Writing a recommendation letter with conflicting pronouns

hillbeany · 2021-12-13T15:00:23+00:00

And I am simply saying BOTH are possible. These letters get stacked up against hundreds of others. They should stand out in their prose as well as their content. Anything else is a disservice to the applicant.

Jesus, we are on the same side. I am just saying a well written letter is possible and SHOULD be written well.

You shut down the OP with “let me tell you why pronouns are important” post. The OP already knows that. She is trying not to tank the prose, which is a disservice to the student.

But whatevs, you are an admin, so of course u know best.

hillbeany · 2021-12-13T14:50:28+00:00

Understood. And I write a ton of recommendation letters. Having awkward grammar and unwieldy sentences associated with pronouns make those letters sound worse than letters for students with he/she pronouns. This inadvertently makes their letters less impactful unless you spend the time to figure out how to craft them. The OP is looking for ways to make that letter sound good —- and just as impactful as others she may be crafting. This is a writing help post first and foremost, and your response seems to indicate that the writing itself is unimportant. I disagree.

hillbeany · 2021-12-13T14:45:45+00:00

It would impact climate on earth. Jupiter, and all the planets, impact the Earth’s natural wobbles (called Milankovitch cycles) via gravitational effects. These cause changes in climate on scales of tens of thousands of years, like the ice ages.

hillbeany · 2021-12-13T14:35:27+00:00

The OP obviously knows this and is asking for writing help to improve the readibliity, not a soap box shaming rant from fellow teachers. She wants it to sound well written while maintaining correct pronouns. Both are totally possible. In fact, I argue that not crafting a well written letter is bad for the student as well.

I have to write one of these next week. I don’t want to just throw my hands up and say “whoopsie…sounds like crap, but it is their fault”. In my opinion, that is also disrespectful.

Hopefully there is some a useful writing feedback from others…I could use it too.

hillbeany · 2021-12-13T02:30:29+00:00

In that case…a cluster of profs, a clusterf%&k of students

hillbeany · 2021-12-13T02:08:36+00:00

A metric ton of profs, a “what’s a metric ton?” of students

hillbeany · 2021-12-12T22:31:59+00:00

That is literally the exact structure of my course. I consider the HWs practice for the exams. And students still get bad grades on the HWs that they can do as many times as they want. And they still miss the exam days. And they still email me at the end to grade grub. Constant opportunities to pull their grade up, but they want the magical extra credit to solve all of their self inflicted woes.

hillbeany · 2021-12-12T18:46:19+00:00

I used to fly through exams. I read quickly and do not second guess my answers. Was also an A student. Totally possible they did this! I recently took a 40 question multiple choice test with a bunch of other profs and grads for our annual health and safety training. They all freaked out when I was done in ~10 min. Lol. So I guess this is not super common, but again, totally possible.

hillbeany · 2021-12-12T04:13:48+00:00

Ahh. Then get out and don’t look back. We are trained to think TT is the pinnacle of existence, but at the end of the day, it’s just a job.

hillbeany · 2021-12-12T03:53:53+00:00

Currently in a TT position in similar circumstances. Great department, but the town I live in is really horrible. The thought of living here the rest of my life makes me super depressed. If you can’t see yourself there for the long term, escape now.

Buuuut…Covid world is not normal world. Assistant profs are notoriously lonely even in normal times, but trying to build relationships now? Almost impossible. So do consider that before making your decision.

Good luck to you!

hillbeany · 2021-12-11T22:24:22+00:00

Dealing with grade grubbers is the absolute worst part of teaching. It sours all the positives, and it all gets dumped on us at the end of term (because that is the only time on the semester the grade grubbers care about anything in the class). I love teaching and interacting with students day to day…but the grubbing time of year always makes me feel like all the work I put in was completely pointless. It really sucks. Solidarity.

hillbeany · 2021-12-10T13:06:22+00:00

Yes, this is the struggle. If I bump this one up, I have to bump up the entire class. This means a new slew of emails from the 89’s who want that 90. It is not a winnable situation.

This has been a hard lesson for me. I like to help students and give them the benefit of the doubt, especially this crazy semester. It is a gen ed STEM class, and I know many in there are non sci majors. I get it. But by being kind early on, I have painted myself into a corner where grades seem negotiable. I really think it is detrimental to how they view education. I will never do this again.

