Month: May 2013

I am really in the class

Background provided by Instructor: I received this email shortly before the midpoint of a fully online course. This “student” had been emailing me with excuses for not completing assignments that ranged from not having the textbook to not understanding the syllabus. Finally, I learned the real reason she was not doing her work:

hello profesor i M JUST WRITTING TO INFORM YOU THAT as of this week i will have all the required items to pARTICIPATE IN THE CLASS FULLY. HONESTLLY I HAVE BEEN TAKING THIS COURSE FROM MY PHONE ANTICIPATING MY REFUND TO PURCHASE A COMPUTER AND INTERNET SERVICE I AM NOT ASKING FOR ANY THING EXTRA BUT I WILL BE PUTTING FORTH THE EFFORT THAT I NEED IN ORDER TO PASS THE CLASS. I HONESTLY JUST WANTED TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOU RATHER THAN TO KEEP YOU GUESSING AS TO WHY I HAVE NOT BEEN ACTIVE IN THE CLASS BUT THANKS FOR BEING UNDERSTANDING IN ADVANCE

 

I should get an A for studying

Background provided by Instructor: After taking the last exam, this student has realized she will not be receiving an A for my class.  The final grade is based on several short writing assignments, and three exams (which were weighted higher than the assignments). She earned a 50 on Prelim 1, 72 on Prelim 2, and an 84 on Prelim 3.  She is now writing to set up a meeting to go over her last exam – and to perhaps convince me that because she studied so hard she deserves an A. She is one of nearly 500 students enrolled in my class.

I just took the prelim and I’m really disappointed in some of the questions. Attached is my study guide that I have created over the past five days on top of the review of all the notes and just generally keeping up with the assignments and I would really appreciate it if you took the time to review it, considering it probably took me a solid 36 hours to compose. I would appreciate if I could see which questions I apparently got wrong during a meeting time with you. I went above and beyond to prepare for this class and thoroughly enjoyed the material; this is clear to see if you review all my assignments throughout the class because I received a 100 on every single assignment, therefore I knew the material and was well prepared. I just did not do well on the three exams. I also attempted to receive advice from you on how to better prepare for the  exams, to which you replied, “I have no idea what else to tell you – if you read the chapters and study your notes from lecture you should be able to do well”. Unfortunately, this did not occur. It’s a little sad to think that after this much studying I couldn’t even receive an A on this final exam. I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to write papers, create a presentation, or any other work that could be done. Please let me know a time that you can meet.

 

I have to have an extension

Background provided by Instructor: Yes, it is the end of the semester and here come the emails from my students asking for another day, two days, or even a week after the semester ends in order to finish their assignments for class that were spelled out the first week of the semester. This blog describes my experience (and that of many of my colleagues) beautifully: “Extension Entreaties Exemplify Expanding Entitlements” by Joan Bihun.  I think those of us in academe can all relate!

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-ethical-professor/201212/extension-entreaties-exemplify-expanding-entitlements-0

 

I know this is far fetched but….

Background provided by Instructor: I received this email from a student after the last class. Students were given several extra credit options  such as writing a paper, participating in an online discussion, or attending a speaker or related event on campus. This student did not take advantage of any of these, and now emails me to say:

I know this is probably far fetched, but I need an 100 on the exam, which I have been studying for all week. It’s not likely that this is going to happen, but is there any other extra credit assignments I could do?  I worked really hard in the class and I know the material thoroughly and it’s just a shame if I don’t receive the grade I’m looking for with how hard I worked.

 

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