By Anonymous - 24/01/2010 19:29 - United States

Today, I broke my dominant hand. My teacher insists we hand-write our essays. I called and asked if it was okay for me to type up the essays. She said no. I have two essays due tomorrow, which count for half my grade. FML
I agree, your life sucks 35 366
You deserved it 3 596

Same thing different taste

Top comments

You guys are dumb as ****. If he called his teacher, do you really think he would leave out the "I broke my hand, which is why I'm asking"?

zombzomb 0

should've done the work earlier

Comments

Well, that just sucks. Did you tell her your situation?

rachexl 0

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Well it's actually illegal for the teacher to not accept it typed up, if you can't use your hand. So I'd remind them of that fact.

It's not illegal if the OP didn't actually tell the teacher that their hand is broken. Even then, chances are these essays weren't spontaneously and recently assigned. Can you sue someone for your own procrastination?

andrewmathias 0

see I'm a dick. I'd call the teacher and tell her your situation. If she doesn't listen, i'd be like hey bitch, listen up... your going to let me type it out or I'm filing a complaint against you with _____ (school district)'s board of education and if that doesnt work I am taking you to court and filing a complaint with NAPTA (National Association for Prevention of Teacher Abuse)

It's actually quite common for teachers to assign essays that are due the next day. Especially it's an advanced class.

zombzomb 0

should've done the work earlier

waterynuggets 0

Haha true, but we don't know why the OP waited til the 11th hour. And say OP broke her hand a week ago, the teacher might have given the same response. I say just write it with the other hand and turn it in. When the oh so classy teacher can't read it, it's her fault. If she still tries to deduct your grade, I'm sure you can file a complaint against her ass or something to the school. And just for ***** n giggles have someone else type the paper up for ya for later.

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NightGod 0

Your teacher is a douchebag. Assuming you're talking about high school or earlier, your parents should have you type them up and then back you up when your teacher tries to cause problems. Forcing students to write out papers is one of the most retarded things I've ever heard of, especially if you're injured...

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herooftime 0

Although, I agree with you on hand writing essays, I always like to type out my essays. If I absolutely have to write it out, I'll type it in the computer first. Not because of *Wikipedia, ctrl c, ctrl v, done!*, but the fact is I feel much more focused my mind is clear when typing. It makes editing much easier with the click of the backspace button, and overall it seems much neater. If say I were editing someone else's essay, I don't want to tear it to shreds with corrections and make it so it's not even legible with corrections, I'll usually put things in parenthesis that I want corrected or suggestions for better word usage or clearing a vague topic. It's always good to keep it the old fashioned way, but with an ever-progressing society with technology and paper beginning to see it's downfall with a "greener" and more eco-friendly nation, we must adapt.

Type makes the words and grammar "look right"? Let me get this straight. You're basically trying to cite what may the most subjective claim possible as some sort of fact? Ever stop to think that maybe words "look right" in whichever medium the student in question grew up on? Here's where this thing called "logic" comes into play: the ability to recognize the correct spelling of words by sight is based on memory, and this type of memory is based on repetition. Of course the ability will decline when switching media. A student who learned to write by typing would certainly have poorer editing skills if asked to handwrite. So which is better? Well, as teacher, it's your job to prepare students for their future in the real world, isn't it? You know, the real world - the one in which nobody handwrites documents anymore. Your "studies", even on the off chance that they weren't made up off the top of your head, should lead you to a valuable question: if an education in handwriting does not lead to good editing skills in type, then what exactly are you forcing them to handwrite for? They sure as hell won't be handwriting in their office jobs 10-20 years down the road. Typing essays while in school may or may not lead to better typing down the road, but you've already made the claim that handwriting doesn't... and that makes it pretty much useless. (Side note: I'm not saying schools should abandon handwriting altogether. It's not like people never write - just not in a professional environment. But by the time high school rolls around, typing should at least be a focus. I was required to learn to type properly in Grade 9, and I appreciate it every day of my life.)

Agreed that by high school, most students should be typing most major papers - assuming they actually have learned how to edit. But my experience - I teach ninth grade - is that most have not, yet. And yes, I'm going to claim that type fools the brain. Because I've read the studies that prove it. I ain't making this up; I teach media literacy, and have a degree in teaching with technology; someone made me read the studies, and try to replicate the experiments by watching kids write in both media, and I feel confident about stating what I've proven and found to be true. You can dismiss it because it doesn't feel right all you want. But my position isn't based on feelings; it's based on evidence.

Me too. I hated it at the time, but I thank God that I actually took the time to learn to do it right.

