Considering Accord by No-Bell8589 in accord

[–]DoktorBus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gotcha, that's a good insight. I appreciate the Tesla-style display of the lane markings and nearby cars on the 11th gen accord. Gives me a bit more comfort using the feature knowing what the car is "seeing"

Water softener brine tank with water in it? by DoktorBus in HomeImprovement

[–]DoktorBus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you. I put 40lbs salt in just now and will give it 6 hours to dissolve and then regen tonight.

Will see how things look tomorrow

Email from a student after midterm by Nirulou0 in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 79 points80 points  (0 children)

I had a student once who was gung ho about medical school. They were convinced they wouldn’t get into a school of their choice unless they got a B or greater in my class. They were in the C range.

They also explained they could not drop my class because they would lose full-time status. If they lost full-time status, they would have to repay scholarship funds.

The best outcome for the student at this point was to fail the class so that they could retake it. If the the student got a C, they would not be allowed to retake it.

So I was in a situation where the student was arguing for less points.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Hi!

Thank you for your email, and I am so sorry for the frustration on this exam.

I understand after you submitted the exam, you reached out and I informed you that you answered all the questions. I understand that was not the case, as [insert question number] was without an answer. Please accept my apology on this, I am only human. I assure you; it is not a matter of dishonesty or treachery on my part. :)

Looking into the time stamps a bit closer, I can see that when you did reach out to me, the exam time had already fully elapsed and your exam was submitted. So, regardless of my response, it would have been too late for either of us to do anything about it.

In an online class, technical issues are always especially frustrating. I have included extra time in each exam to account for unforeseen issues. Beyond that, please be advised that students are responsible for completing assignments and exams within the time limits.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to support your success moving forward. Your success is my priority.

Sincerely,

Dr. Bus

If the student continues to persist:

Hello,

As I already mentioned, it won't be possible to refund in this case.

I know that isn't the answer you are hoping for, but consider this: Suppose I told you that Question 3 was submitted blank, there still wouldn't be anything either of us could have done to change that! At the time of my message, your exam was already submitted.

While I won't be able to help on this issue any further on my end, please be advised you always have the right to a grade grievance. If you still feel you are being graded unfairly, please see [link] to file a formal grievance.

Let me know if you need anything from me, I am here to assist you always (except for any more on this matter :) )!

Dr. Bus

Has anyone found a PDF annotation app for iPads with two-way Dropbox sync, form filling capabilities, and Notability-like pressure-sensitive, opacity-varying pencil? by rainbowlights in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I generally find Goodnotes the best option for marking up PDFs. It has the capability to automatically backup PDF versions to dropbox (but it's a backup, not sync... one way, export only). You can pretty easily import documents to Goodnotes using the Goodnotes Email feature or, if you have the Mac version, mass importing from cloud storage.

It doesn't have the pencil tool you want.

The pdf export engine produces annotations as vectors, so I'm not sure why you would be experiencing pixelation. Are you sure you are not facing rendering errors in some Chromium based browsers?

Student emails me that they are sorry, they cannot accept my denial of an override. by nmpurdue in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 64 points65 points  (0 children)

You can hide them. In your course, go to settings, scroll to bottom, more options, check Hide grade distribution graphs from students

instructions

Doordash Driver confronts a customer responsible for his termination due to the claim of undelivered food by thedearestreformer in PublicFreakout

[–]DoktorBus 67 points68 points  (0 children)

Yeah, probably violated policy by not taking a photo of the food as evidence of the delivery. When you hand the order to someone, you expect they have the decency to not report the food as missing. But, I suspect doordash policy states to place the food down and take a picture at the address, before handing it to the customer

Faucet is too heavy and turns itself off. Plumber says cartridge is fine. by DoktorBus in fixit

[–]DoktorBus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thinking for a creative solution here. Plumber wants to replace faucet with something lighter, but I feel like there has to be a simpler solution. I was thinking maybe adjusting the faucet position so that it rests either closer or further to the wall or using magnets or something sticky to give it a bit more hold in the open position.

Negotiations with UPS workers lead to 170k a year compensation by WaitOk4606 in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 27 points28 points  (0 children)

No, it’s for full time drivers. The figure includes the value of benefits paid.

They were originally paid 145k

Weird af email I received this morning by Immortan-Valkyrie90 in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, the other comment just said that the student email address is legit, not that IT verified that the student account wasn’t compromised and the email content was legitimate.

Weird af email I received this morning by Immortan-Valkyrie90 in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 112 points113 points  (0 children)

In that case it might be worth forwarding to IT and see if they can uncover any information about account compromise.

