Blaze, a student, enters, stage right, and settles into a seat.
Instructor
...So now I want you to watch a clip from this film, keeping in mind what we've just discussed, and see how these concepts apply to the situation the film portrays.
[The film begins and the instructor sits down. Blaze gets up and walks to the front of the lecture hall to speak to the instructor.]
Blaze (sotto voce)
Did I miss a quiz today?
Instructor
Yes you did.
Blaze
Is there any way I can make it up?
Instructor
No.
Blaze
How much does it count toward my grade?
Instructor
Ten percent.
Blaze (horrified)
You mean I can't get an A in this class?
Instructor
You have extra credit options. Go back to your seat and watch the film. I will discuss this with you after class.
[Blaze returns unhappily to his seat.]
...So now I want you to watch a clip from this film, keeping in mind what we've just discussed, and see how these concepts apply to the situation the film portrays.
[The film begins and the instructor sits down. Blaze gets up and walks to the front of the lecture hall to speak to the instructor.]
Blaze (sotto voce)
Did I miss a quiz today?
Instructor
Yes you did.
Blaze
Is there any way I can make it up?
Instructor
No.
Blaze
How much does it count toward my grade?
Instructor
Ten percent.
Blaze (horrified)
You mean I can't get an A in this class?
Instructor
You have extra credit options. Go back to your seat and watch the film. I will discuss this with you after class.
[Blaze returns unhappily to his seat.]
ACT II: Same lecture hall, one hour later. Students are collecting their belongings and leaving. Some remain, including Blaze, to talk to the instructor. A queue has formed at the front of the room with Blaze at its head.
Blaze, addressing the instructor
You may have noticed that I'm late almost every day. This is because I have to do [something important] in the mornings, and so I am frequently late getting on campus. I don't think it's fair that these quizzes are at the beginning of class and that they count for so much of my grade.
Instructor
I told you on the first day of class what days the quizzes were scheduled and when they would be. If this was a problem for you, you should have talked to me then.
Blaze
But it isn't fair. Why don't you have them at the end of class?
Instructor
This is the way I do it. If you had issues with it, you had all quarter to come and talk to me about it.
Blaze
I think you should consider restructuring the class. It isn't fair that I should lose so many points.
Instructor
I have no intention of restructuring my class.
[Blaze walks away, disgruntled. Instructor turns and snaps angrily at the next student in line.]
You may have noticed that I'm late almost every day. This is because I have to do [something important] in the mornings, and so I am frequently late getting on campus. I don't think it's fair that these quizzes are at the beginning of class and that they count for so much of my grade.
Instructor
I told you on the first day of class what days the quizzes were scheduled and when they would be. If this was a problem for you, you should have talked to me then.
Blaze
But it isn't fair. Why don't you have them at the end of class?
Instructor
This is the way I do it. If you had issues with it, you had all quarter to come and talk to me about it.
Blaze
I think you should consider restructuring the class. It isn't fair that I should lose so many points.
Instructor
I have no intention of restructuring my class.
[Blaze walks away, disgruntled. Instructor turns and snaps angrily at the next student in line.]
CURTAIN
23 comments:
Just curious, would it HAVE made a difference if he had approached you on the first day and explained his situation and asked to take the quizzes later?
Absolutely. My policy is that you only have to tell me ahead of time that you won't make a quiz or exam, and to provide documentation of the reason. Had he told me he was going to be 30 minutes late to every class, I would have arranged for him to take it later (or earlier).
But getting in my face and telling me it's all my fault? Bad strategy.
OK, first, why the funk did he sign up for a class that he knew he wouldn't be able to attend?
How do we manage as a society to rear so many wastrels with such a huge sense of entitlement? It's not fair? Thousands of people die every day from malaria. That isn't fair. Women are paid less than men for the exact same work. That isn't fair. I will never know what it is like to be tall, thin, and good looking. That certainly isn't fair. It's what my mother would have called a classic case of That's Too Damn Bad.
Sorry for the rant. This just presses me off.
Hahahahahaaa! Go get 'em, AP! The little twerp should've read the syllabus. Failing to do so gets 'em every time.
In these situations, which from other comments do indeed appear to be far too common, I always wish (after the fact) that I had replied,
"Well, I don't think it's fair for you to think missing 30 minutes of every class should warrant an A."
or
"I don't think it's fair that I have to re-explain class policies to you when you have a syllabus that you can read at your leisure."
Also, you [like me and most other profs] are willing to be flexible if the student informs you ahead of time. Why do they always want special accommodations *AFTER* the fact?
Once, I had a student who told me she might be late every class because of a religious obligation. Because it was midday, I assumed she was Muslim, but in the end it didn't matter and I needed no details! She warned me ahead of time and yet still managed to make it to class before I finished taking roll nearly every class.
That very same semester, 50% of the class disappeared for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. No one told me they would miss for a holiday, yet most of them expected accommodation. Considering I never knew any other Christian/Catholic who needed off the ENTIRE day for either holiday, I suspect there was no religious observance going on in this case.
I really like the way you just dead panned your answers to him. People like blaze, just astound me.
I hate to say it I have a 19 year old son who is just like blaze. He has this unbeleivable sense of entitlement. It started to show up when he was 2 years old. Over the years it has gotten to the place where he would demand something and I would just say no.
