Ed Pollock wrote: >But on the other hand, I can't imagine something like tending to a sick >child (the night before I'm due to hand back exams) causing me to miss a >deadline. > >I'm forever warning my students that you NEVER put off studying or >completing an assignment until the night before it's due because one of >the few verities of life is that "S**t Happens!" I think you're setting a >horrendous example by validating their tendency to leave the completion of >a task to the last minute.
I know this wasn't a personal attack (since I noted in the first line of my post that I have never missed that self-imposed deadline), but I did find it an interesting assumption that child's illness was the night before AND that grading had been "put off" until that time. I regularly grade on the day before they are returned, and every day prior to that. With papers I find that I can not grade more than 10-12 per night and remain objective in my assessment and constructive in my comments, so the loss any day after they are turned in would put me behind. While I was frustrated with Ed's over-emphasis on my example it did answer the question for me. The point of my post was how do others respond when "S**t happens"; do you clarify the situation or simply remain silent? Until now I never imagined I would explain circumstances. However, I now realize that if someone in my own profession can so blatantly make the fundamental attribution error maybe I would need to explain. Well back to grading for me (seriously)! The irony of reading Ed's response while I was grading papers on a Saturday night may have prompted a less tempered response than normal and for that I apologize . Doug Doug Peterson Associate Professor of Psychology The University of South Dakota Vermillion SD 57069 (605) 677-5295 [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
