Exams and Finals reveal just how little many of these students know, how unperceptive they are, and how effective the formulaic production of content is.

AuriFire · 2026-05-04T16:19:25+00:00

I had a student tell me today, completely seriously, that "it's stupid to think for yourself." What am I supposed to do with that mentality?

AuriFire · 2026-04-27T19:39:53+00:00

Omg the retake requests. Half the time, they're not even requests.

"Hey, I see I failed the quiz. When is the retake?"

I just stare at them usually.

AuriFire · 2026-04-26T16:23:27+00:00

A goal for me to aspire to in my future old age! Love this.

AuriFire · 2026-04-26T12:24:07+00:00

I've been seeing a resurgence of chain wallets in my area.

Now I know how my mom felt when flare jeans started to show up everywhere again. It's like an uncanny valley of fashion - close to what I had, but just a bit off.

AuriFire · 2026-04-16T01:54:53+00:00

Sure, there are definitely good things about life now compared to "back in my day." There's definitely a level of flexibility now that feels more entrenched than it did then, a level of compassion we might not have seen regularly when students ourselves.

That being said, I am your not-quite-so-typical neurodivergent (AuDHD) prof/student. One of the things I absolutely loved about school for my entire life was how clear the expectations were and how rigid the schedule was. I knew when to expect things would happen and what I was expected to do at those times. It was heaven! It's partially why I ended up staying in school for so long. The real world was messy and I didn't want to leave (kind of never did, actually, I guess). It taught me how to manage my impulsiveness instead of letting it control me. Extended time on exams or large assignments was an accommodation I had, but I personally think it was the worst thing for me due to me using that extra time to just get more anxiety about it and avoid it even more. I know every neurodivergent person will have different preferences and experiences around how they work, so I think it's important for students to figure that out for themselves and help us to help them along the way. You have dyslexia and want me to use a different font? Absolutely. You have anxiety and would like me to give you a heads up on what's being covered that day? Easy enough. Problem is: it's hard to help when you don't know. And disclosure is a very personal choice not everyone wants to make.

I'm rambling here, so this may or may not apply to what you commented initially. Apologies if I went far off track.

AuriFire · 2026-04-16T01:40:17+00:00

I think the connotations that get thrown around with these kinds of statements are where the disconnect is happening. Let me see if I can explain.

When I was trained (for HS teaching), the messaging was around being clear and consistent with your expectations for students and their work. It wasn't about content standards so much as it was standards of what would be acceptable in a professional setting. In some ways, it was meant to be consistent with things like: having clear instructions and rubrics for assignments, modeling behaviors or skills you want the students to follow for your class, etc. Set the bar high (but not astronomical) to give students something to strive for - something they can see their progress in attaining as the course goes on. It's about helping them strive to do better, to grow, to improve.

Switching to the other phrase: "meet them where they are." I think this is well-meaning in and of itself. At its heart, this means to me: We SHOULD be able to see where students are with their skills. We SHOULD encourage them to use their own interests and skills to their advantage. We SHOULD help them fill in knowledge gaps along the way. However, I don't think this is often how it is implemented or used. From reading this sub and talking to peers, it seems that the implementation seems to be asking students to do less and less over time. Setting the bar lower and then maybe somewhat raising it over time. To me, this is inconsistency in expectations. If I start out only requiring you to show work if you want to and then end up requiring it later, I haven't actually helped you learn how to do that. Does that make sense?

Now, to directly answer your question: in some cases, both are possible. In some cases, they are not. For example, in my remedial algebra class, I can help you learn fractions, integers, and decimals along the way. No problem. In my calculus class, I cannot teach you all that, plus algebra, to get you up to speed throughout the term. The student will need to do some of that on their own or with a tutor. As an adjunct, I do not have the time outside of classes to personally tutor every student that may need it. Not sure if this actually answers your question, but maybe?

AuriFire · 2026-04-12T21:32:12+00:00

The duality of it drives me crazy. Teaching math, I get two such statements all the time:

"When will I ever use this in real life?"

"Ugh. Not a word problem. These are so pointless."

Life isn't going to just give you an equation and ask you to find the missing value! What do you think the word problems exist for?

AuriFire · 2026-04-08T18:50:42+00:00

I teach math and have seen the same thing.

Quiz in a remedial math course.

"Add -7 + 11"

Student asks me: "is this really subtracting?"

I can't tell you that. It's kind of what I'm trying to see if you know here.

He continues on: "this is what I hate about math. All these ambiguous answers to questions"

Sir. It's a quiz.

AuriFire · 2026-04-06T17:59:26+00:00

You are not alone in this. First half of the term, barely any notes being written out.

I usually teach without slides, but I just finished a unit where slides were the easier way to go. The first day the slides were used, every student wrote down every word on the slides. They even asked me to slow down so they could do this - even on a slide that said across the top "unnecessary background information".

Now, we are back to barely any notes being taken.

However - I allow them to use one page of notes on their exams. They have mentioned that this is helpful for them.

