Question for Students

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Blondie Bear

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My students have been driving me nuts lately with comments like "this is too much reading," "I don't like Fantasy," "this is lame" (and in one case, saying that I am lame). They also routinely fall asleep in class, fail quizzes, and whine about how much work I give them.

So. Question for those of you who are college students. Why are you in college? Is it for the social interaction? The education? Do you feel that because you got accepted into a college, the teachers owe you good grades? How do you feel about your General Education (some places call them Core) requirements? Do you think they're a waste of time?

Seriously. I want to know. Because I'm ready to start arbitrarily failing people. I'm that pissed off right now. And I'd like to know if students are like this everywhere and if teaching is really the vocation for me.

(Letting me know what grade/level you are would also help this tremendously.)
 
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DayVBayB
Just out of curiosity, what do u teach? specifically.
I'm in high school, second year, and this sounds a little bit like my english class. I think what you need to do is find ou what kind of work they like
 
B
Bob
yeah, but you cant just teach what they like :/
^ That's what I tried to do. I picked modern Fantasy novels (like The Hobbit, The Magician's Nephew, Stardust, and Good Omens) and interspersed them with the more canonical readings we had to do. And I told them at the very beginning of the semester that if they didn't like Fantasy, this wasn't the class for them and they should find one that was doing Virginia Woolf and Jane Austen. Obviously not all of them listened to me on that one, instead staying in the class and whining about Fantasy.
 
Try some more recent novels. Like, I dunno, Twilight, they might like that, maybe books that some recent movies have been based on
 
While I am not currently in school, it has only been 2 years since I graduated from college and I still kind of run in circles with some college students so I feel like I have some perspective on this. So one point at a time:

1) Why are you in college? I was in college, because I thought it would eventually get me a good job. This is something you're told from a very young age, but I honestly feel like they should make a bigger point of encouraging students to go to college when they've really given some serious thought to what they want to do with their lives. Instead, they kind of just tell you, "You'll be nothing if you don't go to college. Apply as soon as possible, even if you aren't sure what you want to do!" I started out just doing general education, then went with history and sociology. I tackled these subjects more because they were subjects I did well in than because they offered much of a future. So now I have a B.A. and it's basically an expensive piece of paper that's added nothing to my life (aside from some expensive payments once a month!).

2) Is it for the social interaction? For the education? I would say a little of both. Obviously, people are different and some would say they are in it just for the education and some just want to party and get away from their parents. To me though, social interaction is really a part of preparing you for life so naturally it's an important aspect of college just as it is in high school or lower. For anyone serious though, the education itself should be the main concentration. I would say it isn't always though. And that the degree and the education aren't necessarily the same goal. You can earn a degree without learning much if you really feel like you just want the piece of paper. If you know how to work the system, college really isn't that hard.

3) Do you feel like just because you got accepted into a college, the teachers owe you good grades? I personally never felt that way, but I suppose it depends a lot on the dynamic that develops between a specific student and a specific teacher. I know I've taken classes where I felt like a Professor assigned a lot of work that was difficult to accomplish when you factored in the additional work I had from other classes and the demands of a part-time job. That being said, it was often easy to fake your way through the simpler assignments if you were really swamped and I think if a student can't even work that hard, they're just getting lazy.

4) Do you think general education is a waste of time? I don't think they should get rid of general education requirements, but I think one could make the argument that some of the general studies aren't entirely necessary. I was required to take two years of Spanish, and I live in Iowa where pretty much everyone speaks English. So a few years later, having not used the Spanish language, my knowledge of it is pretty much gone. As is the money I spent on those classes, the books, etc. And I've used even less of the mathematical skills I was required to learn in college. I can't say I wouldn't prefer to have my money back for those classes. Then again, you take away these requirements and make college easier, the degree means less. At the very least, the gen eds. can help sort out who cares enough to try and who does not.

Good thread, by the way.
 
