I tell them if they text during class or even if they have their cell phones on their desk they risk having it confiscated. I tell them that yes it's high schoolish, but that yes, they can survive not hearing the absolutely vital texts from their friends for an hour. David
At 12:01 PM 8/19/2009, you wrote: >When my students say they missed class, they usually follow it with, >"Did I miss anything?" As per a great list of possible answers that >I got from TIPS years ago, I reply, with a rather affected glint of >humor in my eye, "Why, no. When you didn't show up, we just >canceled class." That usually makes them see the silliness of their >question. I then add, seriously, that they're responsible for >anything that happened in class and they might look for a good >student and ask to borrow their notes. > >I'm also toying with the idea of changing an attendance grade from >"present" to "absent" if they text during class, and saying in my >syllabus that I will do this. My rationale is that if they're busy >texting, they're not paying attention (and are even more disruptive >- to me - than if they're absent) and are thus, essentially, >absent. I like this idea better than Louis' four dozen doughnuts >penalty. I don't need the calories and they can't use the "I don't >have the money" excuse. Of course, I have to make sure that I don't >have my own cell phone going off during class!! And this will only >work if you routinely take attendance. (I do.) > >How do TIPSters feel about this? It's not going to kill them to >keep their thumbs off their cellphones for an hour. > >Beth Benoit >Granite State College >Plymouth State University >New Hampshire > >On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 11:50 AM, Marc Carter ><<mailto:marc.car...@bakeru.edu>marc.car...@bakeru.edu> wrote: > >Well, my perennial favorite (this is common to many of you, I'm >sure) is, "I'm sorry I missed class today. Did we do anything important?" > >-- >Marc Carter, PhD >Associate Professor and Chair >Department of Psychology >College of Arts & Sciences >Baker University >-- > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: <mailto:sbl...@ubishops.ca>sbl...@ubishops.ca > [mailto:sbl...@ubishops.ca] > > Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 10:23 AM > > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > > Subject: [tips] Outrageous (im)portune(ing) > > > > A misguided friend of mine, retired not too long, decided to > > go back to teaching. He discovered something new this time: > > an elevation in the level of student chutzpah. > > > > For example, one of his students e-mailed him that he had > > received 73% for a B, and asked for a free 2% so his mark > > could be upgraded to a B+. > > My friend commented that this student seemed to think of > > university grades the way someone in a restaurant thinks of > > the bread basket: could I have more, please? > > > > Another of his students e-mailed him that he missed a good > > part of the course and the first test because he was on > > vacation and didn't realize that the course didn't wait for > > him to get back. He asked that his grade be based on the > > tests given after his return. > > > > Note that in both cases, the outrageous requests were made by e-mail. > > Coincidence? I think not. It seems to me that now that the > > twittering facebook generation has become comfortable with > > e-mailing their profs, we can expect much more of the same. > > What they wouldn't dare ask for over the phone or in person > > is worth a try by e-mail. Maybe I'll get lucky, they think. > > > > My friend asked me whether students at Bishop's behaved like > > this. Not then, I replied, but probably now. And in the > > spirit of the irrepressible Michael S. I throw the question > > out to the list: > > > > Do you have any examples of your own of outrageous > > importuning, in particular by e-mail, but also by other > > means? Send me something. > > > > Stephen > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > > Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. > > Professor of Psychology, Emeritus > > Bishop's > University e-mail: <mailto:sbl...@ubishops.ca>sbl...@ubishops.ca > > 2600 College St. > > Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 > > Canada > > > > Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of > > psychology at > <http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/>http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > --------- > > > > --- > > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > > > Bill Southerly (<mailto:bsouthe...@frostburg.edu>bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) > > > >The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto >("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is intended to be >confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named >above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy >and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this >message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that >retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is >strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error >please immediately notify Baker University by email reply and >immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any >attachments thereto. Thank you. > >--- >To make changes to your subscription contact: > >Bill Southerly (<mailto:bsouthe...@frostburg.edu>bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) > > > >--- >To make changes to your subscription contact: > >Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) David T. Wasieleski, Ph.D. Professor Department of Psychology and Counseling Valdosta State University Valdosta, GA 31698 229-333-5620 http://chiron.valdosta.edu/dtwasieleski "The only thing that ever made sense in my life is the sound of my little girl laughing through the window on a summer night... Just the sound of my little girl laughing makes me happy just to be alive..." --Everclear "Song from an American Movie" --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
