Irresponsible teachers (semi-rant)

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I am so irritated with one of my teachers right now. She is incredibly irresponsible, yet she puts rather high demands and high standards on all of her students.

She has missed several classes, which I later found out were due to illness, which I can be understanding of. However, she always waits until the last possible moment to inform us of any changes in schedule, including extra work or different meeting times for the class. She has a rigid syllabus set out, but she is hardly following it, making it very confusing to know what we are actually supposed to be doing every week. She sends us emails (as I said, at the last possible moment), but she doesn't respond to our questions!

This week has been pretty much the last straw with her, for me. I was sick on monday and couldn't go to class, so I emailed her about it, with my assignment attached, and practically begged her to respond. Surprisingly, she actually did, and she told me she would leave our reading assignment for next week in her mailbox for me as I requested. I checked the box on tuesday, I practically dragged myself out of the house (I was still sick), because I had that and another errand to run. No readings. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, still no readings. The office is closed over the weekend, and I have work and that class on monday, so unless I can find someone from my class to let me borrow their's, there's no way I can get my assignment done for class (and she says she does not accept late papers). I don't know what to do! If I can't get someone else's readings to copy (since I don't know anyone in the class, it's unlikely), I am just going to have to tell her I couldn't do the reading and paper because she didn't get it to me in time. In order to get it done, this will also create a lot of extra work for me next week!

I am having a hard time keeping myself motivated in this class. I need to keep it to fulfill the minimum credit requirements this semester, and I also need it as my last credit for my English concetration. How do you deal with classes that have teachers like this? I am totally boggled.

First off, You need to talk to the teacher and explain your concerns. If that does not work, then you go to the head of the department that the teacher works in and discuss the situation with them.

The syllabus is your contract between you and the teacher (I assume you are in college). You agree to follow through on your requirements and in return, the teacher agrees to follow through on their requirements. If the teacher is not following through, then she is breaking the contract. I always kept my syllabuses because of that.

i dunno what to tell you. i would get it done asap and turn it in late with a note explaining why its late attaced to the assignment. maybe a post it saying that you dont know any of your classmates outside of class and that you are getting it turned in asap. my mother teaches college math and i grade her class's projects. if the students have a good excuse for it being late, then she does not take points away. if she still does not give you full credit, it is still better then a zero. you also do need to talk to her about your problem. go to her office rather than sending email.
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I will do this if she gives me trouble about getting the paper in.

I don't know if going to the department head is necessary at this point, yet.



A lot of teachers end up tweaking the syllabus at least a little bit, sometimes a lot. It's just frustrating on top of all the other things she's done.



Ok, I will try to do this.



The problem with this is that her office hours are only once a week, and they are during my work hours. If I really need to talk to her, I will try to see her after class, I guess.

To update: everything has turned out all right. I went and spoke to my teacher in her office right after I got out of work this week. She actually apologized for not getting me the papers in time, and she told me I have until next week to turn in the assignment.

thats great civet, but i think that im still screwed. Oh well, best not dwell over it. Thats how I get down.
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Sounds like things worked out for you. Congrats

I may have a chance at passing all my classes. Cross your fingers for me.
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Good luck, axelkat .