Absences and Tardies
When you miss a class or will be missing a class, do not use
any of the following questions or derivatives thereof: Did we do anything in
class? Did I miss anything? Are we going to do anything in class?
After missing a class session, do not email your teacher and
ask him/her to tell you what you missed. Contact another student in class for
notes, assignments, handouts, etc.
Teachers expect homework to be turned in whether you are in
class or not; and due dates will not be pushed back because you didn’t know
about the assignment.
If you are late coming to class, come in quietly and take a
seat closest to the door. Do not walk in front of the classroom or weave
through the desks.
Emergencies
Some teachers may allow you to keep your cell phone on
during class time provided it is in silent mode. If you receive a call (or a
text) you simply must respond to, leave the room before answering the phone.
Leave quietly and come back in quietly when you are done.
If you need to use the restroom, you do not need to ask permission.
Simply leave the room quietly and return quietly, out and in through the back
of the room if possible. Do not walk in front of the room or the professor. It
is best to take care of this before or after class.
In-Class Behavior
Regardless of class times, the professor is in charge of
when the class ends. You should not start putting your books into your bag or
getting ready to leave in any way before the professor excuses you. The action
is disruptive to the rest of the class both visibly and audibly, can inhibit
students from asking necessary questions, and may cause you to miss out on
final instructions.
When you come to class, professors expect you to
participate. Sleeping, doing homework for other classes, having side
conversations, playing on the computer/phone, etc. are not acceptable
behaviors. If you do not wish to participate, don’t come to class.
While participating in discussions is highly encouraged, it
is necessary for you to evaluate your participation and make sure you are not
dominating the conversation. Make sure other students get the opportunity to
speak as well, whether in a small group or in a whole class discussion.
Professors hold office hours in order to answer any
questions you may have that are not appropriate for the class session. Make
sure you utilize those hours and do not ask questions which only relate to you
during class time. It is unfair to the other students to expect one-on-one time
during the class session.
Come to class prepared. Have your textbook, paper, writing
utensils, and anything else you will need for class on hand. Be ready to
discuss any assigned readings and turn in any homework. Assignments should be
printed, stapled, and ready to turn in before the class begins. The first five
minutes of class are not dedicated to you preparing for the class session.
Physically exhibiting your boredom, dislike, or other
negative attitudes is not appropriate. Leave the eye-rolling, the snorting, the
smirking, and the deep, heaving sighs for outside the classroom.
While it may be necessary for you to bring a bite to eat and
a drink to class, use common sense when making your meal choice. Three course meals,
smelly food, messy food, etc. are not appropriate for class time.
Grades and
Assignments
While you are encouraged to speak with your
professor about any issues you have with your grade, always do so respectfully.
If you are confused, ask questions. Unprofessional confrontation and persistent
arguing do not advance your cause or credibility.
Generally speaking, late work is not accepted in college
courses. Just like in the workforce, time management is a necessary skill and
people rarely get do-overs or extensions (at least not without penalty). Stay
focused and submit your work on-time.
Effort does not determine your grade. Telling your
instructor you “tried very hard” or “put in a lot of time” on an assignment
will not affect the final grade. Effort
is only one part of receiving a high grade; make sure you understand the
details of the assignment, take time at every stage of the process to think
about the content of the course, carefully execute the assignment, and be sure
to look over the assignment critically before submission.
Assignments should be clean and unwrinkled when you submit
them. Papers that were smashed in your bag or have coffee spilled on them, etc.
are not acceptable.
Communicating with
Your Professor
Hopefully you will have the opportunity to speak with your
professor one-on-one during the semester. When you do, be respectful and
courteous. Remember, you are not his/her only student; more than likely he/she
has over 100 students simultaneously.
When emailing your professor, use proper spelling,
punctuation, and grammar. Text speak, slang, etc. are not appropriate. As with
face-to-face communication, being respectful and courteous is also expected.
I think that this is well-written and fantastic, although admittedly, a wee bit sad that COLLEGE students have to have a list like this to GET IT. Seriously?! *le sigh*
ReplyDeleteI have to make all of these points throughout the semester. Most students are pretty good about them. I will, however, have to make the put your phone away speech again. Alas.
ReplyDeleteWhat on earth did the students argue?
I second that question... out of curiosity, what exactly did the students take exception to? Most of these things are just common sense and/or good manners!
DeleteStudents had a problem with quite a few : They want the teacher to contact them or at least respond to emails with assignments, class notes, etc. after they have been absent; they think they should be able to argue their grade and they think effort should count for something; and they think that sometimes they just can't make a deadline. Poor things....
DeleteWow. If they expect to be spoon fed to the point of your e-mailing them notes when they miss class, how will they fare in the workforce? Few employers are going to be interested in babying them or overlooking the fact that they can't meet deadlines.
