Just saw this thread and have to say my teaching experience at a public technical school parallels Cooks, and at about 10 years experience I have had to stop things cold and become hard hearted. I used to buy everyone's story. Once rules are established you have to stick with them or else it becomes a real problem. Not to mention, the instructor can get in trouble with the administration because the very student that you think you are helping will come back and report you when you try to finally put your foot down.
Now that does not mean that in a situation like that recited here, that the original plan of completing that one report prior to leaving town is not possible. It is a responsible plan and will work.
The other problem was in trying to do the other report earlier as well - and you could not have forseen the professor changing rules, as well as your later learning that it has not been conveyed to at least two other classes.
So, you know you need to try to arrange a face-to-face meeting to see what can be done to resolve this problem and miscommunication. You may need to bring to this meeting the point that you have asked others in your class and they were not aware of the changes either, gently and with a "grown up" method of communicating. Avoid whining at all costs. This is a negotiation, after all.
Also, in reading the posts I think MA2 is posting his responses from a place of experience - his experience and not ours (the general population who has not experienced being in the military). Being in the military IS different than what others here have experienced in that the training required is more intense, magnified, and can save YOUR life and your team-mates. Also, I'm sure what Cook and I see, the 1 in 3 who are always coming up with a new excuse is magnified. One thing you learn when you are in the position of being the teacher or professor, is that many of these folks will only learn to put aside these bad habits and change their way of thinking about themselves and their entitlement to being given exceptions to everything, is by holding their feet to the fire. Eventually they either learn to comply with rules and meet deadlines, all of which are skills they need to learn for life and work, or they will just fade away - constantly making excuses for and about everything in their lives.
Addendum: Remember that those who have found InstantCert and are working through this system, have had the individual drive to go further, look for alternatives that will allow them to acquire higher goals and work around any difficulties they have encountered, but overall they have accepted that they are the persons driving their own future. Congratulations!
Now that does not mean that in a situation like that recited here, that the original plan of completing that one report prior to leaving town is not possible. It is a responsible plan and will work.
The other problem was in trying to do the other report earlier as well - and you could not have forseen the professor changing rules, as well as your later learning that it has not been conveyed to at least two other classes.
So, you know you need to try to arrange a face-to-face meeting to see what can be done to resolve this problem and miscommunication. You may need to bring to this meeting the point that you have asked others in your class and they were not aware of the changes either, gently and with a "grown up" method of communicating. Avoid whining at all costs. This is a negotiation, after all.
Also, in reading the posts I think MA2 is posting his responses from a place of experience - his experience and not ours (the general population who has not experienced being in the military). Being in the military IS different than what others here have experienced in that the training required is more intense, magnified, and can save YOUR life and your team-mates. Also, I'm sure what Cook and I see, the 1 in 3 who are always coming up with a new excuse is magnified. One thing you learn when you are in the position of being the teacher or professor, is that many of these folks will only learn to put aside these bad habits and change their way of thinking about themselves and their entitlement to being given exceptions to everything, is by holding their feet to the fire. Eventually they either learn to comply with rules and meet deadlines, all of which are skills they need to learn for life and work, or they will just fade away - constantly making excuses for and about everything in their lives.
Addendum: Remember that those who have found InstantCert and are working through this system, have had the individual drive to go further, look for alternatives that will allow them to acquire higher goals and work around any difficulties they have encountered, but overall they have accepted that they are the persons driving their own future. Congratulations!
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