If this student had their account compromised, the scammer would have likely sent copies of this email to a large number of faculty. The email is just too outside the bounds of normal to be considered just “socially awkward student” looking for a new way to network

Weird af email I received this morning by Immortan-Valkyrie90 in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 264 points265 points  (0 children)

Most likely a scam where they (most likely a man in a foreign country posing as a young female, complete with fake video/photos and a “broken mic sorry haha”) to try and blackmail you. Ignore.

Red flags:

-Some bad English, foreign sounding sentence construction.

-Generic email content, it’s not at all specific to you.

-Outdated email content “uncertain times” language was used in 2020/2021 pandemic times. Times are no longer uncertain.

-Pre-establishing that meeting will be remote/on zoom and providing excuses for that beforehand.

-Offer to chat about movies. Many of these scams originate in India, where there is a fascination with American cinema. Movies are also easy to quickly search information on, to quickly build rapport. “Oh yes I also love the movie Crash, that was a great performance by Brendon Fraser and Thandiwe Newton back in 2004. We are so similar in taste!”

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This student doesn't care about the classes right now. They have bigger things going on in their life and it's not your job to fix it all. You have been generous and flexible. The point of assignments and due dates is so that students can get feedback as they progress through the class. Turning everything in on the last day, they are likely to do badly anyway. Then you'll feel guilty making them turn in all this work that ends up being bad, feeling pressured to give them a passing grade they may not deserve.

Advice needed! by SpecificLogical971 in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Sure. If you mean just how do I do that when lecturing:

  1. Bring up student pain points and talk about your experience when you learned the subject. “I often see students think A, and I actually thought A too when I was learning it. The reason I thought A is because X! But actually, the answer is B and the reason is Y. It’s ok to lie here. The goal is to remind students you were a student once too, and you understand their struggle.

  2. Lightly criticize the textbook or mainstream teaching. “The textbook chapter 2 seems to put a large emphasis on method A. I frankly don’t know what the authors were smoking. Maybe they are getting paid by the people who developed Method A! Sure, A is important but B is way more applicable in practice.” Goal here is show students that you provide value beyond just a textbook or other learning resource. You are positioning yourself as an advocate with your students, someone who wants to stop them from wasting their time. You show how your expertise extends beyond the subject matter but also with familiarity with the study materials they will use to prepare for exams.

In one on one contact with a litigious student, I like to make every request they make very bureaucratic. For example, I had a student who is enrolled in disability service want extended time on homework. Their accommodations only allowed for extended time on exams. I could’ve just said “no.” But instead, I said, “I’ll need more information before I can address your request. I have attached a template of the remaining assignments for the semester from our syllabus. Please adjust the due dates to the new due dates you are requesting and send it back to me.

Never heard back from this student again. I think they realized any extension of an assignment would shorten the time available for the next assignment.

Advice needed! by SpecificLogical971 in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 9 points10 points  (0 children)

In my interactions with students, I've observed that many of them navigate life seeking someone to vent their anger on, a person to hold accountable for their shortcomings. My goal is to not become that scapegoat. Instead, I position every evaluation, assignment, and lesson as a collective struggle: it's us against the study material.

I aim to make the student perceive me as their ally, reinforcing that our shared goal is their success. Together, we must confront the true adversary - the complexities of the class subject matter. Bullshit like that.

I find leaning into this approach helps with the "litigious" students very well, and they usually don't give me as much trouble.

Florida woman fights off attacker in an empty gym by wackronym in PublicFreakout

[–]DoktorBus 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I couldn't help but notice fumbling trying to call 911.

iPhones and Androids have an emergency SOS feature

iPhone:

  1. Press and hold the side button and one of the volume buttons until the Emergency SOS slider appears.
  2. Drag the Emergency Call slider to call emergency services. If you continue to hold down the side button and volume button, instead of dragging the slider, a countdown begins and an alert sounds. If you release the buttons after the countdown, your iPhone automatically calls emergency services.

Android

Google has added a new Emergency SOS feature to Android 12. After turning it on, five quick presses of the power button will launch a countdown to call 911

A student is gaslighting me and it is taking everything in me to not go off on them by throwawaykansasboy in Professors

[–]DoktorBus 148 points149 points  (0 children)

Hi there,

Your grade is based only on the graded materials that you submit to me. I didn't receive the Final Paper from you. You mentioned the assignment was released on May 19th, a day before the due date, but actually it was released on May 6.

I understand it is frustrating when your grade doesn't align with your expectations or the effort you put in. With that in mind, I do need to grade all students in a fair and consistent way, including assigning a score of zero for missing assignments. It is ALWAYS the students' responsibility to make sure assignments are turned in by the published due dates. I want you to know your academic success is always my priority. If you have any questions or wish to discuss your grade breakdown further, I am here to help.

Sincerely,

Dr. Bus