The Waiting Room

I decided to allow my Critical Thinking classes to make correction on their midterm essays for partial credit. But I did ream them out about the whole citation issue. A couple of students looked me dead in the face and said “You mean I have to document my sources in the body of the paper and at the end?” I was amazed. My response was “You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Normally, I would not drop the “F” bomb like that, but I was at the end of my rope. These are second and third semester students. All of them have taken Composition and Research and Library Skills, where MLA guidelines are pounded into their heads. Plus, I reviewed those concepts when I gave out the midterm, just in case. I even remind them of the wonderful tutorial services that are available. I told them that they could see me during office hours or set up an appointment and I would review their work. Do they take advantage of any of this?

So, I dismissed class and told them to use the time to work on their corrections. Later, I sat down to read essays from my Sociology class. Same shit, different class. After two hours, I just gave up. I went home and fell asleep on my couch.

Like the song says “My Give a Damn is Busted.”