So I Just sent my Calc professor an... interesting... email. What y'all think?

So did you send it?

Why not have one of us send it as a "Parent of one of the students."

Someone drafts it, and I will send it to him if you give me the address.

You don't need your blood on it, you have to see him every day.
 
You probably should've setup a private face to face meeting with your professor to talk this out. Never use email to convey information like this because things get lost in translation all the time. I really hope you didn't send that email.
 
You referenced your parents' hard earned money in the email as well as your mother studying mathetmatics. Did you ask her or your father's' thoughts prior to sending this?
 
Hope it goes well for you.
Sucks that Professors are material experts but don't know how to teach, and teachers know how to share wisdom but aren't experts.
 
You referenced your parents' hard earned money in the email as well as your mother studying mathetmatics. Did you ask her or your father's' thoughts prior to sending this?
 
Hope it goes well for you.
Sucks that Professors are material experts but don't know how to teach, and teachers know how to share wisdom but aren't experts.
 
Originally Posted by Destination Kicks

Sneakerfr- All the way up until the day of the class the Course Description said it was taught by "Staff" so I had no way of knowing who would actually show up.


Damn. I got played like that too last semester with Physics I. I hate it when that happens
30t6p3b.gif
. Go talk to the dean, bro. That 13 question worksheet thing seems like something that can get you pardoned like jdi23
 
Originally Posted by Destination Kicks

Sneakerfr- All the way up until the day of the class the Course Description said it was taught by "Staff" so I had no way of knowing who would actually show up.


Damn. I got played like that too last semester with Physics I. I hate it when that happens
30t6p3b.gif
. Go talk to the dean, bro. That 13 question worksheet thing seems like something that can get you pardoned like jdi23
 
What dirty said.

There's nothing wrong with e-mailing the prof to voice any frustrations or concerns you have, but personally, I would have tried to go to him in person first and spent a LOT of time drafting that e-mail. You offered very little constructive criticism in the actual e-mail.

And does he give any background information at all? In my experience, mathematics is ALL practice. I used to be pissed that all my profs did about 10% theory/material and 90% examples, but for math, those examples become very, very important. All you can do is do the problem sets over and over again, and keep practicing. The examples become valuable. Not saying he's a good prof, but the examples thing is pretty standard...
 
What dirty said.

There's nothing wrong with e-mailing the prof to voice any frustrations or concerns you have, but personally, I would have tried to go to him in person first and spent a LOT of time drafting that e-mail. You offered very little constructive criticism in the actual e-mail.

And does he give any background information at all? In my experience, mathematics is ALL practice. I used to be pissed that all my profs did about 10% theory/material and 90% examples, but for math, those examples become very, very important. All you can do is do the problem sets over and over again, and keep practicing. The examples become valuable. Not saying he's a good prof, but the examples thing is pretty standard...
 
Originally Posted by Destination Kicks

Sneakerfr- All the way up until the day of the class the Course Description said it was taught by "Staff" so I had no way of knowing who would actually show up.

mad.gif
30t6p3b.gif
 
Originally Posted by Destination Kicks

Sneakerfr- All the way up until the day of the class the Course Description said it was taught by "Staff" so I had no way of knowing who would actually show up.

mad.gif
30t6p3b.gif
 
nkwu- I understand that completely but he doesn't even touch on background information. He walks into class, tries to make a joke about how hard the exam is going to be, realizes no one laughs and chuckles to himself and says, "You guys are so silly", then goes to the board and writes examples.
 
nkwu- I understand that completely but he doesn't even touch on background information. He walks into class, tries to make a joke about how hard the exam is going to be, realizes no one laughs and chuckles to himself and says, "You guys are so silly", then goes to the board and writes examples.
 
Dirty is right man. That email screams anger. You should have "axed" us first before being emotional and sending it off while angry.
 
Dirty is right man. That email screams anger. You should have "axed" us first before being emotional and sending it off while angry.
 
