Posted on 04/04/2012 4:44:26 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The following represent the swirling conversations I hear as I travel to various colleges where I am an adjunct instructor.
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I was hurrying to my classroom when I overheard the following. A female professor smilingly says to a student that she looks quite lovely in that new outfit. As the student thanks her and rushes off to class, the professor turns to another female professor standing in the hallway and worriedly says, "I guess I shouldn't have said that. It could be construed as sexist." The other professor, well-known for her multicultural slant, laughingly retorts that as the only feminist in the department, only she "can do or say anything" implying that the first professor should be more careful about her comments.
I am repulsed by the stupidity of both comments and the hubris of the feminist, but I bite my tongue and move on.
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I received this from a student. It is the first paragraph of an out-of-class assignment. It is not the exception; it reflects the majority of the writing that I receive from my students. The topic was about "Green Power" in California. No corrections have been made.
Why don't I agree with their reason well yes they are in debit and therefore there is need in saving money but there is other ways. For insists in this solar panel really saving money or it just bring down the coast of utilities bills? Well in the reading "In order to start this solar panel system we need land and not just feet but acres according to California's law that was now mandated 78,490 acres was needed" Now think about it is it free? What was on the land before? Will this really save us from the economical crisis or will it cause a economical downfall?
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Yes problem there must be what tho in this instis might be it. If you think there free schooling end up costing evry one and you can say what you want to but we all going this way now. I mean, it’s free right? We all have a right to free college even tho we not really finis high skool so strong you know well Someone else will pay for it
Wow! That's right out of Stalin's Russia. Chilling.
This student gets an 'F', and don't bother coming to class any more. Take remedial Reading Comprehension and Essay Writing. And how the hell did he / she ever get into college?
And how the hell did he / she ever get into college?
_____________________________
It is probably a state school.
State School = Graduation Factory
Is that verbal assault, nonverbal assault, or anti-verbal assault? Anybody have an aspirin?
It’s a community college. They have nearly zero entrance requirements.
As a long-time college teacher, I can verify that although the writing sample is the exception, it is not uncommon. Math skills are far worse than writing skills. In my accounting and Excel spreadsheet classes, the simplest calculations baffle most students. The concepts of ratios and percents are foreign to 40% of my freshmen.
If I flunked all that I should, my department would be cut for lack of students. The D- is my only option.
Don’t get me started on cell phones either.
Yes, they do...you have to have a pulse, breathing is optional.
As a professor at a state university back in the early 1980’s, writing at this low level was common. Not from the foreign students, but from the students who felt entitled to a free degree from the system. I got in trouble for failing them when they could not write a simple sentence.
The other point that bothered me was students who claimed they had “test anxiety” and would take the exams in a student tutoring office with unlimited time while the rest of the class was restricted to the class period length.
Stop. This is painful enough without your dead-on parody of the musings of cretins. My undergraduate degree is a BA in English. I used to keep memos that included “your”/”you’re” and “their”/”there”/”they’re” confusion for amusement but it’s become so common that it us just depressing.
I had a co-worker, similarly inclined, with whom I would share these errors for our grim amusement. He would observe that this is the language of Shakespeare, Shelly, Keats, Wordsworth...
Sigh
My apologies as I ,too, earned a BA in English.
I read books like “Eats Shoots and Leaves” and cannot supress the urge to poke when I see such examples. My mother made sure that I knew correct usages, but always took the time to highlight incorrect or poor linguistics as if to say, “There it is...Don’t step in it!”.
Be aware, however, that I am also teaching my children correctly so that when the grading competition begins, the winner will be clear.
Don’t get me started. I saw stuff like that all the time in GRAD SCHOOL, several years ago. Truly abysmal writing and spelling skills, utter lack of logic in arguments, and a general attitude of “math is magic”. . .
This was for a Information Sciences degree. . .
How did the writer get out of high school? :(
One can raise literate children but not by relying on the schools
AT first I thought perhaps this student may have been ESL ( English as a second language). I had some professors in the engineering department who were no more literate in English than this.
But at a community college??? My best guess is this student graduated with excellent marks from and LA unified school district school
I think one of the main causes of lowered expectations is centered entirely on the (typically) complete lack of parental involvement from K through 12. More often than not, parents these days do not care enough to sit down with their kids each and every day and (at least) supervise homework. The kids are left to flail on their own when just a little parental encouragement and/or assistance is usually all it takes to help them better understand whatever problem/subject they are struggling with.
I often joke that we’ve been consistently involved in our children’s education because they are our retirement plan: We covered them through their first 25 years; they will repay that by covering us through our last 25 years.
Fortunately, we are blessed to not need their support. However, it is nice to know we have exceptional, well-balanced kids to back-up our retirement if needed who — when the time comes and my mind fades away (runs in the family) — have promised to buy me the soft, non-scratchy adult diapers and make sure I get the pretty nurse in the old-folks home.
So, I’ve got that going for me!
I’m not willing to give up on students because they are poorly prepared. Teachers should be graded by the quality of the students who pass their class. If you’re an instructor for one hour a day, then do everyone a favor and quit. I have flunked students for laziness, but I’ve never flunked one who was trying. Did I lower my standards? Nope, I worked harder. I worked with the student after class. I called students at their homes. I tried other methods of teaching. We can all make fun of students who are ill prepared, but what about the instructors who betrayed them? “Send not to know for whom the F tolls. It tolls for thee.”
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