I am alive...just barely

[thomaskr]

Wow, that is really time to push the little birdie out of the nest! (In reference to Grumpy Pirates graduate class kids!)

Totally agreed, but with the cut throat world we live in (hey kids, if you want to drive the latest blinged out sports car, live in a 5ksqft mcmansion etc. etc. then you need to become a "Corporat Raider") plus the ma$$ive outlay to put a kid thru college nowayds it's no surprise that parents are contesting their kids' marks even at such a high level.

It's a bit of a joke, really.

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Wow, that is really time to push the little birdie out of the nest! (In reference to Grumpy Pirates graduate class kids!)

The sad part is, one parent was lobbying for a higher grade on a term paper. And was very upset that I disallowed references to Wikipedia.

In a different class, I had a parent try and berate me for a score of "0" on a term paper, until I showed her the "turnitin" report that showed it was plagiarized. Duhhhhh!

[thomaskr]

The sad part is, one parent was lobbying for a higher grade on a term paper. And was very upset that I disallowed references to Wikipedia.

In a different class, I had a parent try and berate me for a score of "0" on a term paper, until I showed her the "turnitin" report that showed it was plagiarized. Duhhhhh!

WOW. That's nuts.

[Ms. Matterhorn]

I have actually had some of these parents contact me on behalf of their "children" over a grade they had received in my class. Very strange, considering that I teach a graduate course.

Holy shnikies! What do you say to a graduate student's mommy who questions sonny-boy's grade?

[Ladyfair]

The sad part is, one parent was lobbying for a higher grade on a term paper. And was very upset that I disallowed references to Wikipedia.

In a different class, I had a parent try and berate me for a score of "0" on a term paper, until I showed her the "turnitin" report that showed it was plagiarized. Duhhhhh!

OMG!!! Are you my alter ego? I get the EXACT same thing - down to the turnitin/safe assignment report. In my case, the young genius had actually plagiarized one of our department chair's papers! Oh, and another merely printed out a Wikipedia article and handed it in, links on the bottom included.

My latest helicopter parent is on my case because her progeny can't get his car insurance discount because he made a C in my class. After explaining that he snored in class, and didn't turn in two assignments that counted for 20% of his final grade, her response was "well, is there anything he can turn in now to get his (yes, that was her word!) A?" I'm girding my loins for that one to get appealed.

[felinefan]

Yesterday I read a news item that in Japan, parents have threatened teachers over less than prefect grades. Teachers have had to be escorted off campus just to get home, and parents have sent teachers threatening emails, made threatening phone calls, etc.. A generation ago, that was unheard of.
And in Japan, the educational system is so competitive, they have what's called "cram school"--you cram for the exams that will get you into the next upper grade, and these start even before kindergarten! It's so competitive that kids are going to cram school to get into cram school! And the exams that must be taken in order to pass to the next grades can literally be killers--or at least in the old days, when students would actually die from the horrific stress of the grueling exams.
But now the traditional respect for teachers has broken down, and Japanese society is a mess.
And you thought it was bad here....

[hobie16]

One of my nephew's, to be blunt, is a fat, lazy slob. His parents are very driven and very successful. Mom decided that Sonny will be going to medical school so she started "helping" him with his homework. Sonny started getting A's but for some reason didn't test very well. He did get good enough grades to get into a pre-med program in an out of state school which cost a pretty good chunk of money. He also kept demanding that the parents set up a trust fund for him so he could travel throughout Europe while developing his musical chops. That didn't happen.

Sonny went off to college and did fairly well in the pre-med classes. He also discovered there was money to be made promoting small concerts and booking bands for on-campus parties. He was so busy with the music biz, he could only take one class in the second quarter. Of course Mom and Dad were still paying top dollar for school, rent and food. They didn't discover what was going on until the grade was mailed home.

Sonny got his leash shortened up so he'll now attend an in-state school closer to home. He's shifted his short attention span to philosophy and is still demanding a trust fund.

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Holy shnikies! What do you say to a graduate student's mommy who questions sonny-boy's grade?

I refer them to the handout that is given to all students before the class starts that says that evidence of plagerism can result in an automatic FAILING grade for that class, (instructors decision)(university standard) and that they would have to take it over. (Its a core class) (and I am the ONLY instructor, so far! hehehe)

Also to stay in the graduate program, you MUST maintain a 3.2 average!

[Ms. Matterhorn]

I refer them to the handout that is given to all students before the class starts that says that evidence of plagerism can result in an automatic FAILING grade for that class

I'll have to add that to my Course Expectations handout.. I teach high school, and every year the handout gets longer because I have to add rules to prevent the recurrence of crap they tried to pull the year before! One year a student turned in a nearly perfect paper, and all I had to do was Google the first five words and there was the exact same article on some website.

For next year I have to add, "Classroom electrical outlets may not be used to charge your cell phone or plug in your curling iron." Who'da thought?

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

I'll have to add that to my Course Expectations handout.. I teach high school, and every year the handout gets longer because I have to add rules to prevent the recurrence of crap they tried to pull the year before! One year a student turned in a nearly perfect paper, and all I had to do was Google the first five words and there was the exact same article on some website.

For next year I have to add, "Classroom electrical outlets may not be used to charge your cell phone or plug in your curling iron." Who'da thought?

OH my! Never had someone try and dry their hair!

My classroom policy on cellphones is the same as the school. IF they HAVE to take a call during class, they have to go outside the classroom. And it must be on "vibrate"

They are allowed laptops, but I can turn off the outside line to the internet during class.