Two Weeks to Recharge
Grades are in, and out of my four classes, only one student is complaining about the course grade. A student who didn't turn most of the assignments in by the due dates. A student who waited until finals week to work on two major papers and the semester-long project. A student who inundated me with emails about how rough her semester has been. When I refused to answer a list of questions she sent last week about concepts that were covered during the semester, she became very upset with me and told me I'm out of touch with the younger generations, I don't listen, and I am the cause of all her stress.
I do feel for this student. From what she wrote and the fact that she sent email after email several times during the week, I'm pretty sure she's dealing with mental illness. My hope is she gets help. I sent her series of emails to my boss to clue him into what she said and how she said it. I also encouraged the student to contact my boss to set up a meeting where the three of us can look over her work together. I haven't heard from her since, and my boss has not received a call or email from her.
I try not to let this kind of student behavior bug me, but it does a little. The anger and aggression that are evident in her emails make me a bit wary, and my thoughts turn to how I would handle a student who comes to my office with the intention of causing harm in some way. There's really nothing I could do.
Over the last 20 years, I've experienced more and more students who self-identify as having high anxiety and/or depression. Each semester, I receive more accommodations notices than the semester before. Therapy dogs are a regular fixture on campus. One student even carried a therapy snake in her backpack. I've talked many students away from the panic-attack ledge during the last six, seven years. Even with my curriculum, when I want to carry on a conversation about a text, the themes it's getting at and what we might be able to learn from it, I have to tread lightly because of "trigger" words/ideas that might cause one or more of my students to experience a mental health crisis.
I didn't go to grad school to be a counselor/therapist, but I find a lot of my time is spent negotiating mental health territory. It's exhausting.
I'm kind of dreading teaching summer session, but maybe these next two weeks of downtime will be enough to recharge my teaching batteries.
I do feel for this student. From what she wrote and the fact that she sent email after email several times during the week, I'm pretty sure she's dealing with mental illness. My hope is she gets help. I sent her series of emails to my boss to clue him into what she said and how she said it. I also encouraged the student to contact my boss to set up a meeting where the three of us can look over her work together. I haven't heard from her since, and my boss has not received a call or email from her.
I try not to let this kind of student behavior bug me, but it does a little. The anger and aggression that are evident in her emails make me a bit wary, and my thoughts turn to how I would handle a student who comes to my office with the intention of causing harm in some way. There's really nothing I could do.
Over the last 20 years, I've experienced more and more students who self-identify as having high anxiety and/or depression. Each semester, I receive more accommodations notices than the semester before. Therapy dogs are a regular fixture on campus. One student even carried a therapy snake in her backpack. I've talked many students away from the panic-attack ledge during the last six, seven years. Even with my curriculum, when I want to carry on a conversation about a text, the themes it's getting at and what we might be able to learn from it, I have to tread lightly because of "trigger" words/ideas that might cause one or more of my students to experience a mental health crisis.
I didn't go to grad school to be a counselor/therapist, but I find a lot of my time is spent negotiating mental health territory. It's exhausting.
I'm kind of dreading teaching summer session, but maybe these next two weeks of downtime will be enough to recharge my teaching batteries.
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