You're Welcome

So I'm grading final papers.

I always have students write a reflective piece to go with the final big paper. And this one student spent all of the reflective piece talking about outside influences on his work--not influences from the class. Then, I get to the part when he writes about the assignment that all of my students hate, and I do mean all of them. And he writes that maybe, just maybe, this assignment that is so different from everything he's used to doing when writing a paper is a opportunity given to him by God to learn something.

I apparently taught him nothing. I know nothing about how to write papers. I haven't studied this field and been teaching for several years now. I apparently don't give this assignment that everyone hates because, from experience and intelligence, I know it knocks them on their asses and teaches them how to write papers that aren't the crappy way they're all used to. Oh no, nothing to do with me. All God.

Funny, I don't remember God subbing for me.

I don't expect my students to write about me in their reflective pieces; most don't. But I do expect them to at least mention the freakin' class--at least one I recognize as mine.

Since the point of the assignment is for them to understand which processes worked for them so they can use those in other classes, it tends to help when they address what they actually did. At least he didn't thank God for helping him write the paper. I've had someone do that before too.