz to take and why his grade was showing up as a Zero.

I would be lying if I said it was the first time I've seen this happen.

This is why we need Administrative Drops. Notifications from the Registrar that you've been removed from a course tend to get a response.

At that stage I have no interest in engaging in any dialog with them. It is too late.

Exactly. That's the point. You don't field the response.

Nobody should field the response, other than to say "The course is being offered again next year. You're welcome to sign up and do the work then."

[dr_codex]

                                                                         Why, oh why, can't they read the syllabus?                                                                                                         

Wrong question.  Why WON'T they read it.  They choose to not do so.

Which is why I have a syllabus quiz.

Hmmmm.   Even then, some don't even read the announcements enough to know there IS a syllabus quiz.  I had a student last week (week 4of7) asking when he would see a quiz to take and why his grade was showing up as a Zero.

I would be lying if I said it was the first time I've seen this happen.

This is why we need Administrative Drops. Notifications from the Registrar that you've been removed from a course tend to get a response.

At that stage I have no interest in engaging in any dialog with them. It is too late.

Exactly. That's the point. You don't field the response.

Nobody should field the response, other than to say "The course is being offered again next year. You're welcome to sign up and do the work then."

Not quite.

Non-attendance isn't the same thing as attending and failing, as far as things like financial aid are concerned. But it is an administrative issue, not an instructional one.

[peitho]

Ha! I do have a syllabus quiz, and I would sorely love to ignore the emails. Sadly, the department has  an exceptionally low tolerance for student complaints, and their b.s. meter is busted. Miss Mediocrity has now advanced to arguing about the grades after scouring the comments they've ignored for weeks.

[FishProf]

Ha! I do have a syllabus quiz, and I would sorely love to ignore the emails. Sadly, the department has  an exceptionally low tolerance for student complaints, and their b.s. meter is busted. Miss Mediocrity has now advanced to arguing about the grades after scouring the comments they've ignored for weeks.

And THAT is why my syllabus says you've got a week to challenge a grade, then we move on.

[the_geneticist]

Ha! I do have a syllabus quiz, and I would sorely love to ignore the emails. Sadly, the department has  an exceptionally low tolerance for student complaints, and their b.s. meter is busted. Miss Mediocrity has now advanced to arguing about the grades after scouring the comments they've ignored for weeks.

And THAT is why my syllabus says you've got a week to challenge a grade, then we move on.

Mine too.  And mine also says that I can regrade the entire assignment.

[fishbrains]

Ha! I do have a syllabus quiz, and I would sorely love to ignore the emails. Sadly, the department has  an exceptionally low tolerance for student complaints, and their b.s. meter is busted. Miss Mediocrity has now advanced to arguing about the grades after scouring the comments they've ignored for weeks.

And THAT is why my syllabus says you've got a week to challenge a grade, then we move on.

+1. I also have students revise their graded essays one more time for a small grade, so I can make sure they understand what I've noted and see if they have any questions about the grade (I teach mostly Comp.). This has helped eliminate end-of-semester grade grubbing to about zero.

[OneMoreYear]

My instructions:  You will be provided with X on the exam.  You are not expected to create X for the exam.

Student question: Just to be clear, we do not have to create X for the exam?

How could I have been more clear?

[the_geneticist]

OK students, just because it's POSSIBLE to take both [pottery II with lab] and [10 weeks of baskets III with lab crammed into 5 weeks] in the summer, doesn't mean that you should. 
Unless you:
1) have ZERO other commitments (no job, no kids, no commuting, heck no real hobbies either)
2) LOVE [pottery & baskets]
3) are super-organized & a self-motivated student who needs little guidance
and
4) enjoy/don't hate all online classes.

then just DON'T DO IT.  Just take 1 or the other.  Taking both & failing one or both is worse than taking just 1 and passing.

[fishbrains]

My instructions:  You will be provided with X on the exam.  You are not expected to create X for the exam.

Student question: Just to be clear, we do not have to create X for the exam?

How could I have been more clear?

This used to drive me batty(er) until I took an online class (just for funzies) with a professor who would constantly send out conflicting emails. For example, one email would say, "X will be provided" and the next one would say, "Don't forget to find and attach X when you submit." It was quite unnerving, even for an experienced student like myself.

While such student emails still make me a little bonkers, I remind myself of what students sometimes see in other courses.

[apl68]

OK students, just because it's POSSIBLE to take both [pottery II with lab] and [10 weeks of baskets III with lab crammed into 5 weeks] in the summer, doesn't mean that you should. 
Unless you:
1) have ZERO other commitments (no job, no kids, no commuting, heck no real hobbies either)
2) LOVE [pottery & baskets]
3) are super-organized & a self-motivated student who needs little guidance
and
4) enjoy/don't hate all online classes.

then just DON'T DO IT.  Just take 1 or the other.  Taking both & failing one or both is worse than taking just 1 and passing.

I've noticed over here over the years that there seems to be a chronic problem with students overloading themselves on commitments, for whatever reason.  I guess they're in a real hurry to pass and have it all done.

[the_geneticist]

OK students, just because it's POSSIBLE to take both [pottery II with lab] and [10 weeks of baskets III with lab crammed into 5 weeks] in the summer, doesn't mean that you should. 
Unless you:
1) have ZERO other commitments (no job, no kids, no commuting, heck no real hobbies either)
2) LOVE [pottery & baskets]
3) are super-organized & a self-motivated student who needs little guidance
and
4) enjoy/don't hate all online classes.

then just DON'T DO IT.  Just take 1 or the other.  Taking both & failing one or both is worse than taking just 1 and passing.

I've noticed over here over the years that there seems to be a chronic problem with students overloading themselves on commitments, for whatever reason.  I guess they're in a real hurry to pass and have it all done.

Our students aren't necessarily in a hurry to graduate, but they often have "complicated" lives where they have important commitments other than just being a student & are not on track to graduate in 4 years.  They are hoping to get caught up by taking an overload in the summer.
Many of them have jobs, family obligations, commute, etc.  Add in the fact that many do not have their own computer or reliable internet and online classes are just a recipe for disaster.  Even when classes are in person, the summer accelerated classes have a really high failure rate since missing a day or two is the equivalent of being a week behind.  It's brutal.