Interacting with professors

How to endear yourself to your professors: aka how we will remember you

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

It happens once in a blue moon. A student makes him or herself memorable to me in a positive way (hey, the negative stuff happens frequently, as you have seen on this blog). How do you want to leave a good impression? Write your instructor a thank you note.

Now don’t take the backside-kissing method like Eddie Haskell would have done (think Leave it to Beaver here). Your goal should not be to get a better grade.

Your goal should be to do something very nice for someone who really does care about your education.  Your instructor, though he or she may not look like it, may be working multiple jobs because the pay at one is so low. Your professor may be carrying a full load of classes and may have, by the luck of the draw, gotten 4 or 5 different classes, each of which requires a different prep.

The hours can be very long, and we have deadlines to meet on our final grades. We may have an end-of-the-term grading marathon going on, and have some students who waited until the last two days of class to suddenly care about their grades and want to pressure us into giving them credit they don’t deserve.

You can make things so much better for us and ease our burdens a bit by writing us a note or an email, telling us something specific that you liked about our course. Be upbeat; be positive. Be remembered for your kindness.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

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

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

Communicating with the professor or how not to argue with someone who is trying to help you

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

I recently received an email from a student whose rough draft I had gone over. I gave him feedback using the rubric that I will be using to grade his final document.

He argued with me.

Now, please understand that it takes time for me to go through a student’s document a line at a time and give him suggestions on how to get a better grade. Do you know how many times one of my professors did that for me? Never as an undergrad or as a master’s student. Not once, until I got to my dissertation, which was 13 years after I started college.

But this kid argued.

He wanted to do the assignment his own way because he thought it “looked better.” Well, maybe it would, in his opinion, but I am the boss in the class. (And my boss gave me the rubric for the course that my boss designed…..he’s the chair of the department, so I do things his way.)

When he gets out of the service and gets into the real world of business, his boss will be the boss. His boss may or may not care how he writes a document but it is my goal for this person to be as prepared for the real world as possible. That is also my boss’ goal.

So don’t argue, just do it.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

When you do what you do, make sure you do it right

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

As you know, I teach at three different colleges. My students range from first year freshmen to graduate students and everything in between. No matter their year in college, they sometimes share a common problem: they don’t follow the directions.

One thing about college, and about work life, it is important to give your boss what he or she is looking for. It’s kind of like being a wedding planner. If the bride wants pink carnations and the planner delivers orange roses, the bride is not going to be happy. If the groom wants everyone in black tuxedos and they show up wearing purple shorts, things are not going to go well. If the couple wants chicken and steak at the reception and the caterer delivers fish, that is not a good thing.

Likewise, when your professor gives you specific instructions, why do some students decide to “to their own thing?” Before you begin an assignment, read the directions. Then read them again. Do not wait until the night before an assignment is due to do this reading, or nothing will make sense (see a previous blog on this topic). Read through any announcements your instructor has made, to see if things have been clarified (some announcement postings are predicated upon the professor being asked a question repeatedly because things are not clear to your classmates).

As you complete an assignment, check through your document to make sure that you did everything that was required, and then post it.

Have you run into a situation where you did not follow the instructions? What happened?

Best,

Dr. Sheri

I Can’t Post My Assignment: What Do I Do Now?????

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Every once in a while, it is difficult or impossible to post an assignment to your online course. What are you to do?

The first thing is to email the professor a copy of your assignment BEFORE the due date, even if it is just a few minutes before the due date. That way, the instructor will know that your assignment is ready on time. Do not email me a blank document, hoping to buy more time. (The student then claims, ten hours later, to have sent me the wrong document and here is the final paper….which he or she just started writing after the original email was sent. Don’t try this; I have seen it before.)

Next, contact the IT department, to see if it is a problem with the course itself (I have known this to happen). Be prepared to capture and send a copy of the screen shot of your email and any response you get to your professor. You are covering your…….well, you know. We will give you the benefit of the doubt, most of the time, and not mark you late if we see that you really are trying to submit the document on time.

Finally, ask us if we can override the system and grade your document from the file exchange, if your course has one. (Again, I have seen this and I have done this.)

The important thing here is DO NOT WAIT. This type of thing does not get better with time and it generally does not fix itself. Do not wait until I am in a grading marathon at the end of a course to “remember” that you never got the grade from the first assignment. If you do, I am likely to grade you lower (not higher) on the assignment because I am ticked off that you waited so long to say something. The key is to jump on this immediately so we can get it taken care of.

Keep in mind that your professor is not an alien from another world who does not care about your grades. We are usually willing to work with you, if you show yourself to be a reasonable, intelligent person who cares about his or her grades. To that end, keep track of your grades and let the instructor know immediately if something seems out of whack.

What has been your experience with posting an assignment? Any horror stories you would care to tell?

