Entry #6

Chapter 14 in McKeachie's teaching tips gave me a lot of good information on how to handle student problems and problem students. Since I am not TAing this semester, I haven't had to deal with many of these issues in a classroom. However, I have had to deal with some of these issues with the college team that I'm coaching so this information is still helpful to me.

• I like the subsection in McKeachie's book on how to handle students with excuses. Excuses aren't uncommon and are used for a variety of reasons. These reasons can be to get more time for an assignment, family emergencies, procrastination from the student, etc. I very much agree with the point on page 183 in Teaching Tips, that it is better to accept a false excuse than respond harshly to a legitimate excuse. We should give students opportunities to not be severely penalized for legitimate excuses. I also feel like instructors should not have to act as police in determining whether the excuse was real or not.

I think I can avoid some excuses by giving the students opportunities to drop their lowest quiz scores and by offering extra credit for work handed in early. My late work policy will be the same for every student. I found a link which analyzes discusses the problem with decreased expectations which may be to blame for some excuses. I like the idea from the Wellesley professor that gives 7 extension days a semester that students can allocate how they chose. After they've used these 7 days, he docks their grade no matter what. I may try to incorporate this in my own teaching someday and see how it works. Although, I think I'd be more likely to give 4 or 5 extension days instead of seven.

• I'm not in favor of McKeachie's advice to let students drop an exam grade from page 183 in Teaching Tips. I feel like this would give them the green light to miss an exam. In the case of exams, I will require that a student with a valid excuse must take the exam within a few days of the original exam. Their exam will be different from the one given to the class but cover the same material. I will find little ways to alter questions and answers that won't take that long but will make the tests different.

• From First Day to Final Grade, I liked the section on handling students with personal problems. Students may try to juggle school while dealing with personal problems such as depression, anxiety and substance abuse among other things. It is not the job of the teacher to diagnose a student but a teacher may be able to help move a student toward seeking help.

Both books covered this topic but I found the advice in First Day to Final Grade to match up more with what I would do in this situation. I would invite the student to come in and talk with me to find out if there is something interfering with their school work. I think the best route would be to keep the students performance the top priority in this discussion. I would find out the universities mental health services and make the particular student aware of them if I see it necessary. I don't like McKeachie's suggestion of picking up the phone and arranging a time for them to be seen by a psychologist or doctor. I do agree that if a teacher feels inclined to they should reach out to a student that may be having issues, but I do feel like the student should take the initiative to follow up if they really want help.

• The information on pages 125-131 from First Day to Final Grade regarding plagiarism is helpful. Every university has a plagiarism policy in place and it is important to make students aware of the consequences of plagiarizing material. Having students show progress on a written assignment, such as rough drafts, may help reduce the occurrence of plagiarism. Showing students how to properly use the internet and make citations may also help reduce the incidence of plagiarism.

I can use the ways given to spot plagiarism. I believe it will be helpful to me to notice a change in tone or exceptionally good grammar. I will also use the suggestions for what to do with an unclear case of plagiarism. I bet it would be easy to catch if you ask for a meeting with the student and ask for details about the paper. Asking about their change in writing style throughout the document and for further discussion on their paper topic may get them to confess.

The use of plagiarism checking websites also looks like a great idea. I've had experience as an undergraduate with a program called Turn-it-in. I believe this program is pretty popular with professors.

I like this link because there is a short contract embedded in it that a student must sign to say they know the consequences of plagiarism. I think it's a good idea.

Kind of a funny link that lists some "good" excuses for skipping class.