At UW-Milwaukee there could be entire semesters when I didn't have sit-down meetings with this many students... Rarely did more than 2-3 students stop in/day. This is a big difference between the two schools.There are all different reasons for meeting - midterm grades, extra credit opps (those are correlational), internship questions, class project questions, quiz make-ups, job search advice, research questions and updates and one just stopping by. I love that the students stop in to discuss things face-to-face. But I miss my "office" time where I could actually do office work.
I don't start advising until next semester. I have already met with 16 (current and former) students this week and it's only 1:30 on a Wednesday afternoon.
At UW-Milwaukee there could be entire semesters when I didn't have sit-down meetings with this many students... Rarely did more than 2-3 students stop in/day. This is a big difference between the two schools.There are all different reasons for meeting - midterm grades, extra credit opps (those are correlational), internship questions, class project questions, quiz make-ups, job search advice, research questions and updates and one just stopping by. I love that the students stop in to discuss things face-to-face. But I miss my "office" time where I could actually do office work.
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A few years ago a student emailed me letting me know she didn't deserve an F for her final grade. I'd argue she did deserve it since she didn't turn one assignment in on time, and she only completed 2 of the 12 assignments total.
My response to her e-mail - "No, you've earned it." Her approach and reasoning deserved nothing further. More often than not I give students much higher grades than they deserve. It doesn't matter as long as they've earned it! #PrideInYourWork (Hint - students if you want to argue a grade - walk over to the instructors office and talk to them in person.) This is a presentation I gave to the State University of New York at Plattsburgh PRSSA chapter during their general member #Mullet (business in the front, party in the back) event. It lays out a plan for students as they progress through their schooling. Thank you to Anthony Atkins and Laura Miller for allowing me to connect to their profiles.
I love students as they are the reason I am able to do what I love to do - teach.
There are similarities and differences, positive and negative, amongst the students from each school for which I have taught. The positive attributes I appreciate about SUNY Platts students are 1. They are polite 2. They are courteous 3. They are appreciative 4. They are active learners 5. They question what is being taught Hands down SUNY Plattsburgh students are the most polite (and not in a "Minnesota Nice" way either) bunch I've come across. Doors are held, hellos are returned, and the thing that I am still getting used to is that they thank you for everything. It amazes me that every student says thank you when they hand in a quiz. The crazy thing is, some of them actually mean it. Today two students thanked me for asking a particular question on the quiz, because it made them think. Happy Friday to me. I will be smiling as I grade today. Thank you students. Why is it that schools take such pride in being the, "we never close due to weather" campus. If that's the case - then actually mean it! Quit playing the oh so tough guy and close at noon. This is not just for my current campus, but for the past three for which I have taught.
Having gone to college at the University of Minnesota Morris, we truly were tough and according to my friend Dan Gorder, only closed once during my four years there (fall 1995 - spring 2000). I don't remember this, I must have been busy studying ;) - I vaguely remember going behind the PE Annex and trying to snowboard down a little hill with Joe Radunz, Jill Druley and Ryan Raske, it may have been on this day. All I got out of the lesson was, "don't cut the front edge." I digress... Morris didn't have to ever close because on a campus of less than 2000 students, in the middle of nowhere, there were only a handful of commuters who travelled more than four or five miles. Then when moving to Milwaukee, still snowy, still cold, but with more people, cars, roads and buildings (I remember snow drifts taller than my car in Morris) - the story rang true, almost. They also prided themselves on not closing due to bad weather but it was only a half-truth. They just typically waited until 2 p.m. This was at Marquette, Mt. Mary and UW-Milwaukee. Here at SUNY-Plattsburgh, "that never closes due to the weather" we've already closed early twice - I've only been here two semesters! Well, sorry schools, but get over the tough guy image, or figure out a better system - show that not everything at a University takes 50 people and twice the time to make a decision. When you do this the entire day is a waste. Students are too busy checking their phones to see when school will close to pay attention. Not productive. If you err and close school when you could have driven (UW - Milwaukee did that once or twice) then you just note that it was bad in some nearby commuter areas, even if driving around campus was fine. This saves you the Charlie Sykes argument about wasting precious taxpayer dollars for canceling class (as he did when the President of the United States last visited Madison and the roads around campus were closed, hence classes were cancelled - again someone playing a false tough-guy image). Enjoy snow days for what they are - days to enjoy the snow. University professors are resourceful and hopefully can come up with alternative (off-campus) learning activities and lessons on the fly. I did. Students will learn the lesson of driving through crappy roads to get to their "real life" jobs and it's not because they were forced to do the same in college. Don't risk accidents. Need I go on? In closing - you're not tough for closing for a portion of the day. You're not setting any records. Even if you are - it's an irrational record, so stop it! Stop making everyone hold their breathe waiting for the all important announcement. Take the time and build a snowman, make a snow angel, go skiing, or just sip some hot cocoa and enjoy the beauty of freshly fallen snow - the work will still be there after you've exhaled. In a prior post I alluded to the long-standing tension between advertising and public relations. There's also a love-hate relationship between public relations and journalism. They need each other. A strong working relationship is really beneficial on both sides (as with most relationships). But there is a key difference.