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Help Me Help You

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

I was contacted by a student recently; she had a question about an assignment. The challenge was that I teach multiple, different courses and she did not identify which course she was taking. She asked for insight into an upcoming assignment, but did not say which assignment she was talking about.

Another student had a query about a discussion board assignment. She asked me to clarify the assignment, without specifically saying what she didn’t understand.

Folks, please help your instructors help you. When you send us an email, specify what class you are taking with us and what assignment you are talking about and what it is that you don’t understand.

In the first student’s case, I guessed at what the problem was and answered her email. I may not hear from her until tonight, but I don’t answer my email at night so she won’t get her answer until tomorrow afternoon (instead of this afternoon). By the time she figures out what is expected, her assignment may be late.

In the second student’s case, she was online at the same time I was. I answered her email and she was able to turn the email around at once and explain exactly what she didn’t understand. I was able to respond immediately and she had her answer.

Have you found that some of your classes need assignments clarified? Keep in mind that I am not a mind-reader. You need to tell me what you don’t understand so that I can guide you. How do you handle your own interaction with the professor?

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Asking for grace versus making excuses

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Life happens. Sometimes we have to work late, have a sick relative, or experience some other life emergency. As a college professor, I see it happen all the time.

What happens when you simply haven’t planned ahead well enough? Like to old saying kind of goes, “Failure on your part to prepare does not constitute an emergency on my part.” I had a student recently who wanted an extended deadline because he was working full time, taking several classes, and wanting to attend his sister’s birthday party. For this reason (which he somehow thought was my fault), he wanted a one-week extension on the due date for an assignment. After all, he couldn’t miss his sister’s birthday party, could he?

Well, I assume that she has had other birthdays in the past, so he knew it was coming. He probably also knew that he worked full time, so that shouldn’t have been a surprise. He also had access to his classes before he signed up for them, so he knew what the work load would be.  I’m still trying to figure out why I should cut him a break.

This week alone, over three classes at two colleges, I have had students whose bosses made them work overtime, a brother in an accident, and a sister-in-law who went into labor because her hubby had an accident. The last two issues were something out of the student’s control, but we all have to work overtime from time to time.

How do we prepare? Well, knowing the kind of boss you have before you start the class means that you work ahead so that you are prepared for the overtime he or she will probably insist you do.

Last semester, I had a student whose baby was due shortly after the class began. What did she do? She got the book early, looked at the syllabus as soon as she could, and began doing the research and preparing the documents she had to write. The baby was born at some point in time, but her work never suffered at all because she was so far ahead (I release discussion board topics one week ahead of time, so that a business trip or baby won’t keep you from getting behind).

As grace is concerned, I usually give my students one excuse per semester. After that one, you better be prepared or get ready to fail because you have excuseitis, probably not a legitimate problem.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

An instructor’s pet peeves

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Today, I want to share with you some of my own personal pet peeves when it comes to students’ writing.

First, they use huge margins and as much blank space as possible, so that your paper appears to be 20 pages when it is really only 5 pages. I mean, the instructor will never notice, right? He or she never really reads the whole thing anyway, right? Next, make the first few pages look full and then add margins that are five or six inches for the rest of the document and you will get a great grade, right?  Finally, compliment the instructor as you turn in the paper and he or she will be so flattered that you will get an A. Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong.

Huge spaces really tick your instructor off because is makes the professor think that:

A. You think the teacher is stupid

B. You are really lazy

C. You are just trying to get by

D. All of the above

The answer to previous comment is, you guessed it, D. What will this do to your grade? Well, if I have asked for a 20-page paper and you give me five pages, then you get a 25 out of 100, if the paper is otherwise perfect (it rarely is). If you do the math here, you just failed the assignment, major league.

What are you thoughts on this? Because of the huge amounts of spam I get, I only respond to comments that use my name or specifically point out things I have said in a given post. I would love to hear from you!

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Ineffective complaining

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Today’s blog covers the topic of how to complain. Right now, I have two online students (both female) who have different approaches to class. One of them, who has a very high GPA, asks respectfully when she has a question about an assignment. The other one, not so much.

Student A (so-called because that is what her GPA is) sometimes finds the instructions for our assignments a little confusing. When this is the case, she respectfully explains in our Ask the Professor area about the issue, explaining her understanding of the instructions and asking if she has comprehended things correctly. Sometimes I have to guide her to a better understanding, and sometimes I have to clarify instructions that were written by the person who designed the class. She goes merrily on her way afterwards and always writes a superb document.

Student C (there is no Student B, in case you are wondering) fights me tooth and nail. She doesn’t like anything about the class and thinks I am a total incompetent. Sadly, as I explained just today, the course was designed, not by me, but by the chair of my department and we are still tweaking the course because it is brand new.

Can you guess which student brightens my day with her very presence?

Have you ever run into a situation where instructions were muddy and you needed to ask the instructor for help? How did you go about it and what were the results?

Best,

Dr. Sheri