Students are going to KILL me.

:frusty: Why, WHY can't they realize that they've lost their notes sometime before three days prior to the exam? I've had FIVE students email me today to ask me to send them the powerpoint presentation I did for one of the chapters. When is the exam? FRIDAY. No wonder the class had a D average on the last exam, if so many wait this long to study.

I've warned them over and over again that they need to be studying as we go along, that waiting until immediately before the exam will just get them a very bad grade. Do they listen? Apparently not. This is why giving a failing class grade is very cathartic. I figure, if they try, it's evident in either their scores or in the way they approach the class. Waiting until three days before the exam to attempt to cram 3 very complex chapters of college biology through your skull isn't trying in any sense of the word! :speechles :huytsao

No one wants to commiserate with me over my crappy students? Damn.

Are they freshmen?

Mostly. It's a gen ed class, so I have a few upperclassmen that put it off until the very last minute.

And you might like this. Remember the girl that was basically telling me to give her a B, because she's on scholarship? She's got an F for the course, so far.

Usually it only took giving one bad grade and they usually cleaned up their act.

Yeah, that's not working so well with this group. A guy that made a 31 on the last exam is one of the folks that emailed me today, asking me to send him the power point presentations. Of course, he did actually start coming to class after he got his 31. He's getting there, but I still think he's going to fail. He's got a 40-something average in the class right now.

I'm terrible, I've got an exam next Wednesday and I've done absolutely nothing towards it.

So you'd love me in your class!

Except that I tend to get straight high distinctions without doing any work, lord knows how.

Do you get whole classes who are good and whole classes who are bad? Or are they all bad?

No, I get mixed classes. Some of them are very good students, ask questions, study, etc. Others are mid-grade. The rest are mediocre, at best.

Laurend--this must be your first year of teaching? In a few years, you will get used to this. Students do it to themselves. Prepare yourself for lots of tears, begging, and pseudo-remorse at the end of the semester.

I do think that it has gotten worse recently. Many students today expect to get something for nothing--it's been that way all their lives. Mommy and daddy do a great job of teaching them that they are entitled to whatever they want, and they never had to work for anything. Look at their clothes, cars, toys, and vacations--in high school even! Then suddenly, in college they get a prof who actually expects that they do some homework, and they can't cope. Oh, yes. . .the joys of teaching!

Oh, and I was going to mention. I have all my powerpoints online so the students can download them themselves. Is there some way you can do this?

I don't study till right before the test, because I'm not 'absorbing' anything in the sense of I'll remember it.. I'm absorbing it momentarily to pass a test. I'm in a BIO lab class right now, the only thing I hold onto from it, are things I'm interested in.. we just covered genetics, didn't have to study because I find it interesting and I kept the information. Now we're doing natural selection, which isn't interesting to me, my brain won't retain the info, so I'm not studying till right before the test. Such is life for a student :P

Nah, it's the third year that I've been teaching. I'm a grad student, so I'm teaching as part of my assistantship. It's actually improved tremendously since the first semester I taught. Boy, did I get flattened that semester. As much as I bitch about this class, they're actually (horrifyingly?) one of the better classes that I've had.

I can, but I'm not set up to do it right now. We've got Blackboard, if you are familiar with that, but I'd have to go to the ITDS department and have them set up an account for me. It usually takes a couple of weeks.

Aw, you're not interested in natural selection? I LOVE that section, both when taking classes and teaching. That and evolution are the best parts.

Lauren, I often think we were separated at birth. I almost always agree with your posts. This one I can't really relate because I'm not a teacher and I've always been like Jacqui, a terrible procrastinator rewared by good grades.

I love Natural Selection, Evolution, etc. I Tivo'd a bunch of "origin of man" and "evolution of the brain" stuff -- love it! In fact, being as sick as I am, I love to watch Evolution in action in modern times. One of my favorites, the Darwin Awards!

The Darwin Awards