Lots of AWOL

The difference between the two sections of 101 was made obvious today. In the earlier section, there were more students present than on Monday, and all but one had essays in hand, ready to work. In the later section, ten out of twenty-four students were AWOL--including two of the best students in the class--and one didn't have an essay with him. A couple of them were clearly completely uninterested in doing the work; in fact, one of them has made his disdain for the class manifest in every possible way. He'll be getting an early warning from me, as well as an official one once the system has been activated: he's done virtually zero work. I was surprised he had an essay with him today (and I'm most curious to see what he wrote).

Another "issue" with that later section is in the form of one particular student. I may have mentioned him before: he's quite bright, and has a big personality, but he's the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, and it's gone completely to his head. He's late every class--and his writing leaves a hell of a lot to be desired simply in terms of correct "GSP" (grammar, spelling, punctuation), not to mention that he has a habit of shooting from the hip (to use a cliché) instead of actually thinking--and he perpetually shills for the paper.

So after class, I had a longer, more serious talk with him. I truly doubt that I got through; he knows how to act as if he's being respectful and cares, but I've been to this fire too many times to buy it. Students who are deeply involved in other aspects of campus life--the paper, student government, whatever--almost always are disasters in the classroom. The other stuff is understandably a lot more fun, and all of it--class as well as the other activities--can easily take up every morsel of a person's time. They prioritize the other stuff, and their course work goes to hell.

I was pretty fierce with this young man and told him that he needs to decide now whether he wants to prioritize the paper or my class--but once we're through with this essay process, if he comes to class late, I'm going to tell him to turn around and leave: he's too disruptive. I also told him that he can shill the paper after class--but not during: class is not the forum for his trying to drum up business (or contributors). He "yes, ma'am"ed me, but as I said, I'm not buying it. For one thing, he said that he sees his extracurricular activities as being similar to being a student athlete, and "athletes get excused from class..." I jumped in: "Not by me." He was startled. "What happens if they have a game?" "It's one of their absences." Ooooh, harsh. We batted that around: this is not an athletic institution; it's an educational institution that supports athletics. I understand that our athletic teams are quite good, but I expect my colleagues in the Physical Education department to respect the work that I do.

This young man wants to be the CEO of his own media corporation. I suggested that, in that case, it might be a good idea if he could write without glaring errors at the very least. He admitted that he comes in for a fair amount of ridicule over his writing; I didn't tell him that once he gets into the work world, he'll face more than ridicule: he'll face disdain (and possible unemployment). He'll find that out in due time, if he doesn't button things up and start putting more of his emphasis on doing well in my class. He did say that his girlfriend, who goes to Fordham (I think he said) looked at the syllabus for my course and said, "Oh! It's a real college course." He also said--though it may have been lip service--that he likes the fact that my class is actually preparing students for what comes next, so they don't get smacked when they move on. As I said, he knows the things to say to please, but his actions may well tell another story. I reserve judgment. But I will cut him zero slack. He's had sufficient warning.

I will say that ending my day with that class left me in a bit of a "fuck this shit" mood. There is lots more work I could, should, do tonight before I go, but I'm just not going to do it. I really will have to get in early (or early-ish) tomorrow, however, as I realized today in Advisement that I've been holding on to student assignments in the SF class for way too long. (I also suspect that a lot of them are cheating on their homework, using online study guides, but I can't catch them at it, so I'll pretend I don't know.) So I truly do have to get those ready to return at 1, and there's a big, departmental Assessment colloquium tomorrow that I really can't miss, so my time before class is limited.

All the more reason to pretty much drop everything from today and leave it where it is until I can get to it later. And with that, my faithful readers, I am outta here.