Of course, I had no idea when I created the topic for the final essay that this year it would have more powerful resonance than ever before, since all my students--and to a certain extent their professor--are all in the position of having to rely on social technology for contact beyond our immediate families, and we're starting to feel on a visceral level the value of being in the same physical space with other human beings.
But I'm always interested to note that many of my students are in full agreement that their attachment to their smart phones is problematic. There are always a few who make a powerful (and at least partly defensive) argument in favor of the connectivity we gain from our devices: contact with people around the world, communities who are like-minded, creative connections. They're less aware of the "echo chamber" effect, which is highly problematic in our society--and that's not generational: that's for everyone.
I'm also interested to note how much I want to actually talk with them about all this, not just exchange monologues in text. I love that they're having to get their ideas into written words--that's an enormous boon in a composition class--but when it comes to debating the topics, we need the give-and-take of real-time interaction.
Because it's a fully online class, I can't mandate meetings at any specific time. I am, however--and shifting gears--going to mandate online essay conferences, if I teach the class again. That personal discussion, even just for 20 minutes, does more to guide them than anything I can put in writing.
Today, I realized I was a week off in my own head and I had to issue a quick disclaimer to the students: their essays are due this coming Monday, the 13th, not the 20th as I'd said in my emails to them. But I decided to extend the deadline to the 15th--partly because I screwed up and partly because I'd like them to have the extra time. I could push it even later, but I don't want them to rush their final essays.
But having that realization also made me realize I was falling further behind with reading/responding/grading homework than I was aware. And as I've been reading their discussion board posts from last week, I realize I don't want to post a response in writing. I'm going to make a video for them, talking about the points I see in their posts. I'm not quite sure where I'll post it yet, but I think in the same folder where their essay submissions go will be a good place.
Now, however, my mind has gone on the fritz. It is a spectacularly gorgeous day, and I need to get out in it. I would much prefer to garden or do something useful, rather than taking the usual walk, but being out is being out--and we're going to have another cold spell in a few days, so enjoying this while it lasts is paramount.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Sunday, April 5, 2020
No can do
I swore to myself that I'd get the rest of the damned essays graded and back to students today, come hell or high water. Neither hell nor high water have made an appearance, but I just reached a point of total brain fry: I can't tell anymore whether the problems are the students' or whether I'm just not processing ideas. And even if I assume the problems are the students' (which is likely the case), I am afraid my comments wouldn't make any sense, so it's time to call a halt, dig into a foxhole for the night, and try to reach the summit again tomorrow.
And I only had two more to go. One will be pretty good; one won't be. Tomorrow, I should probably take the more problematic one first, save the decent one for when I'm starting to flag a bit anyway. (It doesn't seem to take much.)
How in the name of all that is holy was I able to grade the masses of essays I used to face on a regular basis? I simply can't fathom.
In any event, I am sure they don't care, but I just sent an announcement apologizing for the delay and promising the essays for tomorrow. I also told them I'll be available over spring break, if they need me.
But now, I need to email a student who has yet to submit any essay at all--neither version of essay one, and now not the first version of essay two. I've been telling him for weeks that he needs to withdraw, and now I have to let him know that his very last chance for making it has sailed and is already gone over the horizon. I'm not looking forward to the meeting with Working Dad on Tuesday, either.
Oh, hell: I'd forgotten I have a meeting with another student tomorrow; that will cramp my grading time a trifle. Maybe I have to (horrors) set an alarm clock so I'm up and at 'em earlier than has been the case for some while.
Well, whatever. Sufficient unto the day and all that. I'm toast.
And I only had two more to go. One will be pretty good; one won't be. Tomorrow, I should probably take the more problematic one first, save the decent one for when I'm starting to flag a bit anyway. (It doesn't seem to take much.)
How in the name of all that is holy was I able to grade the masses of essays I used to face on a regular basis? I simply can't fathom.
In any event, I am sure they don't care, but I just sent an announcement apologizing for the delay and promising the essays for tomorrow. I also told them I'll be available over spring break, if they need me.