I don't really regret sending it. The relief I felt as soon as I pressed the send button was well worth it. I was just curious as to what you guys thought about it and/or would've done in the situation.
 
I don't really regret sending it. The relief I felt as soon as I pressed the send button was well worth it. I was just curious as to what you guys thought about it and/or would've done in the situation.
 
Originally Posted by Destination Kicks

 Dirty- Had I wanted to insult him I would've mentioned his resemblance of Robert E. Lee, or the fact that he wears the same pants to class every day with a whole in the crotch and polkadot boxers under *pause*. I told him all things that he could alter such as explaining concepts rather than examples, going over what's on exams rather than off, etc.
fine. you don't think that you insulted him just b/c you didn't comment on his appearance...but yet your email has an air of passive aggressiveness, so no.. no outright insult, but rather a slight.
 I was able to learn more in the 30 minutes I spent watching Calculus how-to-videos on YouTube than the two months I have spent in class.



you asked if you went to far.. I think you did.

good luck

Never send an emotional email, more often than not....it will backfire on you.
 
Originally Posted by Destination Kicks

 Dirty- Had I wanted to insult him I would've mentioned his resemblance of Robert E. Lee, or the fact that he wears the same pants to class every day with a whole in the crotch and polkadot boxers under *pause*. I told him all things that he could alter such as explaining concepts rather than examples, going over what's on exams rather than off, etc.
fine. you don't think that you insulted him just b/c you didn't comment on his appearance...but yet your email has an air of passive aggressiveness, so no.. no outright insult, but rather a slight.
 I was able to learn more in the 30 minutes I spent watching Calculus how-to-videos on YouTube than the two months I have spent in class.



you asked if you went to far.. I think you did.

good luck

Never send an emotional email, more often than not....it will backfire on you.
 
Originally Posted by Destination Kicks

So I've had my fair share of not-so-good professors but my Calc professor this semester takes the cake.  I have always been pretty good at Math and was even contemplating minoring in it so my 62 in the class is kind of... alarming, but not so much when the class average is a D.  Our second exam is Thursday and I couldn't take it any longer and had to get this off my chest so I went ahead and sent him this e-mail, and yes it is a big block of text... Come at me bro... :

Hello Prof. XXXXXX, I am just e-mailing you to comment on my experience so far in your Math 211 'Calculus for Applications' course.  I am not writing this in an attempt to insult you or your intelligence (seeing as your knowledge of the course has proven a definite level of intelligence), rather alert you to some issues that should be alarming to you.  As I am preparing for the second exam to be given in two days I am realizing that your teaching style has once again left me unprepared for the task at hand, much like the first exam, which numerous classmates told me they felt equally unprepared.  I was able to learn more in the 30 minutes I spent watching Calculus how-to-videos on YouTube than the two months I have spent in class.  I have found that you prefer to spend a whole class doing examples of problems rather than explaining the concepts and why we do certain things; this makes the prospect of gaining a desirable grade on the exams and being able to use Calculus concepts further down the road in our academic and professional careers, laughable.  The excuse that we should've taken Math 115 isn't acceptable due to the fact that 115 isn't a prereq necessity.  I have shown examples of problems we've had to my mother, a Mathematics major, and she has shot me looks of confusion and asked what it all means.  Also on numerous occasions other students and I have requested that you slow down and you usually do for a couple of minutes before returning back to a speed at the board that is extremely difficult to observe while listening to the lecture.  In addition, during this week's exam review and the review for the first exam you have spent the majority of the class telling us what will not be on the Exam and doing problems that won't be on the exam rather than helping us prepare for what IS on the exam.  I will be taking the second exam and I have no plans on withdrawling from this class as I believe I can manage to squeak out with a passing grade, and I wish not to waste both my time and my parent's hard earned money by leaving a class more than half-way through the semester.  Once again, I am not writing this to insult your intelligence, rather offer constructive criticism from my experience so far in the semester.  Have a good day and I will see you on Thursday for the exam. 
-Glenn XXXX

Cliffnotes:
-Calc professor blows
-Only have three grades in class, all being exams
-Doesn't prepare you for exams
-Just does examples
-Recently gave us a worksheet with 13 problems and if we don't get every single one right we get a 0 in the class and if we get everyone right we just get to keep our grade, it doesn't help

So my question is: Did I go too far?  Anyone else had experiences like this?

