tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post114434925765545725..comments2024-02-07T03:12:59.031-05:00Comments on Blogenspiel: Why do I bother?Another Damned Medievalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05231085915472400163noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-1145060173791503692006-04-14T20:16:00.000-04:002006-04-14T20:16:00.000-04:00Don't we all! Welcome, and thanks!Don't we all! Welcome, and thanks!Another Damned Medievalisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05231085915472400163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-1144978048970291782006-04-13T21:27:00.000-04:002006-04-13T21:27:00.000-04:00Please forgive the bad spelling in my preceding po...Please forgive the bad spelling in my preceding post... sometimes I do things too quickly.PurpleGirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16348832238854356317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-1144977890785067822006-04-13T21:24:00.000-04:002006-04-13T21:24:00.000-04:00I'm not a teacher and I've been out of college now...I'm not a teacher and I've been out of college now close to 30 years. I liked detailed syllabi. I liked seeing in writing what the professor wanted and when, and what his/her expectations were. <BR/><BR/>I remember one class I dropped after its first meeting when the prof handed out a course outline that stated "papers are to be written ANTHROPOLOGICALY, not historicaly, sociologicaly, politicaly, or psychologicaly." He also stated that most of the books he wanted us to read could not be found in the school's own library but at a local museum's library. This was for the intro anthrolopogy course. (The guy also took a drag on his cigarette every other word and laughed every other-other word.) <BR/><BR/>Then there was the professor who told us he couldn't give us a recommended reading list because he didn't know what books we'd already read! (This was a philosophy of political science class. I stayed in this one because I needed it to complete the requirements for my major.) Compare his attitude to another political science professor who gave us a 35-page list of titles she thought we might find interesting and whose content was quite far-ranging and inclusive. (This was for a seminar in ethnic politics.)<BR/><BR/>I think its admirably that you prepare so much for your students. I salute you and probably would have loved taking classes with you.PurpleGirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16348832238854356317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-1144675277457859722006-04-10T09:21:00.000-04:002006-04-10T09:21:00.000-04:00well, everything is clear in my syllabus as to how...well, everything is clear in my syllabus as to how much this and that assignment count. It's all points in my class, not percentages, so there is no confusion.<BR/><BR/>still doesn't take me more than about three pages to lay out the expectations and schedule. hmmm....I'm going to think about this more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-1144525858027905002006-04-08T15:50:00.000-04:002006-04-08T15:50:00.000-04:00"Oddly, it's my lazy, entitled students who compla..."Oddly, it's my lazy, entitled students who complain about the grades, not the ones who are working their butts off ..."<BR/><BR/>They are putting all of their energy into complaining...Steve Muhlbergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18136005762428407135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-1144423623042292282006-04-07T11:27:00.000-04:002006-04-07T11:27:00.000-04:00I agree - overdocument! I do an extremely detaile...I agree - overdocument! I do an extremely detailed syllabus AND blackboard - fortunately, the syllabus only needs tweaking every semester that I teach it.<BR/><BR/>Last semester, I had a kid who bombed the midterm (it was the kind of lit class where you need a midterm and a final) and then after he got it back and saw the grade, he started stalking me to drop the class. I was leaving for Thanksgiving break and stopping at my office on the way to the airport to sign this kid's drop sheet! I was happy to be rid of him - he was complaining about HAVING to drop the class because he didn't know how much the midterm counted until after he'd RECEIVED (not earned) the grade. And we all know where that little jewel of a percentage was listed....medieval womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17278854285443306227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-1144374700142179882006-04-06T21:51:00.000-04:002006-04-06T21:51:00.000-04:00I sometimes think that, but if I don't have it wri...I sometimes think that, but if I don't have it written down somewhere, my experience is that students will often argue that "I didn't know" when complaining about a grade. If everything is spelled out, it makes it much easier for an outside pair of eyes to see whether an assignment deserves the grade it was given (I used to have a lot of complaints -- only one this year, and it was from the same type of student as before) Oddly, it's my lazy, entitled students who complain about the grades, not the ones who are working their butts off ...Another Damned Medievalisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05231085915472400163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-1144372101719845232006-04-06T21:08:00.000-04:002006-04-06T21:08:00.000-04:00I go for the short syllabus and lots of in class/b...I go for the short syllabus and lots of in class/blackboard announcements. because they don't read the syllabus, they don't even keep the syllabus and writing it makes me tired. them i'm tired and they aren't reading it and i'm thinkin, i wrote the thing you should read it, and no one is happy.<BR/><BR/>short syllabus. less is not more but it is definitely not as irritating.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-1144358993912625852006-04-06T17:29:00.000-04:002006-04-06T17:29:00.000-04:00Arghh!!! This drives me crazy.When I was a beginni...Arghh!!! This drives me crazy.<BR/><BR/>When I was a beginning teacher, I'd pass out a handout explaining an assignment. Then I'd explain. And I'd get interrupted by DOZENS of questions. It took me only a few weeks to learn to give everyone 5 minutes to read the whole thing, and then to tell them that I was going to explain verbally as well, and to please hold their questions until the end, as I'd probably answer them in the course of my explanation.<BR/><BR/>And sure enough, someone would STILL ask a question we'd just covered.<BR/><BR/>My dean had a sneaky way around this. On the first day he'd pass out the syllabus (very lengthy) and go over it with the students. The assignment for the next class meeting? Summarize the syllabus, with all due dates, in a 2 page paper. Two things happened: first, no one could claim they didn't know what was going on, and secondly, the slackers, faced with an assignment the first day of class, usually dropped.<BR/><BR/>I started doing that. It helped. And I did announcements at the beginning of every class. AND put the syllabus and all due dates on the website.<BR/><BR/>And still students would ask me about things that were In. The. Freaking. Syllabus.Terminal Degreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16523014953046778630noreply@blogger.com