PSA: If your child has difficulties taking notes...

[regentrude]

... and is requesting a note taker, it would be good if they checked before whether the professor is already posting her lecture notes for students to print out.

 

I have all my slides available for my students to print.

Any problem that is worked out in chalk on the board is worked out in my lecture videos, and simply taking a screen shot of the final image will produce notes that are complete and correct becasue they have been written by the instructor.

 

But I would have hoped that especially the student who needs this as an accommodation had LISTENED to what I announced in class repeatedly and had perused my website instead of struggling for half a semester.

 

Teach your children to read the darn syllabus.

[Angie in VA]

Preach it, girl!

[Kareni]

 

Teach your children to read the darn syllabus.

 

I like to post this every so often because it amuses me and because the message is a valid one.

 

 

Warning: The following link contains adult language!

 

 

If you are not easily offended, you might enjoy reading this piece from the now sadly defunct Rate Your Students site. The piece is entitled: We'd Encourage Future Students to Read the Syllabus, or Maybe Just Take Another Class.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[MysteryJen]

So far my advice to "read the syllabus" is (according to ds1) the best piece of advice I gave him.

 

And, apparently the only one of many that he is currently following.

[Mom22ns]

So after lecturing ds endlessly on "read the syllabus", in his dual enrollment classes last year, the teacher didn't follow her syllabus at all! She never referred back to it, dates, projects and even the grade weighting weren't followed (ds would have had an A by posted grade calculations, but the way she calculated grades he missed it by .02%).

 

Now he is convinced that I am an idiot for focusing so on "read the syllabus".  :svengo:

[hornblower]

One of dd's college classes this term is a nightmare. Syllabus is useless. There's no outline of lecture topics for each date. No list of readings.

(But a long diatribe about cell phones made it into the introductory handouts. Priorities, I guess....)

The course description has little correlation to what she's covering. For example, the course description said they'd follow an imaginary offender through the justice system, analyzing each step & the possible outcomes. They've done nothing like that. NADA.

Instructor doesn't post notes because she doesn't HAVE notes.
Instructor missed a lecture right before an exam (notified them an hour in advance that she had to go to a funeral. Really? Who gets called to a funeral with an hour notice?) and the next day she posted the 'notes'.  It's a stream of consciousness rambling, tons of typos & grammatical errors; obviously something she just hammered out on the fly.

So disappointing & a source of much aggravation for dd.

[regentrude]

One of dd's college classes this term is a nightmare. Syllabus is useless. There's no outline of lecture topics for each date. No list of readings.

 

(But a long diatribe about cell phones made it into the introductory handouts. Priorities, I guess....)

 

The course description has little correlation to what she's covering. For example, the course description said they'd follow an imaginary offender through the justice system, analyzing each step & the possible outcomes. They've done nothing like that. NADA.

 

Instructor doesn't post notes because she doesn't HAVE notes.

Instructor missed a lecture right before an exam (notified them an hour in advance that she had to go to a funeral. Really? Who gets called to a funeral with an hour notice?) and the next day she posted the 'notes'.  It's a stream of consciousness rambling, tons of typos & grammatical errors; obviously something she just hammered out on the fly.

 

So disappointing & a source of much aggravation for dd.

 

I am sorry your DD's instructor is disorganized and unprofessional.

 

[SarahW]

So after lecturing ds endlessly on "read the syllabus", in his dual enrollment classes last year, the teacher didn't follow her syllabus at all! She never referred back to it, dates, projects and even the grade weighting weren't followed (ds would have had an A by posted grade calculations, but the way she calculated grades he missed it by .02%).

 

Now he is convinced that I am an idiot for focusing so on "read the syllabus".  :svengo:

 

 

This reminds me of a US History class I took with a smart, but quite scattered, prof. One day, about half-way through the semester, I walk into the classroom and see a few new faces. Huh, strange. The regular classmates and I are having our regular casual pre-class chit-chat when one of the strangers pipes in to ask "Hey, don't we have a midterm today?" Nope, not today, it got pushed back to next week, we answer. "But I came to class today because the syllabus said the midterm was today!!" the strangers wailed.