Please feel free to use this post as an excuse to show off your latest Rebecca Black inspired 'Did Not Read' .gif

Should have omitted or changed the bold and underlined sentences. If he's a nice guy, he might understand that you meant well. Otherwise... catch him in the wrong mood and you come off as snobby.
 
Originally Posted by Destination Kicks

So I've had my fair share of not-so-good professors but my Calc professor this semester takes the cake.  I have always been pretty good at Math and was even contemplating minoring in it so my 62 in the class is kind of... alarming, but not so much when the class average is a D.  Our second exam is Thursday and I couldn't take it any longer and had to get this off my chest so I went ahead and sent him this e-mail, and yes it is a big block of text... Come at me bro... :

Hello Prof. XXXXXX, I am just e-mailing you to comment on my experience so far in your Math 211 'Calculus for Applications' course.  I am not writing this in an attempt to insult you or your intelligence (seeing as your knowledge of the course has proven a definite level of intelligence), rather alert you to some issues that should be alarming to you.  As I am preparing for the second exam to be given in two days I am realizing that your teaching style has once again left me unprepared for the task at hand, much like the first exam, which numerous classmates told me they felt equally unprepared.  I was able to learn more in the 30 minutes I spent watching Calculus how-to-videos on YouTube than the two months I have spent in class.  I have found that you prefer to spend a whole class doing examples of problems rather than explaining the concepts and why we do certain things; this makes the prospect of gaining a desirable grade on the exams and being able to use Calculus concepts further down the road in our academic and professional careers, laughable.  The excuse that we should've taken Math 115 isn't acceptable due to the fact that 115 isn't a prereq necessity.  I have shown examples of problems we've had to my mother, a Mathematics major, and she has shot me looks of confusion and asked what it all means.  Also on numerous occasions other students and I have requested that you slow down and you usually do for a couple of minutes before returning back to a speed at the board that is extremely difficult to observe while listening to the lecture.  In addition, during this week's exam review and the review for the first exam you have spent the majority of the class telling us what will not be on the Exam and doing problems that won't be on the exam rather than helping us prepare for what IS on the exam.  I will be taking the second exam and I have no plans on withdrawling from this class as I believe I can manage to squeak out with a passing grade, and I wish not to waste both my time and my parent's hard earned money by leaving a class more than half-way through the semester.  Once again, I am not writing this to insult your intelligence, rather offer constructive criticism from my experience so far in the semester.  Have a good day and I will see you on Thursday for the exam. 
-Glenn XXXX

Cliffnotes:
-Calc professor blows
-Only have three grades in class, all being exams
-Doesn't prepare you for exams
-Just does examples
-Recently gave us a worksheet with 13 problems and if we don't get every single one right we get a 0 in the class and if we get everyone right we just get to keep our grade, it doesn't help

So my question is: Did I go too far?  Anyone else had experiences like this?

Please feel free to use this post as an excuse to show off your latest Rebecca Black inspired 'Did Not Read' .gif

Should have omitted or changed the bold and underlined sentences. If he's a nice guy, he might understand that you meant well. Otherwise... catch him in the wrong mood and you come off as snobby.
 
Prof. might spite you with passing everyone else but you now.
 
Prof. might spite you with passing everyone else but you now.
 
Dirty- Yes, I probably should have omitted the Youtube comment but it's completely honest and I stand by the overall message of the e-mail. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.
 
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