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[hollow_man]

yes. they are young and impressionable.

The sooner you get' em hooked on the white powder, the better.

My daughter is still a little too young; it wouldn't take much of a powder day for her to need a snorkel.

[fannie]

From: Student
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007
To: Fannie
Subject: Presentation

[no salutation]
I thought about the presentation yesterday and I'm really upset about the fact that you took points off of my presentation score because my partner forgot her lines. Since we had two different grading rubrics, I don't see what my score had to do with her. Is there a way you could change it?
 
Student

My response:

Dear Student,
You had two different grading rubrics because I evaluated both of you based your your own performance in multiple categories.
 
As I stated in the review: 
1. You received 2/4 points for [Category A].
2.  You received 2/2 points for [Category B].
3.  You received 4/4 points for [Category C].
4.  You received 2/3 points for [Category D].
5.  You received 3/3 points for [Category E].
6.  You received 4/5 points for [Category F]: you were evaluated not on the fact that partner forgot her lines but on how you reacted to the situation.  Partner was evaluated based on the same criteria.
 
Had I awared you a final score of 17/21 your final grade would raise from 82.06% to 83.66%

Had I awarded you 100% on the presentation, your final grade in the course would not have changed.
 
Best,
Dr. Fannie

(note that I got the math wrong, and she didn't even find that error!)

[dr_evil]

My school uses pluses and minuses - right now I wish it didn't.  In core courses it is a straightforward % breakdown.

I have gotten 4 emails so far asking if that  B+ or B- could be mysteriously tweaked upward to an A- or a solid B.  It is early yet.  Especially for a class that did amazingly bad as a whole on their final.

This reminds me of the time a student requested a W after finding out hu had earned an F.

[_touchedbyanoodle_]

My school uses pluses and minuses as well. I don't. I say so in the syllabus, so I get away with it. You might think about incorporating this policy.

Down with the plus or minus!

[onion]

Tragedy has struck my neck of the woods.  On Tuesday night, three grandparents died, one parent got in a car wreck, one student was hospitalized, and a boyfriend got arrested.  (Is it a coincidence that the final paper was due Wednesday morning, and all six of these students are already failing the course?)

I'll see your dead grandparents, car wreck, hospitalization and arrest and raise you with a failing student whose car hit a deer on the way to the final exam and a student who has been MIA all semester who lost her debit card (I kid you not).

Wait--she had to miss class all semester *because of* the lost debit card?  That is good.

[london1]

Yep!

[infopri]

I'll see your dead grandparents, car wreck, hospitalization and arrest and raise you with a failing student whose car hit a deer on the way to the final exam and a student who has been MIA all semester who lost her debit card (I kid you not).

Wait--she had to miss class all semester *because of* the lost debit card?  That is good.

Yep!

This is what happens when you charge students admission to each class session.  Next semester, make them pay you in advance for the whole semester, right at the first class meeting.  Then stamp their hands with indelible ink that will last the entire semester, to prove they've paid you.

That's how I do it.

[london1]

Great advice, infopri.  You so sneaky!

[t_r_b]

yes. they are young and impressionable.

The sooner you get' em hooked on the white powder, the better.

Absolutely. Each year, it seems like more and more students arrive in college having received no training in the proper use of white powder. In my day, students in mediocre school districts had become expert snorters by middle school. Today, even supposedly elite high schools offer powder education only as an elective.

I blame the growing emphasis that the government places on mandatory testing. Schools now devote nearly all their resources toward substances that can produce measurable test results, like weed and steroids. Since we can't easily quantify students' retention of powder-related material, the entire subject is consigned to the curricular back burner.

Everyone seems to assume that students will somehow make up for this powder deficiency once they've reached college, but as we see semester after semester, that just isn't happening. Young people must master the use of powder early in their education, or else they'll fall even farther behind the children of more chemically advanced nations.

[yemaya]

My school uses pluses and minuses - right now I wish it didn't.  In core courses it is a straightforward % breakdown.

I have gotten 4 emails so far asking if that  B+ or B- could be mysteriously tweaked upward to an A- or a solid B.  It is early yet.  Especially for a class that did amazingly bad as a whole on their final.

This reminds me of the time a student requested a W after finding out hu had earned an F.

I had one of those in addition to my student who wanted an I after earning an F.  So annoying...

My school uses pluses and minuses as well. I don't. I say so in the syllabus, so I get away with it. You might think about incorporating this policy.

Down with the plus or minus!

Ugh...especially the B+, which only provokes a grade challenge.

[rowan1]

My school uses pluses and minuses as well. I don't. I say so in the syllabus, so I get away with it. You might think about incorporating this policy.

Down with the plus or minus!

because it is a core course and we are strivign for consistency in assessment I can't get away with it.

I got two more emails this morning.

[kraken]

Have you considered giving them an avenue to request an improved grade?

Just outline briefly in your policy that if students believe they should have a higher grade, they need only document their grades on each of their assignments, in writing.   They should include a page for each assignment detailing why they feel their performance exceeded the marked grade.  Require that these requests be handed in prior to the final exam. 

Then you can just point them to the policy when they beg after the exam.

[yemaya]

Have you considered giving them an avenue to request an improved grade?

Just outline briefly in your policy that if students believe they should have a higher grade, they need only document their grades on each of their assignments, in writing.   They should include a page for each assignment detailing why they feel their performance exceeded the marked grade.  Require that these requests be handed in prior to the final exam. 

Then you can just point them to the policy when they beg after the exam.

I've used something along this line with good results.  It eliminates a lot of the mindless whining and once they've calmed down, they often realize that they did indeed receive the grade they deserved.

[cms99]

Ah, the groveling continues...

Dr. cms99,

Thank you for emailing me my grade.  I was wondering if you might be so
kind to bump my grade up to an A.  I really did enjoy your class and the
check-out line stories about people getting mad at you for calling Britney
Spears and others "stupid news"!

Thank You,
Jessica Simpson

Student has nothing close to an A.  She earned a middle C.  Not sure why I should bump it up.

[t_r_b]

Ah, the groveling continues...

Dr. cms99,

Thank you for emailing me my grade.  I was wondering if you might be so
kind to bump my grade up to an A.  I really did enjoy your class and the
check-out line stories about people getting mad at you for calling Britney
Spears and others "stupid news"!

Thank You,
Jessica Simpson

Student has nothing close to an A.  She earned a middle C.  Not sure why I should bump it up.

Because Jessica enjoyed your stories, of course. My ego being as fragile as it is, any time a student expresses even the slightest interest in something I've said, I bump that grade right up. Isn't that true for all teachers?