A fellow instructor shared this article with me, and I had my students read and discuss it. The article is from a 1996 edition of Newsweek and talks about how some (many!) college students are prone to, you know, not really doing anything in class for an entire semester. Then when they receive their well-deserved (and dismal) grade they start in with the phone calls and emails begging for extra credit and leniency. Well, my friend Kurt Wiesenfeld and I do not buy their sob stories, no indeed we do not. I am much more merciful as an instructor to my students who communicate with me throughout the semester than I am to the students who come in the 13th hour and just cannot understand why never coming to class or doing any homework warrants a failing grade.
Can you tell it's almost the end of the semester? I think if any such emails from students start coming my way I will just forward them a link to this article with my kindest regards for better luck next time. If only luck was all it took...
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2 comments:
I still feel guilty for some of the grades I've given students years ago, not because they were undeserved but because I pretty much ruined their entire life with that despicable B+.
I got emails for months from one boy begging me to change his grade. Because of me he lost his scholarship and will to live. I destroyed all chances of his success in life with one click of the mouse. (not really, I'm just being dramatic.)
ps I wish I'd had that article. What a great way to start off a semester!
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