I Caved And I Don't Feel Good About It
This summer, I did something as a teacher that I've never done in my entire career. I gave a student an A because I got tired of the constant emails bashing me and how I grade incorrectly. Yeah, I'm not proud of how I caved and gave the student exactly what the student wanted, but I decided to do what I did because this student isn't worth my time.
The first email I received from this student expressed disappointment in the grade given for the first draft of the first paper. I replied, explaining what I was seeing and why I gave the grade I did (which was exactly what I said directly on the paper as well as in a long end comment the student can access when the paper is returned). Then the replies started coming in: I didn't grade correctly; everything I asked for was in the paper; all of the ideas were there, just "invisible like" (whatever the hell that means). It's one thing to get an email from a student; it's quite another to get an email, followed five minutes later by another email, followed five minutes later by another. I tried to be patient. I answered questions. I pointed to specific parts of the essay to support what I was saying.
Then more emails happened after the second essay. After the third. The fourth. It was the email in which the student accused me of not informing the class about me leaving comments directly on their papers that I said I'm done. I responded to this accusation by saying I, in fact, did inform the class by leaving an announcement about comments being left directly on the paper. That announcement went out June 21st. I suggested to this student the accusation was unfair. The response? A completely new email to inform me the student was going to send me a revised draft of a paper and wanted me to proofread it. The student never acknowledged I had informed the class about the comments left on the papers.
The completely new email I didn't respond to. I deleted it. The next email, the one with the attached revised essay the student wanted me to proofread, I didn't read. I deleted it. The work this student is turning in? I'm not reading any of it. I just give the 100% and move on.
Still, I'm getting emails from this student. Today, the student wanted to meet with me on campus to "talk about the end of the semester." WTF? It's an online class.
A colleague suggested this student's behavior is cyber-bullying. In reading through all of the emails one after the other, there is definitely an aggressive tone. The continued emails though the student is getting an A seems extremely odd. And the whole wanting to meet with me on campus though the student is getting an A (not to mention this is an online course) also speaks to someone who believes they can call the shots. Something weird is definitely going on.
With one last paper coming in later this week, I'm sure I haven't heard the last from this student. I have a hunch I'm going to receive an email with the last paper attached and a request to proofread it before it's submitted for grading. If I do, the answer to the request is going to be a hard no.
The first email I received from this student expressed disappointment in the grade given for the first draft of the first paper. I replied, explaining what I was seeing and why I gave the grade I did (which was exactly what I said directly on the paper as well as in a long end comment the student can access when the paper is returned). Then the replies started coming in: I didn't grade correctly; everything I asked for was in the paper; all of the ideas were there, just "invisible like" (whatever the hell that means). It's one thing to get an email from a student; it's quite another to get an email, followed five minutes later by another email, followed five minutes later by another. I tried to be patient. I answered questions. I pointed to specific parts of the essay to support what I was saying.
Then more emails happened after the second essay. After the third. The fourth. It was the email in which the student accused me of not informing the class about me leaving comments directly on their papers that I said I'm done. I responded to this accusation by saying I, in fact, did inform the class by leaving an announcement about comments being left directly on the paper. That announcement went out June 21st. I suggested to this student the accusation was unfair. The response? A completely new email to inform me the student was going to send me a revised draft of a paper and wanted me to proofread it. The student never acknowledged I had informed the class about the comments left on the papers.
The completely new email I didn't respond to. I deleted it. The next email, the one with the attached revised essay the student wanted me to proofread, I didn't read. I deleted it. The work this student is turning in? I'm not reading any of it. I just give the 100% and move on.
Still, I'm getting emails from this student. Today, the student wanted to meet with me on campus to "talk about the end of the semester." WTF? It's an online class.
A colleague suggested this student's behavior is cyber-bullying. In reading through all of the emails one after the other, there is definitely an aggressive tone. The continued emails though the student is getting an A seems extremely odd. And the whole wanting to meet with me on campus though the student is getting an A (not to mention this is an online course) also speaks to someone who believes they can call the shots. Something weird is definitely going on.
With one last paper coming in later this week, I'm sure I haven't heard the last from this student. I have a hunch I'm going to receive an email with the last paper attached and a request to proofread it before it's submitted for grading. If I do, the answer to the request is going to be a hard no.
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