He finaly said to me one day, "I can make everybody around me do what ever I want, but I can't make you do anything I want. You are just a pain in my ass."
When he was 17 he threatend to leave home if I didn't do what he wanted. I told him, "You know where the door is, you can leave whenever you want." He left home and spent 18 months living on handout from his friends.
Stand your ground and never guilt out. But be prepaired to exercise the gift of mercy if it is required.
"I always wish (after the fact) that I had replied,
'Well, I don't think it's fair for you to think missing 30 minutes of every class should warrant an A.'
or
'I don't think it's fair that I have to re-explain class policies to you when you have a syllabus that you can read at your leisure.'"
I've used both of these, often. The response is that it's unfair of me to point those things out, because it catches them at their game and thus hurts their feelings, which is unprofessional of me to do.
I'd fail him for his general attitude
Life lesson learned, one hopes.
Myth's responses were brilliantly snarky, and I'd have used 'em. What a little twerp.
(Myth, I'd guess -- just guess -- that there was Mass to distribute ashes at noon, and that's why they missed a midday class... just a guess.)
Funny, how everyone assumed Blaze is a guy - I automatically assumed it was a girl!! AP is very careful not to specify gender in her description.
I'm not a prof but I can appreciate the problem as I am a librarian and have gotten these types of queries re overdue books! At the beginning of the year i can usually tell which kids are going to be the whiners....
Brava!
Good for you. You provide a syllabus with the what, where, whys and expectations but, I am assuming that he can read, comprehend that it includes himself and that he understands responsibility.
But apparently I am mistaken
Is it mandatory to attend class in a US university?
I studied in another country, and there the principle was that it doesn't matter how you learn the things, but that you learn them. And that it is entirely the student's obligation to make sure to learn things in whatever way the student manages and likes to do it.
Knowledge was checked with a lot of written exams. But class attendance was completely optional.
Which was a good thing. In particular for the courses where the professor was just reading from the same book he or she wrote 30 years ago.
I spent much more time in the library, trying to figure things out, than in class.
Whether class attendance is required depends on the teacher and school. I go to the University of Oregon and some teachers do require attendance and make it part of your grade. Others never take roll but give quizzes as a way of keeping track of who shows up. While I feel that required attendance at a school I'm paying thousands of dollars to attend is a little ridiculous, I certainly think professors are well within their rights to give quizzes/tests at the start of class. I always try to let professors know ahead of time if I'm going to be absent. But sometimes I decide to skip, and if I do, I figure it's my money and my grade at stake. I would never dream of blaming the professor for my decision to sleep in.
chemlibrarian, check out the line at the end of Act I.
[Blaze returns unhappily to his seat.]
Cranky:
Oh, I do suspect a few of those students went to a service, but again...no one told me. A paper was due...and not one student let me know or asked to turn it in later [or, Heaven forbid, earlier!]. I had 2 classes that day, one at 1:30 and one at 3:30...no one asked to come to the second one *AND* half the second class missed too.
In fact, now that I think about it more, 2 people DID e-mail in the later class to let me know about the holiday [on the day of the holiday...not very helpful] but still showed up anyway!
To Everyone:
I also am curious what everyone else thinks about Bend's suggestion:
"I'd fail him for his general attitude"
I've had to change grades for students who defied policies and complained. There was no way in Heck I'd be able to get away with that! [Although I'd sure love to in many occasions, especially when the Blazes in class go beyond being simply demanding and segue to disruptive and belligerent].
As an aside to AP:
I love how you wrote this as a play. These sorts of situations always seem like they'd have to be fiction when I think about them after they happen to me!
Wow. I cannot imagine pulling that kind of attitude on a professor ever. I remember having to miss a couple of classes once for my grandmother's funeral and feeling awful for even asking. I asked the minute I knew and got permission and all, and I made sure to do the reading on the flight because I felt so guilty about missing class.
I've had students with that kind of attitude, and it always boggled my mind. I even had a student beg me to change a paper grade after graduation. She had issues. *sigh*
STUDENT: "I don't think it's fair that--"
ME: "Duly noted, and thank you for your feedback. Next person?"
"Entitlement", that's the word, and I have NO idea where so many youngsters today got it (they're younger than my children and older than my grandchildren so I don't think *I* did it!) I'm a passionate Lover of and Advocate for the Department of Consequences.
I really need to channel some of you when my students challenge me - that was impressive. I wish I could stand my ground so well.
I'll be a contrarian and say that entitlement is an excellent way to live your life. Combine entitlement with smarts and privilege and you get Bill Gates. Combine entitlement with just privilege and you get George Bush. It can't be the only thing that gets you have to get you what you want, but it's important. The person who acts unentitled (word?) will finish behind the entitled guy or gal every time in life (everything else being equal).
Some of them have a sense of entitlement, and others are just clueless. For the clueless ones, I finally wrote an essay called "How to Manipulate Your Professor" which covers basic don't-be-an-idiot things that students do all the time.
For the ones with a sense of entitlement... well, ultimately they serve as object lessons for the students who actually are growing up.
Leigh: well said. As a freshman, I actually thought that it was acceptable to say to a professor, "I was [off doing something else] last class. Did I miss anything?" Watching "entitled" students say even worse things did clue me in to how to speak to professors respectfully. Negative examples are good for something.
J*
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