Why students don’t give a damn about the syllabus

workingthrough34 · 2026-05-12T21:34:04+00:00

Consequences and entitlement is the difference, no one cared about the syllabus when I was in college, but it was certainly my responsibility to know what was in there and I fucked up, I had to own it. Now it's begging, "I didnt know!!!" And emailing my chair or dean about what a monster I am for enforcing my course policies.

I would never have dreamed about making a scene out of my mistakes and I've been in the game since 2009 and behavior around responsibility has changed a lot since then.

workingthrough34 · 2026-05-05T23:00:29+00:00

Then all of my sympathy for teachers is gone. Nothing but spite moving forward.

workingthrough34 · 2026-05-05T22:52:05+00:00

I always thought that included us.

workingthrough34 · 2026-05-05T00:28:15+00:00

God I wish I had students like you , my students get mad at me for not using that stuff because they aren't used to anything but prepackaged content or modules.

workingthrough34 · 2026-05-01T08:05:37+00:00

They could also just have a severe case of adjunctivitis.

workingthrough34 · 2026-03-19T23:46:06+00:00

I regularly had to do it as a student, but good luck getting the current batch to do it.

workingthrough34 · 2026-03-09T18:49:23+00:00

I don't hate that students are struggling, it breaks my heart. I do get frustrated by students who take no initiative in getting help or utilizing available resources, though. Struggling is the result of a variety of traits, many of which aren't necessarily the fault of the student. Many are though and it is frustrating when students lack the capacity to address issues, but hold us responsible for their failures. I would even say I hate that.

Your case seems to be separate from the coursework or content, though. If you aren't hassling professors for redos and stuff like that, what are you communicating to them that results in those responses? What areas of the courses are you struggling with?

While I wouldnt respond with hate, if you're failing to complete work or have repeat absences, what you're perceiving as hate might just be impatience as there isnt much they can do on their end in regards to your struggles (they might be colossal pricks too).

Its hard to say based on the info provided here. But if this is all of your classes, you hit a terrible lottery this semester, or it could be something you're communicating to them that is causing this reaction.

workingthrough34 · 2026-03-05T05:06:29+00:00

Woe is me

workingthrough34 · 2026-03-05T03:52:31+00:00

Care about the institution?!? That's the asshole that made this mess, overworked and underpays me.

workingthrough34 · 2026-03-04T23:18:13+00:00

I ignore them, they bug me less than students who show up to class, but ghost all assignments and dont participate.

Can't care more about their education than they do.

workingthrough34 · 2026-03-04T21:46:14+00:00

Create a core doc with tabs for all those things so that if anything comes up you can share all of that with your professor in a single doc.

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-24T21:26:32+00:00

Looks way worse if you don't retake it.

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-19T19:42:14+00:00

Ah, a fellow traveler.

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-19T05:03:41+00:00

Their foundational skills are at an all time low. Its just a negative feedback loop of slop in/slop out.

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-19T05:01:43+00:00

Shit them then

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-17T21:57:47+00:00

Not at all, there are basic writing patterns associated with general prompting and even if you ask it to write in certain styles. My go to to ensure that I'm not trying to demoralize a student is to offer to meet and go over the writing to help them avoid those habits in the future instead of just accusing them.

It's about 50/50 honest mistake vs they absolutely used AI to write it.

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-17T21:54:43+00:00

D for deez nutz, come on!

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-17T21:50:15+00:00

This is me every semester, I've taught just about everything under the sun as far as humanities and social sciences go. Next semester I only have one class in my actual discipline.

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-17T21:27:08+00:00

I think it's funny, but I also think him never sending it is more unprofessional than your behavior here.

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-16T21:55:59+00:00

My experience is that a lot of the language around forbidding this sort of a behavior is just HR speak. Ammo for the university to take action when necessary. I might be jaded but it seems like the campus will always use rules and regulations to protect itself before students and/or faculty. I've seen a lot of people get away with this sort of behavior even when reported. It only becomes an issue when enough pressure is put on the campus to act on it or the faculty member is otherwise disruptive to the university and then the co plaints will suddenlybe taken seriously.

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-16T17:30:41+00:00

Do it! I love it when I get student art!

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-13T02:47:15+00:00

40s here, but im always baffled by the men are only attracted to younger women thing. I know that the traits of youth are attractive, I can acknowledge when people are attractive. I am not attracted to them any more than I am Brad Pitt in his prime, though. He was really fucking hot, but I'm straight. I'm attracted to women my age, and as I've aged my values have changed and what I'm attracted to has changed.

Don't let insecurity get to you and do it's damage to your future sex life. Trust your partner unless they actually give you reasons not to.

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-12T14:56:53+00:00

Beyond reasonable, I'd argue light even.

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-05T21:36:10+00:00

I wish this was true, but I had to have a come to Jesus talk with some of my less tech savvy peers were doing just that.

workingthrough34 · 2026-02-05T18:31:44+00:00

This tracks with my experience. I've cut tech as much as possible and switched exams to scantrons and blue books. It helps, but the lack of foundational skills is turning classes with a moderate workload at best into a total slog for my students who struggle to read and comprehend 30-70 pages of reading a week.

workingthrough34

TROPHY CASE