("It's a Lack of Respect", She Replied. -- continued)
What happens when students do not follow such rules? Students converse with each other, sometimes loudly enough to interrupt the discussion and distract everyone else in the room. They chat or comment to each other, text, monitor cellphone calls, go to the bathroom when they feel the effect of the 12 oz drink they have just finished, get up and cross the room to put something in the trash (even walking in front of a movie screen), laugh or tell jokes, and make comments out of turn (e.g. during a novel-based movie, “Oh! He looks just like my last boyfriend!”). There is a social dimension that is out of place.
When students get graded papers back they compare grades instead of checking to see what they got wrong. The teacher’s handing out materials is taken as permission to talk freely, so the teacher has to restore order before continuing. Sometimes, if the teacher does not maintain control, a classroom can look like a 9th grade homeroom---before the bell rings. Maintaining control is essential, because a class can go out of control very quickly or over time. Once it is gone, it is hard to pull back.
Specific Examples
For example, in two of my daytime sections this past spring, 40% to 50% of students believed that they had the right to talk to classmates during class. They made comments to other students. They commented to each other on something I said. They held little discussions about points that had been made or their own personal experiences. One otherwise earnest student in the front row got up to put a soda cup in the trash and then left for the bathroom. Another went to the bathroom because “I have to pee!” A couple went outside to take cellphone calls.
Three students sitting in a row routinely made comments to each other. One was diabetic, one had ADD, and one did not tell me till too late that he simply could not write an essay and then took the resulting F despite my best efforts. He felt free to talk. Two were boyfriend-girlfriend and passed notes. They were all very nice, I liked them all, and they did not ask for their personal burdens, but they did not respect the rights of others in the classroom to an uninterrupted discussion.
In another class sometimes six or seven all commented to each other. One student texted his baby-sitter. Several made jokes with each other. Another student spoke out whenever she had a comment. Others passed notes and waited for a response. Sometimes students looked at the instructor while talking to a neighbor, as if to say, “Can I get away with this or will you call me on it?”
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