Saturday, December 4, 2010

The End of RYS. 15 Million Pageviews, and Did We Fix Anything?

Rate Your Students, the blog, the experience, closed down in June of 2010.

We barely kept the page alive over its past few months, and the last moderator with the keys to the compound had exhausted all reasonable options to continue the site when he closed it down.

In the end we were just not able to generate enough of a workforce to manage the mail and content, and to do the page in the way that we think it deserved to be done.

We have tremendous regrets about closing down, but we no longer felt that we were responsible enough to carry on what "The Professor" started out to do in November of 2005.

Without sounding too much like complete and utter doofuses, we have been honored to have been able to provide a place where so many modern proffies have worked out the angst and ennui of their academic careers.

Those of us who have worked the page feel a sincere closeness to many of you, longtime writers and readers who have opened their hearts and minds to us. We thank you so much for your trust and collegiality.

But we are no longer active; we are no longer accepting submissions. We've left a pared down version of the voluminous and scandalous archives to the right. 1000 of the original 4000 posts are still available to be read, admired, and wondered at.

A good number of former readers ran a blog for six years called College Misery. It was a terrific site with more than 6000 valuable posts and 70,000 comments.


Friday, December 3, 2010

The Ring of DistinKtion.

Periodically during the reign of RYS, we inducted posts into our "Ring of DistinKtion." We revisit that tradition with a (somewhat) final list of all-time posts:

Things We Can Do to Improve...

In December of 2010, a Chronicle reader - responding to an article there - asked us about posts on our site that aimed at improving the lot of poor proffies in the academy.

While we're sort of fond of all the posts here at RYS (like they're our children, or our database of absinthe recipes), we provide this quickie list of 20 you might enjoy:

Thursday, December 2, 2010

The Short, Brave Life of RateYourStudents.

An article titled "The Short, Brave Life of RateYourStudents.com" appeared in December 2010 on the Chronicle of Higher Education website. It was written by the last standing moderator of the page, and it does a good job of capturing what RYS was all about.

While this site is no longer active, we have left about 1000 of the old posts up for archival reasons. You should browse the sidebar, or just start with the most recent Ring of DistinKtion, for some favorite posts from 5 years of angst and ennui.

We, of course, are still relaxing, still drunk, and still wondering where Walt is.

Cheers,
RYS

Friday, May 28, 2010

Things We Did Not Sign Up For.

Today I had to teach a student how to write on a piece of lined notebook paper. I never once thought my job would come to this. Once upon a long time ago, I taught college composition and the MLA-formatted research paper.

Now, I'm teaching students "your" and "you're," subject/verb agreement, adverb usage, pronoun reference and...margins (?)

"What is this -- 'margin'?" I was asked. "Do we write inside the pink line?"

(Do We Write "Inside" The Pink Line...????)

I may now actually have to write my instructions so that they include the following:

  1. Write your text on the RIGHT side of the vertical (up-and-down) pink line. Do not write on the left side of the vertical pink line.
  2. Write in-between the horizontal (side-to-side) blue lines as well. Do not write outside of those horizontal blue lines unless you're writing in cursive, in which case, your formatting for letters such as "q," "y," "f" and "g" may fall to the space directly below the blue line you're writing upon.
  3. When your text reaches the end of the horizontal blue line, continue your text on the next horizontal blue line below it.
  4. To signify the start of a new paragraph, begin a new line of text on the next horizontal blue line but have a four to five-letter word's worth of empty space between your text and the right side of the vertical pink line. We call that "indenting."
  5. When you reach the bottom of your piece of notebook paper, do not write any text on the very bottom of the page because there is no horizontal blue line there. Instead, continue your text in-between the first two horizontal blue lines of the next page.
  6. Again, do not write on the left side of the vertical pink line.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

In 48 Hours It Will All Be Over.

Case #1: record to date

Exam I: Missed week before exam I, showed up for exam I saying she missed the previous week because she was going to drop but changed her mind, then pointed to all of the questions she couldn't do saying "I couldn't do this, or this, or... because I wasn't here when you did it" and was surprised that that wasn't a good argument towards having me not count those questions for her. Flunked.

Exam II: Missed this and the following class, showed up a week later asking what she could do about the missed exam, had it explained (while pointing to spare syllabus I carry around for just such an emergency) that missed exams increase the weight of the final exam.

