We're headed towards midterms and it's that time of year when students feel the need to complain to their teachers about how busy they are. WE KNOW! We've already finished school (and a whole lot more than you by the way) and we've already been through that. The whole point of midterms is that they happen at the mid point of the semester. Surprise! That's the same time for every class! So are finals. Do you think that life makes a list of everything you have going on and kindly schedules your midlife crisis around your child's birthday and your car breaking down. Of course not! This is training for real life. If you can't handle midterms, you're going to have a very challenging life!
Here are a few things to remember:
1. We know you're busy. Believe it or not, all of your teachers have been through college, and graduate school, written a dissertation, and many of them have families as well. We don't complain to you, please don't complain to us. You signed up for school, so own it!
2. Our to do lists are, and always will be, WAY longer than yours. I'm looking at my Sunday afternoon to do list and it has 28 items listed on it. I must, no exceptions, complete all of those things today. I also have a weekly to do list that includes another 50 or 60 items that have to fit into my "free time" this week.
3. I'm in school too! I have already completed 4 years of college, 5 years of graduate school, and I'm currently finishing my dissertation WHILE teaching full time. Your sob story of having to write a 5 page paper for me over the next four days does not stir me. Try writing a book while working 70 hours a week.
4. Grading takes half as long as writing. If it takes you two hours to write a composition, it will take me about an hour to grade it. Multiply that by my 120 students and then come cry to me about your busy busy schedule.
5. I write the tests....of course I know how hard they are! Perhaps you're unaware, but test writing is an art. How many communicative activities can you come up with that test direct and indirect object pronouns without putting too much emphasis on other skills? I've been teaching for 7 years now, so that means I've written at least 28 different activities on this one particular grammar element. Take a guess on how many hours of my life have been spent on test writing.
So, my dear students, get over yourselves. Telling us you're busy does not accomplish anything. We are too. Furthermore, telling me that you have "literally only six hours" over the next seven days to write your paper does nothing but tell me you have poor time management skills. I too went to college. I also was a NCAA Division I athlete in college who practiced an average of 6-7 hours a day. Furthermore, I traveled A LOT for swim meets and had to work around those crazy schedules to get my work done. I also had a job and volunteered in the community. Yes, I know what it means to be busy, and I feel for you, but please don't waste my time telling me how your life is so much more busy than mine. It's annoying.
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