 

Yes, read the syllabus, but also show up for lectures. The announcements may surprise you.  :lol:

 

Though that was the days before blackboard and other digital classrooms. These days you also have to check those.

 

....

 

But I don't know how those strangers expected to pass the class. Maybe just from reading the textbook? But unlike other profs at that CC, that one didn't use the textbook at all. Soo... :confused:

[Mom22ns]

Yes, read the syllabus, but also show up for lectures. The announcements may surprise you.  :lol:

 

I took a college algebra class dual enrollment at the CC that was way to easy for me because some stupid guidance counselor told me high school students are never prepared for the level of math they thing they are (no placement testing). The teacher gave us a syllabus that clearly stated if all you want to do is show up on test days, she was fine with that. I went regularly for the first few weeks, took the first chapter test and aced it. After that I just showed up for the test dates on the syllabus. I was always terrified something would have happened and a test would have been moved though! She was true to her word and I just did a quick review before each test and got an easy A. It was a total waste but I do know how some students would expect that to work.

[elegantlion]

Great, we've just been discussing the importance of reading the syllabus. My lit professor said he wants a t-shirt that says "It's on the syllabus". So, he could flash it at people like Superman.  :lol:

[hornblower]

Speaking of syllabi, this just made me LOL (for Wolverine fans)
 

http://lucasnorthlover.tumblr.com/post/100109629676/oldfilmsflicker-ladyfabulous-how-i-get-my

 

[kiana]

So after lecturing ds endlessly on "read the syllabus", in his dual enrollment classes last year, the teacher didn't follow her syllabus at all! She never referred back to it, dates, projects and even the grade weighting weren't followed (ds would have had an A by posted grade calculations, but the way she calculated grades he missed it by .02%).

 

Now he is convinced that I am an idiot for focusing so on "read the syllabus".  :svengo:

 

This is the sort of thing that can quite often lead to a successful grade appeal. 

[G5052]

This is the sort of thing that can quite often lead to a successful grade appeal. 

 

Or a lawsuit.  Seriously.  Four of the five professors who have been sued at my college went "off syllabus" and didn't follow what they had written.  The fifth gave a zero for a plagiarized paper, and didn't have any penalty identified in the syllabus. 

 

I've always found it EASIER to stay on syllabus because then there's no question about my policies or what we're doing.  The only time I've changed my syllabus was when I had so many weather-related cancellations that I had to rearrange things.

[Mom22ns]

This is the sort of thing that can quite often lead to a successful grade appeal. 

 

 

Or a lawsuit.  Seriously.  Four of the five professors who have been sued at my college went "off syllabus" and didn't follow what they had written.  The fifth gave a zero for a plagiarized paper, and didn't have any penalty identified in the syllabus. 

 

I've always found it EASIER to stay on syllabus because then there's no question about my policies or what we're doing.  The only time I've changed my syllabus was when I had so many weather-related cancellations that I had to rearrange things.

 

I was frustrated on his behalf, but never even thought of an appeal. She said in her syllabus that points she gave for perfect attendance would be treated as a bonus. Ds had perfect attendance. Instead of attendance being a bonus, she used it as a grade to replace a project that was listed in the syllabus but not actually done. He still had all the points, but having them be part of the grade instead of bonus points took a couple percent off his grade. She could have chosen to round up, especially realizing her change cost him the grade, but she didn't do that either. It was his first college class ever at 16. He did like it in spite of all of that and took her class the next semester because he felt she was good at actually teaching, just not so much at syllabus writing, organizing, you know... outside the classroom stuff. She also had no office hours, gave no phone number for contact and didn't answer emails. She really wasn't the first college professor I wanted him to meet.

 

As it turns out, the grade didn't matter. Ds's college of choice will give him credit for the class, but does not transfer the grade. They have already accepted him, so it didn't hurt there. I haven't seen a scholarship offer yet, but I don't think any long term damage was done except teaching ds that reading a syllabus gains you nothing but disappointment. argh.

[hillfarm]

My dd is taking 5 cc classes this fall. Her one online class instructor has a syllabus and sticks to it quite well. Her English professor has a syllabus and follows it fairly well. Her Psych professor has a syllabus but has not followed it at all, deviating even on the very first day. Her Business Management professor and Macroeconomics professor offer syllabi but departed from them by the start of week 2. Not exactly a great percentage here to support confidence in the syllabus system.

