Join the "desparate e-mail" pool! Win virtual $

[profesoracr]

I'm in for 20.

[sciprofmw]

If you could please show some mercy for me, you would not hear about it from other students who want to boost their grade. I recieved a 111/160 and missed the 70% by a mere 0.625%."[/i]

This particular student has also sent several other e-mails as well as a phone call..... this is the 3rd of a flurry - don't you like how he thinks nothing of asking me to change HIS grade and he'll keep it all "hush-hush"  HA!

Thanks for the clarification.

I had a similar situation a week or so ago.  The emails (he had sent 3) finally stopped when I brought up the fact that he was asking me to LIE on his behalf.  I don't know if this would work in other schools (the students have a pretty strong honor code here with actual consequences) but I was impressed at the following silence.

I pretty much told him in the following e-mail echange that conversation was over and any further e-mails from him would be deleted unread by me - however he is free to follow up the chain of command if he so chooses but I don't believe he will get any sympathy at all....seems to have worked.

[dr_mk]

Put me in for 25.

[geonerd]

I'll take 17. I like prime numbers.

[figee]

Is it too late?  I'll take 18.

[sciprofmw]

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

I'm going low.  Seven (7) actual grade grubbing emails. 

johnr - you just won $225 virtual dollars!  What are you going to do with all that money?

I'm actually very, very stunned I only had 7 grade grubbers.  This one student however was responsible for 4 e-mails and a phone call....but only counted him as one.  This was part of his desperate plea:

Well the thing that's just killing me is that I had the flu and my asthma was acting up very bad the week that you gave the 5 points extra credit and I was not able to attend class. I really was not able to attend because I could barely breathe and would have been a huge distraction to the class. I only missed my grade by a single point and I just wanted to see if there was anything we could do. If you could please help me I it would be appreciated more than I could describe with words. If I were to get a D in this course all of my hopes and aspirations for pharmacy would be instantly gone.

It was only 2 extra points...btw.  Sorry.
Sincerely,
Dr. Dream Smasher

[gennimom]

Darn it.

[notaprof]

I just love how the student uses "we" in this sentence:

I only missed my grade by a single point and I just wanted to see if there was anything we could do. If you could please help me I it would be appreciated more than I could describe with words.

New definition of team work: I beg, you give me what I want. 

[cat_on_track]

Oh darn! No virtual shoes.

What is it with students this semester? So far (and grades have been in for over a week now), I've only gotten one "I'm confused about getting this grade" complaint. That's out of a total of about 75. Mmhh.

This was fun. Let's do it again next semester!

[johnr]

Woohoo!  I confess to having an inside track on this bet.  I teach a class of 500 twice a year and I get surprisingly few grade grubbing emails after the quarter is over, especially for the spring quarter when all of the students take off for the summer.  I suspect a few more emails will come straggling in!  I do get many emails from students wanting me to make sure that I didn't make a mistake grading their final; I don't count that as grade grubbing but rather as straw clutching.

What to do with that virtual money?  I think I'll hire a virtual office organizer to clean up the end-of-the-year madness that is my office.

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

I'm going low.  Seven (7) actual grade grubbing emails. 

johnr - you just won $225 virtual dollars!  What are you going to do with all that money?

I'm actually very, very stunned I only had 7 grade grubbers.  This one student however was responsible for 4 e-mails and a phone call....but only counted him as one.  This was part of his desperate plea:

Well the thing that's just killing me is that I had the flu and my asthma was acting up very bad the week that you gave the 5 points extra credit and I was not able to attend class. I really was not able to attend because I could barely breathe and would have been a huge distraction to the class. I only missed my grade by a single point and I just wanted to see if there was anything we could do. If you could please help me I it would be appreciated more than I could describe with words. If I were to get a D in this course all of my hopes and aspirations for pharmacy would be instantly gone.

It was only 2 extra points...btw.  Sorry.
Sincerely,
Dr. Dream Smasher

[dr_evil]

Ah, darn.  I thought I guessed fairly well, but apparently not.  I will have to survive without the virtual frivolities I would have spent my winnings on.  <Dr. Evil runs off to find other ways to fund her plans for world domination.>

[malvolio]

I don't know whether to be sad that I lost or happy that my guess was way too high.

