Sunday, May 6, 2012

Why Professors Drink 2012.05.05

I'm wrapping up a few last-minute things for the end of this semester. A couple of those things involve student issues. Two examples are below, reproduced exactly as I received them, including spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
i didnt find a way to calculate my final grade but was wondering what was my final grade in #, just incase if possible what could i do to get that A if its not to late or if my current grade isnt that far from my current grade for example 1 or 2 points, i know i didnt do that well in the second exam but other than that i did pretty well on the rest of the homeworks, test and project, please let me knoe asap
The syllabus provides information on how to calculate their final course grade. The course management system we use retains all the grades for each student. So all he has to do is plug in the grades into the formula. So much for teaching the little critters problem-solving skills.

And no, he didn't get an A.
This is one of your students and today was our final at 8:00 am. Due to my grandpa being in the hospital since 6:00 am i wasnt able to make it because someone needed to be there with him and unfortunately i was the only one availalable. i understand you say in your syllabus that there shouldnt be any excuses but my grandpa was in a very bad condition meaning he only has a couple of more days left. I am just asking for a chnce to be able to take the exam tomorrow atleast because i cant afford to fail a course
This time of the semester is very dangerous for grandparents. Every year three or four die during finals.

I should point out that they write a little better on assignments. These messages came via e-mail. I guess that's how they communicate with their peers, but I could never bring myself to send out something that looks like this.


5 comments:

Pascvaks said...

How does one tx: 'taking english as a second language'? Isn't it now part of the pre-freshman prep school courses taught at every major American University? Isn't it also true that for many kids today, a BA/BS takes more than 4 years?

Pascvaks said...

PS: Just reminded of this. Looks like 'everything', even student-teacher tx'ing will be part of The Official Record the day after yesterday, or sooner:
"The Madison (Wis) School District has agreed to pay $31,454.57 in legal fees after the State Journal won an open records lawsuit over employee sick notes related to last year’s Capitol protests, the newspaper’s lawyer, April Barker, said Tuesday."
"The State Journal filed the lawsuit in June after the district refused to release hundreds of notes employees turned in to ensure they weren’t docked pay for missing school during the protests. The newspaper also sought payment for its legal fees."

Think the kids will improve their eCom-skills (and stop the lame excuses;-) ?

CenTexTim said...

Four-year graduation rates are down, in large part because so many kids are ill-prepared coming out of public schools. A large number of students take remedial courses in their first year, pushing their time in college to five or even six years. That also adds to their student loan burden.

They might improve their communication skills, but nothing will ever stop the lame excuses.

InsomniacSeeker said...

Speaking of the lame excuses, that second one, I swear I've heard it before right here in the office I work at. Student wouldn't have been a girl, would it? haha I know you can't say. Had a 20 yr old, I've referred to her as "the child", who used that excuse, and the friend who was in a car wreck and had no family to sit with her during the night, etc, etc. My personal favorite was the weekly migraine headaches on Monday morning. I always called them hangovers and went to class/work anyway.

Thank you very much for the good laugh I had while reading this.
-Tina

CenTexTim said...

Tina - glad you enjoyed it.