 

It is most frustrating. I am trying to teach her good study habits these last two years I have her here at home in preparation for university. I yap incessantly about time management and looking ahead to see what due dates are approaching. To only minimal avail. She can't plan when to study for exams for 3 of her classes because she only gets notified one class ahead about an exam the next time the class will meet. She can't schedule her workload very well, since she never knows what is due. It is making me crazy.

 

[dirty ethel rackham]

I can't tell you how many times I have told my teens to read the syllabus.  I had to stop myself from making my new college freshman show me the syllabi from the fall quarter classes and let that child suffer the consequences (other than frequent reminders that the scholarship (with a minimum GPA req.) is the only reason this child can go to this school.) 

[Bootsie]

Or a lawsuit.  Seriously.  Four of the five professors who have been sued at my college went "off syllabus" and didn't follow what they had written.  The fifth gave a zero for a plagiarized paper, and didn't have any penalty identified in the syllabus. 

 

I've always found it EASIER to stay on syllabus because then there's no question about my policies or what we're doing.  The only time I've changed my syllabus was when I had so many weather-related cancellations that I had to rearrange things.

 

Out of curiosity, do you know if any of these suits have been successful?  I try to stay as close as possible to the syllabus in all classes I teach, but occasionally, things come up (weather, technology issues, or current market events when I am teaching a current events course) that require slight deviations.  However, my university requires that this statement be placed on my syllabus:

 

 

This Syllabus is provided for informational purposes regarding the anticipated course content and schedule of this course.  It is based upon the most recent information available on the date of its issuance and is as accurate and complete as possible.  I reserve the right to make any changes I deem necessary and/or appropriate.  I will make my best efforts to communicate any changes in the syllabus in a timely manner.  Students are responsible for being aware of these changes.

 

I go back and forth about how much detail to put in my syllabus.  For example, do you simply put "cheating will result in a zero," or do you provide a list (like a plagiarized paper) will result in a zero.  Both can be problematic.  I had a colleague that several years ago had a statement that "cell phones may not be used on exams."  The student appealed on the basis that she did not use a "cell  phone;" she used a "smart phone.  The student lost the appeal, but only after the professor spent many hours dealing with the issue, attending hearings, etc.

[Bootsie]

Regentrude, I thought of this yesterday when a student came by my office in tears that she failed my first exam.  I knew that this particular student was faithfully attending classes and appeared to be paying attention in class.  I asked if she had her class notes with her.  She admitted that she was having trouble keeping up when taking notes.  I teach a finance class with a lot of "word problems."  The problems are posted in our learning management system for students and are projected in Powerpoint during the class.  (I do not provide the worked out problems on the LMS because I have found students don't attend class or pay attention when that is done.)  She was copying down every word from the problems.  "The East Coast Food Company just invented a new machine that allows it to produce potato chips that taste exactly like french fries...."  She was getting all of the background, scenario information down, but was missing about half of the worked problem because she was slowly, neatly writing all of the "non-finance" information down.  

 

If I had not read your post, it would have never occurred to me that she looked so engaged in class because she was writing down exactly the wrong information.  It does make me wonder how she has gotten to the point of being a college senior.

[AMJ]

I was frustrated on his behalf, but never even thought of an appeal. She said in her syllabus that points she gave for perfect attendance would be treated as a bonus. Ds had perfect attendance. Instead of attendance being a bonus, she used it as a grade to replace a project that was listed in the syllabus but not actually done. He still had all the points, but having them be part of the grade instead of bonus points took a couple percent off his grade. She could have chosen to round up, especially realizing her change cost him the grade, but she didn't do that either. It was his first college class ever at 16. He did like it in spite of all of that and took her class the next semester because he felt she was good at actually teaching, just not so much at syllabus writing, organizing, you know... outside the classroom stuff. She also had no office hours, gave no phone number for contact and didn't answer emails. She really wasn't the first college professor I wanted him to meet.

 

As it turns out, the grade didn't matter. Ds's college of choice will give him credit for the class, but does not transfer the grade. They have already accepted him, so it didn't hurt there. I haven't seen a scholarship offer yet, but I don't think any long term damage was done except teaching ds that reading a syllabus gains you nothing but disappointment. argh.

