Classroom Oddness
Nov. 20th, 2006 09:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfie_chanOkay. So my morning class professor gave us all a lecture today on how she has received e-mails complaining about people with laptops surfing the 'net in class instead of taking notes, and how this is distracting. She even threatened to go around the classroom and check on us to make sure that we were taking notes.
I was rather irritated by this for several reasons. I use a laptop in class. I occasionally access the internet during class, but I still take extensive notes. We're talking, on average, 3-4 single-spaced, typed pages. My accessing the internet during class is perhaps not completely kosher, but I am still paying attention to the class that I paid good money to take. I don't mind not accessing the 'net in class if the teacher feels that strongly about it, but I do have some minor irritations about this whole scenario:
1. If a person in class has a problem with me or what I am doing or finds my computer distracting, he or she should approach me first. Not e-mail the teacher complaining about me. E-mailing the teacher smacks of elementary school tactics and not believing that either of us is adult enough to handle the problem in a reasonable manner. I am neither large nor intimidating, and it's not that hard to ask if you can talk to me after class.
2. What on earth are you doing staring at my computer screen, anyway?! It's not like it ever has flashing lights on it or anything that might draw your attention to it. I usually just have Word up, and I occasionally have www.dictionary.com up so that I can look up a word. (I also sometimes check my e-mail or LJ, but still! That's very occasional.) If you're copying my notes, I am irritated with you. Take your own damned notes. Also, if you find my screen that irresistable, reference #1. I can always go and sit in the back of the classroom so that my shiny screen will be less of a distraction for you.
3. We're all grownups. The professor does not need to be constantly monitoring what we're doing.
These are minor, but the situation is just really annoying. Also, I might not have been complained about--several people use laptops in this class, and I know that some of them use the 'net during class. The thing that annoys me the most is that nobody talked to me if they had a problem.
I think I'm going to sit in the back of the class from now on so that people won't be tempted to look at my screen.
In other news, I have a driving lesson today. I really need to drive more. It doesn't help that there are lots of areas around here that Alex isn't comfortable with me driving in, so he won't practice with me in those areas. That's a bit frustrating. It's also frustrating that I have to talk myself down from panic every time I'm planning to drive. *sigh* It's an uphill battle.
I am almost done with Paper #1, which is due on Wednesday. I just have to do a conclusion and a final edit to make sure that everything is formatted correctly and that I have included all of the information I want to include. Then I get to start on Paper #2, which should actually be easier. Yay!
Tomorrow is my interview for grad school. When we went out to dinner with my parents and brother last night (to see them before Mom and Dad leave for California to see Grandma), Mom asked me if I had been rehearsing for the questions they might ask me. I told her I hadn't; I feel pretty confident that just being myself will decide the question. If they don't like me, then I shouldn't be there. Mom started asking me some questions that she thought the interviewers might ask, including, "What gives you the moxie (yes, she said 'moxie') to think that you can handle teaching high school?" I answered, "Because I helped teach in a 9th-grade classroom and survived. And I want to do it again." She laughed. I'm actually really looking forward to the interview. I think it's going to be fun. I just have to remember to dress nicely tomorrow--no jeans. Luckily, my wool skirt and white button-down shirt are both clean. I just have to do a bit of ironing.
I still have many, many projects going. I hope I can get them all done in time.
I should probably finish my coffee and head out to my driving lesson pretty soon here. I hope that goes well.
I was rather irritated by this for several reasons. I use a laptop in class. I occasionally access the internet during class, but I still take extensive notes. We're talking, on average, 3-4 single-spaced, typed pages. My accessing the internet during class is perhaps not completely kosher, but I am still paying attention to the class that I paid good money to take. I don't mind not accessing the 'net in class if the teacher feels that strongly about it, but I do have some minor irritations about this whole scenario:
1. If a person in class has a problem with me or what I am doing or finds my computer distracting, he or she should approach me first. Not e-mail the teacher complaining about me. E-mailing the teacher smacks of elementary school tactics and not believing that either of us is adult enough to handle the problem in a reasonable manner. I am neither large nor intimidating, and it's not that hard to ask if you can talk to me after class.
