Saturday, May 10, 2014

I warned you, I warned you!

So here at The Hot Place CC the semester is building to its conclusion, its peak, its point of crisis. My comp students need to take all the skills they have learned this semester and bring them all together, and demonstrate that they can complete a large project all on their own. It is their moment where the training wheels come off and they need to ride by themselves, where they need to actually make the jump out of the nest, whatever metaphor you prefer.

So of course are they doing that? Are they doing what I have been teaching and nagging them about all semester? Have they learned to actually believe me and what I told them to do? No, of course not. And they are surprised when it is not working for them like their dreams and false assumptions said it would. And at this point in the semester I always feel like this:



Not that I actually say that to them and laugh at then where they can hear, but yeah, it should have been clear when I came in wearing that same hat.

I warned you! It's only a little few classes; I don't have to buy the books and read them; I can deal with these big research papers the week they are due, uh huh, yeah right. Look at the bones! It can jump this far!!!! Death awaits you all, with nasty pointy teeth!

3 comments:

Contingent Cassandra said...

Things are not all that much better at somewhat-selective-state u (in state hit heavily by winter weather this semester). Some of my students seem to excel at only on genre: the begging email detailing all the reasons the work hasn't been done in the last 14 weeks, but will somehow, miraculously, be accomplished in the next 24-72 hours if I will only grant yet another extension.

Susan said...

You could just bring this:
http://www.amazon.com/Python-Killer-Rabbit-Pointy-Toy/dp/B000M9JC94/ref=sr_1_3?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1399855652&sr=1-3&keywords=rabbit+with+big+pointy+teeth

Anonymous said...

It's almost worse when you do warn them, and it's certain that they'll try it if you put a warning against it in the syllabus, "it" being whatever behavior you're trying to forestall.