Proofreading is important

I have an ongoing assignment in my class where the students submit responses to reading assignments from their textbooks. In the midst of a submission, I came across this that a student had written:

"yeah trying to finish up dis stupid reading assignment on blackboard"

Do I need say more?

When I discovered it, I copied and pasted it into my powerpoint presentation for the day. I showed it to the class and explained to them that they may want to read over what they have written before they submit it to me. Better yet, they may want to consider refraining from text messaging and/or instant messaging, or whatever the case may be while they are completing an assignment. I also said that I understood that some of them may not appreciate the reading assignments so I gave them another (different) writing assignment to do. Many of them asked if the new assignment was in lieu of the other assignments and I gladly told them that no, it was in addition to. I also gladly pointed out that when I meant "in addition to" I did not mean bonus, which is something that seems to be confusing to them.

The guilty party did come up to me after class and apologized. Hopefully she understood that she should spend more time concentrating on the assignment, not that she should make sure that she did not inadvertently type something into the assignment.

Reading Questions

My students have an ongoing assignment this term. While reading the textbook they are supposed to submit responses to the following 10 times throughout the term:

1. List definitions of unfamiliar words encountered during your reading.
2. Tell me something you found interesting in your reading.
3. Tell me something you found confusing in your reading.
4. Tell me something, from the reading, that you would like to discuss in lecture.

There's also a grading rubric for this. The more thought put into the responses, the higher the grade.

Well, here's a submission I got today. Word-for-word. Nothing added, nothing omitted.

I found the entire reding on enzymes interesting. The for it that is is a work that is passed around like the word and. The book breaks down the true meaning of the work and the workings of enzymes.

WTF? WHAT THE FUCK????

I'm not "cool" with it

"Hey Ms. A, I just wanted to let you know that our flight was going to be delayed tomorrow and we had to catch an early flight out. I hate that I am taking this trip the first week of school, but I can promise you that I wont be missing any more days. I really appreciate you being so cool with this."

Dear Student,

I’m not “cool” with your being absent. You will still be marked as absent and you will still be responsible for learning the information you missed in lab today for the quiz you will have next week.

Not flattery

Here's an excerpt from an e-mail sent by a former student who has moved to another school...

"I have yet to have an instructor as good as you. It's not flattery, but the honest truth. I miss a good lecture like from you or Mr. Other Biology Instructor."

It's nice to hear stuff like that. I'm not trying to brag here, but I am trying to show that I notice and appreciate the good things students have to say just as much as the bad stuff annoys me. I by no means think I am some great instructor and I am continuously trying to better myself as a lecturer, although sometimes it is rather difficult. I mean a lot of times I feel like I should put the same amount of effort into lecturing as my students do into learning. If I let that feeling win out all of the time, I would be a horrible instructor. I just hope it never gets that way.

A new definition of web registration?

I desire to enroll in BIOL XXXX. I will be out of town for late registration. May I enroll via email.

I'm curious why you didn't register for the class during the 6 weeks of open registration before the fall term ended. Unfortunately, no, you may not register for this class via e-mail.

Not enough time

Here is a portion of an e-mail I received last week...

"I am writing to you to express my concern with the lecture final. I understood to have two hours to complete the lecture final. It was 50 minutes into the exam that I was told I only had one hour to complete it. I answered questions to meet the time constraint versus having adequate time to think the questions through. As you know, thought was required to answer questions and 24 seconds is not sufficient to answer 150 questions. It is one thing to turn in an exam because it’s all you can do and another because of time limitations which was incorrect."

I'm upset about this for a few reasons:

1. She completed both exams in their entirety.
2. The questions were multiple choice. If you knew the material, then 24 seconds is plenty of time to answer each question.
3. There really wasn't a time limit, but if she was told by my lab assistant that time was up she never mentioned it to me before she left campus that day. She came to my office immediately after finishing up the exam and not one word was said about not having enough time. Her justification for this is that she was so overwhelmed that she didn't think to ask about it. I really do not see how she could forget to ask about something as important as this, especially since it has now been the topic of several e-mails between us over the past 2 weeks.
4. She came to review the final exam, after she found out the grade and after she had expressed some concern about not having enough time. In my office, however, she mentioned the topic, but really didn't act like it was a big deal.
5. When given the option to take another final exam (not the same questions, but the same question type), she declined. If I was in the same situation and I was sure that I had been cheated out of enough time to complete the exam and if I knew I would do better if I were given more time, then I would definitely take this offer.

So, I guess I'm not really sure what she wants me to do. Does she just want me to give her the 2 points that will get her to a B? I can't do that, and luckily my boss backs me on it. I hope this ordeal is overwith, but for some reason I don't think it is.

Thank You

I came into my cubicle this morning to find two thank you cards from students. I guess they were thanking me because they passed. Just as I don't want students to blame me for them not passing the course, I also don't want the students to thank me for passing the course. I hope students realize that their passing or not passing is completely their doing, not mine.

The thank you cards are nice, though. I like them a better than e-mails like these...

"I just checked my final grade in this course. I was surprised to see I did so poorly on both final exams. I studyed really hard for both of them. I felt some of the questions on the test..expecially the lab final was not what I expected. It seems that I have had continous problems with your exams, and I am not quit sure why. Are you planning to curve our grades any?..I have a 67% right now."

or this one...

"So maybe I should just bomb on the test to get the F for the failing grade and not just a semi passing grade. To look on the bright side atleast I haven't been diagnosed with a terminal illness or lost one of my children. "