College Life

Posts about college life, students, professors, and grades.

Extra credit woes

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Today’s blog is on extra credit. Some teachers give it, while others look askance at the very thought of it. I give it for some undergraduate course where I am allowed by my college to do so. It is never given in graduate school.

When can you get it in my classes, I offer undergraduates the chance to improve their grades throughout the semester. It has been my experience that the students who do it are those who do not need it. The students who could benefit the most from it do not come near it, unless it is the last day of class and they are failing. Friends, by then, it is way too late.

Why should your teacher give it to you on the last day of class when you have refused it all semester long?  Oh, it’s because just today you realized that you won’t successfully complete the course without it, your parents are going to kill you if you flunk this course, and you will be embarrassed by not graduating with your peers if you flunk this one little old class…

Not my problem, friends. Please think of extra credit all semester long and don’t leave any points on the table. Then, when the end of the term comes, you won’t be throwing yourself on the mercy of your overworked and underpaid professor, begging for just one more chance.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Finishing strong

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Okay, you are at the end of your rope. You have almost made it through the semester but it is just so hard to finish things up. Surely missing a couple of small assignments won’t make a difference, right?

Wrong. I have a former student who decided to let her guard down at the very end of her time in my class. She had worked pretty hard and figured she would coast to the end.

That was not wise. She let go and let things ride….and almost did not graduate. She had two assignments that she told me she had decided not to do…and it made a difference between passing and not. It also became an issue because she had a job awaiting for her, but she couldn’t have the job without her degree.

So, she made a very quick decision that turning in something well after the due date and taking a chance on passing, even with a reduced score, was better than sitting out graduation, losing the job, and paying for the class again. That was very wise.

So hang in there, folks. Stick with the program and get the job done so that you won’t face the possibility that you won’t graduate and so that the job og your dreams won’t pass you by!

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Using holidays effectively

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

My topic for today is how to use your holidays to get ahead on your schoolwork.  Let’s say that you have Thanksgiving off. Oh, my, you do! What do you do with those four days of not being in school? I suggest you work ahead. Here’s how you do it:

Take your syllabi for each class and figure out what is due in the next three weeks of classes. Do your reading and research for any upcoming projects. As you do the research, make sure to mark down every where you got the information and bookmark the site if that is possible.

Lay out your research in piles according to topic and then begin to go through the piles and organize the piles within the piles. For example, let’s say that you have three research papers due in three different classes. Try to do the research in one fell swoop. I always email the articles I have found to myself, requesting a style format such as APA and MLA. The online library will send you the document with a cover page with the correct formatting that you need, which will save you a lot of time.

I always printed the articles out, marked them up so that I could see what I needed from each article, and then separate them into piles according to class. As you write the essays, you have the sources at your fingertips, with all of the information you want to use right there. (I made notes of which page numbers would have the most helpful information on those cover pages, so that I didn’t have to flip through the article as I wrote.)

Get as much done over the four day break, so that you have less stress at finals time. How do you make good use of the four-day weekend?

Best,

Dr. Sheri

To re-write or not to re-write, that is the question

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Here I am, almost at the semester. My students at one college turned in papers on Wednesday that were, for the most part, pretty awful. It has taken me 45 minutes to plow through 6 of them, there are so many mistakes.

Here’s my dilemma: do I post an announcement, inviting the students to re-write their papers, knowing that the ones who need to the most are the least likely to do it, or do I hold my breath and go ahead and grade these monstrosities, knowing that this assignment is worth 20% of their final grade?

I could list the students who don’t have to do the re-write on our class page or just invite everyone to do it. I could give them till Monday at 1 pm to place their newly re-written papers in my mailbox on campus. I could even list all the things that were wrong with the current batch of papers. In fact, here is the list for your enjoyment:

One student wrote a plot summary for his favorite movie, and then added in three words from our textbook ….to the entire paper (four pages long). He put a Works Cited page at the end of the document, but did not cite anything (except those three words, scattered about the paper, once each).  Those words were never explained or analyzed, just plopped in.

I can hear his argument now, having been lambasted by him on the last writing assignment: “Boy, you sure are dumb if you don’t know the meaning of those three words. I shouldn’t have to explain the concepts to you.” To me, that is tantamount to saying, “Here is my exam. I only put my name on it but I deserve an A+ because you should know what all these terms mean. I shouldn’t have to tell you.” Right on, buddy.

Several students wrote sentence fragments. At this college, three fragments in a single essay means an automatic F on the assignment. Doesn’t anyone proofread anything? Several students wrote sentences that left out verbs, contained commas every few words, misused semi-colons like they were on a fire sale, and offered neither an introduction or a conclusion to their essay. One individual loved the words “as” and “such,” sprinkling them liberally in every paragraph.  Several students wrote sentences that were about 60 words long and went in numerous directions (these are known as run-on sentences).

So, what do you think I should do? Should I offer the re-write or not? I value your opinion.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Finishing well or not at all

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hi everyone:

This is the time of the semester when many people just give up. I had a student recently who decided not to do the last two assignments. Then she realized that, by not doing them, she had flunked the class.  She came back to me and asked if she could complete them because flunking the class meant she would not graduate and the job she had waiting would no longer be hers.

What advice do you have for her? What do you think I should do in this situation? What do you think I did? Give me your thoughts and I will tell you how the scenario played out.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Do your homework or dislike the results

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

I have been teaching college for 12 years now and one of the biggest mysteries to me is why students pay good money for their education, come to class on a regular basis, but do not turn anything in.

