Posts Tagged "hard topics"
Did Your Last Text Deserve a Talk?
(A momentary break from college success… I haven’t written about general interpersonal communication in a while. Well, I’m about to teach two sections starting today, so how timely, right? I’ll try to tame myself with my topic. I think I’ve made my feelings about texting known in the past. If you have a strong counter-argument, I sure welcome your point of view. Ready to start the conversation? I am!) Some of the most uncomfortable conflicts I’ve been in over recent months involved texting. Every time a miscommunication occurs via this medium, I spiritedly say, “I’m done! No more texting for me!” But then I realize...
Read MoreAnother Grade Dispute: When an A Isn’t Really an A
Here we go again! Remember the grade dispute that turned into a four-part series? How could you forget, right? Well, another interesting write-in, this time from a student at a major university. A different situation and for the sake of anonymity, I’m going to heavily paraphrase, but keep the general theme. One other note: At the end of this piece, I found an interesting link written by an attorney about “legally sound syllabi.” Very interesting! Are you ready? Let’s go…) Before I start with this student’s situation, I want to make a huge plea to all students reading this blog. Whether you are just starting college or you are knee-deep...
Read More“I feel completely powerless.” More From The Student Whose Grade Tanked.
(I didn’t properly message my stay-cation of last week. I apologize about that! Back to business here, and revisiting the post about the student whose term ended and received a grade that he was not expecting because the prof changed the grade standards. Based on a follow-up comment that just came in, we’re continuing that conversation now. I encourage everyone to please weigh in for encouragement or feedback!) Here were some Twitter comments from the last post: Kathryn Siranosian (@corpwriters said): This happened to my son, too! “The class had too many As” on the final (including his). Samra Bufkins MJ, APR (@Samjb said): No! That can’t...
Read MoreStudent Question: The Prof Changed the Grade Structure After Class Ended–My Grade Tanked!
A troubling question just came in and I am hoping that my colleagues in higher ed will respond with your thoughts. Here goes… First, the question: “My professor changed the syllabus after the class was over. He said the lab was worth 300 out of 850 in the syllabus, then after the class was over he changed the lab to 170 out of 720 because the average lab score was a 96% and he wanted to lower grades. This dropped me from a C to a D+ and now I’m not passing and will have to re-take the course. Also, right after the exams he told the class that he was adding 5 points to test 1 and a few points to test 2 because scores were low and then after the...
Read MoreWhat to Say When You Have to Retake a Class
(I wasn’t expecting to write more in the #unbroken series quite so soon, but this post seems appropriate as we move ever closer to August when many students start school. I know some students will be revisiting classes that they’ve started once before. This post is for you.) You walk into your American Literature class. You want to get excited about it. You enjoy writing. Or maybe you don’t, but you’re at least glad that it’s a new term. But for every mental rah-rah you’ve attempted, there’s just no getting around this fact: You aren’t there because you want to be. You’re there because you have to be. You took this class...
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