Sniff. And my SO and I were going to go out to a virtual 4-star dinner if I won.

[sciprofmw]

Woohoo!  I confess to having an inside track on this bet.  I teach a class of 500 twice a year and I get surprisingly few grade grubbing emails after the quarter is over, especially for the spring quarter when all of the students take off for the summer.  I suspect a few more emails will come straggling in!  I do get many emails from students wanting me to make sure that I didn't make a mistake grading their final; I don't count that as grade grubbing but rather as straw clutching.

What to do with that virtual money?  I think I'll hire a virtual office organizer to clean up the end-of-the-year madness that is my office.

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

I'm going low.  Seven (7) actual grade grubbing emails. 

johnr - you just won $225 virtual dollars!  What are you going to do with all that money?

I'm actually very, very stunned I only had 7 grade grubbers.  This one student however was responsible for 4 e-mails and a phone call....but only counted him as one.  This was part of his desperate plea:

Well the thing that's just killing me is that I had the flu and my asthma was acting up very bad the week that you gave the 5 points extra credit and I was not able to attend class. I really was not able to attend because I could barely breathe and would have been a huge distraction to the class. I only missed my grade by a single point and I just wanted to see if there was anything we could do. If you could please help me I it would be appreciated more than I could describe with words. If I were to get a D in this course all of my hopes and aspirations for pharmacy would be instantly gone.

It was only 2 extra points...btw.  Sorry.
Sincerely,
Dr. Dream Smasher

Yeah this was my first time teaching such a big class at the end of a school year.  The same students in the previous course (pre-req sequence for this course) hit the instructor with about 40 grade-grubbing e-mails at the end of the fall sem.  Knowing I could have that same amount and not wanting to deal with it, I really, really emphasized to them when I took over that I would not change their grade no matter how much they begged and pleaded to please just save both of us the time and trouble and DON'T ASK!  So I think that was part of it and, I'm glad to hear your theory as well because I wondered if that could be part of the equation - they are just on to other things now like the summer....either way I am very pleased!

On the even brighter side, I did have a very nice note appear on my door from a student thanking me for all the help I gave hu during office hours (this was before I graded the final mind you).  Hu worked very hard and got a very, very solid A.  :-)

Enjoy your winnings!

[odessa]

Ah, darn.  I thought I guessed fairly well, but apparently not.  I will have to survive without the virtual frivolities I would have spent my winnings on.  <Dr. Evil runs off to find other ways to fund her plans for world domination.>

I'm crushed.  You mean being Dr. Evil doesn't give you endless access to resources?  You actually have to ... gasp ... worry about funding world domination???  The world is truly a sad place when dictators have to be concerned with budgets.  (I could make a snarky political comment here, but I'm trying to avoid raising my own blood pressure.)

The same students in the previous course (pre-req sequence for this course) hit the instructor with about 40 grade-grubbing e-mails at the end of the fall sem. 

On the even brighter side, I did have a very nice note appear on my door from a student thanking me for all the help I gave hu during office hours (this was before I graded the final mind you).  Hu worked very hard and got a very, very solid A.  :-)

So my guess of 38 would've been close if you hadn't done such an excellent job of pushing the "DON'T ASK" stance?  Well, despite disappointment over my loss, I'm glad your strategy worked for you.

And congrats on the note.  Isn't it great when we get to see the benefits of a student's hard work and our own efforts?

O.

[sciprofmw]

So my guess of 38 would've been close if you hadn't done such an excellent job of pushing the "DON'T ASK" stance?  Well, despite disappointment over my loss, I'm glad your strategy worked for you.

And congrats on the note.  Isn't it great when we get to see the benefits of a student's hard work and our own efforts?

O.
[/quote]

Yeah I think you would have been close.  It was a bit of an experiment on my part to see if anyone listens.  Looks like all but 2.33% did!

Yes, the note makes putting up with all the grade-grubbing worth it.  Hu didn't have a strong science background in hs and want's to go to medical school, I suspect from my interactions hu will make it.