DeleteI wish this was common sense to college students, especially those who have been in college for awhile, but sadly it isn't! *sigh* Another rule that should be added: fellow students can't "save" a seat until you get to class. This isn't high school. You sit wherever you can find a seat. If you get to class early enough, you will get the seat you want. Most likely, I will have to remind a fellow student in one of my classes this when I go back to school on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteI would think that these rules are something students should have learned back in high school but they aren't. Why is that? Maybe this should be included in freshman orientation?
I am so adding that save a seat rule. It's ridiculous.
DeleteI wish these things were common sense/common knowledge. I don't teach, but I manage a small business and the younger my staff gets, the more often I have to go over many of these same things.
ReplyDeleteI love this.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was hashing out the syllabus for each of my high school classes, I just kept thinking about how they're going to WHINE about some of my rules. Students will never understand how much work teachers put into planning lessons and keeping things interesting in a classroom.
Oh, and you would think that a lot of it is common sense...quite sad that it isn't!!
DeleteThese all seem incredibly reasonable. The only one I think I violated in my college years was packing up early. Sometimes I had a class across campus immediately following the one I was in and it took almost the entire ten minutes to get to it and/or I had to use the restroom in that time period. :)
ReplyDeleteI never thought about how insulting it must sound to a professor to hear "did I miss anything?" What would be the point of a class where you didn't?!
Umm ... aren't college students supposed to be adults? All this needs to be explained to them? Huh.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not a professor. The temptation to use sarcasm would be something fierce. As in: "Did we do anything in class?" "Nope, since you were absent, we all just sat at our desks silently with our hands folded. A few of us used the time to pick our noses." I mean what the hell?
My teen took a few university film classes a few years ago. She got discouraged and quit because of the immaturity of the students. This was a junior-level class, and she was about 15 or 16. And my kids are no paragons of maturity. Believe me.
If you can teach this to them alone, you've taught them the most valuable thing they'll learn in college. Well done!
ReplyDeleteAmen! I totally agree with:
ReplyDelete"When emailing your professor, use proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Text speak, slang, etc. are not appropriate. As with face-to-face communication, being respectful and courteous is also expected."
It is amazing what you'll get in an email! Sometimes I'm confused as to whether they're trying to be rude or whether they just didn't read over their email before sending it-- either way, it doesn't make me want to bend over backwards to help them!
OMG! But these are too HAAAARRDDDDD!!
ReplyDeleteAll of those sound pretty darn straightforward to me!! On the one about asking the professor what you missed - I could see that only IF there was a super legitimate excuse. Like oh, my mother died and I was at the funeral - here is the obituary notice to prove it, maybe you could help fill me in? heh
ReplyDeleteGreat rules, of course, and it's too bad that a handout has to take the place of common sense and responsibility.
ReplyDeleteInteresting tidbit, though, re: arguing grades:
One of my professors during my year at the University of Barcelona invited us to her office in small groups (2-3 people) in order to give us our final grades for the semester. This was pretty much all that she told us. So, at the appointed hour, I and two fellow students went to her office and we received our grades (after she asked whether we would mind the other two students hearing our final grades). After hearing our grades, with which we were mainly satisfied, there was an awkward silence. She had to explain to us that it was now our turn to argue our grades if we wanted, to explain why we might deserve a few extra points. Apparently this is not unusual practice in Spanish (European?) classes. However, being good little American students, we found the whole thing INCREDIBLY awkward, and we all shifted nervously in our seats while we explained that, yes, we were quite happy with our grades, muchas gracias.
I had almost forgotten this until reading "the rules"!
That is so awesome actually! I can't imagine doing it, but I would love to hear what some students would say....
DeleteMy favorite: "Leave the eye-rolling, the snorting, the smirking, and the deep, heaving sighs for outside the classroom."
ReplyDeleteIn my brief career as a teacher I often felt like I was parenting as much as I was teaching. I just don't understand how in a few short years it seems like common sense disappeared.
This is great. Crazy to thing that some students would argue the points... go back to Laura Ingalls days, you misbehave... you got the ruler on the hands. :)
ReplyDeleteSome of these seem like common sense, but I think the adjustment from high school to college can be tough -- in high school you have to raise your hand to use the bathroom, or are banned from having a cell phone, or are used to talking to the teacher about missing class. I don't know how students are supposed to know the expectations on these things are different unless their told, you know?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite professor in college always came into class the first day with a 2-page handout detailing her expectations for students. She told the class to silently read the information, and if it seemed too strenuous or unattainable, they were welcome to leave at that time. I saw literally half the class get up and leave. She was my favorite professor. I'm not surprised that colleagues want to "borrow" your words.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great idea to have those expectations laid out right at the beginning. I think high school teachers could benefit from using this as an example for their students about what to expect in college too.
ReplyDeleteThe bit about not sleeping in class made me think of a Western Civ. class I had in college. We had 14 people in our class and sometimes more than half would be sleeping - the professor had the most monotone voice ever! A friend and I chewed gum and elbowed each other constantly to stay away for those hour and a half sessions. The shock, I guess, is that the professor never said anything about the sleepers.