Been Talking About It For Hours And Hours

(First day of class.)

Me: “This has historically been a very challenging class for students. My office hours are posted here and on the website, and this is my email. Feel free to email me any time, and I’m always happy to talk to you!”

(Three weeks in:)

Me: “You guys, office hours have been so boring! Feel free to drop in, whatever your questions are. After all, it’s my job to help you out!”

(Five weeks in:)

Email To Certain Students: “…given your score on exams and quizzes to date, you will need to change your study habits if you want to succeed in this course. I’m happy to discuss this with you, and you should also feel free to talk to either of our TAs as well.”

(Eight weeks in:)

Me: “A lot of people found the last exam rather challenging. I haven’t seen many people during office hours, so I’ve put up a poll to see if there are other times that would work better for people.”

(No responses; office hours continue as usual. During the last week of class:)

Students’ Email: “I’m really worried about my grade in this class and I haven’t been able to make it to office hours. What should I do?”

Me: *head-desk*

My Reply Email: “It’s quite late in the quarter, so there’s only so much you can do, but my studying advice would be…”

(How many of my evaluations will include phrases like “wasn’t available” or “not accessible,” do you think?)