1. A journalist hates a lazy PR practitioner but 2. A PR person LOVES a lazy journalist #FoodForThought I've found that students comprehend things better when you say something like, "And only 1/3 can receive A's on this assignment." Motivation such as this does increase output. Unfortunately this output sometimes still results in what appears to be a vomit on the page.
I'm still having difficulty expressing the importance of writing. Repetition of the message doesn't help. Showing examples of poor writing doesn't help. Encouraging them to read and write (and have it proofed) falls on deaf ears (I assume). So how can we, as educators, get students to understand these three words? Succinct. Active. Clear. Below is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much - I am writing this paper, to express a thought about the topic of which I may or may not tell you until the end of this paper for which I'm writing <<Insert word that was meant to be an adjective but they use an adverb>> of. Or the first paragraph of an internship application cover letter - My name is << name>> and I realized that it's my senior year and I still haven't gotten an internship. Everyone says I need to get one before I graduate. I think your position is perfect for me so I can get a job after college. I'm passionate about <<major>> and have wanted to do it ever since I can remember when I was a little kid. I want to help, but standard edits don't seem to affect future output. I am tinkering with a new grading policy for next semester. Every class will discuss writing for PR the first day of class. Tips/tools will be given throughout the semester. I will mark up the first two assignments. After this I will simply highlight passive writing, to be verbs, long sentences, ambiguous sentences, bull-shit sentences, sentences with prepositional phrases, sentences with more than one idea... and once I get to three high-lights then I'm done grading. Students will earn the grade of the work to that point. They have to redo the paper/assignment if they want me to continue grading. They will have one week to return a revised version. Maybe it's Friday, and I'm just tired. But this is looking like a great time-saver along with being a tough-love teaching tool. I'll let you know if it works. Here is an updated presentation on the title topic. I hope you find the presentation helpful. I teach the "research" course - this means many thing to many people. To academics (Ph.Ds ) it means social science research. To lecturers/adhocs research (for marketing) means something a bit different. No matter what you think the class should consist of, statistics are a must.
Businesses use statistics, academics use statistics and yes, my argument to the least likely to appreciate it - sports journalists (students) should use statistics... Unfortunately statistics involve numbers. The numbers are generally part of formulas, and formulas generally mean MATH. This is a scary, scary word to many comm/j-school students. But it doesn't have to be. Today we finished up our lecture on standard deviation. I used the Khan Academy - thank you Sal for being the inspiration behind LOVING math, science, numbers and everything you can do with them. Together with a few Khan academy clips - http://www.khanacademy.org/ 1. Central Tendencies 2. Sample vs. Population Mean 3. Variance of a Population 4. Sample Variance and a handy dandy worksheet made by yours truly... See the sheet below. Standard Deviation is made simple (and gasp - understandable). I had a student high-five me after class because, "After 21 years, I finally understand standard deviation." = SUCCESS :) It's inevitable, every semester you find the desperate student, or students, begging to gain entry to your course. "I need this class to graduate" or "If I don't take this course this semester I will have to stay an extra semester." Blah blah blah.
I could ask them, "and why did you not plan for this earlier (like every other student in your major)?" Or, "And the reason I should make an exception for you is?" But doing this only makes the begging, whiney conversation last longer. They aren't there to listen to reason. They are there to beg because they failed to plan. If there truly is no room in the class (lack of computers) I will say no. But most of the time, I sign them in. it's as if I enjoy the self inflicted headache. It's nearly guaranteed that this student will come to class late (if they come at all), not listen/complete assignments accurately, complain about something or another about my teaching (blame me for their inability to listen) and then give me poor marks on the teacher eval. Why do I let them in? Is it because I believe their plea that they will work EXTRA hard? NO Is it because I feel the need to help them graduate because they failed to plan during the 4 - 5- 6+ years they were in school? NO Is it because I enjoy the extra day of my life (on average/student) I spend on grading their assignments/papers/projects? ABSOLUTELY NOT I think it's because I am constantly running mini-social experiments in my head. And I love to have examples to give the regular (meet-deadlines) students about how they ARE better prepared for the real-world than others (students at hand). A few years ago I had a sneaky McSneakster "trick" his way into several courses that required pre-requisites that he did not have. He was a double major (marketing) so he was sneaking in for personal gain. Roland was his name. He was the only plead-maker that actually proved to be worth the signature and time spent listening to the groveling. He added to projects and class discussion. His addition to my courses was not a waste of the day or two of my life I spent grading his assignments. Will there be another Roland? Maybe. But not this semester. This semester's pleader already came late and admitted he/she was hung over. Point in case. New location, same sad story. |
AuthorI am assistant professor in the Journalism & Public Relations department at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. Archives
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