But now, I need to email a student who has yet to submit any essay at all--neither version of essay one, and now not the first version of essay two. I've been telling him for weeks that he needs to withdraw, and now I have to let him know that his very last chance for making it has sailed and is already gone over the horizon. I'm not looking forward to the meeting with Working Dad on Tuesday, either.
Oh, hell: I'd forgotten I have a meeting with another student tomorrow; that will cramp my grading time a trifle. Maybe I have to (horrors) set an alarm clock so I'm up and at 'em earlier than has been the case for some while.
Well, whatever. Sufficient unto the day and all that. I'm toast.
Friday, April 3, 2020
Thank heaven for Paul
I have, once again, made so little progress it might as well be zero progress. I finished grading the essay I started yesterday and graded one more. I wondered if I could find an "easy" one to grade, but the few I looked at caused me to feel existential despair, so I decided to hand it up for the evening and hope for a more productive day tomorrow.
Part of the lack of progress is that I've been having phone conversations, but I don't regret the time lost to them--especially not the time lost to talking with Paul. Of course, our conversations are always wonderful; he is my dear, good friend, and we can talk a blue streak. But today, I wanted to vent to him and to get his support about Working Dad--and he was, as always, a voice of clarity and reason. In fact, I am not being overly draconian in this time of plague; I'm being realistic.
Today's little kicker was that Working Dad emailed to say he needed another example of what he's supposed to do. I said, in response, he doesn't need an example to know the difference between his words and someone else's, no matter how much stress he's under. The poor man is clearly a train-wreck, but as Paul said, Working Dad was a mess before the crisis hit--for years before, probably, maybe even always--so the crisis isn't really the problem, though it may be something of a factor. And the bottom line, Paul reminds me, is that the guy cannot seem to understand the most absolutely basic, simple of concepts, and therefore he cannot be said to have mastered what he needs in order to continue.
I am, of course, sorry that he paid for the course out of his own pocket and it won't advance him toward graduation. I am sorry that he may "never" be able to afford to take the class again (which begs the question how he can afford to take any classes again, but I won't go there). I am sorry that he is anxious and stressed. He still has to provide an essay that is actually an essay and that uses sources appropriately.
And as I'm writing this, I suddenly thought, "Wait: the handbook has sample student work, including examples of how to use sources." And I've certainly assigned the pages in the handbook where those examples are given, though whether he's read and comprehended them is a different matter entirely. I will point that out to him when we talk.
That's my decision, by the way: we need to talk. It's clear that the back-and-forth of emails will not suffice to clarify the situation for him, so we're going to have another meeting next week. I expect I will give him a chance to "fix" (as in, actually write) his essay for the final version, rather than dropping the (velvet) axe right now--but I will tell him that if he screws up again (which I expect he will), he will have only the option to withdraw or fail. He doesn't have to withdraw; he can refuse until the cows come home (where the hell are those cows, anyway?), but he won't get a passing grade.
On a more positive note, I did hear from the student I was fretting about who didn't fix an instance of plagiarism in the final version of essay 1. I'll meet with him next week, too--and I will allow him the opportunity to fix the mistake and get credit for the essay; he can learn from the learning opportunity, whereas apparently Working Dad cannot.
Paul and I also talked about life during pandemic in general--and how the unknowns of the future are more glaringly "unknown" than is usually the case. Apparently, the powers that be are wondering whether the school will even exist in the fall: will we have enough students enrolled to keep anyone, never mind everyone, working? Unknown. How long will the pandemic last? Unknown. What will happen to our society in general as a result of the pandemic? Unknown. How might it affect our individual lives? Unknown.
So, we breathe (coherence breathing--five breaths a minute, six seconds in, six seconds out--for 10-20 minutes, or 4-4-6-2 breathing--breathe in for a count of four, pause the breath for a count of four, breathe out for a count of six, pause the breath for a count of two: repeat at least five times). And we follow the 12-Step program adage: Trust in God and do the dishes.
And, like Scarlett, think about anything else tomorrow, when we're stronger.
