One of my kids has accommodations for a disability to allow her to take notes with her computer. I don’t know if she pushes it when a prof says none allowed, I haven’t asked her – but I know the prof is notified at the beginning of the semester. And if a prof ever thought she was abusing the privilege, then go ahead and shut her down!
Our high school is about to change its class length from 54 minutes to 84 minutes. Every class! I can’t quite picture that, but I guess it will be good prep for college. I can’t imagine my middle child sitting still for that length of time. The school hired a consultant who came in to try to convince us parents that this is a good idea. I’m kind of glad my youngest is graduating next month, so it won’t affect any of my kids.
^If a student brings me the letter laying out her accommodations, it’s not my prerogative to say no. I have to follow them. If they don’t, but just tell me they need to use the computer, I don’t. In practice, I don’t want to draw lines, which is one reason I allow them in general. Besides the fact that we discuss literature, and many have their books on their computers.
What @garland said in #62—and that’s federal law. The only exception is if it would materially change the nature of the course to make the accommodation (and that exception is actually very, very narrow).
Cobrat- as my last sentence said, “Other than being a tyrant…” I could try diligently to stop the behavior, but I will end up taking more time dealing with this behavior than teaching. Our rooms do not have locks and the students today are not the same as the ones that the " old school" profs taught. Old school profs are retiring and the younger profs are more understanding of their current students.
I sit in school/department meetings and witness the newly hired profs. texting, and scrolling on their phones. Of course, I also witness the “old” profs falling asleep.!!
For a lot of us here in the state commuter unis, school can’t be a priority. I need to be more worried about working and making money so I can eat, finding a new place to live, and dealing with the massive amounts of drama coming out of my family. In between all that, I’m already not sleeping, not taking care of my medical problems, and not doing apartment maintenance. That’s just me. Lot of my classmates have kids and even more demanding jobs. Finding time to do schoolwork just isn’t a priority, and sometimes I can’t show up to class or study or complete an assignment. I certaily don’t do course readings. Just how it is. I’ve had professors demand I make education more of a priority, and I just don’t see that as reasonable for us older folks.
I get that life gets in the way… but if you can’t study or complete the assignment, then I am not sure how you think you have earned a degree. College isn’t just coming and sitting in the classroom. If you can’t do assignments or homework, then you have to accept poor or failing grades. I got a night MBA. I found I could keep up with one night class a semester, but two at a time wiped me out while working full time. I couldn’t do a good job, and it was really too much. So I alternated semesters – hard push with two classes for one semester, then a one class semester. it took a while, but I got it done. A college degree isn’t a right for people who just show up, even at a commuter school or directional.
What’s the alternative? I need the degree to get full time work around here, and the CSU system is rather punitive towards part time enrollment. The loss of financial aid would kill the ability to pay rent, too. I don’t really have the option to pull back on classes or drop out. I also can’t make my parents stop acting like angry children or just stop struggling with autism or ADHD. I used to be an A student. Now I’m a B student. Used to dream of grad school. Now I know I probably can’t go. Yea, it sucks, but that’s life. Nice if I could reprioritize school to fix that, but it’s not an option in front of me.
A degree is verification that you’ve learned something (or at least learned how to learn something). Even if the alternative is distasteful, to award a degree (or passing someone through classes on the way to that degree) makes that degree worthless. If there’s any point to getting a degree, I do hope that you, @Spaceship, can see that the implication that mere attendance should be enough to get it would actually make it not worth even the effort of said attendance.
Actually, the school does have to accommodate a disability but does not have to provide exactly what is requested. They have to reasonably accommodate the disability (short of it creating a hardship for the business or school) but their solutions may be different from the ones requested, especially if those requested are ones that go beyond an accommodation to introduce a distinct advantage.
You say that like I don’t still largely pull down B grades. Yea, education isn’t really the most important thing, but I still have exams, papers, and all that. I do a bit more than just show up, but I don’t do everything the professors are pushing me to do because I have other priorities.
@Spaceship --I understand conflicting priorities. I have taught many students who worked full time, had kids, dealt with illnesses, homelessness, and many other challenges.
I don’t “demand” they work harder. I do grade according to what they do, not what I wish they could do. Because as @dfbdfb said, a degree represents learning. That that’s not a priority for you, doesn’t mean it’s not a priority for me.
@Spaceship, often life is about choices. I’ve had students who have had incredible challenges who have excelled and have met the standards that are set for demonstrating mastery of the course content. I strongly second @dfbdfb 's comments on what a degree is. It’s not a reward for “seat time.” Maybe now is not the right time for you to be in school if you are pulled in to many directions or maybe you need to enroll on a part-time basis. I won’t even go there on your financial aid comment.
All of that said, I do wish you good luck and hope you can maximize the opportunities that your education presents.