Taking care of business

I just had a confrontation with a student that used to be rare, but has now become common.

Their first test in Music Appreciation is today at 2:00PM, and as I type this, it is now less than 2 hours before the test begins. A student came in a few minutes ago with a dilemma. She was absent the previous class meeting due to that most popular of all student excuses, the obligatory "family emergency." I wish you could all hear the desperate, yet tragic tones dripping from their voices when they whisper this magical phrase. In their minds, they believe this is the ultimate universal pass to anything and everything.

After delivering her solemn and sacred excuse, she asked if I could print out for her the notes of the material I covered the day she was absent so she could study (cram) for the upcoming test. I said, "No," because I told the class on the very first day that I don't provide notes to students in any way other than through the class lecture. After letting that disappointment and disbelief set in, she countered with, "Well, can you e-mail them to me?"

In her little pea-brain, she actually thought the whole problem with my reluctance to help her revolved around some kind of printer malfunction. She simply couldn't imagine any instructor that wouldn't backflip to provide her an exclusive, private set of instructor's notes.

I repeated, "No, I told the class on the first day that I don't e-mail grades or class notes to anyone for any reason. Besides, the notes are based on the chapters in the textbook, so read the book and you'll be in good shape."

And now here comes the REAL kicker. She defiantly replied with, "I don't have the textbook."

She spoke that declaration to me as if it were a knockout body-blow. The inflection in her voice kind of hung there at the end of the sentence, as if the next thing to follow would have been, "...so, you take it from here." She honestly couldn't imagine a world where NOT getting the textbook wouldn't be an advantage.

I said, "Well, there's the solution to your problem right there. Go get a book. You won't be successful in the class without one." For awhile, she just stared at me, as if she were expecting me to crack up and say, "JUST KIDDING!!!" When she began to realize that I was serious about not helping her, I could see her rage climbing up her neck into her face, because it left a red wave of high blood pressure all along its way.

But in the end, all she could manage to say in reply was, "Well, thanks a lot!!" and stomp away. Again, ten years ago, this happened MAYBE once a semester. Now, it happens perhaps dozens of times each semester. The details are different, but the results are the same. These poor children come to me from a world where not taking care of your responsibilities is considered a magical free pass.

For her, and the growing number of others like her, I fear she has a long, hard road ahead.

 

It starts early.

I was teaching an economics module for a charter school 10 years ago.

One of the quizzes I gave was a vocab exam of 15 economic terms. It was not difficult by any stretch of imagination - I took the definitions, word for word from their handout. All they had to do was draw line from the word to the correct definition.

They knew from the beginning they would be tested on this material, and we had exercises to actually teach the word meanings, etc.

When it came time to test time, only 1 student in the entire class actually received a passing score (70% or better) on the quiz.

The principal was furious. This wasn't a test to trip anyone up. It was a pure lack on the students part to take the time to actually study them as they were required to do.

From that point on, the students had to forfeit their recesses and lunch breaks in a study hall in my room every day until they passed the test.

Suddenly, everyone woke up. It took some longer than others, but now all of the sudden within 2 days I had everyone passing that exam.

 

I get that, too. There's a reason I announce to the class on the first day that I don't e-mail notes to anyone - it's because they ask for me to do it so doggone much. But the really funny part comes when I deny their requests by adding, "But the notes come from the book. YOU ALREADY HAVE THE NOTES. They're in the book!"

When I say that, they look at me as if to say, "Are you out of your fucking mind?!?! I'm not opening a book."

 

Working with College students, I've noticed that if I don't tell them step by step how to do something, then it doesn't get done correctly if at all. It's fun.

 

Z-Squirrel, you're a genius. You just gave me a great idea.

All of my class lectures are PowerPoint-based. I show the slides, play videos, play music, play instruments, etc. THOSE are the notes they want - the ones that go with the slides. However, I never print them up even for myself, because I already know everything I'm going to say anyway. I don't need the notes.

Therefore, I'm going to create a set of outline notes that NOBODY can follow, and willingly e-mail them to anybody that asks. For example, I can already picture my notes for early 19th century music.

Zeitgeist - Beethoven - deaf - Schroeder - flooded grave - Schubert - Austrian Secret Police - Schumann (Robert) - bi-polar - Schumann (Clara) - Brahms - Chopin - TB - George Sand - Barry Manilow - Liszt - Gypsy - Maestro - Berlioz - Harriet Smithson - Tchaikovsky - Nutcracker - Natalie Portman - gay - Mendelssohn - Jewish.

What do you think? If someone sat through several lectures with that list in their hands, they would eventually see and hear everything, but there's no way in hell they could ever use those notes for anything practical if they weren't there.