Monday, December 10, 2012

heaven forbid...

Resolved, if I am ever a college teacher/professor (ugh), things will go like this:

I will not be vague about what my students need to know for exams.
I will hold them accountable for the work/reading assignments by having discussion-based lectures.
I will not return papers/exams without any comments.
I will expect students' work to be their best, taking into consideration that students are human, not super heroes.
I will not insult them or treat them like children.
I will have accessible office hours, respond to emails, and provide detailed syllabi that I stick to, not change at whim.
I will not lecture them the whole class period.
I will give homework that is actually worth doing (granted, worthwhile is an opinion thing), with no hint at the term busy-work.
I will not be the stuffed-shirt, eagle-eyed professor who goes by Doctor wherever she goes, choosing instead to connect with my students and others on a person-to-person basis, because I am not my degree (particularly on my children's wedding invitations -- seriously?).
I will encourage higher thinking and incorporate many types of presentations because students learn differently and will enjoy learning something they love in a style they understand.
I will not be the professors I had this semester (or most of them). I will guarantee that.
I will be warm and approachable, helpful, yet demanding because I know students can and will do a good job if they know what is expected of them

It'll be like teaching Primary, except the students will be bigger and I can wear pants. 

2 comments:

Q said...

I'm not saying you're wrong, but if you can, be a TA sometime. It will give you a lot of compassion for your professors.

Sarah Anne said...

Haha, the point is that I'm avoiding teaching as much as possible -- being a tutor has been plenty. I know professors have a difficult job, but I wish that they would at least be courteous to their students (like not telling a class how awful the papers were for the entire lecture) and be clear about what is expected.

Teaching is something I do not want to do. Too much work, and too much time talking in front of lots of people! Scary.