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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]College professor year. I've been a professor for 24 years and every year it's worse! Parents please try to nix these behaviors in your HS kids before they go to college AND teach them a few basic life skills. I promise spending some time on these will ensure your kid has a better experience in college and in life.

Behaviors to nix:
1. Asking a question instead of looking at the syllabus or, frankly, using google. I can't tell you how many times a lazy kid will ask me something in class that is on the syllabus, and/or I've said repeatedly in class, and/or has nothing to do with the class that they could easily figure out on their own. It all comes down to pure LAZINESS.

2. Give your kid consequences for bad behavior like being disrespectful, being late, talking during class, getting up and stomping out of the classroom, anything like that. These kids today are clearly being raised without consequence.

3. Have your kid practice sending you and email, with you being the professor. Make sure they know how to properly address the person. Make sure they know how to type full sentences and make their question clear.

I routinely get emails like this:

Yo, whats on the test and do I need to read the textbook please let me know right away.

Notice that they 1) don't identify what class they are referring to, they don't really have a question I can answer,  and they clearly didn't spend much time thinking about or writing the email. I usually just ignore this or send a quick reply to refer to the syllabus.

4) Do NOT, and I mean do NOT, tell them that if they have an issue with a professor that they should call you (the parent) and let you (the parent) contact the professor. I don't care who you are, there's this law called FERPA which means I can't discuss your kid's academic record unless they are present and have given permission to do so. Furthermore, I like to treat your kid as an adult and you probably should too.

I could go on but I won't.

Now for essential life skills:

A. For god's sakes teach them how to do laundry and have basic pride in their personal cleanliness. I can't tell you how many times some kid walks into my office stinking to high heaven and wearing clothes that look like they haven't been washed for weeks. Now I would normally think perhaps they struggle financially but when they whip out their iphone 14 or 15 and talk to with me airpods in, it makes me think they probably can afford to do laundry. They just don't and/or they don't know how.

B. How to set an alarm clock. Every quarter some kid misses an exam because they slept in and then they get mad when I won't let them take a makeup exam.

C. Same thing with how to use a calendar and write down important dates.

D. Finally, tell them to take out their airpods and put their phone down when speaking to someone. It's really disrespectful when a kid comes to my office and won't even lift their head up from their phone.

[/quote]

I'm also a college professor.

It is so easy to just teach some of these skills, instead of berating our students. In some cases, it even takes less time! Email norms, professionalism, time management, and social skills are embedded in my courses. When I began to notice some of the struggles you mention, I devoted some class time each week to explicitly address them. Students share their tips for staying organized, I show them a feature of our LMS, we look at educational research demonstrating ways to study, and we look at examples of school-appropriate emails.We may be teaching math or science or history, but those things are part of their classroom success, and I think it is valuable to include.

I could make a similar list of things that have gotten better in my 20 years of teaching. Students tend to be better self advocates, have a stronger grasp of technology, are more flexible regarding content format, and - most notably - are better classmates. In recent years, my students have been overwhelmingly accommodating and inclusive toward their peers with noticeable learning differences such as ASD. They work well in groups. They share resources. They organize outside of class. They are a joy.

I hope you can shift your focus to helping your students develop in all ways, not just in your subject. Being a parent is tough, being a college student is tough, and being a professor is tough. We could all use some patience and grace.[/quote]

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