There is some "discuss as a group" or "fill out this worksheet" time and the proffie usually leaves for a while during those times. And the students complain that:
- the proffie isn't sufficiently sensitive to their mental health issues (as in if I skip class because I am sad today, the proffie doesn't re-teach me the class privately)
- the proffie isn't sufficiently sensitive to their physical health issues (as in if I have an itchy rash but come to class anyway, I shouldn't be expected to participate)
- the proffie is mean when I say I decided to change the topic of my presentation the night before it was due and then the Internet went down, so reasons. But mean old proffie says either do a presentation, or no credit for you.
- the proffie is so mean, because we are going to a churrascaria as a class, but she says I have to actually go with the class, not just think about a time when I went to one before. And the proffie doesn't understand he is totes busy getting ready for Spring Break.
- the proffie is too hard because he made the test cover everything we had done so far, with examples just like what we did for homework.
I keep my mouth shut, but it is good to know childr...um students are the same anywhere. Bless their corações.
Dr. A.
:)
ReplyDeleteJeez Louise, they are like SUCH young children, aren't they? I can hardly wait until they have to hold down a REAL job in the REAL world. Enjoy those student loans, scro's!
ReplyDeleteYeah, the stories here give me hope that I'll be really competitive in the workplace just by being not a whiny bitch and vaguely competent. And, you know... keeping a planner/calendar updated.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone said they don't like the purple yet? I wanted to get my serious complaint in ahead of the rush.
ReplyDeleteI like the purple flavored jelly beans and the donuts. Mmmm... purple!
DeleteJust don't let them guess you're a mole.
ReplyDeleteActually, as an "old" (i.e. >25, by their definition) woman, you're pretty safe. Invisibility comes in handy sometimes.
At the school where I was enrolled in a doctoral program, they had this very bad habit of having "mixed" classes with upperclass undergrads and a few grad students in the same course. Usually the undergrads raised their game, and it was actually a great experience. (Except that one time when half the grad students decided to flake, including the 2 in my group who were totally out-classed by the 2 undergrads, one of them a JUNIOR!)
ReplyDeleteBut, one time, I was the only grad student in a HUGE class of undergrads. They often forgot I was there. Oh, the crap I heard! I think most of them forgot I was also their TA in other classes... I saw a whole bunch of trainwrecks on the horizon! The bitching. The moaning. The lies. The arrogance. The blatant incompetence. It really made me wonder about those "colleagues" who demanded we treat them like adults when they so obviously acted like children. Which is supposed to win? (Oh, that's right... whichever strategy passes the most while simultaneously inflating their self of steam!)
I had an interesting experience about six years ago in a first-semester Arabic course, in an English-language university in an Arabic-speaking country. There were ten of us in the class, most of them semester-abroad students from U.S. colleges, meaning they were the exact same age as my own daughter. It turned out to be a very instructive class. Just by sitting still and listening, not saying a word, I learned about beer pong, X-rated fiction (which I don't normally read), and how to make friends with the Marine guards at the American embassy. Strangely enough, by the end of the semester I was the only one of the whole bunch—including the teacher—who had never missed a single class.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I'm thinking about a time when I was at a churrascaria. That was some good eats.
ReplyDeleteYou know what would be awesome? To be at a churrascaria, surrounded by chiaroscuros. There'd be so much to discuss.
ReplyDelete