IamBMETammy's Journal: Ooops

I am a big weenie, so after deciding that I looked like a freaky mutant because I'm having an allergic reaction to something, I emailed my teachers to let them all know that I was not going to be in class.

But did I email my friends? Nope. So being the super friends they are, they signed the role for me today so I wouldn't have an abscence. Yeah, not too sure how that's going to go over with the teacher.

We will probably be receiving another cranky email about attendance and the honor policy and that sort of thing.

Anyone NOT in Attendance...

[Shadow Wrought]

Please raise your hand.
Thank you.

attendance rosters

[Red Warrior]

Are for children.
Adults are responsible for ensuring that they learn the material in question.

While there are valid reasons, from time to time, to want attendance (practice, role playing, class discussion, pronunciation correction, etc), 90% of the time, attendance rosters are just a means of enforcing meaningless power roles.

Re:

[IamBMETammy]

I agree. I go to class because I don't want to miss material because I want A's, and besides if I wanted to goof off I can do that well enough with my laptop during class.

This particular teacher only does it sporadically because it has a high skip rate since the lecture is fairly pointless. I think she does it to try to make people think twice before skipping.

Re:

[Red Warrior]

it has a high skip rate since the lecture is fairly pointless.

And she knows it.
Faced with the choice of making the lecture have a purpose or make little marks on a sheet of paper.... :-)

Re:

[dexterpexter]

Agreed.

Although, having been a teaching assistant in the past, in some cases having documentation of attendance could be a CYA measure for when a student claims that they were unfairly graded because of whatever reason (major, gender, hair colour...you name it), and who are undoubtedly the students who do the least amount of work anyway and more often than not blatantly cheat, it helps to establish a link between attendance and grades (to give credence to the idea that the lecture is not indeed pointless--i

Re:

[IamBMETammy]

I don't think the class is particularly worthwhile, but unfortunately it is a requirement. I would enjoy the class a lot more if it were more challenging, which is probably why the skip rate is so high. No one feels as though they are learning anything from the class so there doesn't seem to be a reason to attend.

I have two excellent professors, and neither takes attendance. People want to go, they are interactive and interesting.