_sourpatchkid 0

I would have hated to have you as a teacher in high school. You're awfully arrogant and obviously not very innovative. While there may be support for the notion that handwriting essays is associated with improved writing skills (not "proven" as you state), students will have to type their essays in University and therefore need to know how to produce a well-written paper on a computer. Would you have wanted to do your undergraduate thesis by hand? of course not. The fact that she's not asking for his drafts suggest that it's not an issue of ensuring that his writing/editing skills are being developed, as most teachers ask for multiple submissions of drafts in order to see the process. And they certainly wouldn't base a final grade on an assignment like this. More than likely this is a geography paper or history paper. Not English. And therefore the process shouldn't matter as long as it's well-written. It would be easier and more fair to allow the student to type his essay, print it, edit it on paper, and then go back in and modify the original work. The idea that his assignment absolutely has to be handwritten in order for him to develop his editing skills is ridiculous, especially since he has an injury. At the very minimum she has an obligation to give him an extension since he is losing time to work on his essay as a result of his injury. And for all the people slamming the guy for doing his paper at the last minute - that's not really the teacher's business as long as it's handed in on time and done properly. Maybe he had a lot of work that week and couldn't get to it until the 11th hour; maybe he's done multiple drafts already but was saving his final draft for the last day and now she's insisting he handwrite it instead of type it. obviously if he's calling his teacher to ask if it's ok, he's a responsible student in general.

We were always taught time management in highschool: You are told when your papers will be due well enough in advance to know when a lot of stuff's due and when a lot of stuff isn't due. Granted the OP had a lot due that week, she should have started much earlier to factor for that. Same goes for university. Sick notes/medical excuses are NOT accepted the day before something's due. OP needs to learn time management skills.

@boyhowdy- This is what you get for talking about something you know (English) in terms of something that you clearly have no idea about (Cognitive Science). As someone who knows a little something about the latter, and has done significantly more than read a study, I can tell you that there are two reasons studies show what they do. Firstly, because writing is far more familiarized in the brain that typing is, but that's a matter of upbringing. So, in this case, it's a self-fulfilling truth. People become better at editing on pen and paper because of ignorant English teachers who force them to do their editing on paper rather than on the computer. It's entirely possible that if from childhood we were all taught to type instead of to write, we would be far more proficient at editing word documents than paper documents. Secondly, writing is slower and less efficient than typing, and therefore obviously encourages more thought. But you should then realize that forcing your students to do somethings stupidly in order to get them to spend time on it is highly counterproductive. For example, the same studies you point to also show that people make more mistakes in math on a calculator than on pencil and paper. Now, do you think we should encourage math students to do square-roots on pencil and paper so that they can "learn to do it right?" Or should we mandate the use of calligraphy to assist proper spelling? If you are lucky, you may yet live a long enough life to recognize such tactics for what they are: outdated tools of a less civilized age. Is not the swordsmaster far more skilled than one of our modern soldiers? Indeed, he is. But which of the two is more effective and suited to warfare? Intelligent effectiveness is always to be valued over stupid perfectionism. But I waste my time; the fact you are teaching 9th graders shows that your ability to deal with the progressive over the anachronistic is lacking. PS- A teacher cannot teach students to do a good job, he can only show them how.

kanned 0

You teach ninth grade and use the word ain't? Interesting.

@98 you've only proven that you read papers that were both written and typed by students. and only to yourself

Tell that to my sixth grade teacher, she just said I should write with my left hand..... Eventually I just wrote with my right hand even though my elbow was broken and hurt like a bitch

You guys are dumb as ****. If he called his teacher, do you really think he would leave out the "I broke my hand, which is why I'm asking"?

I accidentally thumbed this down. I meant to thumb it up.

The word is dominant, not dominate. Seriously, OP.

To add on, you should type the papers and show her your hand.

caribbeansoul 0

You probably should have told her about it. Maybe you can ask someone really nice to write it for you if you give them the info or type it anyway and attach an x-ray and/or doctor's note or something.

Igor_g5 0

#9 & #11 . You both apparently don't know the meaning of the word plagiarism. If it's her work, It isn't plagiarism no matter who writes it. OP, if your teacher doesn't accept the fact that you can't handwrite them, then take it to a higher authority. If you really can't hand write it due to a physical problem, the teacher needs to accommodate you. To the commenters talking about dominate, I see dominant. Can't you read? OP. If you put off two essays til the last minute, YDI.

SighOfTheWorld 7

Did you tell her WHY you can't handwrite the essays? If not, then YDI, you can't just expect to be allowed to do what you want. If so, and she's still being a jerk, I would take the case to higher administration. If someone else handwrites the essay for you, it can be mistaken for plagiarism. Good luck.

caribbeansoul 0

i suggest it with the attachment of the notes justifying the action. :) otherwise, it's totally plagiarism.

Aetius_fml 0

If your teacher is insisting you write by hand, instead of on these newfangled clickity clackity computators, she's probably old enough to be near death anyway. Wait her out.