Erica, I am never comfortable in those situations. I have tried "being
tough-sticking to my principles, wanting students to be "Responsible," and I
find it very difficult. I have tried giving in and permitting makeups and
feel uncomfortable. This semester in my area, grandmothers died and I swear
last semester it was uncles. Counteracting excuses seems to me to work
best when I set up guidelines, i.e., No Makeups After Grades Have Been
Returned to the Class (next class period). Of course some students still
can't/won't understand and will try to negotiate around any guideline.
Have you seen the FACCCTS cartoon with a young student protesting:
LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT. IF I DON'T SHOW UP TO CLASS FOR
THREE WEEKS AND DON'T DO ANY OF THE WORK, MY GRADE'S
IN JEOPARDY? HARSH.
I wonder how the IRS would react to the deer story.
Best wishes for a great holiday to all of you.
Joann Jelly
-----Original Message-----
From: Don Allen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2001 9:16 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
Subject: Re: dastardly deadlines and empty excuses
Erica-
Before you decide to feel bad consider the following:
All of your students show up for the final exam except you're not
there. No one knows where you are & no one knows where the exams are. The
students are all sent home & no one knows if they will even get a final
grade. A week later you call each of the students. You explain that you
ran into a deer. Due to the trauma of the accident you just 'forgot'
about the exam. You have photos of the car & are willing to show
them. You suggest that they should come back from their holidays and
write the exam. When they complain you ask, "Well, do you want to write
the exam or not?"
I suggest that you feel just as bad as those students would feel about
you.
All the best,
-Don.
On Wed, 12 Dec 2001
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> OK, a student contacted me a week after the final exam and emailed that
she
> had missed the exam and wanted to know how to arrange to make it up. Huh?
I
> wrote back 'why did you miss the exam, and why did you wait so long to get
in
> touch?' She replied that she had hit a deer with her car and did I want
to
> see photos? And she hadn't had a way to get to school, and then forgot
about
> the exam. This student had already missed two classes before the final.
She
> had my email address and my phone number. The syllabus clearly states
that
> you must contact me before an exam is missed or else document an
emergency.
>
> I asked if she had sustained any injuries from the car accident and she
wrote
> back 'so are you going to let me take the exam or not?'
>
> This was not a poor student, she had been doing decent work in class and
> could have gotten a B but ended up with an F. So why do I feel bad (I
know
> why I feel bad but is it just inevitable?)
> Erica
>
>
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Don Allen email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dept. of Psychology voice: (604)-323-5871
Langara College fax: (604)-323-5555
100 W. 49th Ave.
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada, V5Y 2Z6
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