Don't know where to post this, so voila.

I just wonder, how do you think, should student activists behave like when they're inside the school? or in an open dialog with faculty members?

Another thing, should all the provisions in their student handbook be interpreted too literally? (okay, the question seems vague but I'm tired.)

like an activist with manners..




always room for interpretation......gray area

We had an open dialog with with them (they requested for it). They had us waiting for about an hour and they talked like brutes. It's exasperating to argue with people who are closed minded.

How old of kids are we talking about?


If they are high school, they should be respectful to faculty, as well as each other. If it is part of a course, I think their should be a debate prerequisite, otherwise people will just be shouting each other down. The faculty also has to be respectful in a class like this, and that rarely happens. Teachers themselves are not usually open to receiving answers in class.

If it's college, they can be as loud and vocal as they want. They are paying to be there, and a prof is taking the students money. The kid's paying for the right to speak his mind as well as for the priviledge of learning.

They're all college students. Granted they can be vocal about their ideals, I guess it's just me and my colleagues who are not really used with their low blow of arguments (that they would even have to insult us, how and what we teach in our class, that since we're all working in a state university we should rally with their cause etc.) Blah.

Remind these college students that they shouldn't smoke weed before class. It makes some of the stupid things they say sound better. (Use it, I had a prof say that)

Remind them that your classroom is not a democracy if they take insults personal, and that you do not have to allow them to stay. (the other kids are paying to learn as well)

And serious, make Forensics a prereq for that class.

Well, those are a-ok. However the problem is that (just an impression) they're being 'cradled, or babysit or however you call it' not only by our college admins but also some (topnotch) officials. It sucks working in a state university (this now may seem really irrelevant but let me vent this one out lol) where most officials tend to bow down to these activists.

Well I have had some college professors that were pretty pitiful in their teaching styles so I have some empathy for students. But a true student takes the opportunity of a less than stellar teacher to be a better student.
However; I do think if you are mature enough to be in college you should at least be tactful enough to support what you are saying by substantiating your premis with facts rather than juvinile insults and being a bully.
I would be tempted to in a nice way, ask the student to come to the front of the classroom and give a short demonstration what he or she thinks would be a better way to cover the given lesson plan for the day.
Usually someone who has to resort to insulting someones employer is not going to have the ability to persuade that employer to dispose of you because they are not wise enough to see that they are also insulting their choice.
Unfortuneately SOME 20-Somethings are just two year olds on steriods and you have to let them have their little vocal tantrums and go on.
Most of the time the Administrators I have had contact with just pay lip service to "Advocates" unless they can come through with specific instances and suggestions, THe trick is to get them directly.
Obviously you do well enough to have a respectable position with substanial pay and perks that I really doubt will be that much in jeapordy by an obnoxious student here and there if you continue to be a Professional Instructor and thank him for his/her input but redirect your energy on the students that are interested in learning from you and have proved it by paying their money for you to teach them.
Hang in there and don't let this rock your world .

I think this all depends on what the issues really are. Not all school decisions are there to help the students even if the admin says it does. Let me give an example. I use to go to LSU, a very large and pretty well known school, and they had a program called the "flagship agenda" They said it was to help students and raise LSUs standards. What it was really about was not rehiring a whole lot of teachers that didn't have PHDs so that LSU would have a better PHD to Non PHD ratio. This turned LSU's english and math classes from around 30-40 class size to auditorium classes of 100-200. How does have a 200 person calculus class help the student again?

My calculus teacher was one of the teachers actually letting the students know what was going on before it happened. Yes he was one to be let go, but he already had another job. He just thought the students should know what was really going on.