I find the following (from TL Cat) amusing:
I began to think of words like Hate, Loathe, and Detest… So to investigate their definitions further so not to use them out of context I went to Merriam-Webster Online and found that they all fit when describing teachers who cancel class without sending out an email!
I find it amusing for reasons similar to Tiger, because in the late 1980s when I was in school, the best you got was a note on the board, and even in graduate school into the late 1990s, my profs barely used e-mail. I also find it amusing because as a professor who does use e-mail quite extensively (and yes, I do send it when I know I have to cancel, if at all possible), many of students don’t always read it. Further, most of my colleagues don’t maintain mailing lists for their classes, so couldn’t send a mass e-mail if they wanted to do so.
While I sympathize with Ms. Cat and her plight, methinks she is ahead of her time in expecting e-mails. But hey, at least she got a free hour/hour plus, and you can’t buy time!
Hat tip: OTB.
Academic emails are NOT for communication between professors and students. They are only intended to arrange for Thursday night parties and to arrange dates.
Didn’t you get the memo?
Comment by John Lemon — Friday, September 24, 2024 @ 9:53 pm
Is last-minute class cancellation fairly common? Do people just wake up one morning and say, “I don’t really feel like showing up today”? I’ve cancelled class once every few years in extreme cases, such as when I lost my voice, but this makes it sound like standard practice.
Comment by Ann — Saturday, September 25, 2024 @ 9:29 am
Actually, no, I wouldn’t think it common–athough i have had to do more than you cite. I probably have had to cancel class on average once per year due to some illness one of my three sons have brought home over the last several years. Seems like last Spring I had to cancel twice-once from a stomach virus and another time from a flu with high fever.
I just like having a procedure in place just in case.
Comment by Steven Taylor — Saturday, September 25, 2024 @ 4:49 pm
And for whatever it is worth, I teach a 4-4, meanig the probability of being sufficiently sick on a given day is relatively high (especially with the three young kids).
Comment by Steven Taylor — Saturday, September 25, 2024 @ 4:58 pm
The illness
Steven Taylor has comment on a complaint by a student at another college that a class cancellation was not announced via email. Steven writes: I also find it amusing because as a professor who does use e-mail quite extensively (and…
Trackback by Signifying Nothing — Sunday, September 26, 2024 @ 7:27 pm
having classes cancelled it pretty common. i will have a class get cancelled an average of 5-7 in a semester. and i think that is a lot. i check my email every single morning in the even of a class cacellation i can go back to bed.
i have had teachers that used it and it was much appreciated. i suppose it is a lot to expect.
oh and i definatly us email for the party line aspect too. lol.
Comment by TL Cat — Sunday, September 26, 2024 @ 10:09 pm