katali
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« Reply #135 on: October 31, 2006, 07:27:04 PM » |
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I received this e-mail just a few days after my husband died. I had been at home taking care of him full-time, and my students knew that he was gravely ill.
"I just got my final semester grades, and found my . . . grade diffrent that I was expecting. When I talked to you towards the end of the semester you said that I had a 'good' grade in the class. Perhaps our standards are diffrent but a B is not a 'good' grade in my opinion."
I was angered, shocked and hurt by the insensitivity and the "attitude" she displayed under the circumstances, and wanted to write back and tell her off. However, I decided the best response to this was no response.
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seerley
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« Reply #136 on: November 01, 2006, 02:21:04 PM » |
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Great thread! so glad to see i'm not the only with bizarre requests and info via email.
This is a verbatim copy of one of my favorite student emails. The student met with me the day before one of our papers was due, and we did have a productive meeting in which he hashed out a really good thesis. Still, he didn't show for class for 2 whole weeks, and didn't turn in a paper. Sure enough, almost 3 weeks later, this note arrives:
"Dear Prof. X,
I haven't even thought about the ramifications but I have had a insanely painful ear infection. What have I missed and can I still just send you my what is comm. paper? You can just grade me on what you saw in our meeting?"
It still makes me laugh to this day!
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athena1
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« Reply #137 on: November 03, 2006, 02:16:05 PM » |
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hi, i just wanted to let you know that i attended the expostition containing the drapery of Marie-Laure Ilie. i was there for 2 hours chit chatting and snacking on fruit. what is it that i need to do to recieve credit?
This is to earn extra credit for attending professional development relating to teaching. Not sure how chatting and snacking fits that. . . ROFL!
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professor_pat
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« Reply #138 on: November 03, 2006, 03:11:29 PM » |
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Great thread! so glad to see i'm not the only with bizarre requests and info via email.
This is a verbatim copy of one of my favorite student emails. The student met with me the day before one of our papers was due, and we did have a productive meeting in which he hashed out a really good thesis. Still, he didn't show for class for 2 whole weeks, and didn't turn in a paper. Sure enough, almost 3 weeks later, this note arrives:
"Dear Prof. X,
I haven't even thought about the ramifications but I have had a insanely painful ear infection. What have I missed and can I still just send you my what is comm. paper? You can just grade me on what you saw in our meeting?"
It still makes me laugh to this day!
This one finally reminded me of an email from so many years ago I've deleted it, so I'm reconstructing. This was from a senior undergrad who took my science class, was extremely bright and articulate, but plainly uninterested and just didn't show up for many classes and didn't do the required term project. At the end of the quarter he realized that this could keep him from graduating, so he begged and pleaded (to no avail) and finally pulled some strings on campus (attached to both his program director and his rich donor parents) to allow a last-minute withdrawal with the proviso that he retake the course the following quarter, in time to graduate. Same thing happens. So at the end of the quarter I get this (approximate) email from him: "Dear 'Pat', Well, I've done it again. I was focusing on my other classes this quarter and I realize I haven't done the required assignments in your class. But you know from our conversations how well I understand the course material, and I hope you'll pass me anyway." I didn't. But I had a good laugh. (It's too bad especially because he could have done so exceptionally well if he'd tried.) |
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To me, forums are more of a relaxing period in which the poster can allow himself or himself to be lost in a sea of wonder.
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slac_vap
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« Reply #139 on: November 04, 2006, 07:19:11 AM » |
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Prof_Pat, what was the fallout from his failing your course on the second attempt? What happened after you kept him from graduating (note the tongue in cheek)? Did his donor parents also send a ridiculous email?
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"...the world between reality and fantasy improv nonsense is blurred in Columbus." -David Gaus
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professor_pat
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« Reply #140 on: November 04, 2006, 01:19:17 PM » |
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I never heard from him again, nor, fortunately, from his parents. My guess is that he graduated with deficiencies and probably took a summer course to make up the requirements - and may have found a way to forget to mention his second failure to his folks.
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To me, forums are more of a relaxing period in which the poster can allow himself or himself to be lost in a sea of wonder.
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eurohistorian
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« Reply #141 on: November 07, 2006, 06:02:11 PM » |
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OK, here is my personal favorite--not sent to me but to my spouse at, as you may guess, a large urban campus:
sorry i have not been in class these last couple of weeks but i got arrested because i was identified in a shooting. which i had nothing to do with im in the proicess of getting a copy of the police report from my lawyer which should be on friday. if there is anything i can do to still pass your classes please let me know.
i was released april 30 1:15 am
thank you, [studentname]
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atalanta
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« Reply #142 on: November 08, 2006, 12:41:40 PM » |
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Here's one I got yesterday:
"hi, i haven't been to class since the midterm, and i was just wondering where we would be able to find the results."
What is noteworthy about this, you might ask?
