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At the start of my teaching career, when I was fresh out of graduate school, I briefly considered trying to pass myself off as a cool professor. Luckily, I soon came to my senses and embraced my true identity as a young fogey.
After one too many students called me by my first name and sent me email that resembled a drunken late-night Facebook post, I took a very fogeyish step. I began attaching a page on etiquette to every syllabus: basic rules for how to address teachers and write polite, grammatically correct emails.
Over the past decade or two, college students have become far more casual in their interactions with faculty members. My colleagues around the country grumble about students' sloppy emails and blithe informality.
[...] Sociologists who surveyed undergraduate syllabuses from 2004 and 2010 found that in 2004, 14 percent addressed issues related to classroom etiquette; six years later, that number had more than doubled, to 33 percent. This phenomenon crosses socio-economic lines. My colleagues at Stanford gripe as much as the ones who teach at state schools, and students from more privileged backgrounds are often the worst offenders.
-- submitted from IRC
Source: The New York Times
(Score: 3, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday May 16 2017, @05:53PM
I wouldn't exactly say I was "castigating" poor Sam. I'm sincerely grateful he made the effort. And I wasn't AT ALL criticizing his politeness or respectfulness -- only the fact that he told me his name four or five times in every message. (And this fictional student is not unique.)
I do sometimes find this sort of thing indicative of students who also are inexperienced with email. I could give other examples of misplaced attempts at formality that come across as bizarre. But, as another post pointed out, some profs actually want this sort of info EVERY TIME in a message, so maybe I was a bit harsh on poor Sam in this particular quirk.
You seem a little undecided on this subject.
I guess maybe you thought I was criticizing the format or formality of Sam's message? I wasn't. And I was joking at the end when I said at that point I'd prefer "Hey man..." but I guess perhaps I needed a sarcasm tag.
Clear now?