One of my classes has a mid-term exam tomorrow. There is a study guide (ugh!) complete with all the details about the exam format, time, place, etc., posted on the class website.
The following email just landed in my inbox:
hi sir:
just double check with u the time of the test is 12 30 ? i kind of forget it . Thanks for ur responding.
Kill me now.
If it's any consolation, remember that the awkwardness and immaturity characteristic of teenagers that is shown by one teenager does not necessarily portend the imminent fall of civilization. My advice to you is not to answer this e-mail until after the exam: you don't want your student to learn that it's OK to ignore or lose class materials.
ReplyDeleteI have no intention of ever answering this email. I announced multiple times in class when the exam would be, and the study guide, with the time listed, has been parked on the class website for two weeks.
ReplyDeleteI understand that this one instance is not the end of the world. Most of my students in this class are, in fact, pretty good. I'm just amazed by the complete obliviousness of a small but time-sucking minority of our students.
I understand your feelings, trust me. But I'm afraid that I would have no choice. If I were to disregard the message AND the student failed to arrive for the exam, s/he would have a "case against" me with several "deans" on this campus. A quick reply and then I have a "record" to "prove" my case. Sucks, I know, but..... Anyway, I think that the quick reply now probably means I avoid hours of work later in the semester "proving."
DeleteIf this were one of my online students, I would have to answer the e-mail. Otherwise, the kid would contact the admin and tell them that I am "not being helpful."
ReplyDeleteThis is sort of off topic, but I spent 15 minutes of the first day outlining the rules for e-mail communication. I told them they have to have a greeting, they have to have a "body" of the email somewhere in which they explain how they know me, and they have to sign it with their name. Also, their e-mail cannot be in any way sexual or suggestive of something illegal. If they fail in any of these guidelines, I will not answer their e-mail. This is also in my syllabus. I have been getting the most wonderful e-mails now (comparatively speaking, of course).
ReplyDeleteIf I received this request and it was properly written, it would make me less cranky. And I'd probably even answer it with a link to the home page where they access the course. Probably.
I suspect that this student was writing on a cellphone--my students' excuse often for this type of e-mail message. I had a student recently explain, "I texted you an email."
DeleteAn interesting hybrid. The two forms are, indeed, converging (and email is, of course, for old fogies). So, my morning paper informs me, are mice (the mechanical, not the rodent, kind). The up-and-coming generation swipes and pinches with their fingers.
DeleteYes, I've heard many times about the phone being used to write e-mails. My solution for that is this: If you cannot write properly with a phone (I can----I have a phone with e-mail capabilities too. I'd never send my boss a crappy e-mail, even though I have used my phone to reply to e-mails before), then don't send me an e-mail with your phone. That's if you want a reply, that is. A dinosaur I may be (I've read that too, Cassandra!) but they will simply need to conform to my rules if they want to succeed.
DeleteI text my kids all the time. I admit, I use text speak with them (sometimes, only if I am in a hurry. They always get a big charge out of it when I do). Heck, it's easier, and we all know what we mean. But I'll never, ever do it on a professional level. Maybe the next generations will. But I won't.
Well, at least the student called you "sir" (I'm assuming that you are, in fact, male).
ReplyDeleteBut in every other aspect, yes, the communication is exasperating. I suspect it's not a failure of reading, or hearing in class, so much as a lack of confidence on the student's part in hir own ability to read and interpret information correctly. Somehow, it just isn't certain unless you've said it to hir, individually, directly. I occasionally have this sort of anxiety when there's an important event coming up, but for me the anxiety is allayed by checking (and occasionally re-checking) the written word.
The student did, at least, get the salutation right. I am male. I take your point about lack of confidence, but I also think that part of college is learning how to be self-reliant, especially when the answers to all your questions are posted right there on the class website.
DeleteI'm sitting at the front of the room now, watching them as they take their exam. The student in question was here on time, despite the lack of a reply from me.
What's even more interesting is that there are at least three faces that I don't recall having seen at all in the last month. I shudder to think how those students will fare on the exam.
I take some satisfaction from the fact that the students who did the reading every week, and who contributed to class discussions, are writing furiously, while many of their less-dedicated colleagues are staring into space trying to work out what to say about an issue that, thanks to their unwillingness to crack open the books, they have never encountered before today.
Oh, I'm not suggesting you should have replied; I, too, believe they need to learn self-reliance (and, as you point out, the student did show up in the right place at the right time). I'm just trying to figure out the psychology behind the message.
DeleteAnd yes, a midterm that is non-stressful for those who've been participating, reading, etc., but scary for those who haven't, is exactly what I, too, am aiming for (I'm writing one at the moment).
Don't answer the email if you don't care about your students. Why would you even publish a student's email? What are you so afraid of?
ReplyDeleteDon't answer it if you care about your students. Teaching autonomy, showing them how to use available resources, and emphasizing that one should respect the time of others are all laudable goals.
DeleteDon't feed the troll.
ReplyDeleteChrome is right, and I've broken that worldwide Interwebs rule many times. I'm convinced if we just ignored that ilk, we wouldn't have such trouble.
DeleteI find that with my email address and phone number out there, my students think I'm someone that HAVE to update about all kinds of maneuvers, academic and otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI had a student last week send me a long email about his mother's gallbladder. You'd have thought I was Uncle Cal instead of Professor Cal.
"Check the study guide"
ReplyDelete