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fiona
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« on: January 28, 2012, 05:36:52 PM » |
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This one prevented the student from attending 1/7 of the course so far, because the student is "in a weird place."
I thought you all would want to know.
The Fiona
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The Fiona or perhaps La Fiona
Professor of Thread Killing, Fiork University
The Right Reverend Fiona, PhD, Bishop of the Fora
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msparticularity
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« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2012, 05:56:32 PM » |
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This one prevented the student from attending 1/7 of the course so far, because the student is "in a weird place."
La-la land, perhaps? Since I currently teach older professionals, I don't get the dead grandparents. Here, I get students whose entire households have caught pinkeye/lice/creeping crud from the youngest child, whose spouses are having organ transplants or other major surgery, whose parents have had a stroke, or who have gone into labor at 26 weeks and are now hospitalized until the baby comes. And yes, these were all real; this is a small town, and some of these events were even covered in the local paper. I will be moving to a SLAC next year, and I'm kind of looking forward to the return of dead grandparents, actually. |
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"Once admit that the sole verifiable or fruitful object of knowledge is the particular set of changes that generate the object of study...and no intelligible question can be asked about what, by assumption, lies outside." John Dewey
"Be particular." Jill Conner Browne
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fancypants
Earning my margaritas as a
Member
Posts: 183
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« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2012, 06:23:48 PM » |
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I just finished the second week of the semester, and I already have a student with a dead grandparent and one with a grandparent in the hospital. Perhaps I should send warnings to the other grandparents about the looming epidemic.
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schoolmarm
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« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2012, 06:44:21 PM » |
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Haven't had a dead grandparent yet this semester, but had a student deliver a baby on the day of our second class. We Skyped her into class and will continue to do that until her doctor releases her to return. Gotta love technology.
One of my student athletes perked up when I Skyped our new mama. She thought that it might be an option for classes when they have to travel.
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collegekidsmom
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« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2012, 06:47:46 PM » |
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My beloved grandfather, a person that I lived with, died the week before finals of my first semester freshman year. My other grandfather died during my sophomore year. My first semester transcript tells the tale.
Would it have been OK to produce the obituary form the paper to prove that this happens?, For some students (like me) it is a terrible loss.
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schoolmarm
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« Reply #5 on: January 28, 2012, 06:51:48 PM » |
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CKM, of COURSE it's ok to submit an obituary or to do through the Dean of Student Services (or whatever it is called on your campus).
Some of us have witnessed lots of dead grandmothers during exam weeks. Sometimes the same grandmother dies several times. It is amazing!
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mountainguy
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« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2012, 07:35:09 PM » |
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Precisely to sidestep these situations, I've gone to a LarryC-style course policies this semester. My syllabus states "anyone can take a makeup exam, but it will be in essay format." I listen to makeup presentations one afternoon a month. It's still early, but the approach seems to be working so far. It's definitely changed my attitudes toward students; I feel less stressed now that I don't have to evaluate whether or not a student is lying or listen to the sob stories.
YMMV.
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nocurving
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« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2012, 11:33:46 PM » |
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I had two dead grandparents couple of days before term started. Both had to go home all the way across the globe. So, do I win a prize?
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Do or do not. There is no try.
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lohai0
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« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2012, 11:57:32 PM » |
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My student who was dropped for non-attendance was just added back...because his grandmother died.
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This semester's going to call for an increase in my liquor budget.
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weathered
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« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2012, 04:53:57 AM » |
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A student dropped my class last semester--citing deadly illness. He then went for university field trip the next month and now he is back on campus mightily healthy and refreshed and taking a full semester load of work.
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polly_mer
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« Reply #10 on: January 29, 2012, 08:19:18 AM » |
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Precisely to sidestep these situations, I've gone to a LarryC-style course policies this semester.
Yep. Anyone can have a make-up exam for the asking in my classes. Missing a lot of class for whatever reason means a student should try again another time during a less busy semester. My life got so much easier when I stopped trying to enforce things. Attendance is optional; sorry, your life is so busy, but I can only grade on observed performance. Give it another go next term if you need to drop this term. |
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If you haven't got either the anatomical or metaphorical balls to post your own question on a pseudonymous internet forum, then academia is the wrong job for you.
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burnie
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« Reply #11 on: January 29, 2012, 02:20:44 PM » |
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A student dropped my class last semester--citing deadly illness. He then went for university field trip the next month and now he is back on campus mightily healthy and refreshed and taking a full semester load of work.
I wondered how that story picked up this semester. |
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Corporate America wants people who seem like bold risk takers, but never actually do anything. - Barney Stinson
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spork
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« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2012, 03:11:25 PM » |
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No dead grandparents yet, but I did have a student's friend's sibling commit suicide. Supposedly. While thinking "I don't care," I wrote the student a polite reply that said that no late assignments are accepted, per the syllabus.
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a.k.a. gum-chewing monkey in a Tufts University jacket
"Please do not force people who are exhausted to take medication for hallucinations." -- Memo from the Chair, Department of White Privilege Studies, Fiork University
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llanfair
Village idiot and Very
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 23,199
Whither Canada?
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« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2012, 03:58:35 PM » |
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No dead anyone yet this semester, either, but I did have an officer cadet miss class last week because his commanding officer was in town. No coincidence, perhaps, that that was the same night the first assignment was due; I told him he could submit via email, but it's been crickets since then.
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This place stinks like a pair of armoured trousers after the Hundred Years' War.
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antiphon1
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« Reply #14 on: January 29, 2012, 05:32:18 PM » |
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Let's see here (thumbs through excuses). I've got:
1 - dead grandparent
2 - car accidents
1 - court date
3 - overslept
1 - sister had a baby
2 - field trips
etc., etc., etc.
Seems normal a scant few weeks into the semester. I fear this trend bodes ill for the students' semester averages.
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