Exam III: Missed this, showed up at next class, asked what she could do about the missed exam (I swear to God). After hearing missed exam policy for third time, added that she knew she had to miss the final and smiled at me like the dumb rabbit in Bambi. I said that was not possible and asked her why she "had to" miss it. Court - followed by TMI. I told her "You can take it the Tuesday before." which seemed agreeable to her.

Exam IV: Came late, dressed like Charo, still had face glitter from previous night. Flunked. Smiled like dumb rabbit again while pointing out things she didn't know because she cut class. Was surprised, again, that those questions still counted. Asked when the final was, and said she couldn't make it... court, repeated TMI. Was told again that she could take it the previous Tuesday.

The final is Thursday. Tomorrow Thumper is supposed to take the final. Just now she e-mailed:

heyy Professor Xxxx! I'm not really sure when is the final. Is it on tuesday or thursday? 
can u please let me know as soon as possible, Thank you.

[+]

Case #2: record to date

  • Low Ds on all exams.
  • Low F on take home, open book midterm, on which students had 3 weeks including Spring Break to work
  • Cursed out lab professor on second to last lab class because lab professor wouldn't let her in over an hour late
  • received extra credit practice final via e-mail, which has been opened, printed and completed on various operating systems and versions of MS Word including: 2000, 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2010.

Then this student sent me this email this afternoon:

What program was this created on because i am unable to open the file.

I want to write back "I wrote it on super secret software that only CIA operatives are allowed to use. I never intended for you to actually be able to access the document. But since you figured me out, you get an A for the term, even though you know nothing about chemistry and you were an asshole to your lab instructor."

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Macy from Maize on the Adult-ifying Power of the Curse.

I don't do it every day, but I curse in class.

Oh noes! Oh yes.

Why do I do this? I do it because I could never get away with it when I taught high school. I do it to make it easier for me to teach -- it's simply part of my everyday vocabulary. I curse. A lot. And to take out something that easily comes to my tongue when I'm trying to give real life scenarios off the top of my head is really difficult to do. I do it because it makes my class just a little funnier/more authentic. I do it to share a tiny bit of camaraderie with the students.

But most of all I do it to make students realize that college is a place for grownups. There are reasons it isn't exactly proper to curse in a kindergarten class. There are reasons it isn't allowed in middle and high school. There's also a reason people give you nasty looks when you say it out in public, but I always hated those fuckers anyway. Back to my point. Where cursing is allowed -- not generated TOWARD anyone but as a part of the vocabulary -- is considered "adult" space. So in using this language I give my students an automatic message that they are in an adult space and they better damn well act like an adult, because that's exactly what I expect.

The first couple of times I let it slip they tend to freak out. Not in the throwing bibles that they got from the creepy evangelist on their way into class kind of freak out but the OH MAH GAWD did she just SAY THAYT???!?!?!1? kind of way. There are giggles, snickers, whispered comments. And then I curtly, quickly explain to them why I did so, that it wasn't an accident, and move on with discussion. They get the hint pretty quickly and while few of them join me over on the cursing side of the line, they accept it and start acting a little more like the adults I expect them to be in the process.

So what would I do if this was my student. Well, first I'd ask if the statement was directed negatively at me or was somehow incorrect and something that I personally needed to correct, i.e. Ms. X is going to fuck up my GPA. See, this is incorrect. The student is fucking up the GPA, not the teacher. So it passes that test in terms of whether I would say anything.

If it were my student in the hallway, on their own time, it seems rather idiotic to get into their conversation. Just proves you were eavesdropping and that you give a fuck about what they think, which you shouldn't. So no, I wouldn't get in his face, even to make a simple comment like "Come see me and we can talk." More than likely I'd make a comment the next class period reminding them that they should come to my office if they'd like help with their papers or have questions/concerns about their grade. If I was really upset by it, I'd email the kid directly.

So this Ms. Pyle. First, it seems like she thinks she's teaching in a monastery. Honestly, I think everybody in this day and age could use a little more respect but screaming at a student because they cursed outside of your class is just over the line. I understand that sometimes you just snap but seriously, have a xanax, slurp down a few strawberry margaritas and tackle life after that. And while it's good to see the school stand up for the instructor for once, everyone knows there are certain professors and instructors that are just bat-shit, ones that propose the stupidest things or who have a Napoleon complex. This was more about her feeling defensive about the grade that was given and whether the student thought he deserved it than whether said kid cursed in the hallway.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Perry from Pennsauken Goes Old School, And Throws In a Curve There At the End.

