Dear Jessey, As tempting as it may be to make special accommodations, in this case I would recommend against it. While we can all sympathize with deadlines that cluster together, this is one of those facts of life for school and work in the United States. Learning effective time management can be a valuable lesson that will serve this student well throughout their education career and life. George Mason University has a brief on-line resource with some useful time management hints (http://www.gmu.edu/gmu/personal/time.html). Your university may provide similar handouts or possibly student seminars on the topic.
Additionally, my policy is that if I make a special accommodation for one students (beyond those with documented disabilities), I make it available to everyone. Thus, if I provide an extra credit assignment to one student, I announce that very same assignment available to everyone. This helps to maintain equity between students and no later charges of unfair privilege to the few. Thus, unless you are prepared to give everyone the same special timing of exams treatment, you are opening yourself up for problems. And yes, students talk. Give it a day or two and most will know that you are giving the one student a break and they will be contacting you for similar concerns. If your syllabus includes all dates and times of exams, stick with it. Best, Linda Jessey Bernstein wrote: > Hi everyone! > Thank you for your help with my last question (I was the "new teacher"). In > case you were wondering since my last post, my first in-semester class is > going well. Very time-consuming, but well! There are 100 students in there, > and the best part is that slowly but surely there is more class > participation, and it even comes from a variety of students, which is > wonderful. Our in-class midterm is next Thursday, and I just received a > question from a student that leaves me not sure what to do: > > "I have a concern regarding the upcoming exam in psychology. On that very > same day, I am taking two other exams, which means that as the exams are > scheduled, I have three exams in one day. I have been speaking to my > professors in all three classes and am trying to see what can be done about > this. Is it possible to move the PSY101 exam for me, preferably > later than the scheduled date?" > > He seems to be a conscientious student, with the little I know of him. I > know this issue has been broached on TIPS before, but i couldn't find any > key words that brought me to the topic (which made me think carefully about > what to write in the subject header today!). What are your opinions out > there? I don't mind letting him do the make-up (which will be the following > week), but I realize that could be unfair to other students who also have > lots of work to do. What do people think about allowing him to take the > midterm on the very next day (i.e., Friday), which gives him a night to > recuperate? > > Thanks for any input, > Jessey > > Jessey Bernstein, M.A. > Graduate Student > University of Rochester > Rochester, NY > -- Linda M. Woolf, Ph.D. Book Review Editor, H-Genocide Secretary, Society for the Teaching of Psychology Associate Professor - Psychology Coordinator - Holocaust & Genocide Studies, Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Webster University 470 East Lockwood St. Louis, MO 63119 Main Webpage: http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/ mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's (and woman's) best friend. . . . Inside a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