The only thing I can figure is that their parents are paying for their education, they enjoy coming to class, but they don’t want to do the work. Is college entertainment for them or did Mom and Dad say “go to college or get a job?” Do they figure that sitting in a classroom for hours every week is considered “going to college?” I guess it is, technically speaking.

I would love to read your comments about their mindset because they otherwise appear to be intelligent folks. Why do you think they do it (or actually, don’t do it, as far as homework is concerned).

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Following the directions leads to better grades

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

This may not come as a surprise but following the directions on an assignment really does lead to better grades. Here is a case in point:

My students at an unnamed college had a assignment worth 100 points. Some of the students really applied themselves and did a super job of addressing all of the questions the essay was supposed to respond to.

Two of the students wrote two lines apiece. That was it. Now, folks, do they really think that each sentence was worth 50 points? One hint for college success includes the factoid that the teacher’s questions should not take up more space on the page than your answer did.

If you are asked, for example, “what are the pros and cons” of an issue, you should not have your entire answer be “there are some pros and there are some cons.” No, I am not kidding. Details really do matter.

On this same assignment, several of the students answered in full paragraphs, noting that I am very fond of five-sentence paragraphs. I have made mention of this fact several times during the semester, but these two-sentence-wonder students were too busy looking bored to listen, apparently.

The take-away here is: pay attention to the directions, answer the questions you are being asked in a thorough manner, and listen to verbal instructions in class. Write them down. Do the work and make a better grade.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Finishing the semester strong

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Sometimes my students get tired before the end of the term. It can happen to anyone…..it happens to instructors when we have bitten off more than we can grade.

Hang in there, people. There will come a day when you totally forget whatever  is plaguing you now. If you quit, you may never remember why.

Don’t give up. Okay, so you had a bad breakup with the person you thought was your forever-one-and-only. It hurts. I get it. But are you willing to sacrifice an entire semester’s worth of work for someone whose name you might not remember in two years?

I had a 17-year-old student in one of my classes who cried every day before class for weeks about her recent loss of a boyfriend. It was the end of the world. He was her first boyfriend. He was the only man she would ever love. Of that, she was certain. The breakup happened at the beginning of the semester. By the end of the term, she had forgotten him and moved on. It happens. In spite of her pain, she hunkered down and got the class done. She finished with an A.

Life happens, but try not to let it get you off track.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Dead Face Divas Don’t Do Well

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Have you ever heard of a Dead Face Diva? Well, I have met a couple. They sit in class, obviously bored to tears, not participating ….ever…, and always with the same responses whenever I ask a question: “What he (or she) said” or “I don’t know….” (Note that a whine accompanies the second response.)

What do you think a professor thinks about that? I think that D. F. Diva is hopped up on drugs or is not the one paying for college. Or both. I think Mom and Dad are making huge sacrifices for a grown child who does not appreciate it and resents being in school.

What is my recommendation for the parents of such a student? Pull her out of college immediately so she doesn’t infect the other students with her horrid attitude and make her get a real job for the next couple of years. Perhaps a couple of years experience slinging hash will make her appreciate being in school and give her the maturity to actually apply herself when she gets back.

I have had several young men in my classes who learned the hard way that only having a high school education will not get you a very good job.  They leave college at the bottom of their class, work a job for a couple of years turning the “slow” or “stop” sign on the side of the road, and then come running back to college.

They usually come up to me with apologies for how they acted in my class the first time and with promises for a much better work ethic this time. The amazing thing is that the couple of years they were gone and the life they had while out of college leads them to apply themselves and end up at the top of the class. It is a maturing experience some students simply need.

So, to my Dead Face Divas, I leave this message: straighten up or join the real world for a while and then come back as an adult. Ladies, you aren’t there yet.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Do not be weary in doing school

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

This is the time of the semester when some students are pretty worn out, if they are taking an 8-week course.

You’ve made it through the first four weeks, but the end really does not seem in sight yet. There is probably a boatload of assignments yet to be done, and they are probably the most heavily-weighted of the term.

How will you make it? Well, here are some tips. First, plan backwards. When is something due? Once you figure out that a huge research paper is due in four weeks, you need to back things up so that you are not writing the paper at midnight the night before it is due, having just started the research at 6 pm. Here’s how that will work:

Let’s pretend that today is the 1st.

The paper is due on the 30th, so you want to have your final draft completely done and waiting to be turned in two days before that. That is the 28th. (This allows you to read over it once more and print it out well ahead of the deadline. One more tip: re-read the instructions, so that you are absolutely certain that you have done everything called for. Do not leave anything out!)

You need to have your rough draft of the paper due the week before, so that you can polish and proofread. That will be the 21st.

It will probably take you two weeks to get your research done and the writing finished, so that means that you would need to start the research on the 7th.

In order to start the research on the 7th, you need to know what you will write about. Take one day to decide. That makes it the 6th.

You may need to get your instructor’s approval so allow at least two days for that. That translates to the 4th.

You need to make sure that you understand the instructions completely, so read them over twice and then sleep on it. That makes it the 3rd.

Read the instructions again and ask the professor to clarify anything you didn’t understand. It may take two days to get an answer, so that makes it the 1st.

Today is the 1st. Get to work!

Best,

Dr. Sheri