Sad Eyes Solomon did next-to-nothing all quarter. He rarely had a notebook. He often slept in class. He seemed completely disaffected by everything. The he got a laptop and he was furiously typing on it every class. Yeah, probably playing solitaire or Facebooking, or on IM, I am sure. Imagine my shock-- SHOCK I SAY! -- WHEN HE APPEARED, 10 MINUTES LATE, to the mid-term sans writing implement. He begged me for one, but I refused, at which point I got the full-blown puppy-eye treatment. It was like looking into a dying dog's eyes. A classmate generously loaned him a pen, at which point he decided to CLIMB OVER AN ENTIRE ROW of students to take a seat in the middle. Having barely 30 minutes left to take the exam, he started flipping pages; I wondered why he wasn't writing anything on those essays...hmmm. It was actually a quick test (for most of the class), and everyone finished in about 30 minutes, which left Sad Eyes alone for the last 15 minutes of class. The pen-loaner asked for his pen back before he left, so for those last 15 minutes of class, I got to see those sad eyes and frowny pout until I got fed up ... er, I mean Solly finally relented and handed in his half-empty exam. I had warned the class with both a stern oral pronouncement and a note on the board when the exam would be and to BRING THEIR OWN WRITING IMPLEMENT for the 3 class sessions beforehand. Sadly, he wasn;t the only one to forget, but at least the others got there early enough to ask for a pencil from a classmate BEFORE the exam. I am sure Pouty McPuppy-eyes ran to his coach and told everyone he knew what a horrible, nasty, meanypants I was. I just wanted to smack those sad eyes right out of his head.

Live Streaming Video Vincent was also in that class. He also had his laptop everyday! He never met my eyes once during class. He handed in no papers all quarter. When I showed video segments to provoke class discussion, the lights on his face always screamed "I don't care about my grade!" I tossed him from class, gave him zeroes, gave a midterm warning for possible failure. Nothing mattered. Well, except those videos he was watching everyday during class. I had never encountered anything like that at Slightly Better-known University across town. Maybe he was smarter! I have zero evidence to support that statement though. I wish I could have tossed that laptop right out the window.

Chatty Cathy LOVED having little side discussions with her friends. I asked her to stop, but she couldn't help herself. I heard noise, saw her mouth moving, and immediately jumped to the conclusion it was she who was speaking. HOW DARE I! She wasn't talking at all! Maybe someone had their hand up her shirt and the two of them were just performing their best Wayland and Madame impression. Yeah, that's gotta be it. I tossed her from class, but I wish I would have made her sit up in front of the class like she was in kindergarten. Maybe she would have cried. That woulda been fun.

Glossary Gus was a super-keener. He was always on time. He always paid attention. He always took notes. He completed two of the three essays (best 3 of 4...see how fair I am!) for the class before most people had done one. Except, well, somehow he never learned what plagiarism is. In both papers, he used expertly worded definitions that smelled way above his ability to craft in prose. A quick look at the textbook's glossary revealed he had lifted them verbatim from the book. Not even a citation or general reference! He ignored the warning against plagiarism in the assignment instructions. He skipped the warning and listed consequences in the syllabus. No, no. No one had ever told him he couldn't do that! NO ONE. Sadly, I believe him.... I cut him a break and let him re-do one of the papers; he whined and groaned and protested (repeatedly) that he would then have to do FIVE papers for the class. I thought this approach might actually teach him how to avoid plagiarism in the future; I doubt it worked though. I should have just failed him for the entire class just for being an asshole, er...I mean plagiarist.

Then there was A- Alvin. He was the only one to read the 10-page article I asked the class to read. He was usually late, but slinked into class and took the first seat available before he pulled out his notebook and took copious notes. He read the textbook, asked interesting questions, and seemed to take the class seriously. He didn't grub for grades. He got a few middling grades here or there, but he seemed to take them in stride. He was great. I wish half the class could have been half the student he was. Sadly, he had only an A-, so I gave him the grade he actually earned. I wish I had given him an A just for being a good student who OBVIOUSLY stood head and shoulders above the dumbfucks he sat amongst. Damn my sense of fairness and justice!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Paloma from Pembroke Pines Posits a Pox.

