In my 3 hour long env. earth science class my teacher just drones on about nothing. Me and my friend are the youngest ones in there, and then there is this guy that has a comment about EVERYTHING, or he'll be like "yeah, thats right" and it is so freaking annoying. So we always make fun of him and stuff! Lately we've been bringing our laptops and watching movies/playing games

Just keep the stuff interesting, and letting them have a break is a must.Throw a joke here or there. And if its traffic engineering school and someone falls asleep you should bash into their desk/table to give a life like scenerio of falling asleep and crashing

 

I think its been going pretty well. Yesterday I covered a friends classes since he was out of town. It is an AutoCAD course, which I will be teaching next semester. THey are freshman, for the most part. As I am talking in the beginning of class, one guy is sitting in the back texting. I told him to either stop texting, or leave. He stopped texting. That kind of sh*t I wouldnt put up with.

If you were to sit in my class and watch movies or play games, I'd kick you out, end of story. I spend too much time preparing to put up with that sh*t.

 

Keep it mind smaglik that he paid for the class and that as long as he's not disrupting the class he should be able to do that, but I understand why it would **** you off.

 

That's a load of sh*t. He can pay for it, and not show up, and text all he wants. But texting when someone is lecturing is flat out rude. Its called respect. When he steps into that classroom, its a different world.

When the idiot has basic questions about the assignment because he wasnt listening,I thenhave to waste time answering them, simply cause his text was more important. That's a waste of my time, and of a resource for the class.

I am pretty laid back in my classes, but two things are unacceptable. Cell phones, and headphones.

 

But that is the thing college people get so mad at. It is college, not High School. In college it is made clear that you are an adult, no one will hold your hand and you are responsible for you. If you pay for the class, you should be allowed to text, watch a movie, or sleep as long as it is not disturbing the class. Having rules such as no cell phones, or this or that is not college at all. How do you know the text was not about a family member in the hospital or some other situation like that? You dont. The student should not have to explain the texting that was going on anyways. It is the professors job to teach in a way that will grab attention and make it a learning environment. If you have an environment that is boring, with people who dont want to be there anyways, but have to take the class to get a degree, can you really blame them? And if you start enforcing rules like a middle school teacher, the students will resent you and not really care what you think because you are putting them on a lower level. How can you expect adults to respect you for such things as that?

When you teach, you should state that you will only repeat this once, and if the person texting, or watching a movie misses out, then it is their fault, simple as that.

My mathprofessor for example made it clear that if a cell phone rings or he hears it vibrate you will be "in trouble", and if you miss more then two classes in a 2 week period you will get dropped from the class. Well that p*ssed me off thouroughly and I dont even have texting on my phone, nor do I skip classes. Every chance I get I make a statement about how stupid the phone and absence policy is, and he is getting irritated. Do I care? No. Why am I doing this even though it doesnt really affet me? Because those rules should not be there in the first place. I understand ringing on cell phones disturbs class and I agree they should be on silent, but he has no right to drop you from the class for not coming. You are paying for the class, not for a man to give you some stupid rules like a middle school teacher. Whats next? He'll give out detentions and set up parent meetings? GIMME A BREAK

Example 2: Illinois State University is trying to enforce a dress code policy for buisness students. Well to say the least, this caused a major uproar. A few weeks affter that, the new policy is that the dress code accounts for 10% of your grade, but you wont be kicked out of class. Now why in the hell would anyone pay $13000 a year to be told what to wear to class? Seriously. It is a class. You are not presenting yourself to any co workers, customers, or bosses. People arguing for the change have said "You are in a buisness class for a reason and you need to dress like it". Well I suppose that means in high school if you plan on working at wal mart you should wear the wal mart vest, and in match class you should dress like a cashier, and in science class you need a lab coat, lunch you need an apron, and pe you need jogging wear and if you plan on being a durg addict you should shoot up in the middle of class to prepare for the real world. You pay to learn, not to be told what to wear.

 

That's a nice, perfect picture of an ideal world from a student's point of view..Your profile shows you are 18. That is not a surprising response. Let me give you the other side of the coin.

We are teaching these people to be responsible professionals. Would you respond to a text when you're being briefed by your boss? I would hope not. Would you respond to a text while you're actively interviewing? Not if you want the job.

When a student earns a bachelor's degree, much of what they have learned is in maturity and a method of thinking for addressing problems (at least in engineering school). Behavior like that simply is not acceptable when you enter the professional world. You can disagree all you want, but unless you have experience in it, you dont know what you're talking about.

In addition, its my responsibility to teach every student the material, whether or not he/she chooses to pay attention. I can't just punt on someone because he/she wasnt paying attention. That is not acceptable.

The typical professor has 2-3 classes, as well as responsibilties to conduct research. Prepping a course is very time consuming. Preparing proposals for research projects is time consuming, not to mention conducting the research. In addition, you have classroom time, office hours, and time spent grading. There isnt enough time in the day to teach stuff twice, just because someone chose to text.

 

But the student is not interviewing for a job nor being briefed by a boss, so I dont see how that has any relevance.

That is like saying becaue you dress up for a fancy restaurant, you need to dress up for every meal you eat at your house. Its the exact same thing. Not practical, nor sensible.

 

I just read the rest of your edited message.

You need role reversal, simple as that. I spent many years on your side of the desk, and am not that far removed from it.

You speak like your professors are paid servants. Haha. Come on. Try standing up there and trying to teach someone when cell phones are going off. Makes it hard to concentrate, wouldnt you think?

Are you making comments about your absence and phone policy in private to your professor? I hope so. Sounding off in class in front of everyone is very unprofessional. If you take issue with someone or soemthing, you speak with them behind closed doors to address the issue. Anything said in public makes you appear very immature.

 

i am done arguing this with you. let me know your thoughts in 5-10 years. you have a lot of growing up to do.

 

But how is the restaurant and eating at your homeand interviewing for a job andtexting any different?

I do understand the ringing of cell phones and agree that they need to be on silent 100%. Sure I would imagine it would be hard to teach, but with the job of teaching younger adults, you have to expect some sort of rebel type behavior.
I make the comments in class. Why should I act any differently in front of people or alone?I have every right to express my dislike for his "mommy" like rules. If he is going to treat us like children, well right back at him.