Click this link and open the document.
How observant are you?
If you were the recipient of these messages, how would you react?
1) As you read these messages think about them in terms of "credibility."
2) Then, write your comments about what you learned.
GUIDELINES FOR ALL BLOG COMMENTS:
- Full, complete sentences. You are not sending a text or chatting on FB.
- Accuracy in spelling, grammar, syntax, punctuation.
- Civility.
- Comments are conversations with your classmates. Make sure THEY understand what you are trying to say.
- Do not address your comments to me. You are communicating with the rest of the class.
Wow! There is zero credibility to any of these emails although some people say they will bring a doctors note, they could have attached it to the email. Also, the way some of these people speak about "deaths of people so close to them" seems rather fiction because they go so in depth or have to make it so "believable".
ReplyDeleteFrom these emails I have learned that either this class is bad luck and a lot of people run into family emergencies or that because this is an online class students will try to make up excuses for not handing in work when in reality it should be easier to complete the work on the computer rather then attending actual class.
I am actually concerned about taking this class now since death seems to follow in the shadow of the Professor. Clearly "someone died" is the common excuse used in High School and College and while the situation is quite real sometimes, most of the time it is not, which is not always known for the professor and it’s why they ask for proof most of the time.
ReplyDeleteFrom these emails I have learned to have a death certificate handy if I claim someone in my family passed away (god forbid) or to simply perform the tasks assigned at the appropriate time so I will not be tempted to lie about it later.
After reading all theses email I began to wonder how much these students respect themselves to lie so blatantly. None of these email seem to be credible in anyway, and shows that these students care more about gallivanting than doing the assignments.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have learned from all these emails is that if I have an emergency I should either have the proof or ensure that my assignment is turned in on time.
I am not a strong believer in using death as a common excuse for lateness, absences or anything related to such topics. However, I am very sympathetic towards unexpected occurrences since we are all human and can relate to unexpected things arising on occasion! Being a teacher myself, I believe in using my own sense of judgement to determine if the student's reason is plausible or simply fiction. Overall, judging from many of those emails, "death" seemed the most convenient excuse at times like 1:15AM when the assignment was due at midnight. If one has to miss an assignment or class, just be honest and if it can't be made up, apply yourself extra hard on the following assignments to make up for lost time/credit.
ReplyDeleteCredibility is something that is earned. It seems to me that many of the students from these emails do not understand how many excuses professors must get and how they, as students, must earn respect and credibility from their professors. I agree with Panagiota that using a reasonable sense of judgment to determine if a student has a plausible excuse is fair but that means determining a student's credibility by the behavior and work they have done in the class so far. Reading these e-mails has taught me that I should give greater consideration to what professors have to go through, and quite honestly, they have probably seen every excuse in the book and have a right to be overly skeptical. Although it might seem bothersome, providing proof to maintain your credibility should be an expectation if you are missing a class or assignment. There is no need to ask for exceptions if you have decided to miss a class or assignment since the consequences should have been expected when the decision was made.
ReplyDeleteSome of those emails seem obviously fake - particularly the ones that "off-handedly" mention a death in the family. But others seem at least partially credible - they just suffer from the fact that the writer didn't put a lot of thought into explaining them. Most of the emails just seem to be written off the cuff, with very little thought about explanations.
ReplyDeleteStill, I can speak from personal experience. I lost a family member who was very close to me a few months ago, early in the school semester. I didn't need to excuse myself from any classes, since the funeral was not on a school day. However, were it on a school day, I would have tried to phrase my absence email clearly and concisely, so that the professor would understand why I was forced to miss a class.
I totally agree with Joshua. I believe that some of these excuses don't make sense at all, but a few of them could have been credible if they were properly explained.
ReplyDeleteI find it very hard to believe that a majority of these emails are true. The more excuses I read, the less I believed them. It worries me that if I had an actual emergency, it's people that lie so easily like this that can make me sound as if I am lying as well. In the case of an emergency, students should be writing very clearly what the situation is and provide proof. I completely agree with Jessica in that you have absolutely no credibility until you earn it.
ReplyDeleteAs I read these emails, I realized that so many of them didn't even have any believable quality to them.
ReplyDeleteI have learned that so many students make up excuses and lie about what is really going on. I have also learned that this happens more than I think, and that when a professor is extremely strict it could be for reasons like this.
After reading the email excuses, I was find many of them to lack credibility. Many students had deaths in the family or family emergencies. If it was an actual death or legitimate emergency a student should be able to provide proof. Also many of the emails had spelling and grammar issues. Credibility should be earned and that is difficult to earn in an online class. However, if a student can prove the sistuation, or has extrenuating circumstances, I believe they should be given the benefit of the doubt and heard out.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the student's e-mails, I could understand that most emails are simply lies. Unfortunately the excuses do not seem to have any credibility. Therefore it is really important to respect the projects due dates provided by the professors and try to be as consistent as possible with respect to school duties.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading these students emails, I was actually laughing and upset at the same time. Just by the length and detail of the "deaths," it is easy to see that most of them are not true. I've been on vacation for the past five days with barely any wifi and as most people look to use that as an excuse it makes it seem like I am doing the same thing. However, if the emails were to be real situations the professor should be willing to accept any credible documents the student is willing to give.
ReplyDeleteReading these emails was shocking and quite comical. I say this because the amount of deaths were unreal. Some may be true but some do sound like fiction. On the other hand I do understand the vacation part because I was just on vacation without internet as well.
ReplyDelete