Stupid students who dont know they are stupid

[G. Keenan]

This student of mine is not stupid but GODDAMMIT!

If we are writing practice essays and you are given 30 minutes to write an essay that does not mean you can hand in a piece of [expletive] you wrote in 15 minutes and go home early. When I grade your writing, correct your many mistakes, and give you detailed feedback you should deduce from that your writing is not good and requires more focus. That 15 minutes is not "wasted time" as you say because you don't intend to use it. When I point out to you that there are any number of revisions you could do in those 15 minutes to improve your essay you should take that to heart. If you aren't going to use that time productively like the rest of your classmates then you have no right to get combative when I tell you that you can leave at the same time as the rest of the class.

This really should mean something when you have been rejected from graduate schools you hoped to attend because your English isn't good enough. And when your [expletive]' visa and legal status in the US depend on your enrollment in my class you can shut the [expletive] up and do what I tell you.

Where's the Tylenol?

[lukethedrifter]

American Lit, love it or leave it.

[cpebbles]

Wait, since when can college students not leave a classroom freely?

[AdmiralKird]

Classroom Entrapment...

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

?? Is this a workshop type deal or a test? I'm so confused.

Regardless, tell him you're a mod, and you will simply give him the proverbial banhammer if he doesn't shape up.

[G. Keenan]

Wait, since when can college students not leave a classroom freely?

They can leave if they want. But if so they need to understand it will affect their grade.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I'm still confused? Did students have 30 minutes to write an essay and then turn it in and you were going to grade it? Or was this a workshop type deal where students were supposed to write an essay and you were going to mark it up and have them fix it and then turn it back in?

[G. Keenan]

I'm still confused? Did students have 30 minutes to write an essay and then turn it in and you were going to grade it? Or was this a workshop type deal where students were supposed to write an essay and you were going to mark it up and have them fix it and then turn it back in?

The former, a timed TOEFL practice test.

[a_smith]

wow Keenen that is crazy. I am amazed at the number of students who don't take advantage of the opportunities to get the help they need. Especially ones that wants to go to graduate school. yowzers

[sighyoung]

I've had students spend a minimal amount of time on an exam--they're throwing away points. I often catch them outside the classroom and ask if they would like to write more or had questions about the test. Invariably, they say "no."

I briefly dealt with a student last semester who didn't finish 3/4 of the final take-home exam. I even e-mailed her to alert her to write more, but didn't hear back for four days--after I turned in final grades. Throwing away 75% of the final exam was like throwing 20 points of her class average in the trash.

Worse yet, she only wrote four pages on a ten-page research paper. What she wrote practically had no thesis, and her Works Cited page looked like she'd thrown up alphabet soup on a piece of paper.

So she winds up with a 'D+' in the class, and was shocked. SHOCKED!

Wait, since when can college students not leave a classroom freely?

They can, but if class participation is part of the grade, it can count against them. In a large lecture class, it's not a problem. In a small seminar, it can be disruptive, so I ask students to tip me off if they're going to be leaving early. It's not unusual for students to be passive-aggressive and try to be disruptive.