Part of the lack of progress is that I've been having phone conversations, but I don't regret the time lost to them--especially not the time lost to talking with Paul. Of course, our conversations are always wonderful; he is my dear, good friend, and we can talk a blue streak. But today, I wanted to vent to him and to get his support about Working Dad--and he was, as always, a voice of clarity and reason. In fact, I am not being overly draconian in this time of plague; I'm being realistic.
Today's little kicker was that Working Dad emailed to say he needed another example of what he's supposed to do. I said, in response, he doesn't need an example to know the difference between his words and someone else's, no matter how much stress he's under. The poor man is clearly a train-wreck, but as Paul said, Working Dad was a mess before the crisis hit--for years before, probably, maybe even always--so the crisis isn't really the problem, though it may be something of a factor. And the bottom line, Paul reminds me, is that the guy cannot seem to understand the most absolutely basic, simple of concepts, and therefore he cannot be said to have mastered what he needs in order to continue.
I am, of course, sorry that he paid for the course out of his own pocket and it won't advance him toward graduation. I am sorry that he may "never" be able to afford to take the class again (which begs the question how he can afford to take any classes again, but I won't go there). I am sorry that he is anxious and stressed. He still has to provide an essay that is actually an essay and that uses sources appropriately.
And as I'm writing this, I suddenly thought, "Wait: the handbook has sample student work, including examples of how to use sources." And I've certainly assigned the pages in the handbook where those examples are given, though whether he's read and comprehended them is a different matter entirely. I will point that out to him when we talk.
That's my decision, by the way: we need to talk. It's clear that the back-and-forth of emails will not suffice to clarify the situation for him, so we're going to have another meeting next week. I expect I will give him a chance to "fix" (as in, actually write) his essay for the final version, rather than dropping the (velvet) axe right now--but I will tell him that if he screws up again (which I expect he will), he will have only the option to withdraw or fail. He doesn't have to withdraw; he can refuse until the cows come home (where the hell are those cows, anyway?), but he won't get a passing grade.
On a more positive note, I did hear from the student I was fretting about who didn't fix an instance of plagiarism in the final version of essay 1. I'll meet with him next week, too--and I will allow him the opportunity to fix the mistake and get credit for the essay; he can learn from the learning opportunity, whereas apparently Working Dad cannot.
Paul and I also talked about life during pandemic in general--and how the unknowns of the future are more glaringly "unknown" than is usually the case. Apparently, the powers that be are wondering whether the school will even exist in the fall: will we have enough students enrolled to keep anyone, never mind everyone, working? Unknown. How long will the pandemic last? Unknown. What will happen to our society in general as a result of the pandemic? Unknown. How might it affect our individual lives? Unknown.
So, we breathe (coherence breathing--five breaths a minute, six seconds in, six seconds out--for 10-20 minutes, or 4-4-6-2 breathing--breathe in for a count of four, pause the breath for a count of four, breathe out for a count of six, pause the breath for a count of two: repeat at least five times). And we follow the 12-Step program adage: Trust in God and do the dishes.
And, like Scarlett, think about anything else tomorrow, when we're stronger.
Thursday, April 2, 2020
The "I can't think" compounding factor
Of course, as any of my blog readers know, it's hard enough for me to focus on grading student essays under the best of circumstances. After the third night in a row of not enough sleep--and last night's being by far the worst--my ability to focus is even more shot than usual.
Two essays were submitted late. Technically, I shouldn't provide comments on one of those two, as the student didn't ask for any kind of extension, and my policy is that essays submitted more than 24 hours late don't get comments. But this student missed the first version of the first essay, so she hasn't gotten any comments from me before. I therefore think it's rather important that she gets comments this time. The other student has been in touch with me for some time--before the pandemic hit, in fact--about health problems, so when she asked for an extension, I gave it to her. She then didn't complete the upload, apparently, because the essay she said I'd get on Monday didn't land until after I poked her about it yesterday. I sent her an email saying, in essence, "'I thought I'd submitted it' isn't much of an excuse." But I didn't slam her as hard as I might, as she's generally a very diligent student.