 

I think that future experience with other professors will teach him:

1.   You were right -- reading the syllabus is a good idea, and
2.   That first professor is not the norm.

[AMJ]

My dd is taking 5 cc classes this fall. Her one online class instructor has a syllabus and sticks to it quite well. Her English professor has a syllabus and follows it fairly well. Her Psych professor has a syllabus but has not followed it at all, deviating even on the very first day. Her Business Management professor and Macroeconomics professor offer syllabi but departed from them by the start of week 2. Not exactly a great percentage here to support confidence in the syllabus system.

 

It is most frustrating. I am trying to teach her good study habits these last two years I have her here at home in preparation for university. I yap incessantly about time management and looking ahead to see what due dates are approaching. To only minimal avail. She can't plan when to study for exams for 3 of her classes because she only gets notified one class ahead about an exam the next time the class will meet. She can't schedule her workload very well, since she never knows what is due. It is making me crazy.

 

This is going to create no end of problems for my eldest when she reaches college, I'm sure.  She has very slow processing speed, and must COMPLETE any study and review at least 24 hours before the test.  Anything newly learned must be completed at least 3 days prior.  This is a real, diagnosed, documented limitation that we have found no way of eliminating.  We are going to have an interesting time convincing some professors, I'm sure.

[Mom22ns]

This is going to create no end of problems for my eldest when she reaches college, I'm sure.  She has very slow processing speed, and must COMPLETE any study and review at least 24 hours before the test.  Anything newly learned must be completed at least 3 days prior.  This is a real, diagnosed, documented limitation that we have found no way of eliminating.  We are going to have an interesting time convincing some professors, I'm sure.

 

Yes, that will be tough. Professor often teach new material the class period before the test. Accommodations can't require them to not teach. She can probably get any notes or power points in advance with accommodations, but that isn't the same. I've had classes that were 4 or 5 days/week that teaching continued until the day before the test. That is going to be hard on her. There isn't a lot professors can do about it.

[hornblower]

Most of my dd's lectures are only once a week though so there's a week (incl the instructors office hours) before a lecture and a test, midterm etc.

[AMJ]

Yes, that will be tough. Professor often teach new material the class period before the test. Accommodations can't require them to not teach. She can probably get any notes or power points in advance with accommodations, but that isn't the same. I've had classes that were 4 or 5 days/week that teaching continued until the day before the test. That is going to be hard on her. There isn't a lot professors can do about it.

Well, right there you offered an idea of what CAN be done: talk to the prof about getting notes and study pointers in advance for class lectures that occur right before tests. In fact, if possible it might benefit her to study ahead regularly, so her brain has processed stuff before the lectures and she can better ask questions in class.

 

Thank you! Good thinking.

[kiana]

Well, right there you offered an idea of what CAN be done: talk to the prof about getting notes and study pointers in advance for class lectures that occur right before tests. In fact, if possible it might benefit her to study ahead regularly, so her brain has processed stuff before the lectures and she can better ask questions in class.

 

Thank you! Good thinking.

 

 

Studying ahead before the lecture is beneficial for nearly all students anyway. 

[OneStepAtATime]

Good post and good point.  I know in college there were several times I was one of the few that did read the syllabus.  When I would mention things I would get blank stares from classmates.  Mom taught me how important a syllabus was and I am grateful.  LOVED having a syllabus.  I would reread the darn things several times a semester and would frequently find something new each time.  It really helped me to stay on track in the classes where the professor followed their syllabus at least reasonably closely (I didn't see a syllabus as something set in stone, just more of a guideline but I did hope and expect that if they put something in the syllabus that they put it there for a reason and if something had to be changed, they would notify the class).

 

That being said, I did have some professors that seemed to have either created the syllabus in another life or had a sudden epiphany and decided to completely morph the class into something "other".  Being proactive and going to the prof, asking specific, polite questions, helped clear things up in most instances.  Obviously, though, sometimes people are just terribly disorganized, unfocused, and struggle to nail down a plan.  I just had to find a way to go with the flow.  Frustrating to no end, but....?