Friday, April 20, 2007
Wow, the day began beautifully. I woke up this morning happy and content. I was thinking about my wife, believing that I would not see her because she usually goes to the gym in the morning, and she was home! Sitting in the office, at her computer. I was thrilled. I know it sounds silly, but I was really looking forward to seeing her today. She was not excited to see me, however. You know the feeling -- when your expectations don't match the reality. Oh well.
Then I get to work, check my mail, and the first thing I read is a grade complaint. I don't mind students who might question a grade, but what drives me nuts is heavy-handed approaches, ones that are not focused on the learning, but rather on the grade. Let's analyze the rhetoric in this post:
Professor Lund, I was really disappointed in my grade for this critical essay. I worked very hard on it. I noticed you changed the specifications for it very close to the due date and I did not have time to revise my paper, plus I had already submitted it. I even showed this paper to my professor at Lindenwood and he thought it was exellent, he is a PHD in English. Could you please let me know if it would be possible to revise it and resubmit it? After discussing with some of the other students in class, it seems that a fair amount had trouble with this assignment as well. Thank you.
The message begins respectfully, with "Mr. Lund." This is good rhetoric if you are trying to convince somebody of something, to begin on firm footing. The second line says I am really disappointed in my grade, which is my first indication of what sort of student this is. The message does not refer to the comments I made about the essay, or why the student received the grade they recieved, but rather just focuses on the grade.
Next, the student says, "I worked very hard," which, I guess, for some, means I deserve a reward. Hard work = Reward. Not true in my book. Education is a meritocracy, not a "work-very-hard-tocracy". If a mechanic works really hard on your car, but it still doesn't work, the work is meaningless. It is not good work, maybe not a good mechanic.
All for now.
Then I get to work, check my mail, and the first thing I read is a grade complaint. I don't mind students who might question a grade, but what drives me nuts is heavy-handed approaches, ones that are not focused on the learning, but rather on the grade. Let's analyze the rhetoric in this post:
Professor Lund, I was really disappointed in my grade for this critical essay. I worked very hard on it. I noticed you changed the specifications for it very close to the due date and I did not have time to revise my paper, plus I had already submitted it. I even showed this paper to my professor at Lindenwood and he thought it was exellent, he is a PHD in English. Could you please let me know if it would be possible to revise it and resubmit it? After discussing with some of the other students in class, it seems that a fair amount had trouble with this assignment as well. Thank you.
The message begins respectfully, with "Mr. Lund." This is good rhetoric if you are trying to convince somebody of something, to begin on firm footing. The second line says I am really disappointed in my grade, which is my first indication of what sort of student this is. The message does not refer to the comments I made about the essay, or why the student received the grade they recieved, but rather just focuses on the grade.
Next, the student says, "I worked very hard," which, I guess, for some, means I deserve a reward. Hard work = Reward. Not true in my book. Education is a meritocracy, not a "work-very-hard-tocracy". If a mechanic works really hard on your car, but it still doesn't work, the work is meaningless. It is not good work, maybe not a good mechanic.
All for now.
Labels: FW April 20