Much more to my dismay, Working Dad submitted an essay that was 84% plagiarized: he simply cut and pasted almost an entire article into his paper. He's one of those people who legitimately has serious problems of all sorts, but he's also one of those people who always has an excuse,so the compassion fatigue has set in. Pretty much, he wants me to say, "I know you're struggling, so here: you don't have to do any work and I'll give you a B." In the case of this essay, his excuse was all sorts of crises and disasters in his life (some clearly in his own head: he is sure he's got COVID-19, but none of the symptoms he describes are symptoms of the virus)--and that he accidentally uploaded the wrong file, saying he also was very embarrassed.
I wrote him a sympathetic email in which I said I understand how, under the circumstances, he could make that kind of mistake, but in that case, he needed to upload the correct file to Turnitin and contact me immediately if Turnitin won't let him do that (my settings may mean he can't) so we can work out another solution.
But today, I got an email from him saying he had "reviewed" his essay and he could see that there had been some instances of "unacceptable borrowing" from his sources, which is why I "assumed" it was plagiarized.
And now I've fucking had it. 1. An essay that is 84% plagiarized is not a case of some unacceptable borrowing, nor is it an assumption on my part that it's plagiarized. 2. If he uploaded the wrong file--as I said earlier--he needs to fix the error. 3. If the file he reviewed matches the essay in the plagiarism report I sent him, then he does not understand what plagiarism is, how to use sources, or how to develop his own points--and at this stage in the semester, if he doesn't understand those basics, he cannot pass the class.
We'll see what he comes up with next.
When I hit the wall rather abruptly just before starting this post, I was working through the essay submitted by one of the two students who had been guilty of uncorrected and genuinely accidental plagiarism--the one of the two who never contacted me about that issue and who therefore, according to my plagiarism policy and my email to him about his first essay, should get a zero for that first essay. Part of why I hit the wall was that, as I was trying to just respond to his essay, I kept fretting about how to handle that situation. Do I not say anything and wait to see what he does? Do I say something, and if so, what? Do I hold to my policy, or do I still keep the door open for him to correct the error? He hasn't been doing any other work, I don't think, so I really don't know what his deal is.
There also was just a weird file thing: one student submitted an essay and Word asked me if I wanted to translate it out of Spanish--but the essay was in English, entirely. All I can think is the student has Spanish set as the language for Word on her computer, so any other computer assumes that's what language it's in. I did "translate" it, just because it was annoying to see all the red, wiggly underlines as Word flagged "spelling errors." Computer stuff is just odd sometimes.
All through this, I keep thinking that my students are in the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis, and I really simply cannot imagine what they're dealing with, what their lives are like. We're supposed to stay at home here--and I tend to do that anyway--but I've been pretty lax about really, really isolating myself: I've still been seeing my mother and sister, for instance. And the initial panic buying of food and supplies is starting to wane, though it may pick up again when the number of cases in this state starts to go way up.
Weird, to sort of be teaching as if life is normal and then periodically pulling myself up short and thinking, "Pandemic: be more gentle on them."
Now, however, my excuse for knocking off after finishing only one essay and starting a second is that whole "I didn't sleep, so I can't focus" think, coupled with the usual "I need a long time to wind down, so I'd better stop working if I want to sleep tonight" factor. And it's been a week full of reasons to put off grading--or to not be able to do it because I was running around doing other stuff--so now I really have to be diligent so I can get everything back to them by Sunday. I'd love to get it back to them on Saturday, but--unless there are a few that I don't really have to grade at all (Working Dad's for instance, if he doesn't submit something that's not plagiarized)--I don't think that's likely. I have ten to grade. (I'm not counting the one I started as even partly graded, as I didn't get far.) I used to be able to do that in a day, or a day and change, but the retired me just isn't interested in pushing that hard.
So, off I go to noodle and fritter until bed time.
Two essays were submitted late. Technically, I shouldn't provide comments on one of those two, as the student didn't ask for any kind of extension, and my policy is that essays submitted more than 24 hours late don't get comments. But this student missed the first version of the first essay, so she hasn't gotten any comments from me before. I therefore think it's rather important that she gets comments this time. The other student has been in touch with me for some time--before the pandemic hit, in fact--about health problems, so when she asked for an extension, I gave it to her. She then didn't complete the upload, apparently, because the essay she said I'd get on Monday didn't land until after I poked her about it yesterday. I sent her an email saying, in essence, "'I thought I'd submitted it' isn't much of an excuse." But I didn't slam her as hard as I might, as she's generally a very diligent student.
