...watching my students work on their final group projects, I heard a loud sort of bang just outside our building. As a teacher on a largish campus, I now find myself worrying about school violence. I actually sat there and planned our classroom emergency procedure should a gunman ever enter our building. It included the shutting of doors, the turning off of lights, the straightening of desks, and the quick movement of students against walls hidden from view of the little window in the door.
Does anyone else read 'The Walking Dead' comics? I'm really getting into it!
*hehe* Thinking tickles my brain parts! *hehe*
One more
Oh the beach looks so beautiful today!
So.
I checked my e-mail for school a few minutes ago because my Ecology Instructor called me and asked me to respond to her e-mail asap.
As we didn't give her our phone numbers, she had to call the school to get it...(I'm suprized they gave it to her, actually)
But, I checked it and now am extremely frustrated. We had the choice to go solo on this group project and I chose to go solo because my class is nothing but cocky PSEO students and lazy students. Grrrr.
But this is what her e-mail said:
|
Francis, There is one student in Ecology who doesn't have a partner for the group paper - Filip V*******. He is the tall guy who sits one row behind you. I would like to pair the two of you together. Here's the caveat - he is not the most motivated student in my class. I can understand that you might be less than thrilled to work with him, particularly because I regard you as one of my most motivated and academically inclined students. Having been in a similar situation both as an undergraduate and as a graduate student, I understand the challenges of working with someone less motivated than you are - it becomes more time-consuming and difficult to do a group project than it does to work alone. And while I understand that, this could also be a really good opportunity for him to learn what college is all about. You don't seem to be the type to let him get away with a free ride, and I know that you will make him pull his own weight, which is a really important lesson for him to learn. And on the flip side, it is also a good skill for you to learn as well. In your future career - whether you go on in science to become a reasearcher or a teacher - you will have either subordinates, research assistants, and/or students that you will need to work with and motivate. You will find that in science, as in any profession, there are those who will take advantage of a situation, unless skillfully "encouraged" to do otherwise. With Filip, I encourage you to set deadlines early and often. For example, make him find a handful of sources by late next week. Have him write a paragraph or two after you discuss some of the research. Just make sure to give him deadlines, and while I wouldn't be surprised if he responds well to your requests, if he doesn't, let me know right away. I will create a sense of urgency in him if I need to. And at the end of the project, if he hasn't contributed in a meaningful way, I want you to let me know that, too. If necessary, I will grade him accordingly. Thanks, Francis. If anyone can handle this situation, I know that you can. Please email me back and let me know if this sounds reasonable to you. Regards, Beth |
Of course, I'm going to agree to this. Of course this guy is going to take advantage of me and try to ride on my magic carpet of intelligence..lol. This does not make me happy. Any suggestions on how to make this as painful as possible?
Dammit.
Most of you know I'm currently working on my college education. Some of you know that I'm a science major. A few of you know that I love to read and write. My mom doesn't understand why that isn't my major. The biggest reason why it isn't? It's easy. It's easy to read a great book. It's easy for me to write an A paper. (I wrote a 3 page paper a half-hour before it was due and recieved an A). While there are some aspects of college writing that I struggle with..ie. STRUCTURE is a MoFo for me..I can still do it fairly well. It's not..well...it's not HARD. Science is HARD. I have to really buckle down and study for science. Part of why I love it so is because it doesn't come easy...I have to work for it..but I thoroughly enjoy it. More specifically, cellular or microbiology. *And it only has a little bit to do with my first microbiology class and the instructor..yes..he was my PBF and I won't deny it any longer. YUM*
So, in order to fulfill college requirements, I have to take Comp II. Not a problem. Comp I was a breeze, my environmental literature, and ethics classes were full of papers..so I've got this in the bag..right? WRONG!
The instructor wants 5 paragraph ESSAYS. I'm used to writing 5 page papers, which of course include intro, body, and conclusion paragraphs..but I can WRITE. I'm flamboozled by this. He also told us we could make stuff up, we didn't have to cite sources, but to make sure it was believable. What is this??
So we've had 3 "essays" so far. I'm used to getting A's on my papers, with the occasional B. The three essays I've handed in? The first one was a low B..almost a C..the second paper..C..and the 3rd I haven't recieved back yet. But, while in conference with the instructor...which I've done twice..the first time he told me I had a bad attitude because I told him I felt he was teaching things we learned in 9th grade English class. The second conference we had about my second paper..which I forwarded to my Comp I instructor who LOVED my paper...and my current instructor recommended I get a writing tutor.
What. The. Fuck.
Bitch, I write for the College Newspaper which you have to submit work and then be accepted to join) I have 2 recurring COLUMNS in the newspaper. I've won writing contests (in high school, but still).
Then I take a deep breath, calm down, run home and grab my file with every paper I've ever written in college and head to the ACE tutor lab to speak with the writing tutors. Maybe he's right. Maybe I'm not as good as I believe I am.
I share my story with the writing department in the lab. I show him my "portfolio". We talk about writing, structure, rules, voice, expression, etc. We talked for over an hour. By the time I left, I left with a JOB as a FUCKING WRITING TUTOR. Not a work study position, but I was HIRED by the COLLEGE. You're reading the blog of the ACE lab's newest Intro the Writing, Intro to Reading, and Comp I tutor. Making over ten bucks an hour. To tutor.
Oh, and in conclusion...I totally win. And YOU lose.
And BTW - I have special permission to test the fuck outta your class.
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