Thursday, July 06, 2006

Annoying things from my day

  1. more paint fumes- they are painting the exterior window frames on my building right now and the fumes are horrible. Last week was worse. I am convinced that this is very unhealthy, because it is EXTERIOR paint, but the fumes are coming inside. Yesterday, they were painting one of them as I was teaching- talk about distracting- they have to open them to paint them, so I had to shout over all the noise from outside (like lawnmowers, hydraulic lifts) .
  2. mini jackhammers- they are also putting in new stairs at the entrances of the building. Prior to placing them, they have to drill out the old ones, so right now I am listening to some lovely sounds from some tool that resembles a miniature jackhammer.
  3. annoying students- OK- my first annoying student story! Last Wednesday, a student called after class from the hospital to let me know that she had fallen and injured her ankle and wouldn't be able to make it class the next day. Fast forward to today (8 days later). She shows up to take the exam (we'll see how that was when I grade!), then asks if she can make up the labs she missed (she's missed 3). Now, I had not heard anything from her since the hospital phone call, so I assumed she was planning to drop the class. I also know that she was supposed to be out of town last weekend, so she likely would have missed at least Monday's class anyway. This student is a senior and should clearly know better.
Just thought I would share. At least the parking situation here has improved since freshmen orientation is over!

2 comments:

Seeking Solace said...

OMG, I have a student in the hospital story too. Well actually two students.

Student #1 claims that she has missed class because she was in the ER for her chronic back problem. I ask her to provide documentation, like her discharge papers. She claims that she does not have any. Right...

Student #2 tears her ACL. She does not contact me about this until two weeks after the fact. She has missed five homework assignments, which cannot be make up, and she did not turn in her first exam, which was take home. She could have done all of this while she was off. Now she wants back in my class!

Addy N. said...

ss: this student really was injured (she fell down the stairs in my building!), but obviously could have come back to class sooner than she did! Or at least have contacted me...