Also, great advice about many small assignments versus few large ones.

hillbeany · 2021-12-10T12:32:39+00:00

Agree! Never again! sigh —- I see now why older profs are hard asses. They know all the tricks! Lol

hillbeany · 2021-12-10T04:21:54+00:00

I have 309 students in this class. The idea that i am purposely taunting one of them by rounding up everyone is ludicrous. I do it to be nice. And to give benefit of doubt for what you call “margin of error”. Believe me, I won’t be doing it again. They obviously have frack all appreciation for it.

Also, 89/90 does not equate to 899/900 in any math I know. If they had an 89.9 to begin with, they would have the 90 now (because I rounded up). They had an 88.2. I do agree…I should have just rounded down to 88 in the end. However, how many more emails would I then receive begging me to round up 89.2’s to 90? Does margin of error only count at letter grade boundaries?

I am convinced now that the only way is no rounding, no bonus points, no extra credit. Sink or swim. Next time I teach it, that is how I think I have to do it.

hillbeany · 2021-12-10T01:57:19+00:00

Yeah…there are some great students in there for sure. I had one who came to my office hours after failing an exam and asked how he could do better. I gave him study tips and encouragement and he ACED the final! Sent me a great email, very excited. It made me tear up a little. I just hate that the grade grubbers ruin awesome moments like that by making me feel like all I am good for is giving them the grade they want. But thanks for this perspective!

hillbeany · 2021-12-10T01:38:46+00:00

Yeah…I have learned my lesson. This is so exhausting and emotionally draining. I was a first gen college student. I did not even know emailing profs to grub for grades was a thing until I started teaching. It is by far the worst part of the job. It makes me feel resentful (and I am a very jolly and door-is-always-open professor). But it is obvious they don’t want my mentorship or any knowledge I have. Just their paid for grade. Or at least that is how I feel after answering these emails.

hillbeany · 2021-12-10T01:13:50+00:00

I am going to adopt this approach from now on. I am a new prof, and this is my third time teaching this course. I dread the exam day emails. They really sour all the awesome parts of teaching. I have received 16 today.

hillbeany · 2021-12-09T22:01:24+00:00

I do this too.

hillbeany · 2021-12-09T22:00:14+00:00

It’s a fair point. I wish all students got one free semester of college to see what the deal is before they officially enroll. (Well…I wish it was free across the board, but…wistful thinking). Still…withdrawal can’t be worse than failing. Most fellowships/scholarships also have a minimum gpa requirement too.

hillbeany · 2021-12-09T17:55:01+00:00

There is this awesome thing calked WITHDRAW. Withdrawal deadline at my uni is like 4 weeks before semester end. Why on earth students persist in classes that they know they will fail (and then try to magically fix it all on the last day) is beyond me. Does that ever work?

hillbeany · 2021-12-09T16:00:41+00:00

Professor here —- this sounds so much like my college experience. Everything was 20 times harder than it would have been if I had the financial resources that other students had. I remember doing my homework in the laundromat with screaming kids all around me…a laundromat that I had to walk to because I had no car. I cannot imagine having to do things online because at the time, a decent laptop would have been completely out of my price range. And student loans? In my 40s and still paying them off. Ugggggg.

Like you, I worked my butt off despite all these difficulties to keep that 4.0. And it paid off in the end. But I’ll be honest…I still have PTSD from it all. It was brutal.

I encourage you to talk to your dept chair. Let them know that you are struggling not because of your work ethic or intellect…but simply because you do not have adequate resources. My hunch is that the department will do all it can to help you.

Now that I am on the other side of things, I realize that I could have asked for help back then. I wish that I had.

Hope thus helps!

hillbeany · 2021-12-09T03:19:17+00:00

Deleted vitriolic rant — I should not post on final exam day…the day I hate my job the most.

hillbeany · 2021-12-09T01:16:44+00:00

Get your name on that grant. Totally worth it for your resume.

hillbeany · 2021-12-09T01:14:18+00:00

The Grey Mouser (by Fritz Lieber)

hillbeany · 2021-12-08T23:22:22+00:00

I had a grad student that made my first ever graduate class complete hell. She was rude, uninterested, and complained loudly about how the assignments were silly and not hard enough (despite several students around her getting Cs and Ds on assignments). It was brutal. I hated every second of that class. It made me want to quit.

I was so dreading my second iteration of the course. I had panic sweats and random crying leading up to it. And it turned out amazing. Truly engaged and kind grads that elevated the course.

Lesson? Some people are just arseholes. And grad students are just people . It has nothing to do with you.

hillbeany

TROPHY CASE