next »

[schopenhauer]

Has anyone else ever sent a message meant for just one student to an entire class? If so, how did you recover? (Or...did you?!)

I just made this mistake. It wasn't a particular bad e-mail -- no grades, no personal information, just a request for a small revision to an essay -- but I am absolutely horrified. This is my first online course, and I'm nervous that I'll lose respect from my students for making a mistake like this.

Any advice? Many lecturers at my school are worried about keeping jobs for next year, so I'm nervous about making ANY mistakes right now.

[infopri]

There's not much you can do about it now.  Just issue a brief explanation/apology (a sentence or two) to the class, a separate one to the student who was the intended recipient, promise in both that it won't happen again, and then move on.  And be a lot more careful in the future.  Always, always double-check your "To:" "CC:" and "BCC" lines (and double-check the message, both for content and for clarity) before hitting send.

It's not the end of the world.  Don't make too big a deal of it, and your students won't, either.

[chaosbydesign]

I once sent an (innocuous) email to the entire university.

There's nothing you can do about it now apart from apologise -- I think people will understand. Most people have had "Reply All" incidents at some point!

[larryc]

A public mistake followed by a public apology often causes people to think better of you than they did before.

[schopenhauer]

Thanks, everyone. I've decided -- I think I'll live. I've calmed down, and I appreciate your responses.

No complaints yet from students, although I recently noticed that the intended recipient hasn't logged in for a week and might not see the e-mail right away. Luckily, the message wasn't negative and contained no revealing or personal information. Still, it's a bit embarrassing. I need to stop grading papers late at night!

[fishbrains]

Yes: Been there, done that.

Which either means that it's not a big deal or that you are as dumb as I am. :)

Anyway, live and learn.

[melba_frilkins]

A public mistake followed by a public apology often causes people to think better of you than they did before.

Yes, one year I made a lot of stupid online mistakes. My students would contact me, I'd fix the mistake, and apologize. In spite of my mistakes, I got great student evaluations. They noted that I was sensitive, kind, responsive, etc. No one mentioned my mistakes.

Now, I'm not saying go and make mistakes on purpose. But when you do, take correcting them as an opportunity to show that you're a good person.

[collegekidsmom]

I think this always feels worse than it actually is. Everyone has probably done this at one point. As I type anything online, I always try to think of the wrong people reading it, and that way if it happens, no big deal. Also, I have one good friend that has the habit of forwarding anything and everything. His behavior has made me change my ways-imagining every email's potential to be forwarded even if I don't make any mistakes myself. Most likely the recipient has completely forgotten about your mistake by now.

[amlithist]

A public mistake followed by a public apology often causes people to think better of you than they did before.

Yes, one year I made a lot of stupid online mistakes. My students would contact me, I'd fix the mistake, and apologize. In spite of my mistakes, I got great student evaluations. They noted that I was sensitive, kind, responsive, etc. No one mentioned my mistakes.

Now, I'm not saying go and make mistakes on purpose. But when you do, take correcting them as an opportunity to show that you're a good person.

You know, Melba, I had a similar semester a few years back.  (I was really stretched thin with Mom-care and teenaged-kid care/drama and just plain teaching too much.)  I don't think I posted ANY document without at least one or two typos, screwed-up due dates, or the like.  Like you, I fixed things, sent out a message saying, "Oops, screwed up AGAIN, thanks for catching it!  Signed, Your Friendly Fumble-Fingered Prof," and moved on. 

Like you, I got great evals that term.  People get it, and I think it does make us more real to them (not that I intentionally try to make mistakes like this--they just happen!).