What Your Professors are REALLY Thinking

Frustrating professors — we’ve all had them! You raise your hand in class: “Can you give us an outline of what will be on the next exam?” Respone: “Everything will be on the exam.” NOT a helpful response for a fast-paced class.

As a tutor and a student, I hear about several things professors have done (or NOT done) in the classroom which can be terribly frustrating. It can be anything from not opening the window on a hot day to skipping example problems from a new chapter.

But… why do these things happen? Do the professors remember what it’s like to be a student? Are they on a vendetta against us?Do they want us to fail!?

Ok, for serious now. What’s up with professors who aren’t doing what-you-would-call their job? Let’s talk about it.

I come from a family of teachers; my mom is a high school teacher, my cousins are college professors, and all my grandmothers were elementary school teachers. I get to hear a lot about what educators have to put up with at their job.

Imagine if you had to teach a class of 100 adults a bunch of material you haven’t seen in 10-or-so years. Well, you SHOULD remember this material, heck, you use it a lot, but what about this tiny detail… right HERE? Why is this in the textbook? Why do students have to know that? Ew, is that the law of cosines again? And WHOA WHAT IS THAT BIG UGLY PIECE OF– oh it’s an outline of the state requirements. You have to make sure the students learn this. And take THIS test. With THESE questions on it. In one week. THAT’S NOT WHAT I HOW TO TEACH MY STUDENTS!

In fact, has anyone ever read what the state wants you to know in your classes? Here’s a link for high school Chem II:

http://www.tn.gov/education/ci/sci/doc/SCI_3224.pdf

And here is the form they need to open up an online class:

http://www.etsu.edu/academicaffairs/elearning/ats/online/faculty/development/SynchronousMOU.pdf

Or what about this lecture/movie that was shown at ETSU sometime last Fall?

http://faculty.etsu.edu/pooleg/etsu_assignments.htm

Bottom line is, even though some professors are better at sharing knowledge than others, realize that being a professor is TOUGH. That’s why if you even have a professor, no matter how much they make you angry, they WANT to be there. They want to be a professor, or a teacher, or instructor because they worked hard to get there. Heck, it might even be hard for them to teach, and they have to do it under a prescribed amount of time, but they like getting paid and doing research after class (I can’t say much for grad students though, because many are required to teach a lab to get their degree). So please, have a little understanding for your professor.

They are people too!!