Will this get me fired?

by **Buzzsaw** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:22 pm

Skit, this is a "university" class?

That student can barely formulate a thought on a page. Why is he/she allowed to participate in higher education when he/she hasn't mastered the basics?

by **Skirita** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:37 pm

College prep for high school kids. I teach evening and weekend study courses for the SAT, college prep grammar/writing courses, and a lot of individual tutoring. I have a few intelligent students, but I also have a lot of morons with rich parents who think that dropping $1000 on an SAT study course, for example, will magically make up for how poorly they've done in high school.

by **Prodigal Son** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:43 pm

Buzz,

You would be surprised at how common essays like that are. It's sad, but true.

Anyway, Skiritai, how do you grade papers/essays like that? Do you fail them? Give them a D and pass them along? I'll come across essays like that and I'm just at a loss at what to do. The satisfaction that comes with failing them and knowing you did something right often doesn't make up for the grief you have to pay when dealing with an outraged student's feelings.

by **Captain_Solo** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:46 pm

If you are worried about getting fired take this to Bill O'reilly, he loves stuff like this.

by **Skirita** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:54 pm

Well, that essay was from a diagnostic test for the new writing/grammar component of the SAT, so I was able to fail them just on technical errors (excessive ambiguous pronoun references, fragment sentences, inconsistent verb tenses, poor idiom, redundancies, etc.). I also mentioned that the student makes sweeping generalizations and never developes his examples. I try to be as constructive as possible, but I don't hold back on failing kids since this is a private center and I don't have quotas.

by **Buzzsaw** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:20 pm

I'm not sure what the students' feelings have to do with anything.

No wonder companies are outsourcing jobs to India. They can probably read and write in English over there.

Too bad no candidate will step up and say "We have raised a generation of retards."

by **Prodigal Son** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:24 pm

In a perfect world I would agree with you Buzz, but students give feedback on their instructors that determine things like class assignments and such. When you combine this with the fact most profs don't give a damn about teaching because of the research requirements -- grade inflation becomes the path of least resistance and hard for a humble grad student to resist.

by **Buzzsaw** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:38 pm

What's the policy on co-eds giving knobbers for inflated grades?

by **Tracker** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:46 pm

Remove from the begining of the last paragragh the first two sentences, and then the 'but'. Begin with the 'I' sentence and I think the first draft is good to go guy!

She may be your Senior at work, but what she did is blatantly wrong and unethical to say the least.

It won't be your ass, send copies to her, HER boss, the school's BOD's, AND the Media....

Let'er rip! It MIGHT be what the election in Florida needs!

by **Big Duke 6** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 4:09 pm

RatherNotSay wrote:PS. The kids may already have passed judgement on this interruption among themselves as only kids can. By 18, I think many of them do have their own ideas forming... Not least of which would be ideas that make pointed, graphic fun of pompous administrators interrupting classrooms with political leaflets.

True, the kids probably said "Fuck that bitch" and wiped their asses with her paper.

by **Big Duke 6** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 4:14 pm

Buzzsaw wrote:I'm not sure what the students' feelings have to do with anything.

No wonder companies are outsourcing jobs to India. They can probably read and write in English over there.

Too bad no candidate will step up and say "We have raised a generation of retards."

Haha that made me laugh. I'm going to hell.

by **media** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 4:31 pm

Humm anythime you put something in writing it will make it to a "file". Seems like you have more manners than I. I would have told that bitch to get out of MY CLASSROOM. Then made my own announcement and told those students that the most important thing they can leave college with is the ability to read listen think and form their own opinions. That if they are willing to even consider what just happened they might as well drop out and go to barber/beauty college cause they are wasting their money.

by **patriot** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:03 pm

Skirt,

Stick it to her bro. She has no right to hi-jack your class time, and she certainly has no right to engage in any nasty partisanship in an educational institution.

You WILL NOT get fired. I garuntee it. A saw a story much like this on CNN today. A teacher was preaching pro-Bush idealogy to her students, some disagreed with her views, and then she told them they oughtta be ashamed to be Democrats...needless to say she got in deep shit. This lady is walking the razors edge, and even Johnny Cochran would have a hard time covering her ass.

by **Prodigal Son** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:31 pm

What's the policy on co-eds giving knobbers for inflated grades?

Not that I haven't fantasized about it a million times, but besides the fact that getting caught would risk being shot....the wife probalby wouldn't like me looking into that issue too closely. :-)

by **sillyslicker** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 6:18 pm

Well, we all have rights that is true. But as you said you
are teaching some courses...and the other person was what the Director.

I think you letter was emotional, and too personal. Better to address
the issue at a weekly staff meeting, or ask for a private meeting with the person.

Discuss the issue face to face, calmly.

Suggest that the next time they would like to come into your class, and make a personal political statement that you would prefer that they
consult you, since you are their teacher after all.

There isn´t much you can do. And the effect of your letter will affect you
more in the long run. It will stay in your personal file, and follow you onto your next job etc...

My last Director was a nut, but I never said, hey what they fuck are you coming in here high on heroin and prozac for ?! you are stressing me out and creating more work.,,blablabla.

The academic world is a small one, tread carefully and as my mom
always advised me. It is harder to walk away from a fight than to get into a fight. Be the bigger person and leave it. Don´t lower yourself to their level.

This won´t be the first time someone does something that offends your personal belief system, and you know what it sure as heck won´t be the last. How you deal with it will shape your character and possibly your career.

Will this get me fired?

s

sit on it for three days...if you haven´t already

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