don't say i never gave you anything

it's amazing how time flies when you're "having fun." i have basically been sitting here at the computer since 7 this morning, catching up on all of the little things i have been putting off for months. well, some of the tasks i've completed were not so "little." for example, i finished up calculating my final grades and entered them into the college's computer system. i also finally decided on a button color and style for the web site i am revamping, and plugged them in and debugged them. it was particularly nice to get those things off of my "to do" list.

i purposely designed the final exam i gave to my class yesterday to be easy - for them and for me. it was straight-up 50 multiple-choice questions, no essay. i gave them the review sheet 2 weeks ago. most of the students did very well! i believe the average was 80. then there was the young man who was taking the class in order to...um...waste money? his exam grades were 58, 44, 0 (he didn't bother to take exam #3 or the make-up) and 38.

and then there was my little engineer. i really bent over backwards this semester for this person. he was trying to get into a professional program at a larger university and needed to keep a certain grade point average. he approached me after our second test and asked if there was anything he could do, short of dropping the class, that would ensure that he at least made a "b." he hadn't done too well on the first 2 tests and admitted that he just didn't understand a lot of the concepts that i was presenting. psychology does tend to be a very gray subject, and sometimes black-and-white thinkers have trouble "getting it." so, i came up with an optional extra credit project that would give students the opportunity to earn up to 100 extra points! that could bring a "d" up to a "b" easily!

the project was due on december 7th - no exceptions. several students turned in their work. but not the engineer. he came up to me after class and said that he had 2 out of the 5 essays written and could he turn it in by the end of the day? i was very disappointed, but i told him that he could, as long as he had the secretary stamp it with the date and time. i was running late yesterday, but i made time to check my mailbox in the adjunct faculty room. there was no project. the engineer did quite well on his final, but i still had to give him a "c" for the class. he hung around after he turned his test in, asking what he could do to get a better grade. if i had told him what i had wanted to tell him, i would probably be facing a lawsuit right now.