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Blondie Bear
And you seem like the kind of person I wouldn't mind having in my class. :)
BuffyElevated
BuffyElevated
Very intelligent post. Great read!
Dru: A) I draw the line at Twilight. B) I teach British Literature; Twilight is American.
 
B
bloodflower
ok can i come to your class i love to read through a book in front of me and ill read it adn love it :D
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Selig
And Twilight is by no stretch of imagination literature
Dru: The aforementioned novels are by JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Neil Gaiman, and Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, respectively. I don't think you can get much more famous in Fantasy than that. 😛
 
Mazikeen
Mazikeen
Tolkien karma. Where do you teach again...I want to enroll! ;)
No, but that's what I'm interested in, therefore that's what I'm excited about. If I'm not excited about it, there's no way I can get THEM excited about it. Also, it's the genre I know the most about, so I have knowledge to share. 🙂

ETA: Also, the more "traditional" stuff is VERY EASY for the students to cheat on. Essays and such for those works abound on the Internet. I think that's part of the whining--they can't just go pick up the Cliff's Notes for Stardust cause there are none.
 
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StuckinTraffic
Ah ha! That's the entitlement mentality I speak of. They're grumbly because they have to DO the work. That's just REALLY too bad, in my book!
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Summers Blood
I agree with StuckinTraffic... sounds like they're not liking the hard work! Great thread btw
I'm only a senior in high school, but it sounds like your students behave a lot like the ones in some of my classes. Really, I don't think there's much you can do...students, especially those in university, have to be very self-motivated, and I guess a lot of the ones you teach just don't have it in them.

Choosing more interesting books can help, though. Are you willing to include graphic novels in your curriculum? If so, I'd highly recommend Neil Gaiman's Sandman...the students will assume it's easy to read because it has pictures, when really, it's highly intellectual.
 
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Blondie Bear
I considered Sandman. I may do that the next time I have to teach this class.
A
Aethra
I've heard Sandman is great, but I haven't read it. We read Demo in class a few weeks ago, which got me interested in graphic novels in general.
Revolver said:
What age group did you say you taught?
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The literature students (who are the ones I'm complaining about right now, but these complaints can really apply to the Research/Composition students, too) are mostly sophomores with a sprinkling of juniors and seniors who didn't take it in their sophomore year and freshmen who tested out of the freshman-level English.
 
Crazy Flakes said:
If so, I'd highly recommend Neil Gaiman's Sandman...the students will assume it's easy to read because it has pictures, when really, it's highly intellectual.
Click to expand...

Although, if I was going to go with a graphic novel, I'd probably do Gaiman's Books of Magic because it's more self-contained; choosing WHICH Sandman to do would be difficult.

---------- Post added at 10:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 PM ----------

DrusillaRox said:
It's a shame. I thought stardust was really good 🙁
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Me, too! I love Stardust! A few of my geekier students loved it, as well, but a lot of them found it "boring" and "unrealistic" (I'm ready to smack the next person who uses that word, by the way--of COURSE it's unrealistic; it's FICTION).
 
Sophomores, huh? I seem to remember Sophomore and Junior year as the time period I cared the least about school. Maybe at some point you could work your way up to teaching the same subject at a higher level?
 
Revolver said:
Sophomores, huh? I seem to remember Sophomore and Junior year as the time period I cared the least about school. Maybe at some point you could work your way up to teaching the same subject at a higher level?
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Exactly why I'm going to get my PhD. 🙂 I'm hoping that at the junior/senior/grad student level, it will be better.


DrusillaRox said:
Did you say "Yes, It's fantasy."
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They actually haven't said it to my face yet, only in their reading logs. I might the next time I see it, though. I'm pretty much past being diplomatic.
 
Blondie Bear said:
Although, if I was going to go with a graphic novel, I'd probably do Gaiman's Books of Magic because it's more self-contained; choosing WHICH Sandman to do would be difficult.
Click to expand...

Oh, yeah, that's true. I guess if I was in your position and decided to use Sandman, I'd have them read the first two or three volumes, but the overarching plot could make things a little complicated. I've never read Books of Magic, though...I'll have to check it out.
 
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