Some Quick Hits

Here are some brief posts that have come in recently:

• Last night was rich. I handed back the extra credit papers to the four students who had submitted the work. Three out of four turned in work that was, by and large, copy and paste from articles found online, despite the fact that the assignment clearly stated that all work was to be original, and that plagiarized work would result in zero points. I had even printed out the articles, and attached them to the extra credit papers when returning them to the students. One of the students wins the award for all-time largest huevos when he asked if he could have credit for the parts of his paper that were not plagiarized.
  
• This semester I had a student who went missing in action after attending only one class. She miraculously contacted me after 9 weeks into the semester (it was around the time the college sent out early warnings for failing). Basically she wants to pass after not attending class or submitting any work. The college does not allow us to penalize students based on attendance. Unfortunately, this semester I deleted a project policy of not accepting projects two weeks past the deadline, so although I will still take lateness points off the project, the student can still submit them. Needless to say, I will be adding this policy back next semester.
  
• No more. Not one more time. The next time that someone asks me, or emails me, or calls me to say, "Is the final cumulative?" I will absolutely lose my mind. How many times can I say it? Is it not enough to write it on the syllabus? Is it not enough to have sprinkled it through lectures? It is not enough to have addressed it on the last day of class - at least twice? Is it not enough to hand out a review guide that only covers recent topics? Really, people... what does it take? I am clearly doing something wrong. Next semester I'm going to have students submit questions like this to me online on the course management page. It will work like an FAQ section. I'll answer it one time. If a students asks a question that appears on that page - whether on the page, in person, in email, or over the phone - I'll dock them points. Maybe then we can all finish out the semester in peace.