Thursday, December 5, 2013

And the Oscar Goes To...

The way your head hangs down in defeat, anyone can tell something is wrong. The way you drag yourself into my office and thump yourself down, as if the anticipatory weight of an F is too heavy to negotiate gravity, I feel empathy. I really do. And then the way you open your mouth and the despair in your voice hits me:

"My computer died at 4 a.m. when I started  my paper last night. I was halfway through and now I have to recreate it. I mean, how am I supposed to rewrite a whole paper? I was almost done! I was just going to submit it before class and then it died when I hit "submit." I have to pass this class! My mother will kill me if I don't pass. I have to get an A in this class. I know I've missed a few classes, but not really important ones. I've always been there for the important ones."

The whine in your voice: oh, it's at just the right resonance, and your pleading eyes ask me to fix your problems: all of them, including the inconsistencies in your story: when, exactly, did your computer die? And is it that you just need to pass, or is it that you need an A? And does it matter, since the paper was due two weeks ago?

You claim to be trying your hardest to be a good student and that this is the FIRST time someone has ever told you that you need to do more than skip class and skip assignments to pass a class. "I am an A student," you say with an indignant expression. You act shocked when I tell you that you've missed 78% of the in-class assignments. "How is this possible?" your "shocked" open mouth screams your ignorance to me. Well, given that you've missed that many classes, it is entirely possible. "But I'm a good student," you protest. And you seem to believe it, except for that slight shift in your expression when I ask if you've ever struggled with getting to class on time, or if you've ever had to repeat a course before.

You're putting on a good act. I can tell you have some practice at this. If I hadn't seen you working on the same computer that you claimed had died right before you wandered into my office, I would probably have more sympathy. Plus, the paper was due two weeks ago and I don't accept late work. Your attempt to garner sympathy is not likely to do more than annoy me.

And sweetheart, I won't say this to your face, because it's patronizing, but you still have some living to do. The act you're putting on may work on your matricidal parent, but if you're going to come in with your dog-and-pony show, you've got to be more convincing in your pathetic plea. You don't do the work in class, and your act right now isn't cutting it, either. I can only hope you're good at whatever you're majoring in, because this act isn't helping you in my class.

A quick lesson in acting: all quarter, you have had no idea that I'd rather be biting down on my electric toothbrush that clatters against my teeth than listening to you justify your failure. You've had no idea that every time when you've come to whine about the quizzes you've missed, or the textbook you forgot to read, or the, paper that was just impossible to complete, or now, the computer that broke or didn't break, I've wanted to simply walk away from you and leave you talking to yourself. You've had no idea that, if given a choice, I would block you from ever taking a class from me again. So in the world of acting, the Oscar goes to me for the emotional labor enacted simply to deal with snowflakes like you in a gracious manner.

Go away and leave me alone to regain energy for the next person to walk in here asking " if there's anything I can do to pass the class."

25 comments:

  1. I award you an additional Oscar for Writing. Although I should have, I didn't expect the plot-twist ending.

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    1. Yes, I know writing Oscars are for Original Screenplay and Adapted Screenplay. Maybe I should award you a Pullet Surprise instead since you didn't phrase your post in the form of a playlet/screenplay.

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    2. I wouldn't have known the difference, but thanks. :)

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  2. Wikipedia tells me that matricide is killing one's mother; prolicide is killing one's offspring.

    Can you tell I don't want to be grading?

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. (Sorry: that was me above using my SO's computer and forgetting that it was already logged in to a gmail account). Clearly, using the wrong word isn't my only problem. :)

      This is me now: Hahaha. Just call this my twisted homage to [insert Shakespeare play]. Would "infanticide" also count for offspring, or one must be an actual baby for that word to be used?

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  3. Walking away while they're talking. That's the ticket. This bald faced lying is something I didn't see much of when I started teaching. Now it's pervasive.

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    1. YES! I have noticed that. What happened in society that suddenly made it acceptable and preferable to simply lie (even when it's not warranted or beneficial to do so)?

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  4. Do you ever try doing a slow clap?

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    1. No, but I want to now. I've tried playing a tiny invisible violin, but they just don't get that gesture anymore.

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  5. Ah, yes. Little do they know what's going on inside our heads as they trot out the performances that must have worked in the past (on whom? why?????).

    I just received an email request for a Saturday conference. Mind you, I've been on campus 4 days a week for most of the past month, and we started the relevant paper during the 3rd week of the semester. But apparently it's time to trot out the "failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part" line (at least internally; with the student, I'm sticking to saying when I am available, and pointing out that I'm happy to answer questions by email at other times). The (theoretically) graduating seniors have been the worst this term. At least this is a class with old-fashioned, paper evaluations, and they're in, so I can set boundaries without fear of retribution.

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    1. Gaaaah. Godspeed as you round out the end of the quarter/term/semester.

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  6. A student showed up panic-stricken yesterday to discuss their grade on a paper I'd handed back three weeks ago, which they had just discovered didn't earn an A. But they always earn As! You didn't pick it up in class till now? I said mildly. Oh - uh - yes, there were all kinds of reasons that - they hadn't been able to come that often - uh -

    I guess the kid must be one of those students who's so smart they can get straight As without ever setting foot in the classroom.

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  7. Ah yes, the "I'm a good student," mantra. The sad thing is that they really seem to believe it, and given the state of our schools, they probably were good students. I can just hear my mother saying in reply "And I'm the Queen of England." Sometimes it would be "And I'm the tooth fairy."

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  8. On the last day of class, I went over the third test, which about half the class failed miserably. I patiently explained each problem, showed them how short the solutions were, which important concepts they tested, the homework problem they were based on. About 40% of the problems on the final will be taken from this test.

    At the end of the class a student approached me and said "you know, after seeing the solutions, I realize there is no way I can pass this final." I was a little taken aback by the honesty, so I had to think for a few seconds about what to say. "Well, it's probably best if you take this course again. This is important material for Engineering, and you need to know it well." He seemed to agree.

    Somehow I never get the ridiculous excuses I read about here. Maybe they just know it wouldn't fly, or would have such little impact on their grade, why bother.

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    1. Maybe your students are just smarter than mine... plus, I teach a lot of GE courses that students deem "irrelevant" to their learning experience. In my major classes, I get fewer excuses.

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  9. Okay, there is this psychological condition(?) , thought process(?) where the liar thinks that the "lyee" thinks just like they do and therefore will fall for any lame excuse. They don't know we've been there heard that.

    I am too lazy to look this condition up.

    Lovely writing once again, Contemplating Cynic.

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    1. My friends call me "Contemplating," so no problem. LOL. But good point about how they think we are as gullible as they are...

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  10. The False-Consensus Effect is that people tend to overestimate the extent to which other people agree with their opinions/share their beliefs. The other possiblity is the condition known as stupidity =-)

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  11. LOVED this Cynic!

    One time, when a student was in my office doing his pathetic, lying pleading thing, I went on YouTube and pulled up the tap dance that Billy Flynn does in Chicago. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c8XLJ9MEhk) I watched it as soon as he left. It was like I just needed to see cheating, lying, and conniving done well.

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  12. Years ago a student told me he needed an A in my class, and I responded that I needed a date with Angelina Jolie, so I understood his pain and his despair.
    Disturbingly, he did not fully understood me -- my French accent confused him -- and, as it happened, there was a student named Angelina in the class. He offered to procure me a date with her. Awkward moment.

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