[nabs-l] professors and preferential treatment

Thu Apr 21 04:31:50 UTC 2011

Arielle,
  Yes, I was going to take the final late because of alternative
testing procedures.  Since this class is pretty heavily mathematical,
I use a brailler and take the test with a TA as a scribe...so I work
out the problem in braille, then read the TA the problem.  For this
class, doing the test on a laptop just wouldn't be practical for me,
although I'll definitely keep the suggestion in mind for future
classes.
  So...yeah, the reason I would've taken the final late is
blindness-related.  In that regard, blindness was a factor, but I'm ok
with the arrangement my professor worked out.  Do any of you guys
think I shouldn't be?
  Take care,
Kirt

On 4/20/11, Arielle Silverman <nabs.president at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Kurt,
> I'm a little confused-did the final already happen for the rest of the
> students? If so, were you planning to take it later because of
> alternative testing procedures? Or, has your section's final not
> happened yet?
> You're definitely in a tough situation and I admire you for seeking
> the fair path rather than the easy one. I do have a couple of comments
> based on my past work as a teaching assistant. First, nowadays there
> is a lot of external pressure on professors to be lenient (sometimes
> overly so) in their grading. It does sound like this guy is generally
> very lenient in his grading for all students. Since he did say he
> offers grade adjustments to all students who repeat the class, it
> doesn't sound to me like blindness was a factor at all in the
> decision, unless, as I asked about above, you are taking the final
> later than everyone else because of your particular testing
> accommodations. This brings me to my second observation from teaching
> and that is that oftentimes professors don't like dealing with late
> tests. We tend to grade tests (and especially finals) all at once and
> so it takes some extra effort to grade the tests that come in later
> and add the new grades to the gradebook. I have TA'ed for professors
> who have waived students' late finals in order to avoid this extra
> hassle. So if you are needing to take the final exam late because of
> alternative testing procedures, it may well just be easier for your
> professor to not have to grade it.
> One way to avoid having to take tests late, if you don't already do
> this, is to request to take your tests on your laptop in the regular
> classroom. Your prof can email you the test, or give it to you on a
> thumb drive, and you can email it back. In my experience about 95% of
> professors are fine with this arrangement. This has the advantage that
> your test is received and scored at roughly the same time as everyone
> else's.
> Best of luck!
> Arielle
>
> On 4/20/11, bookwormahb at earthlink.net <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> Kirt,
>> How good of you to ensure your grade is fair rather than out of sympathy
>> or
>> something because you're blind.
>> I'd say if the final would raise your grade then take it. But if it would
>> be
>> lower, just go with the work you've already done.
>> Also another idea to earn the grade is extra work or doing the homework
>> you
>> missed for some credit.
>>
>> Ashley
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Kirt Manwaring
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 11:53 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] professors and preferential treatment
>>
>> Dear nabs list,
>>   So here is my professor's reply to my email.  I'm accepting it, but
>> I feel a little guilty about doing so.  He offered to let me not count
>> the final exam because he offered the same to other students who were
>> taking the exam late.  I want to hear your guys' thoughts, I'm still a
>> little bit hesitant to do this even though I know I probably will.
>>   (message begins below)
>> Ahoy Kirt:
>>
>> Thanks for your e-mails. Honestly, I can't say that your blindness was
>> not a factor in deciding your grade, but if it was, it wasn't
>> decisive. On your exams you averaged a B. True, you didn't do the
>> homework. That would have lowered your grade a full letter. But I
>> almost always raise, by one grade, the grade of any student who is
>> repeating the class--after listening to my corny jokes for two
>> semesters, I think they deserve it. So that brings us to the final. On
>> Monday, while we were grading the exams, two students who had medical
>> excuses to take the exam late, were just about to get started. I
>> basically told them, what [teachers aid name omitted] probably told
>> you, namely: I'm willing to give them the grade they had already
>> earned in the course so they didn't need to take the final unless they
>> wanted to or unless they thought they could improve their grade by