2. What on earth are you doing staring at my computer screen, anyway?! It's not like it ever has flashing lights on it or anything that might draw your attention to it. I usually just have Word up, and I occasionally have www.dictionary.com up so that I can look up a word. (I also sometimes check my e-mail or LJ, but still! That's very occasional.) If you're copying my notes, I am irritated with you. Take your own damned notes. Also, if you find my screen that irresistable, reference #1. I can always go and sit in the back of the classroom so that my shiny screen will be less of a distraction for you.
3. We're all grownups. The professor does not need to be constantly monitoring what we're doing.
These are minor, but the situation is just really annoying. Also, I might not have been complained about--several people use laptops in this class, and I know that some of them use the 'net during class. The thing that annoys me the most is that nobody talked to me if they had a problem.
I think I'm going to sit in the back of the class from now on so that people won't be tempted to look at my screen.
In other news, I have a driving lesson today. I really need to drive more. It doesn't help that there are lots of areas around here that Alex isn't comfortable with me driving in, so he won't practice with me in those areas. That's a bit frustrating. It's also frustrating that I have to talk myself down from panic every time I'm planning to drive. *sigh* It's an uphill battle.
I am almost done with Paper #1, which is due on Wednesday. I just have to do a conclusion and a final edit to make sure that everything is formatted correctly and that I have included all of the information I want to include. Then I get to start on Paper #2, which should actually be easier. Yay!
Tomorrow is my interview for grad school. When we went out to dinner with my parents and brother last night (to see them before Mom and Dad leave for California to see Grandma), Mom asked me if I had been rehearsing for the questions they might ask me. I told her I hadn't; I feel pretty confident that just being myself will decide the question. If they don't like me, then I shouldn't be there. Mom started asking me some questions that she thought the interviewers might ask, including, "What gives you the moxie (yes, she said 'moxie') to think that you can handle teaching high school?" I answered, "Because I helped teach in a 9th-grade classroom and survived. And I want to do it again." She laughed. I'm actually really looking forward to the interview. I think it's going to be fun. I just have to remember to dress nicely tomorrow--no jeans. Luckily, my wool skirt and white button-down shirt are both clean. I just have to do a bit of ironing.
I still have many, many projects going. I hope I can get them all done in time.
I should probably finish my coffee and head out to my driving lesson pretty soon here. I hope that goes well.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-11-20 08:24 pm (UTC)And bah at people who are potentially too afraid of you to discuss things maturely with you.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-20 10:01 pm (UTC)This is what gets me: You're in college. When I was in college (which was before laptops, btw) in most classes they still had the attitude that students were adults and treated them that way. There were some classes that took attendence but most classes did not require attendence and the profs were of the opinion that if you felt you didn't need to be in class and could still make a passing grade, more power to you. None of this molly-coddling stuff.
I agree with you: There is such a thing as multi-tasking. Granted, it can be taken too far, but as long as you're not surfing to porn sites or actively disrupting class, then your neighbors should be able to keep their eyes off your screen and pay attention to the lecture without limiting your notetaking and/or multi-tasking abilities, either.
You could be really obnoxious and say that the sound of their pens/pencils scratching is distracting to you while you're typing. ;)p J/K
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 02:27 am (UTC)Good luck with the driving lessons!
Oh, and with the interview tomorrow!!
no subject
Date: 2006-11-22 11:21 pm (UTC)finds my computer distracting, he or she should approach me first.
I feel the same way, and I try very hard to practice this. I'm also constantly reminding coworkers of that. There's one lady who tells me often "I think I should report her. Should I?" And my response is usually the same thing ech time: "Well, I'd recommend talking to her first. If you can solve the situation one-on-one, and if she's up to behaving as an adult, then that would be sifficient."
I really can't stand the entire excuse she spits back about "Oh but I don't feel comfortable talking to her about it." Just, ugh! If she's not comfortable with talking to her about something she feels so passionate about that she feels the need to bring in a supervisor, then she's probably just making mountains out of molehills. And most of the time, she is.
It feels as if more and more people expect others to be their nannys, no matter how old they are.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-22 11:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-23 12:44 am (UTC)I agree with you. "I don't feel comfortable" is not an excuse! If you have a problem that's big enough to go to a supervisor about, then it's big enough for you to get over yourself and talk to someone directly. I think I need to have buttons made that say, "Remember, you're a grownup."