1. I received it thirteen days after the midterm exam, and...
2. I just realized that it's from the same guy who spent the first two weeks of the term golfing ... whose message prompted the start of this thread!
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dblafky
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« Reply #143 on: November 09, 2006, 02:00:48 PM » |
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A student's commentary on political attack ads:
"I think the candidates should emphasize on what they can do for us and our country and
stop the name calling, and slenderizing towards each other."
I don't know...I think the slenderizing would be fine, actually.
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supernumerary
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« Reply #144 on: November 09, 2006, 03:43:48 PM » |
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Dr. Diotima,
I apologize that I will be missing today's quiz. My husband and I are wanting to have a baby soon and I have gone off my birth control pills for the first time in 14 years. This has caused me to have the worst and most painful cramps of my life. I know this is more information than you probably need but staying home for cramps is not normally something I would do. I hope that you can grant me the option of re-taking the quiz.
Sincerely,
NAME
That's so awful that I'd do whatever the student wanted just to avoid ever having to hear about this ever again. Can you imagine the sequel to this email if you don't let her 're-take'? |
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redrock
Junior member
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« Reply #145 on: November 09, 2006, 04:17:44 PM » |
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This is such fun! Here's one I forgot:
rofessor Kaplan
"My name is A.B. and I am supposed to be in your 11 M-F class. I was only able to make it to the second day of class and had to abruptly leave. I have been having health problems over the last month. I had to have both an upper and lower endoscopy, ultra sound etc. The doctor found a bad hiatal hernia and some really bad ulcers. I've had to go to the hospital twice for bleeding ulcers and once because of a bad reaction to medication. Not to mention other problems associated with medication. For a few weeks I couldn't even keep food down and had some serious dizziness problems and fainted a few times due to lack of nutrition. It was unresponsible of me not to get in touch with you sooner but to be honest class was not a great concern at the time. I am finally responding well to medications and am keeping food down and I would greatly appreciate it if I could come back to class. I know I'm behind but I can catch up. I really need this class. Again I know I'm behind but there's still a lot of the semester left. Future attendance will not be a problem."
I received this email 5 weeks into the semester, he/she missed every class. This is actually an elective class. I wanted to say "so glad you are keeping food down, but honestly your being in my class is not a great concern at this time". Instead I said it is so important to take care of our own health and that must come first, so s/he should continue to do so and not come back to class.
can't quite get accustomed to "hu".
odddoc
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tenured_soon
Junior member
Posts: 51
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« Reply #146 on: November 09, 2006, 04:24:00 PM » |
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I recently received one that began with:
"Hey, Sir"
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anthroid
Proud yod dropper
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 15,781
No happy socks because nobody gets Manitoba.
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« Reply #147 on: November 09, 2006, 07:36:13 PM » |
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I received this e-mail just a few days after my husband died. I had been at home taking care of him full-time, and my students knew that he was gravely ill.
katali, I have been remiss in responding. I am so very sorry about this. Though it was in the days before pervasive email, I received a similar communication from an unhappy student as I was nursing my (now late) mother through a horrible lung cancer/chemo/radiation/surgery event (she died 4 months later). It feels horrible to have one's sorrow and terror and grief so completely dismissed. I grieve with you and I am angry on your behalf. I know you have now found peace, or at least I hope you have. There is nothing good to say about this. |
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Do you hail from Planet Hello Kitty? It's like an action movie, but boring.
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joehardy
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« Reply #148 on: November 11, 2006, 10:52:04 PM » |
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Sorry about that it got confused. It should read 49-0, but because the school I took it from has F+s Fs and F-s I didn't collapse the F+ into F.
You know, there have been rare instances where a student has failed the class so spectacularly (and/or had an unimaginably poor attitude) that I would have loved to give an F-. In fact I would have snickered about it for the rest of the day. But then, I'm mean like that sometimes. VP (F-minus! Tee hee!) My undergraduate alma mater did not have a 4 point grading system, but a 0 to 100 system. Final grades were numbers, not letters. There was however a letter grade equivalent. A - 90 - 100 B - 80 - 89 C - 70 - 79 D - 60 - 69 F - 40 - 59 and - ta da! FF (spoken as "double F") - 0 to 39. The double F was used to penalize as, for example, a student missing an exam or failing to turn in a paper. It was usually averaged in with other grades as a 39. |
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Communication & Theatre: Media & Film Studies
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cynical
New member
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« Reply #149 on: November 13, 2006, 05:00:42 PM » |
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Here's a heart-warming one. The course number is wrong. You gotta luv Frost's demotic "utilization" of "Nothin".
"This is M.... M.... from you Tues. & Thurs. English 261 @ 330-5. I understand that our poem is to be chosen from our book; however, I was wondering if I could possible choose a favorite poem of mine. Robert Frost has always been my favorite poet, as well as his poem " Nothin Gold Can Stay." I was hoping instead of a poem I have little intrest in, to maybe doing my most loved poem. Thank you for you time. See you Tues.!!!"
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