>> doing so. One of them got an A the other a C+, but they were both
>> content with the grade I offered them and neither took the final. So
>> if I cut you some extra slack on account of your blindness, it wasn't
>> much. You were graded pretty consistently with everyone else. If, at
>> some point, you would still like to take the final, you can tell
>> [teachers aid name omitted]--she has a copy just in case you want to
>> take it.
>>
>> Hope that clarifies things a bit.
>>
>> Cheers
>> [professor's name omitted]
>>
>> On 4/20/11, Serena Cucco <serenacucco at verizon.net> wrote:
>>> Hi Kurt,
>>>
>>> I think you're doing the honorable thing by making sure your prof. isn't
>>> giving you a B just cuz you're blind and you might well be correct that
>>> he/she is.  I hope he/she learns from your honesty.  BTW, what
>>> accommodations did you use or know you should've used?  I'm wondering cuz
>>> I'm taking Stats this summer online through Rutgers.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Serena
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>> Behalf
>>> Of Kirt Manwaring
>>> Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 7:35 PM
>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>> Subject: [nabs-l] professors and preferential treatment
>>>
>>> Dear nabs list,
>>>   So I'm currently retaking a class I took last semester.  It's a
>>> logic class, which involves a lot of tables.  Last semester I took the
>>> class, I got a d+, mostly because I was lazy and didn't do all the
>>> homework, which made me bomb a few tests.  This semester I did enough
>>> in the class to probably get a grade in the C range...but today I
>>> found out the professor isn't requiring me to take the final and he's
>>> giving me a flat B in the class.  I'm putting a copy of the letter I
>>> sent this professor below my message here, I'd love to know what you
>>> think of it.  If he's giving me the B just to be merciful, as I know
>>> some professors do to students who struggle in classes (especially
>>> this professor, he gives students breaks and errs on the side of
>>> compassion when handing out grades to all his students), but I want to
>>> make sure him cutting me this slack has nothing to do with my
>>> blindness.  And I fear blindness is a factor...I'm not sure if this
>>> letter will prompt him to change his mind and give me the grade I
>>> deserve, but at least I tried.
>>> -------------
>>> Dear [professor's name omitted],
>>>  [teacher's aid's name omitted] just told me I'm not required to take
>>> the final and I'm
>>> getting a B in the class.  I apreciate the sentiment of what you're
>>> doing...and, honestly, a B would look much better on my GPA than what
>>> I probably deserve.  It would certainly be more advantageous for me to
>>> get a B in the class.  But I can't help feeling it's cheating me of a
>>> valuable learning experience, and here's why.
>>>  In retaking the class, I knew exactly what I was in for.  I still
>>> chose to be lazy and not do most of my homework.  In retaking the
>>> class, I was totally aware of the accomodations I needed to make with
>>> the course...and those accomodations were made in such a way as to
>>> pretty much make my blindness a non-factor.  Or at least a very
>>> minimal factor.
>>>  I knew exactly what I needed to do in the course to be successful,
>>> and I didn't do it all.  I did do better the second time around...but
>>> I honestly think my homework score the second semester taking the
>>> course was worse than it was the first time I took it.  If we're going
>>> purely by points, I'd probably deserve somewhere in the C range.  And
>>> I'm totally aware a B looks much better on my GPA.  But I didn't do
>>> the work to deserve that kind of grade.
>>>  If you're cutting me a break to be compassionate...I'm really not
>>> going to argue because I like having a B on my transcript.  But I feel
>>> a little uneasy about it because I know I don't deserve it and, were I
>>> not blind, I doubt you'd be quite so kind.  And I can honestly say my
>>> blindness wasn't the reason I gave you C quality work.  I know you've
>>> had blind students do amazing in your class before.  I know how to be
>>> successful as a blind student...I just didn't do everything I needed
>>> to to get a B grade.  And, although it's really attractive to me and
>>> I'm kicking myself for asking you this, I hope you'll reconsider and
>>> give me the grade I deserve rather than the grade I want.
>>>  Take care and thanks for the class,
>>> Kirt
>>>
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>>
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>
>
> --
> Arielle Silverman
> President, National Association of Blind Students
> Phone:  602-502-2255
> Email:
> nabs.president at gmail.com
> Website:
> www.nabslink.org
>
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