I’m sorry to hear about your grandmother’s death/father’s hospitalization/insert tragedy here. I don’t do make-up exams, as it would mean hours of writing a different exam which might or might not be near the difficulty that of the exam the other students took. However, if you can send me a link to the obituary/have somebody vouch for the hospitalization/probably if you just show up to my office upset, we can figure out a workaround. I don’t want you to have to take an exam while distraught, and I don’t want one thing to deep-6 your grade, so please come to me and we’ll figure it out.
I’m sorry the LMS ate your assignment/your computer got stolen/the file got corrupted/you’ve been under a lot of stress and forgot/I’m worried your dog is going to develop an intestinal blockage from all the homework it’s been eating. I give everybody two coupons you can use to turn in an assignment up to 2 days late precisely because shit happens. Beyond that, each assignment is worth less than one percent of your grade. Take a deep breath or eight and try to figure out how to avoid the problem in the future. I’d be happy to walk you through assignment submission in the LMS/empathize with you over the headache that is dealing with insurance/work on good data practices/talk with you about organizational techniques or refer you to counseling/strategize how to keep your dog out of your backpack. I want to help, so come talk to me.
I’m sorry you didn’t know when the assignment is due. Do you have reliable internet access? How are you keeping track of due dates? Did you know I’ve got that info on the course website under the “syllabus” tab?
I’m sorry the course website is confusing. What isn’t working? What specific thing is tripping you up? How can I make it better?
I’m sorry class was really confusing today. When did it stop making sense? Did you do the reading? How do you feel like you learn best? When can you come to office hours?
I’m sorry you thought I was frustrated with/angry at you/the class today. I get frustrated when I’m trying to teach a concept but most people aren’t getting it - it means I don’t know how to do my job. I try to keep from letting that emotion spill over, but I’m only human and I need more practice.
I’m here to help you learn, and I’m also a person with a lot on my plate/a social life/not much patience with myself sometimes. I want to do everything I can to help, but sometimes, I can’t. Sometimes it takes too much time (I do need to sleep, after all). Sometimes it wouldn’t be fair to other students. Sometimes it’s just not possible.
And while I’m here to help, if you don’t let me know that you need help, I won’t be able to help.
So dear student: please talk to me. Chat with me while I’m setting up for class. Stay after to ask questions. Come to my office hours, I have three a week. Email me. Call. Submit an anonymous question via Poll Everywhere. Tweet me.
Just please: keep me in the loop (and cut me a little slack). Please?
