I hope you are having a great summer.
I wanted to know if you are going to be teaching Think Critically, Dammit in September this year? I am very interesting in taking this course with you in September because I have heard a lot of good things about you and the course itself (from Super Nice Girl in particular) but I am in bit of a problem. I am doing a full time internship through the university program (I am also doing a Computer Science major). This means that I won't be able to attend class come September. But I just wanted to know if I can take the course with you. I will be doing all the readings and catching up on slides and will email you if I really get stuck somewhere. I have worked with flash in the past so I am not a total beginner. Do you think I can take the course?
Thank You
-No Show Snowflake
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Dear No Show,
First of all, I am teaching the course in September.
This seems to be a bit of an odd request, since you're asking me if you can take the course without coming to class. Although I cannot prevent you from taking the course, I definitely don't suggest taking it if you won't be coming to ANY classes. Even the tests are scheduled during class time. Also, a major component of the course is the final flash project. While you may be proficient in flash, it is highly recommended that you attend one of the lab portions weekly. The TA does take attendance for the labs which is calculated in your final mark.
So, what it comes down to is how well can you really do taking a course that you won't be attending? This doesn't make sense to me, and I would advise against it. Obviously, not attending will reduce your chances of doing well in the course and, perhaps, passing. But with that being said, once again, I cannot make you not take the course.
I hope that this makes sense to you. Please contact me if you have any further questions.
Sorry for the late response but it is summertime and I don't check my e-mail as often.
Good luck with your decision! :)
Best,
CB
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Dear No Show,
First of all, I am teaching the course in September.
This seems to be a bit of an odd request, since you're asking me if you can take the course without coming to class. Although I cannot prevent you from taking the course, I definitely don't suggest taking it if you won't be coming to ANY classes. Even the tests are scheduled during class time. Also, a major component of the course is the final flash project. While you may be proficient in flash, it is highly recommended that you attend one of the lab portions weekly. The TA does take attendance for the labs which is calculated in your final mark.
So, what it comes down to is how well can you really do taking a course that you won't be attending? This doesn't make sense to me, and I would advise against it. Obviously, not attending will reduce your chances of doing well in the course and, perhaps, passing. But with that being said, once again, I cannot make you not take the course.
I hope that this makes sense to you. Please contact me if you have any further questions.
Sorry for the late response but it is summertime and I don't check my e-mail as often.
Good luck with your decision! :)
Best,
CB
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WHAT I REALLY WANTED TO SAY....
Dear No Show,
First of all, are you fucking kidding me? Secondly, FUCK NO! And yeah, I'm teaching the course.
What you're basically asking is for me to give you permission to take the course knowing full well that you won't be showing up. Ever. This is a recipe for disaster and not something that I would recommend. Ever!
Admittedly, you could conceivably pass or even do relatively well (a B) in the course without showing up. The final project is fairly straightforward and if you happen to be a flash wiz, then you're all set. Also, a full comprehension of the course material and the powerpoints and the ability to articulate them clearly in the tests and exam would definitely assure you of a passing grade. I'm not self-aggrandizing and only about 10-15% of the tests and the exam comes from material NOT found in your texts and PP - you know, from the stuff I talk about in lecture! Plus, you're guaranteed a big fat 0 for your attendance. So give or take a few percentage points, you'll be taking the course looking at a best-case-scenario of 75%. So yeah, you could pass or even get a solid B. But for some reason, I get a very bad feeling that the clause "I will email you if I really get stuck somewhere" will morph into a constant.
I really don't know what to tell you. It's entirely up to you! I'd rather you didn't. But if you're a genius, then take it. If you just want a pass and are fairly smart and have a good work ethic, then take it. Otherwise, don't even bother. Many of your classmates have employed a similar strategy in the past and have failed miserably.
Perhaps you should solicit their opinions. I do commend you for your honesty and being upfront about everything - those others didn't even bother telling me about their game plan at all.
That shit cray!
CB
P.S. How many courses in total do you plan on taking and not attending this year? Just curious.