Much more to my dismay, Working Dad submitted an essay that was 84% plagiarized: he simply cut and pasted almost an entire article into his paper. He's one of those people who legitimately has serious problems of all sorts, but he's also one of those people who always has an excuse,so the compassion fatigue has set in. Pretty much, he wants me to say, "I know you're struggling, so here: you don't have to do any work and I'll give you a B." In the case of this essay, his excuse was all sorts of crises and disasters in his life (some clearly in his own head: he is sure he's got COVID-19, but none of the symptoms he describes are symptoms of the virus)--and that he accidentally uploaded the wrong file, saying he also was very embarrassed.
I wrote him a sympathetic email in which I said I understand how, under the circumstances, he could make that kind of mistake, but in that case, he needed to upload the correct file to Turnitin and contact me immediately if Turnitin won't let him do that (my settings may mean he can't) so we can work out another solution.
But today, I got an email from him saying he had "reviewed" his essay and he could see that there had been some instances of "unacceptable borrowing" from his sources, which is why I "assumed" it was plagiarized.
And now I've fucking had it. 1. An essay that is 84% plagiarized is not a case of some unacceptable borrowing, nor is it an assumption on my part that it's plagiarized. 2. If he uploaded the wrong file--as I said earlier--he needs to fix the error. 3. If the file he reviewed matches the essay in the plagiarism report I sent him, then he does not understand what plagiarism is, how to use sources, or how to develop his own points--and at this stage in the semester, if he doesn't understand those basics, he cannot pass the class.
We'll see what he comes up with next.
When I hit the wall rather abruptly just before starting this post, I was working through the essay submitted by one of the two students who had been guilty of uncorrected and genuinely accidental plagiarism--the one of the two who never contacted me about that issue and who therefore, according to my plagiarism policy and my email to him about his first essay, should get a zero for that first essay. Part of why I hit the wall was that, as I was trying to just respond to his essay, I kept fretting about how to handle that situation. Do I not say anything and wait to see what he does? Do I say something, and if so, what? Do I hold to my policy, or do I still keep the door open for him to correct the error? He hasn't been doing any other work, I don't think, so I really don't know what his deal is.
There also was just a weird file thing: one student submitted an essay and Word asked me if I wanted to translate it out of Spanish--but the essay was in English, entirely. All I can think is the student has Spanish set as the language for Word on her computer, so any other computer assumes that's what language it's in. I did "translate" it, just because it was annoying to see all the red, wiggly underlines as Word flagged "spelling errors." Computer stuff is just odd sometimes.
All through this, I keep thinking that my students are in the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis, and I really simply cannot imagine what they're dealing with, what their lives are like. We're supposed to stay at home here--and I tend to do that anyway--but I've been pretty lax about really, really isolating myself: I've still been seeing my mother and sister, for instance. And the initial panic buying of food and supplies is starting to wane, though it may pick up again when the number of cases in this state starts to go way up.
Weird, to sort of be teaching as if life is normal and then periodically pulling myself up short and thinking, "Pandemic: be more gentle on them."
Now, however, my excuse for knocking off after finishing only one essay and starting a second is that whole "I didn't sleep, so I can't focus" think, coupled with the usual "I need a long time to wind down, so I'd better stop working if I want to sleep tonight" factor. And it's been a week full of reasons to put off grading--or to not be able to do it because I was running around doing other stuff--so now I really have to be diligent so I can get everything back to them by Sunday. I'd love to get it back to them on Saturday, but--unless there are a few that I don't really have to grade at all (Working Dad's for instance, if he doesn't submit something that's not plagiarized)--I don't think that's likely. I have ten to grade. (I'm not counting the one I started as even partly graded, as I didn't get far.) I used to be able to do that in a day, or a day and change, but the retired me just isn't interested in pushing that hard.
So, off I go to noodle and fritter until bed time.
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