Heh - I've been doing the same thing... and I wonder - do we have the same
students?? I was teaching Excel. One of the things I had to cover was to get
them to be able to do *basic* calculations utilising some easy data. Oh
dear, oh dear, oh dear. Considering they are all supposed to have GCSE
Maths, I was shocked by some of the lack of basic multiplication & division
skills.

Mine only got as far as a paw print on a feedback form I'm pleased to say
;-)

I know that feeling.

Cheers, helen s

In article
<034bd337bc0633e00fb973bbb7e97ac4.76411@mygate.mailgate.org>, "Helen
Miles" <helen.miles@virgin.net> wrote:

When I was going through the galley proofs of one of my books, Clifford
(RB) quite carefully aimed a hairball at two chapters. Calling the
managing editor at the publisher to ask for new cover pages, at least,
she explained that she was used to such from her three editorial
assistants, and, if I had no corrections for the pages in question, not
to worry about it.

Why on earth do you have to give positive feedback if their work is crap? Or
has the education system gone all PC since I was in school (and often got a
bollocking from the teachers if my work wasn't the absolute best I could do)

At least HRFL Tiger knows how to tell it like it is :-) Go Tiger!!!

Changing the subject slightly (sorry), my Sister-In-Law applied and got
through the first round of "Big Brother" the TV show. One of the myriad of
extremely personal questions she had to answer was "What does a relative
that isn't a parent or sibling think of you?" Since she has no other
relatives she could easily contact besides me that fit that description, she
asked me to describe her, and to be honest about it. This proved difficult,
because she had to read my answer. It took me a long time to come up with
this description, but I was quite pleased with it:

   Very much her own person, she knows her own mind. _____ has a unique
   outlook on life and is willing to do what it takes to acheive her
   aims. She thrives on the company of others and makes a great first
   impression. _____ can be very gregarious when the mood takes her, and
   she meets life challenges head on. Assertive and resourceful, she is
   always interesting to be around.

I was most disspointed that it didn't end up being used (she said that she
thought I thought she was hard working, honest and generous. *snort*)

Yowie

Heh....knowing Tiger's track record, I'm surprised he didn't spray
them instead...;)  Or perhaps that's his method of claiming turf,
and he doesn't *want* to claim the papers...;)

I know some of the lab reports I had to grade were fairly abyssmal.
We actually told the students exactly what we wanted in the report,
and some of them *still* didn't put those items in.  It was a "core"
class, so a lot of non-majors and first year students were taking it,
but still...if you're given the outline of what's supposed to go in
to the report (intro, specific data tables, etc.), you should at least
be able to make sure all the components are there, regardless of how
well formulated they are.

We actually offered time for rewrites.  Some students *still* left
things out.  And I took points off if they obviously didn't read my
overall comments in the first "draft", even where I didn't dock points
the first time.  No-one got full credit, but I was easier on them than
the person who taught the first lab section...;)

Loved the teaching.  Grading....eh....well, it *was* nice to see some
of the students obviously "getting it" or showing marked improvement..

Purrs that you survive your frustrations -

Chris, Tripper, Katie (who loved helping), and Hazard

Oh yeah. Grading exams, homeworks and papers sucks! I once was the
teaching assitant to a class of 100 college freshmen. Not fun!

Completely sympathize with you there.  60 or so a week art essays. Although,
many really do pick it up well, but some......egad.

ROFL! The advantages of online teaching is no physical papers to be puked
on.

LOL! I used to teach some courses at uni, too, and the marking is the
worst bit. Fortunately, neither Frank nor Nikki ever made quite such a
visible statement of disgust. The worst they would do was lie on top of
the papers and cover them with cat hair. I could only hope the students
weren't allergic, because I had to hand the papers back to them after
marking them.

I had a pile of essays to mark once, and Izzi peed all over them. I
photocopied them and marked the photocopies. I did offer the originals back
to the students, but they all politely declined, oddly enough. I don't know
how it would work with exams though. Good luck :D

Jeanette

feel sure I'll think of something!

The cat ate your homework?
Suz
Macmoosette
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    "People that hate cats will come back as mice in their next life."
    --Faith Resnick

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