I had a premonition, and it came true/my professor pissed me off

[namkcuR]

So, I'm in year 3(with a year off between year 2 and year 3) of college, and there was an exam in my political science class scheduled for today.

This is a Tuesday/Thursday class. So, last Thursday, our professor was already feeling under the weather - he had a slightly hoarse voice and a bit of a runny nose.

So, all weekend long, I had this feeling that he would get sicker and that class would end up being cancelled today(Tuesday).

Low and behold, after cramming for the exam all night, I come to campus and see "CLASS CANCELED 10/17/06 DUE TO ILLNESS, TEST MOVED TO THURSDAY".

Normally, I'd be elated to have a cancelled class. But here's the thing: this class is at noon and my only other class on Tuesday/Thursday is at 4:15. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a schedule like that.

My point is, I could have slept more, I could have studied more liesurely, I could have stayed home a few more hours, IF ONLY THE PROFESSOR HAD TAKEN THE CONSIDERATION OF SENDING OUT AN E-MAIL.

It's not hard. On the university course site, he can easily 'select all' students from each class, type two sentences(no class tuesday, test thursday', and click 'Send'. Or he could have used the message board or the announcements page(one of each is given to each class course page).

Anyway, I guess my question is two-fold:

1)Have you ever had a premonition like that come true?

2)In your college experience, have professers sent e-mail(or otherwise informed you online) when a class is being cancelled due to illness? Especially on a test day? Especially when you know a shitload of your students drive to campus from 20-30 minutes away?

 

[AttnKleinkind]

I think I might've had a premonition, but I don't really know...

A few years back I was lying in bed, thinking about how I was skipping rowing practice the next morning. I guess I was too busy with school or something and wasn't going to get up at 5 am. I felt really guilty about skipping, and was debating with myself whether I should or shouldn't go. I couldn't sleep and all of a sudden I had this picture in my head of me going up to the boat club and pulling on the door, and it was locked. It was so random, and I didn't really think anything of this "vision" or whatever. It was just random thoughts. The next morning, I found out that the coach didn't show up for some unknown reason. So if I had gone to practice, that exact scene that I had seen in my head would have actually happened.

At least in my case I got to sleep in, that really sucks about your prof.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

if the prof was sick in the previous class, i wouldn't exactly call it a premonition... it's a fairly logical guess that if it appeared that guy was getting sick, that just a few days later, he might be sick.

1+1=2

but yes, i have had moments where things seem eerily familiar, as if i had dreamed about that exact odd occurance happening at an earlier time. i think everyone does... probably just a coinkydink, but it at the very least makes ya think a little.


as for part two... i think i've only had one prof who sent out a voicemail to everyone in the class, using the mass message option that prof's had access to on the school's phone system to send it out. (don't know what she did with the handful of commuter students). every other time a class was canceled it was done with a note tacked to the door.

related but unrelated... one of said notes on the door was on my class the morning of 9/11... which caused me to be back in my dorm room and flipping on the TV right as the second plane hit.

 

[Laura M]

You crammed for an exam, the teacher was sick and you suspected he might be off, you usually enjoy when classes get cancelled but you're annoyed at him for getting ill and then not having the consideration to inform the class about it by email?

It used to take me 1.5 hours to get to uni and I was never informed about a tutor being ill or class being cancelled until I got there. C'est la vie.

Last week I was sitting with a girl from my class on Monday and she was saying about the tutor always being out of breath and how overweight he was, I said I thought he had very high chances of having a heartattack or a stroke being so obese. Last Wednesday he had a stroke.

 

[anitram]

We always get e-mails, and since everyone has their laptop on all the time, it's practically instantaneous.

 

[yolland]

I've never actually called in sick on a teaching day, but if I were going to, yeah, I'd send out an email via my course page on our course management site (not all profs actually use the course page option though, nor do all profs have a computer at home, but I gather yours does). But, if it were anything other than an afternoon/evening class, it's likely many students wouldn't see it in time anyway--chances are, I wouldn't be in a position to decide whether or not I could make it in until the morning of, and unlike at anitram's school I guess, a lot of my students don't own laptops. I have a pretty long commute myself; lots of profs do.

 

[Liesje]

I've had a combination of both for days class was cancelled. Our school uses the Blackboard system, which may be the same thing you're describing. Students have access to each class based on the Registrar's database and there are Communication options where students, TAs, and profs can send e-mails to the entire class, groups, or individuals. Many of my profs sent e-mails through this system, or just using their school e-mail accounts.

However, lots of profs just call in and the admin assistant for that department will leave a note on the classroom door.

Actually, on test days a prof would just have the admin assistant, the TA, or another prof from their department proctor the test. Our school sets a schedule for midterm and exam days and most of the profs abide by it. It makes it so that if every prof followed the schedule, no student would ever have more than 2 tests on one day and 3 tests in one week. So, the profs don't want to reschedule tests.

 

[redhotswami]

Hmm, thats interesting

At my university, EVERYTHING is done electronically. I doubt my current professors would even have the pen/paper/tape necessary to write a note and hang it on the door. I can't even TALK to them without them saying "send me an e-mail." It is like breathing to them.

Also, when it comes to tests, and they can't make it, usually there is someone else to proctor. I've never even had a class cancelled. The professor grabs someone else in our dept to come over and shoot the shit with us.

And yeah, posting a note is VERY inconvenient for commuter students...a careless move indeed!

 

[BonosBaby12]

I had a CJ professor who used to just post a note on the door if class was cancelled for the day. There were even times where we would be sitting in the classroom waiting for him before we would find out that they we weren't going to have class that day. Irritating as hell but I was lucky enough to be done with classes for the day after his so I could leave without having to come back.

On a rare occassion we would actually receive an e-mail through our school accounts about the cancellation.