Classroom etiquette
Written by Amanda Pretulac, Oct 3, 2011, 0 Comments
I have vivid memories of my high school Spanish class. I was studying the key terms in class one day, when all of a sudden I heard a spitting noise. Confused, I glanced over to see my classmate spitting dip into his empty water bottle.
Beyond disgusted, I look to my teacher for a response. She was too busy rolling her “Rs” to notice the amount of inappropriateness that was happening in front of me. I suffered 16 long weeks with the dirty dipper, as if learning a second language wasn’t enough of a challenge.
My classroom pet peeves have grown throughout my undergrad years and I suspect you have encountered at least one of these types of students in your classes. Where to begin? There is the gum-smacking student. There is the student who can’t get enough of their snack-size Cheetos and never learned the art of chewing with a closed mouth.
Hopefully none of you have ever had to take a class with Rapunzel, who sits in front of you and throws her hair all over your desk while you’re taking notes. There is the student who answers questions so often that you’d think you were on an episode of “Jeopardy.” Or maybe you’ve endured a class period next to the heavy smoker who emulates Pigpen from Charlie Brown? And don’t even get me started on the etiquette of group work.
If many of your classes are a few hours like mine, you’ll find yourself surrounded by your classmates for a good portion of your day. Getting through the semester is hard enough without these little disruptions that could easily be prevented in class. From personal experience, I recommend these tips to help the above situations:
- Next class, offer the gum-smacker a Tic-Tac.
- When your three-hour class resumes after a break, escape Rapunzel’s locks by moving to another desk far, far away.
- As for the “Jeopardy” contestant, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Or, create a tally sheet and see if they can beat their top score from the previous class.
- Bring a sample-size perfume to spritz on yourself to tackle the heavy smoker’s aroma.
Showing up for each class sends a message to your professor that you are a dedicated student. But try to keep your peers in mind, too, by being polite and respectful of their personal boundaries.
If you can’t make it through a class without tearing through a whole box of Kleenex, perhaps you should have stayed home. Or if you can’t help sitting through lecture without texting back every time your phone vibrates, please shut it off and give yourself, and your classmates, some peace of mind.
Photo by Daniel Mutter
