Kait and Joanna made some comments on Adjunct Kait's website that I wanted to talk about (but didn't want to burden her site with it...that wouldn't be fair to her or her readers).
I have been teaching for about eight years. I love teaching and, for the most part, I love my students. But you are correct that I'm burning out a bit. I'm burning out from the students who wear me down. Believe it or not, I was nominated on more than one occasion as a best instructor and won an "Instructor Who Impacted Me the Most" award from a graduating student.
Even though I grumble about moving to the dark side (lectures and exams), I never could...not entirely. Frankly, that's boring to me. I like teaching students by allowing them to do. My assignments are creative and usually mirror corporate America. I take them out of hte classroom and into the world, a first experience for many of them. Each semester, I have at least a dozen students comment that I was the best instructor they ever had. I like to do unusual things with my students so that they can apply theory, not just regurgitate it back to me. What fun is that?
When I vent, you are reading about the frustration resulting from some very nasty students who have worn me down in the past few months. Trust me, there is nothing better than having bright eyed and bushy-tailed students who work hard and give you their best. My courses lock up every semester and have a wait list while other sections are wide open. I tell you this only so that you know my frustration is vented here...not in the classroom. In my Wintersession, I have 6 students who are fantastic. They worked hard, they posted and participated, they loved the class and I already have other students emailing me (based on their feedback) asking when I'm teaching again.
Of course, I have three students who skimped during Wintersession, gave me crap, didn't participate, didn't work to their potential and I know...KNOW...that they will scream, yell, and cry about the Cs or even Ds that they earned. It will be MY fault, not theirs. That's what makes me tired...the lack of accountability in those students.
Kait wrote that she wants to learn from the veterans. I consider myself one. Yes, I'm venting. Yes, I'm angry. But, I invite you to catch me on my good days and you'll see what a good, caring instructor I am to my students (albeit not the lazy ones). Once I ran a class with a group of undergrads at an all girls school that had the students create their own business and run it. These girls were minorities from low-income backgrounds and had never known a professional (female) role model. They did things that they never thought possible. I footed the bill out of pocket for the entire business venture, including incorporating it. It was an amazing experience...for them and for me. I still get emails from them telling me how much that one course impacted their lives.
Please don't judge me by my angry posts. I'm getting it out of my system. Between the stupent who should've failed my summer course who is still fighting the C- that I gave her as a favor (and hiring a lawyer, mind you...like I need that aggravation!) and the graduate student who flipped out on me last week (and later apologized), I had a bad week.
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3 comments:
Loved your blog...you are so right about some of these students.....Where is the accountablity??? gone gone gone... Heavens if we should hurt their little psyches with a C for heavens sake. You sound like a teacher worth her weight in gold. Keep up the hard work and don't let the little whiners get you down. Eventually what goes around comes around....or so I hope.
When teachers start to feel bad about the choices stupents make (I LOVE this word!!! Almost as good as Chreasters---people who come to church at Christmas and Easter) you compromise what you value. It is sooo hard to be an ethical teacher in today's climate....I mean...did you EVER cry for a grade....or worse....sleep with the professor??? I think not ( and I am not judging here.) I am a blunt person and probably too blunt for most but you sound like a person/teacher I would like. Again, don't let it get you down.....there is no shame in caving but it is harder to stick to the convictions and be the unpopular person/teacher that these stupents need.
I am glad to have read this post--I didn't think that you were a monster or that you were the only professor in the world to have students who drove you crazy--you just sounded overwhelmed and backed into a corner by it all. Having to hold the line when a student is trying to convince you that he deserves an A just for showing up is enervating when it's multiplied by 10 and added to our other responsibilities. I'd be interested in reading about your teaching load and class size.
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