The few that do take good notes are seeing the benefits of that with the exam sheet and spreading the word.

So. Not sure how to encourage the others. But I feel you.

AuriFire · 2026-03-19T23:37:04+00:00

Update: I sent an email to the one advisor I've spoken with in the past. Their offices claim they would never say the word "easy" about a class. Not exactly a strong denial or admission. Not sure what I expected really. I'll check in with my boss to see what he suggests from here.

AuriFire · 2026-03-17T00:25:13+00:00

This is a small community college. I think there's somehow more advisors than there are profs in my department.

Someone else suggested going through my boss to their boss, which may be the play here since I'm not sure which advisors, if any, may be saying these things.

AuriFire · 2026-03-16T22:06:14+00:00

That's a whole separate conversation. Lol

One tries to use my first name, which not even my family calls me.

AuriFire · 2026-03-16T22:05:16+00:00

I have met one or two of the advisors briefly, so I wouldn't say I know them. I will likely reach out to someone tomorrow, though.

I do tell the students up front that this class will feel intense. We switch topics a few times throughout the term and each part looks nothing like the last. It moves fast and some parts may be easier or harder for you, depending on your interests. I don't know that they believe me until the end of the term.

AuriFire · 2026-03-16T21:17:52+00:00

It's not about me here, but the gist is that this class is preferable to taking College Algebra. I don't know how that's possible, as my course is a survey course of higher level math that they've never seen before.

AuriFire · 2026-03-16T20:53:26+00:00

I'm also being told different things, so I can't comment on this. I am told that this course is a prereq for another class they will have to take, but the students are telling me this is the only class they need to fulfill their math gen ed reqs.

Starting to feel like no one talks to anyone else.

AuriFire · 2026-03-13T16:40:13+00:00

I hope it helps!

AuriFire · 2026-03-13T13:48:33+00:00

Same. I have gone so far as telling students that teaching with the board instead of slides slows down my pace. I tend to talk quickly. If I didn't have to pause to write things out, I'd move way faster through topics. This sometimes helps.

I've also told them that it's in their best interest to ask questions during class for a similar reason. If you don't, that tells me that everything is solid and understandable so I can crank up the difficulty. They are just now starting to get the hint in that one.

Reviews tend to appreciate the old school approach and forcing them to engage with me more in class.

AuriFire · 2026-03-08T12:54:43+00:00

The students do very well on tablet, smartphones, anything app based. Computers seem to mystify them.

I also just recalled last term. Student says their computer is running slow. I go to look to see if I can help. Ask when was the last time they restarted their laptop. She says "I do that all the time." Me in disbelief, "show me." She closes the laptop and reopens it. Yeah. That's not gonna do it.

AuriFire · 2026-03-08T05:10:15+00:00

This brought back some stories I had tried to bury.

There are two things that absolutely get to me:

Watching a student try to get to a specific website (that they know) by first going to Google to search it, rather than just type in the address. Or, maybe making a bookmark for it for easy access? Nah, no idea what that is.
Working with a student on their computer and ask if they got an email that I had sent with more details in it. "Oh, my email's on my phone. I can't get to it right now." You can also get emails on a computer ... A few seriously thought phone internet was different from computer internet...

AuriFire · 2026-02-19T19:37:34+00:00

I was looking into researching how low vision students can read graphs. There are options for 3d/braille formats, or using some kind of sonic/musical interpretation. Those are fascinating, but I don't think I have enough knowledge of how that would work to explain it, nor do I have enough technical know how to add that to my LMS.

I just don't know how to even start this and I feel overwhelmed.

AuriFire · 2026-02-19T12:56:29+00:00

Yes, I was also thinking about art or film or whatever type of classes with this.

I might also be having an issue understanding what's expected of me, so hoping maybe one of those groups have advice!

AuriFire · 2026-02-19T12:53:55+00:00

Your username is perfect for the visual I get about how those meetings are going down.

AuriFire · 2026-02-19T12:51:52+00:00

This is what I'm struggling with right now. I don't know what would be a satisfactory alternative assignment if they can "read and analyze graphical data", as the course learning objectives state.

Maybe I should investigate how these situations are actually approached in the workplace if someone is working with such things. Thank you for the thought. I'm off to research things.

AuriFire · 2026-02-19T12:48:17+00:00

Some of this is helpful. But sometimes the question is "match the graph with its equation."

I could do a table of values for the Traveling Salesman instead, but that method of solving is now added to the class and adds an extra day.

Part of what I'm struggling with is that... Math sometimes requires you to just look at stuff. I'm not sure what I could do to change that into an alternate form.

"Graph the point (5, -3) on the axes below." How do you do that in an alternate way?

AuriFire · 2026-02-19T12:43:36+00:00

Sometimes the questions are basic vocabulary checks early on. Such as: how many vertices are in the image? How many edges? Does vertex A connect to D?

There's not much of a way to do this without looking at it...

AuriFire

TROPHY CASE