December 22, 2004

Just...do...the...work

My class finished up on Monday and unfortunately, after much gnashing of teeth, I had to fail a couple of students for not doing the projects and doing poorly on tests. Almost immediately, the begging commenced. "But I had no idea this would happen!" Apparantly, the fact that they didn't do the first two projects and failed both the midterm and final weren't enough of a tip off. What about coming and talking to me? Then they tossed out, all within 20 minutes:


  • the dead grandmother card
  • the foreign student card
  • the "I can't afford another class" card
  • and finally the "this will delay my graduation" card

At least they hit all the major areas. At some point, people really need to start taking responsibility for their actions, or inactions. I'm holding firm, the numbers speak for themselves, but the student isn't making it easy. It's really getting me down.

I hate being an asshole, but sometimes you just can't let people slide by. How do I explain to the students that worked hard all semester that I gave someone a "C" who did a third of the work? You want to know what you can do to pass my class? Do the work. It's that easy.

Posted by pinkerton at December 22, 2004 7:03 PM