tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post6649566784033441491..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: General Monday morning grumpiness. Can I get a witness?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-61772703566192422472011-05-24T20:06:34.120-04:002011-05-24T20:06:34.120-04:00One of my profs did not give us his email and told...One of my profs did not give us his email and told us up front he does not answer email. He believed it created learned-helplessness. If we had a question we were to search for the answer in the syllabus, ask other students, search elsewhere or just use common sense. If we still could not find the answer we were to ask the question in class. As far as I know everyone survived the class just fine Anastasiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295576691711467656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-25604240637921465662011-05-24T02:16:31.298-04:002011-05-24T02:16:31.298-04:00@Greta: "Oh, shit, not Monday again." S...@Greta: "Oh, shit, not Monday again." Sure. <br /><br />It's usually followed closely by "Oh, shit, I never did (choose one) update that quiz / get that handout to the print shop / enter those grades / tweak that PowerPoint lecture / respond to that committee draft report." Not to mention "make my lunch / get the trash to the curb / buy gas / pick up milk for Eskarinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14854383335265386899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-22261076011291172322011-05-24T01:35:19.391-04:002011-05-24T01:35:19.391-04:00I vote Cindy's response as best comment ever!
...I vote Cindy's response as best comment ever!<br /><br />@Greta: I feel that way about 90% of the time. Sometimes I just sit in my office before class and freak out a little. I'm seriously afraid of imagining being in front of people (the funny thing is I'm fine up there lecturing I'm just afraid of thinking about it). I panic a little just after I hit enter when logging into my Crazy Math Professorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09409653814917911532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-55477581718126186642011-05-23T22:44:04.824-04:002011-05-23T22:44:04.824-04:00Students inadvertently send me e-mail viruses all ...Students inadvertently send me e-mail viruses all the time. Who knows where their browsers have been? That is why I have to delete them all!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-75319869636419715432011-05-23T21:39:40.996-04:002011-05-23T21:39:40.996-04:00WhatLadder, we have Memorial Day next weekend and ...WhatLadder, we have Memorial Day next weekend and so have Monday off. In addition to remembering all those who have died and those who have served the U.S., I plan to remember the vodka.Great Lakes Gretahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08101613060478193833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-41904061778251707362011-05-23T21:38:17.927-04:002011-05-23T21:38:17.927-04:00Two more things:
1. The email policy (I don'...Two more things:<br /><br />1. The email policy (I don't check on Saturdays and Sundays) is stated in the syllabus.<br /><br />2. I will NOT check my email on Sunday. Someone else's stupidity, lack of planning, or outright panic-snowflakery does not trump my right to two whole days away from the job into which I invest up to 60 hours between Monday and Friday.Great Lakes Gretahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08101613060478193833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-62970818465946128212011-05-23T21:35:18.050-04:002011-05-23T21:35:18.050-04:00Here in the Empire, today was a holiday, which was...Here in the Empire, today was a holiday, which was the only thing that saved me. I recommend a good dose of Long Weekend.WhatLadderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11603489349164511704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-28783617568611704072011-05-23T21:34:24.235-04:002011-05-23T21:34:24.235-04:00Thank you all for your comments and advice. Yes, ...Thank you all for your comments and advice. Yes, there is emergency chocolate. Thank goodness for it and this virtual community.<br /><br />I do want to make something clear. My reaction to the email this morning was a reaction to something much larger than the email itself. In other words, the email was a symptom of a greater cause. It wasn't just the dozen flaky emails that sent me Great Lakes Gretahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08101613060478193833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-45640970860044573632011-05-23T20:39:10.244-04:002011-05-23T20:39:10.244-04:00@ Eskarina
Emergency chocolate is a most excellen...@ Eskarina<br /><br />Emergency chocolate is a most excellent idea!<br /><br />***<br /><br />Have you considered putting an email-checking schedule/policy in your syllabus? Then you won't have to fib all the time about "lag".Emergency Mathematical Hologramhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15873569623797587860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-12735495637061528742011-05-23T19:14:22.156-04:002011-05-23T19:14:22.156-04:00You might have to start checking on Sunday evening...You might have to start checking on Sunday evenings (or late afternoon...anyone who sends on Sunday night should know better...claim "lag"), but only for an hour to deal with the truly urgent crap. To compensate, shorten your Friday e-mail check appropriately. Abstain for the entirely of Saturday.The_Mythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10621186404597424842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-51339620952361830242011-05-23T17:04:38.680-04:002011-05-23T17:04:38.680-04:001. Greta, you do have emergency chocolate on hand,...1. Greta, you do have emergency chocolate on hand, don't you?<br /><br />2. Where IS dear Yaro?<br /><br />3. I'm with everyone else who says don't check email on weekends. I SAY I don't but sometimes do, if a colleague was in labor on Thursday or something. <br /><br />It helps to require the Little Dears to use a standard subject line and then to set the spam filter to accept Eskarinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14854383335265386899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-4543386827360462872011-05-23T16:35:59.085-04:002011-05-23T16:35:59.085-04:00I, too, think that ignoring email on the weekend (...I, too, think that ignoring email on the weekend (and telling students you will do so) is a perfectly good strategy (though I don't quite dare do it myself, given my non-tenure-track status and the power of student evals. I do take a full 24 hours off over the weekend now and then, and occasionally, with warning, a bit longer). The trick, I think, is to figure out how to prioritize emails Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-59791209452665638042011-05-23T15:25:13.219-04:002011-05-23T15:25:13.219-04:00Weekends are for you not work. Don't check the...Weekends are for you not work. Don't check the email on the weekends but let you students know this is your MO. 75% of them will be very understanding. The others can suck it. I've not checked my email in days and it feels great! I might do it today I might not. I know there are tons of grade complaints there but I'll respond in my time not theirs. Life is so much better when you put Crazy Math Professorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09409653814917911532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-81356154895922766502011-05-23T13:46:43.924-04:002011-05-23T13:46:43.924-04:00This is terribly unprofessional, but...
Sometimes...This is terribly unprofessional, but...<br /><br />Sometimes when I get this feeling, I make a list of the crazy important stuff the emailers have asked and I have my awesome electrician neighbor tell me what to tell them. Like when Dan Savage sells his column for charity. Advice once-removed helps you know what to say without banging your head against the wall.<br /><br />Of course, it's Academic Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07086078244493768565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-84924916277833064142011-05-23T12:14:15.121-04:002011-05-23T12:14:15.121-04:00Whatever you do, Greta, resist the urge to respond...Whatever you do, Greta, resist the urge to respond on the weekends, even if it does cause backlog. You DO DESERVE a weekend. Other people get weekends, and proffies should too. <br /><br />And Dr. N is right...let them sit. Just because the student says it's urgent doesn't mean it's actually urgent. It's probably not, but they're used to their mommies and daddies indulging Dr. Crankyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01544814759723000405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-2151675404976004082011-05-23T10:21:58.016-04:002011-05-23T10:21:58.016-04:00This may be small consolation, but it occurs to me...This may be small consolation, but it occurs to me that you haven't aged your email well enough. Three days isn't quite enough to start the fermentation procedure. You need to put it down and let it rot for another day or two. This will allow you to filter out all the 'urgent' notes, leaving only the important ones. The flakiness will all become more mellow and soggy with the Three Sigmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10822893039310439770noreply@blogger.com