re: How would the OT respond to this email from a college student? UPDATE: pg. 6

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Damn, even with a W?

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We started right after the new year.

better than making up an excuse.

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That grates but you have to explain to him what's due

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That's technically not true. The assignment was given at the beginning of the month and has been discussed and scaffolded extensively over the past few weeks. He missed a few classes and has seemingly put off doing the assignment until the last minute.

I'll give him a quick reiteration of the prompt and then let him take it from there.

And to add, we have class tonight. The guy could have just stayed after to get some extra help before it was due. Instead he decided it was best to ask what he "should be doing for the due."

It would be an embarrassment for that person to get a degree from your school.

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I'd have to include a comment that his email was unprofessional in its grammar and that future employers would not receive it well.

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I don't think the NFL or NBA cares too much as long as they can play.

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Just got an email from a student. I'm going to copy and paste it here:

"I dont understand none of this stuff teach. What am I supposed to be doing for the due."

That's it. No salutation. No "All the best." Nothing but those two sentences.

I'm assuming it's in reference to the essay that is due tonight by midnight.

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Dear Student,
A lot more than you've done up till now. Best.

Professor X

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That grates but you have to explain to him what's due


That's technically not true. The assignment was given at the beginning of the month and has been discussed and scaffolded extensively over the past few weeks. He missed a few classes and has seemingly put off doing the assignment until the last minute.

I'll give him a quick reiteration of the prompt and then let him take it from there.

And to add, we have class tonight. The guy could have just stayed after to get some extra help before it was due. Instead he decided it was best to ask what he "should be doing for the due."

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i honestly would tell him/her to reread the instructions or assignment and leave it at that ...

Respond with this:

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bull shite. Hes panicking because he failed to get his assignment done. Now he wants "help", but hes had time to ask for help. frick him.
Not to mention, if he is at the college level and this is the best he can offer in regards to communicating with his professor, than there is no hope for him scholastically. He's better off at a trade school or pursuing some other avenue.
He is, in all likelihood, in that half of the population that will make the top half possible. Sad, but it happens.

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This is all correct.

I've found though in my decade of teaching that playing hardball with students - even the most lazy ones - never leads to anything productive. If anything, it makes my life more difficult if I just respond with "read the prompt and work on writing formal emails in the future." Students that aren't already successful in school will often resort to disruption, defiance, and overt displays of disrespect if actually confronted about their poor behavior and performance.

And there's very little one can do to have students removed. It'd have to be pretty bad to have them kicked out of a class.

Then there's the whole evaluation system where they get to fill out a form and make comments about me as an instructor. Where I work actually runs the evaluations through a scantron and considers student evaluations when considering adjuncts for full-time employment.

So all in all, I could just say, "Too bad, so sad," but if I reexplain it and consider his email a legit request for extra help, life moves on much more smoothly.