For those of you who may not know, I have had the pleasure of serving as an adjunct Professor this semester, teaching American Government to college students. I should also tell you that while my husband and I both attended college, I would argue that college is not for everyone.
After teaching for one semester, I know this to be true.
My class is a 200-level course and the majority, if not all, of my students, are sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The class is considered “gen ed" and is offered in the evening. At this stage in the game, you would think that most students would know how this whole academia thing goes. Apparently, I was wrong.
It’s not secret that various colleges have seemed to lower standards in an attempt to make the cheap buck. However, in doing so, you have people accepted into college that, in no easy terms, have no place being there. They do not possess even the most basic, cognitive functions and they struggle with fill in the blank questions. They need any and everything spoon fed into their eager and waiting mouths, only to spit back nothing, because they have yet to learn an ounce of information. Frightening.
Furthermore, the course is only offered one day per week, but it counts for three credit hours. When translated, this means that students MUST attend every class time because failing to do so, means they are missing an ENTIRE week of the course. We only meet around fourteen times, so each period is crucial. I also have students routinely sleep and ask if “We can get out early.”
I have already been overly kind because I have canceled class for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but for most, this doesn’t matter, because that is in the future and they would rather get out of class now. Too bad.
I have students, on quizzes/tests, who insist that our form of government is a monarchy (democratic republic) and the Bill of Rights is made up of twelve amendments (ten). Did you also know that our presidential election is decided by popular vote? (electoral college)
It amazes me that these students have been told that they possess the skills necessary to achieve particular positions. It’s difficult to come from a low-grade college with a low grade point average. The job market won’t like you.
College wasn’t meant to be easy, yet students expect professors to bend over backwards to make things as simple as possible. Guess what, this isn't second grade anymore. This is the big leagues.
I also find it odd that students of this age (over 18), complain and whine like children, but also get frustrated when parents TREAT them like children. Hmm…I wonder why.
At the beginning of the semester, I explained that we would be having group projects and they formed groups with topics. This was explained in the syllabus and I passed out the Rubric. I stressed that while I wasn’t a strong advocate for such projects, I felt that it was an easy way to boost a grade. Fast forward to yesterday, some students begin telling me that I stated that the group projects weren’t happening, that they were being thrown out. A few others jumped on that bandwagon. All of this happened because I reminded them that the week after Thanksgiving, the group projects would “performed.”
Students then proceeded to tell me that I hadn’t reminded them, hadn’t given them class time and that they certainly weren’t going to work on a 30 minute project TWO MONTHS ago, I mean, “We are college students,” as one student informed me.
Really? You’re college students? You could have fooled me. My seven year old niece handles greater responsibility than most of you combined. You didn’t need two whole months to do a project, but now you want more than THREE weeks. Give me a break.
This is college, not kindergarten. I remember the one time my boss just “threw out” that big project that was due. Oh wait, that didn’t happen. My brain collapsed. If you would like to be treated like college students, act like one.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
College Bound.
Posted by Samantha at 7:34 AM
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6 comments:
I'm applying for a management position with Starbucks, and I'm super excited. I've been working closely with other store managers and my district manager, and many of them have been giving me the same piece of advice.
Basically, they've explained how uncomfortable it makes the work environment when the managers do not support each other. For example, if a store manager and the manager's assistant do not agree on policy, it creates a sort of "mom and dad" situation in the store. If "dad" is less strict than "mom" on policy, then partners are going to go to "dad" with their problems and questions. Like children do, they might even use this to their advantage. For example, when I was a kid, I'd often manipulate my mom by saying, "Dad said I could do [this]," when, in fact, my dad never said such a thing. It was one way I could get what I wanted, though! Managing (and perhaps teaching, too?) is not different. Once people see a way they can get what they want, they're going to do just that.
My district manager gave me a similar piece of advice. She remembers the first time Starbucks decided that a few stores would be open on Christmas day. There are a lot of people who don't celebrate Christmas at all, and, more and more often, families who do celebrate Christmas are going out and seeing movies and doing other activities outside of the home. It makes sense to have a few stores open for these families. However, the decision to open some stores on Christmas obviously made some people (including managers) unhappy. When a policy decision like this comes along, I might not agree with it, but it's my job to support it. Besides, once I show my dissent with the decision, people are going to take advantage ("Well, if they say we have to be open, I don't care, I'm not coming in!") because they believe I can't get mad at them when they agree with me. Right? So, in a way, by not supporting a decision like that, it would only cause more problems for me.
Sometimes it's hard not to give your personal opinion to the people you're in charge of. Sometimes you want to say, "I agree with you. This change is totally stupid!" But once you do, you've lost your leadership to your team. I think it's probably best to say, "You don't know my personal opinion on the issue. I may or may not personally agree with you. However, it doesn't matter. The point is, this is the decision that was made, this is the decision that I'm supporting, and this is the decision I need you to support."
Anyway, the reason I bring that up is because it seems like that's pretty much what's gone on in the classroom. You basically told them your personal opinion ("personally, I don't like group projects, either"), but then you gave it to them anyway (because you had to). Like children, they took advantage of this. Suddenly, they realize that if you're in charge, you wouldn't have given it to them. So, they reason, you must not be in charge. So it doesn't matter if they don't listen to you. And now it feels like a disaster.
If I get my promotion, my job will be the Assistant Store Manager. When the store manager gives me policy changes, I might think some are stupid (They can't count their own registers anymore? that's stupid!). But it'll be my job to support those decisions and not tell my team that I think they're stupid. Once I do, they won't feel like they have to follow policy when I'm around. I can just hear myself now, "Hey, guys, I agree with you that this change is stupid, but we have to do it! Come on!" And pretty soon, I'll loose my authority. It will work out much easier if, from the beginning, I outwardly support the decision. "Hey, they've just changed our policy. The cash controller is in charge of all the cash flow in the store. I know it'll take a while for us to get used to the change, but it's one we're going to have to impliment right away."
It's hard managing and being in charge of people. Unfortunately, until you take on that more authoritative role, those adults who act like children are just going to continue to take advantage of you.
In my personal opinion, the best way to fix the situation is to own it. Talk about the assignment as if it was YOUR choice to offer it, as if YOU were the one who came up with it.
Tell your class something like, "I understand many students work best alone. Most of the work in this class reflects that. However, I also recognize that some of you fare better in group projects. I believe one group project a semester is good for students because it requires you to learn to work with different people, much like you will in a work environment. It also means you get to understand the many different perspectives of your fellow students. For these reasons and more, I made the decision to assign a group project."
I could be wrong, but I think that might help you out. Unfortunately, I think you're going to have to deal with people like that in pretty much every facet of your life. Good luck!
The point still stands. Some people shouldn't be in college.
i found this post to be very entertaining.
thank you.
I love it!!
I hope that none of your students read this!
You teach college...I never knew that! I would love you as a college teacher! I think that is so cool that you teach college!
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