This afternoon, the Solipsist received an e-mail from one of his former "students." This "student" had just checked his grades from the summer class (which, by the way, ended three weeks ago), and he wanted to know, "Why did I fail? I was sure I was going 2 pass."
"Well," we replied, "let's see. You failed the midterm. You failed the final. You handed in less than half of the required assignments.
"You thought you were going to pass, though? To paraphrase 'Monty Python,' explain the logic underlying that conclusion."
We know you shouldn't be sarcastic with students, but sometimes the situation just screams out for it.
Well at least you didn't say, 'You suck.'
ReplyDeleteIt boggles the mind, truly. I almost can't find the humor in this, which might be why I'm no longer teaching...At the CC level I had students of various and sundry ages. Many were fresh from high school, a few retired history buffs, and a lot of mother's striving for a new chance at life. Invariably, the clueless students were young. Ok, not always but enough for me to make that blanket statement.
ReplyDelete