One term (the first at a new school), some guy came up to me and basically demanded he be given a leave from the last half of the class because he was a graduating senior working on his senior project and all his other profs were letting him skip out early.
ReplyDeleteI looked at him, thought about my new job (and my lack of awareness of the institutional culture), and then spun a quick lie about how I wouldn't be able to accommodate him because I was new, and the class was new, and I didn't know what to do because I didn't want him to fail because I was teaching a new course... blah-blah-blah. In my mind I am screaming HELL NO! but I totally pulled off the whole "I don't want you to do poorly because of me" front to appease him.
2 outcomes: 1/ He ended up doing well in the course and actually complimented me on it. Dear God, he actually learned something and knew it! 2/ Despite one snowflakey e-mail from him (he skipped a quiz because he went out drinking...why tell me???), he was a pleasure to have in class.
But I was always left with the haunting question:
WHO ARE THE IDIOTS THAT LET THE SNOWFLAKES GET AWAY WITH THIS CRAP? Are they fictional? I later discovered some colleagues LOVED making all sorts of excuses for the snowflakes' bad behavior (most often with a "I did it too" attitude), but seriously... Skip an entire semester and pass? How is that possible with such regularity? The ones who've done it with me usually still had to show up half the time.
Yeah. I would normally call "bullshit" on any student who walks up to me and says, "But my other professors are letting me take half the semester off," but unfortunately I don't think it is bullshit. I'm guessing that the type of professors who make these ridiculous concessions are the same ones who post the flakes' grade averages online on a daily basis.
DeleteJust in the past week alone, I've been pressured by students to make several concessions for them because "I'm a senior" and "other professors have let me get out of _________." Just the usual crap--"You should let me make up the quizzes I missed last week when I decided not to show up" or "You need to let me out of the final because I already bought my plane ticket." Are other instructors out there seriously making these allowances? Why?
@ Gone Grad:
DeleteI will concede that some professors do enable the flakes in this manner, but more often than not the snowflake is full of it when making this claim.
My e-mail responses are always very simple to requests like these: "No. Sorry."
ReplyDeleteMine is "No, sorry; that's not fair to other students who are required to come to class." I like to make clear that I understand that they are asking me for special treatment -- especially when their e-mail begins "I don't want to seem to be asking for special treatment, but ..."
ReplyDeleteI, too, have gone with the short response, but I've dropped the "I'm sorry," and simply respond with, "No, that is not possible."
ReplyDeleteYep, avoid saying "sorry". Sometimes I substitute "unfortunately" but I'm not sorry about melting snowflake dreams.
DeleteI am grateful that, some years ago, my university made a rule that students may not schedule classes that conflict with each other without getting the signatures of all faculty for these courses on a special form. I never sign the form, of course, and I clearly explain why: that, as you've observed, never coming to class is a prescription for disaster. It happened every time I allowed it, in the past, and I don't believe that you are a special case, because I don't even know you. I've made every case so far stick, no matter how much they whine and snivel, but then, I have tenure.
ReplyDeleteUsually, I say something like "the last 5 people who thought this was a good idea all failed, so I cannot advise it". Of course, Snowy always thinks he's different to those other guys. However, having said it, I can always quote my own email at the point in the course where the No-Show is complaining that he/she had no idea that not showing would have such an affect on his/her grades.
ReplyDeleteI used to get all indignant and would say "so, you think I am overpaid and do nothing?" but they didn't really get that, either.
I've had a few students who want to challenge the course for credit or turn it into distance learning. One student found there were two sections at the same time and started to show up at mine because "that other teacher is hard."
ReplyDeleteMany of these ideas are out of grade school as my teen just told me that in September she will challenge a class because she heard it was an easy thing to do. A nephew worked at his "own speed" in high school on assignments that he designed. His attendance was optional and not checked.
This special treatment becomes the expectations for new uni students who then do not know what to do when we say "NO!" By the way, that teen of mine is going to summer school to make up for what was not learned/taught during the last 10 months. That nephew is married with three children and looking at on-line degrees as his job will never pay enough but does take attendance.
I really hate getting these emails from students. It's even worse when they confront me in person about it.
ReplyDelete