Karma?
Why worry?
"Crying Caroline" was in several of my classes the year I taught at her school. She was both a flake AND a shameless brown-noser, an utterly hellish combination. When she did come to class, she sat in the front row, smiling and nodding compulsively like a bobble-head doll on crack. When she didn't—which was ALWAYS on a day when there was an exam or a major assignment due—she invariably had some heart-wrenching excuse: she just HAD to organize that letter-writing drive to free those Taliban hostages! She HAD to take those poor, poor under-served kids to the museum! Couldn't I see that she was making a real difference in the lives of others, and this was SO much more important than my trivial problem sets?

I hated her.

I was driving to campus, dreading the sight of her grinning, bobbing head, when the news of the Virginia Tech massacre came on the radio. Of course, my heart dropped. But being in an already foul mood (and stuck in freeway traffic), I couldn't help thinking, "I can't wait to see how Crying Caroline will try to use this to get out of class."

Then I wanted to slap myself for being a cynical bitch.

Flash forward two days later: Crying Caroline runs up to me outside my office: She can't come to class that afternoon because she was being interviewed by a local newspaper about how students are reacting to the Virginia Tech tragedy! And the only time the reporter could talk to her was—wait for it—during MY class!

And this was SO important because the world really needed to hear what she, an actual university student who COULD HAVE BEEN THERE, had to say about this very, very important matter! (No, our school was not even in the same time zone as VT.) And oh yes, she couldn't finish her homework either, because she was so traumatized by the tragedy!

I should note that our school was in a major metropolitan area with several other large universities. Of all the universities in town, each with tens of thousands of students, somehow Crying Caroline got picked as their representative. And of all the 168 hours in the week following the tragedy, the only possible time she could spill her guts to the media about her precious feelings was during MY CLASS!

Over thirty people died and a community was thrown into a world of pain—all so darling Caroline can avoid dragging her ass to campus.

A pox on her.

Monday, May 17, 2010

How to Graduate.

Dear soon to be former students:

You have begged, borrowed, stolen, done some work and have made it to finish line...your graduation day. As an experienced faculty marshall for these kind of events (we think, so you don't have to), here are important tips to make your graduation a success.

Your family:
I told my parents
the wrong day.
  • By all means, invite as many family members as your ticket allotment allows. But please, if you wish to bring a larger posse with you, arrange trades with your fellow students PRIOR to arriving at the coliseum where the ceremony will be held. Our ushers don't like it when you yell them "Who should have to wait in the hot car? Great-grandma or my toddler cousin?"
  • Please inform your family that Uncle Cletus's best, nearly clean wife-beater, flip flops and Skoal cap might make him feel slightly underdressed for the occasion.
  • I know your family is excited that you are graduating and they want to represent for you. However, if the people in the room can't hear the name of the next graduate when it is called over the 6-foot-high speakers, that's a problem.
  • No. Air. Horns.
Arrival at the facility:
  • We ask you to arrive one hour before the ceremony is scheduled to begin. If you arrive fewer than 15 minutes before the processional, this is a problem, as we have to get you in alphabetical order.
  • If you know you will be "celebrating" until the wee hours the night before, you might wish to have your Mommy come by and make sure you are awake in time to arrive that 15 minutes before. It makes her feel like she is still important in your life and she has seen you vomit before, so it's ok. Depending on the liveliness of the celebration, you may wish to rise an additional 5 minutes early in order to wash the detrius of the festivities out of your hair. It look bad in the pictures.
  • If your baby's due date was yesterday, please consider seriously if you should be there. Having to run into the bathroom every 10 minutes to check on you takes me away from other important graduation duties.
Dress:
  • If you want your family to see you in the seated group of graduates, remember that of the 600 of you down there, approximately 80 will have Hi Mom written with the masking tape they were using to seal up boxes yesterday.
  • Graduation gowns can be ironed, if you don't want the "square lines from being packaged" look.
  • I don't have an extra hat or tassel or bobby pins for you, so don't ask.
  • If your shoes have heels more than 3 inches high, you will trip going both up and down the platform. I guarantee it.
Conduct during the ceremony:
  • Your iPhone screen glows white hot in the middle of a fleld of black in a dark room.
  • It's a big coliseum, so we put your beautiful face on a huge screen for all to see when you get your degree. Gum and dip does not look so good at 20 feet high.
  • Please do not assault the president.
  • Keep your shoes on until you have crossed the stage. You won't have time to find them.
  • If you try to leave as soon as you walk, I, and all the other faculty who have to sit there until the bitter end, will glare at you.