|
ursula
|
 |
« Reply #15 on: November 19, 2009, 07:26:11 PM » |
|
At my place, we have Wed, Thurs, and Fri off. Many, many students take the whole week off. I too, usually do something on Mon and Tues that will show up on finals, etc. I wish the university would keep track and publish numbers of students who never return from Thanksgiving break. (They probably do, but won't share.)
My own children don't have Wed off (which makes out T-day travel a b*tch). They do, however, have the Monday after Thanksgiving off. This is because it is the opening of deer season. Or deer season with guns. I guess.
I do not have that Monday off, though many of my students see the open of deer hunting as something of statewide holiday. Lots of students are shocked and appalled that I don't consider hunting grounds for an "excused" absence.
Opening day of deer season is an excused absence for kids in HS around here and in the next State North of here as long as they bring in their hunting license. Some of your students may come from schools with a similar practice. Just sayin'. Heck, in my county the kids start school in September, go for one week, and then they close all of the schools back down for a week so the kids can attend the county fair without penalty. All of which makes me think of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYQVdGHsC3I&feature=PlayList&p=3E5F91898D174097&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=15 |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair."
Jack Layton, 1950-2011
|
|
|
der_gadfly
SSOB-hatin', snarklet-writin'
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 1,844
oy vey
|
|
« Reply #16 on: November 19, 2009, 11:46:37 PM » |
|
... and you guessed it, the sweet young things are shyly asking if they will miss anything important on Monday or Tuesday of next week because they have to <[insert excuse]... <snip>>
"No you won't miss much... we will just sit on our hands....." "Nope, the angel of the future will NOT visit us and reveal the secrets of the universe: hu is on vacation that day too." |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
(and I bow before der_gadfly) Don't forget, that cat hair can come in handy as a good luck charm! |
|
|
|
capper
|
|
« Reply #17 on: November 20, 2009, 11:45:56 PM » |
|
My mid-sized public university does this in the worst possible way. Wednesday is a HALF day of classes...school closes at noon. Thus students assume that there is no school on Wednesday, so I can expect to have virtually zero attendance in my 9 a.m. course. Like the OP I've got tons of students asking if we are doing anything important all of the other days of the week. Honestly, one of these days I'm going to shoot brain matter out of my ears at supersonic speeds when someone asks me that.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
new_bus_prof
|
|
« Reply #18 on: November 21, 2009, 01:23:14 AM » |
|
We officially have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off and were highly encouraged to cancel classes for Monday and Tuesday with no assignments. Last year I fidgeted a little and gave an online quiz, 30 minute timed quiz available from Thursday to Tuesday (Well, cancelling class was optional last year). Paper deadline was this Thursday -- same as last year.
Thursday of this week (a whole week before Thanksgiving), about a dozen students didn't show up, missed the in class quiz and did not turn in a paper. Students have known about these deadlines since the first day of class and have been given reminders. And I did NOT have this problem last year...
Give an inch, and they take a mile... :(
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
luvstowrite
|
|
« Reply #19 on: November 21, 2009, 01:58:40 AM » |
|
Our school takes the whole week off for Thanksgiving so I had my take home midterm due today to my faculty mailbox before noon. Our office adminstrators and student assistants typically leave on the Friday before a holiday around 3pm. No sense in having them wait around for my slackers to come in at the last minute to submit their papers. If students put their papers off until the last day, it won't make a big difference if it's due at 10am or 5pm. They will still procrastinate. I did receive several all week though, looking forward to reading those.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"If you want to make enemies, try to change something." -- Woodrow Wilson
|
|
|
|
new_bus_prof
|
|
« Reply #20 on: November 22, 2009, 12:29:35 AM » |
|
Our school takes the whole week off for Thanksgiving so I had my take home midterm due today to my faculty mailbox before noon. Our office adminstrators and student assistants typically leave on the Friday before a holiday around 3pm. No sense in having them wait around for my slackers to come in at the last minute to submit their papers. If students put their papers off until the last day, it won't make a big difference if it's due at 10am or 5pm. They will still procrastinate. I did receive several all week though, looking forward to reading those.
Thanks luvstowrite...what's the saying...misery loves company. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
european
|
|
« Reply #21 on: November 22, 2009, 05:05:05 AM » |
|
I wonder if the airlines are contributing to this? With consolidation and the drastic cutbacks in flight schedules, it can be nearly impossible (or prohibitively expensive) to travel on the day of or day before Thanksgiving. Return flights are also challenging.
The airlines couldn't contribute this much if everybody didn't go to university half across the country. I never quite saw the point in that. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
rowan1
be serious I am a
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 5,578
na na na na, na na na na , hey hey hey, goodbye
|
|
« Reply #22 on: November 22, 2009, 07:49:50 AM » |
|
we take the whole week - and this year M/T/W are the staff faculty furlough days - we all got emails saying DO NOT WORK - right - with one week of classes and then finals left after this little "fall break" none of us have anything to do.
