Every so often we check in on one of the most popular threads on The Chronicle’s discussion forums — called “‘Favorite’ student e-mails,” — where professors post amusing (and often frustrating) messages from their students. The professors change the names and course titles to protect the clueless and to comply with student-privacy laws.

Here are three recent entries, along with thoughts about what they say about student attitudes toward professors in an age of e-mail.

Many Students Ask for Do-Overs

Many of the e-mail messages posted by professors involve students pleading for a chance to do extra academic work or to retake tests to raise their grades. This one got a particularly lively response on the forums:

Dear Professor, I saw that I lost points on the lab for questions I left blank. I thought they were rhetorical questions. Can I answer them now and get back the points? -Sweet Student Who Marches to a Different Drummer

As the professor explains: “This really is a favorite e-mail because the student is a sweet kid and I do believe him, but I swear I have no idea how to respond to this.”

And Students Offer to Do More Than Just Homework

Since it is finals season at many colleges, several professors have recently posted student e-mail messages begging for higher grades, one way or another. Like this one:

Dr. Kif, I worked my butt off on the paper, and I will honestly do ANYTHING it takes to get a C in the class. I don’t think you understand how desperate I am for a C. I don’t know where I went wrong on the final either…I thought I did so well??? I’ll cook you breakfast, lunch, dinner, and serve it to you. I mean…I’m pretty freaking desperate, obviously. Please let me do something. You name it…anything. Thanks so much, Pretty Little Snowflake Thang

As the professor joked, “Hmm. My car does need washing. And those leaves are piling up.”

One Professor Starts Semester With Guidelines for Sending E-Mail Messages

One professor said he or she got one too many e-mail messages like this: “i haven’t looked on blackboard yet but i’m wondering where the video lecture is.” Turns out, the video lectures were clearly on Blackboard, the college’s course-management system, and in a folder marked “Video Lectures.”

So the professor has started setting some e-mail ground rules at the beginning of the semester. “I will say that I begin every semester off with a brief introduction of how to email a professor,” the faculty member writes. “I do this in my undergraduate, graduate, and online courses. I don’t have time to try and decipher an e-mail that doesn’t make sense. And I tell them that if they don’t get a response within 24 hours, it’s because their e-mail was grammatically incorrect, rude, or completely incoherent. This has helped so much with the disrespectful, ignorant, and confusing emails. I also tell students to write down all of their questions, try to figure them out on their own, and then email me all questions in one email if, and only if, they are unable to figure it out.”

Have others tried creating similar rules for their courses? —Jeffrey R. Young

Past installments: “3 of the Funniest E-Mail Messages From Students to Professors — and What They Say About Technology”

More (Unintentionally) Funny Student E-Mail Messages to Professors

Another Batch of Funny Student E-Mail Messages to Professors

Categories: Teaching, Student-Life