"You can make excuses, or you can make it happen."
I have found that A students will always "make it happen," whether it be coming to class with a just-sprained ankle to be able to turn in a paper on time, or emailing three weeks in advance because their doctor's appointment might right two minutes late. They communicate to inform and cover their bases. They comprehend the policies.
I didn't understand attendance policies for jobs until I worked a minimum wage one. One day, we lost a lot of revenue because a fellow employee who was scheduled to work failed to show up, and gave us no notice. I had to work two different stations, and deal with a screaming boss.
I have found that C students "make excuses." They are always the victim. It is always the fault of someone else. There is no personal accountability or responsibility.
I really wish this thought had come to me when I had to deal with yet another attendance excuse. A students "make it happen." I'm tired of the excuses. You're here or you're not. You know the material, or you don't.
The ones I have making excuses right now are those that might be C students if they weren't so fucking lazy. However, since they procrastinated as long as they did, there's no way that they can finish their work on time, and I accept no late work. Now, they're D or F students.
ReplyDeleteNo. Wait. I can't say procrastinated. That's politically incorrect. They prioritized their lives in a manner different from that of successful academics.
Oh, my. "Procrastinated" is out now? But how will I describe the time I spend on CM? Oh; right; I'm not describing it to anyone else. Never mind.
DeleteGenerally true, I think. Even the best students sometimes have truly overwhelming emergencies (we all do now and then, and they're still learning how to cope with various things that are old hat to the rest of us). But they don't have one every time a paper (or a minor, few-point assignment) is due.
ReplyDeleteI once showed up to a class "back in the day" bleeding because I had wiped out off my bike on the way there and couldn't go home because I needed to take a quiz. I hope the grader didn't notice the smudge of blood on the corner of the paper. Other than that I didn't ever have to "make excuses" beyond the occasional "this professor just sucks at teaching".
ReplyDelete"Back in the day", I withdrew from a chemistry class the week before the final because my mother had just died. I actually had intended to take the final, but my dean insisted that I withdraw (and it was good advice, given the circumstances). Note, that withdrawal from a class just before the final could only be granted for special circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThe instructor assumed my withdrawal was due to my dissatisfaction with him. He might have thought to ask why I withdrew, rather than running to the dean to defend himself against what he assumed was a student complaint. Just a teensy bit paranoid, eh?
Maybe not. At the place I used to teach at, something like that could be used by some administrators as evidence that the instructor was at fault. In its typical fashion, the incident would rarely be investigated with the instructor left out of the process.
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