So I will WORK from home, and know that I am not getting paid for it - like that is new. If they actually paid me by the hour I would make less then minimum wage.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
The time is out of joint—O cursèd spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!
|
|
|
cc_alan
is a wossname
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 7,242
Caution! Nekkid zamboni driver ahead.
|
|
« Reply #23 on: November 22, 2009, 08:57:15 AM » |
|
we take the whole week - and this year M/T/W are the staff faculty furlough days - we all got emails saying DO NOT WORK - right - with one week of classes and then finals left after this little "fall break" none of us have anything to do.
So I will WORK from home, and know that I am not getting paid for it - like that is new. If they actually paid me by the hour I would make less then minimum wage.
This I don't understand. Do they think that you never worked from home prior to furlough days? Or do they do this to make sure they don't get busted for asking people to work on these days? Alan |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Excuse me... which aisle would I find the unicorns and rainbows? No, Alan is a man among men, striding the Earth like a Colossus with a really big bladder, wearing a tool belt.
|
|
|
madhatter
We proudly present the fora's Least
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 5,673
Just killing time
|
|
« Reply #24 on: November 22, 2009, 01:57:42 PM » |
|
I wonder if the airlines are contributing to this? With consolidation and the drastic cutbacks in flight schedules, it can be nearly impossible (or prohibitively expensive) to travel on the day of or day before Thanksgiving. Return flights are also challenging.
The airlines couldn't contribute this much if everybody didn't go to university half across the country. I never quite saw the point in that. Of course, there are now several schools (including the UC system) with the half-assed plan of solving their revenue problems by bringing in more out-of-state students. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"I may be an evil scientist, but it doesn't take a degree purchased from the Internet with your ex-wife's money to know how special and important you are to me." -- Dr. Doofenschmirtz
|
|
|
rebelgirl
"The only and thoroughbred lady" --Joe Hill said so.
Senior member
Posts: 692
"A hardened English teacher"--Disgruntled Student
|
|
« Reply #25 on: November 22, 2009, 09:16:34 PM » |
|
We're a rural CC and most students live at home. The requests I get come from the high school kids who get to take classes at the college; their drive to get days off with us seems to stem from the high schools looking at Thanksgiving week as Dead Brains Walking, expecting nothing of substance to occur. . . .
The 2nd midterm for my soph level lit class would normally have been on Tues. We pushed it back a day b/c so many people had been sick (myself included). So . . . of course . . . I've been getting the "well, I'll need to take it after Thanksgiving b/c [insert half-*ss#d excuse here]. My response has been, "Oh, you can't make it on Wednesday? No problem! See me in office hours Monday and we'll go over the review. Then you can take the test on Tuesday...." Amazing how quickly they can suddenly make it on Wednesday!
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
I blame all of our problems on that frikkin' Timmy. Lassie should have left his lazy @$$ in the well.
|
|
|
tautumeita
New member
Posts: 35
|
|
« Reply #26 on: November 24, 2009, 09:21:20 AM » |
|
But - would you give a quiz on a Wednesday before Thanksgiving?
Officially my uni is open on Wed., we are closed on Thursday and Friday. I give 6 quizes throughout the semester. They are on the readings and I do not tell them on which exact days the quizes will "pop up." Now, I have a class on Wednesday and I would like to assign one of these quizes, but I also know that the students who have "Thanksgiving excuses" will endlessly complain that this is terribly unfair. On the other hand, I also want to reward those students who will show up. I do not offer any extra credit, so I could not use that option.
Any advice? Should I just go ahead and give the quiz and then get torn apart on the evaluations?
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
tautumeita
New member
Posts: 35
|
|
« Reply #27 on: November 24, 2009, 09:43:27 AM » |
|
Lizzy,
No, unfortunately, I do not assign points for participation or attendance. So no flexibility there.
Am I really being unfair for assigning a quiz? It is a legitimate school-day here and they ought to be here, but...
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
tautumeita
New member
Posts: 35
|
|
« Reply #28 on: November 24, 2009, 10:34:30 AM » |
|
Lizzy, I do not need to give the quiz, but I would like to. And I have tenure, so I am not that worried about bad evaluations. I guess I will back down on the quiz and go with your idea of presenting the attending students with material that will definitely appear on the test and letting them know about it in, as you say, "direct terms."
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
onthemarketnow
New member
Posts: 14
|
|
« Reply #29 on: November 24, 2009, 12:18:33 PM » |
|
In college I had a prof give an exam on the Wednesday before T'Giving, which hu didn't bother to show up for--hu had someone else come in and proctor because, and I quote, "Well, I can't be here, I have to catch a flight to visit family." Meanwhile I was left facing my own 6 hour drive home at 6 pm. Talk about some negative evals--the class was not happy. Now I always cancel my classes that Wed. on principle.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
