Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think the students who are interested observe how you interact with the students who are not motivated and will respect you less if you bully them into listening but will also think less of you if you let the unmotived students moan and groan or go to sleep or not participate in class. All students put a lot of pressure on the teachers and they think you should be able to inspire and motivate everyone and if the mood in class is affected by the bored students everyone's mood is hurt and I lose the attention of everyone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan
Then teach to the ones that want to learn. The ones that could care less will reap what they sow later in life.
But I would not put up with the ones that are talking while you are lecturing.
College is different; they are paying to listen to you and gain wisdom. If they want to waste their money that is their loss.
Yeah but on the otherhand if I am paying for college I don't want to spend my class time watching you try to motivate students who don't want to be there over the desire to learn and be challenged by others.
College isn't K-12.
You can try to motivate and inspire everyone but 100% perfection is rarely achieved.
My question though is, if they don't want to be there to begin with then why are they there ?
Do you count attendance as part of the grade ?
I have had professors say they don't care if you attend classes but you had to attend for tests.
Simple. Attend class. Pay attention. Participate. No cell phones. Those are the rules. Follow them or get a zero for the class. No questions, no excuses.
There is a fundamental philosophy question the OP needs to answer for themselves.
You are teaching adults. Adults make their own choices and deal with the consequences as the definition of being an adult. So what is a role of an educator to an adult? As a motivator or as someone who leads the student to what they need to know?
Once you answer that you will know what you should do in your class.
I had one class in which someone was ejected because he couldn't shut the heck up. In another class, a lecture hall, another student student stood up and yelled at a student that wouldn't shut up. In one of my masters classes, a student wouldn't stop texting -seriously, I couldn't believe it. Every person in the class was a teacher. The professor had a private conversation with her and she stopped.
My undergraduate classes 20 years agoish. I think students are getting ruder. I would definitely establish boundaries by clearly stating that phones are not to be used in class. They can put the ringer on vibrate and step into the hallway in a true emergency.
Queston? Are the one's who are vocal asking questons abut the matierial , and trying to learn and understand?
Yes, I am getting good feedback from the active students and the evaluations from the students who fill out the forms are excellent. I am really connecting with 60% of the students. But is that enough?
Yeah but on the otherhand if I am paying for college I don't want to spend my class time watching you try to motivate students who don't want to be there over the desire to learn and be challenged by others.
College isn't K-12.
You can try to motivate and inspire everyone but 100% perfection is rarely achieved.
My question though is, if they don't want to be there to begin with then why are they there ?
Do you count attendance as part of the grade ?
I have had professors say they don't care if you attend classes but you had to attend for tests.
I have had a couple of professors like this. Was fine with me!
I've had a lot of professors that go on and on about attendance, on the first day, but never actually do anything about it. Also fine with me! For one of my very first English composition freshman courses I probably showed up physically to class 4 times total, to take tests and turn in papers. The professor was fine with that and pretty much said so on the first day. I made an A by following the syllabus, reading what I was required to read, and writing the papers he required. Yes I am sure I missed something lovely by not attending, but at the time it was fine on both sides (I was pregnant and had an awful first trimester, but didn't know I was pregnant when I started the class).
I am NEVER one to talk in class, text in class, bring my laptop to surf the internet, etc. I try very hard to be focused and engaged, ask questions, answer questions, etc. However, I do not agree with rigid attendance rules, honestly. I am an adult and I am paying for school (and will be paying for years!).. I resent being penalized for an absence when I am perfectly capable of handling the workload, reading on my own, and doing well in the class regardless. Maybe it's because I am twice the age of most students in my class, live over an hour away, work, and have kids of my own, but I will not take a class with a professor who has their head up their butt about attendance.
If people can skip your class repeatedly then show up, take a test, and make an A, and a good chunk of students seem to be doing this, you might ask yourself what good you are at all rather than trying to punish them for skipping. The general "you" of those who teach adults, I mean. Not anyone in particular on this thread. Too many instructors are just human textbook readers.
I tell my students their worst nightmare is when I leave them alone. For the dense, that means I no longer care and am gonna use my time on pursuits with some return on y investment. Believe it or not, the vast majority figure it out!
@ op, I took business communication and found it among the most boring classes I took in college. The prof did nothing to convince us it was useful, and business students care about what is practical. The curriculum was mostly grammar and I thought if I wanted this I'd take English. The textbook was also standardized garbage and Had a required ripoff online component. I still think the class was useless. Does that answer your question for why students hate it?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
