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Monday, May 16, 2011

How to deal with a Rage-a-holic professor

Happy Monday everyone, & thanks for all your awesome comments! I'm happy to see a lot of you already enjoy Anki & Cave Story, & I might of gotten a few readers to give The Well-Dressed Ape a try!

Since Mondays are classically crummy days, I guess its well suited to post a guide on how to make a class taught by a difficult professor a liiitle easier to take! I've taken a LOT of classes in the past, & I've enjoyed nearly all of them. A few were pretty dry & boring (State & Local Goverment, whhhhy?), & some were just plain hard (Calculus, math does not compute with me). And a few had 'special' professors. I'll be covering these types of professors in a series of posts, with a random anecdote here & there. All names have been changed to protect the innocent, or just really, really frustrating.

I'll kick the series off with my least favorite brand of professor...

"Don't pick me, don't pick m - OHSHI-"

Proffessor Rage-a-holic



Who is Professor Rage-a-holic? This guy (or gal, as the case may be) is just permanently pissed off about something, the world in general, or worst of all - YOU. Most likely their real problem is they didn't plan on teaching, & of course, hate everything about it. Or, they might just be an asshole. They come in all shapes & sizes - from the diminutive old lady trying to cram art appreciation down your throat with endless date memorizations, to the ex-body builder now teaching ceramics, for some ungodly reason.

Signs you've got a Professor Rage-a-holic on your hands... This professor will likely be hostile from the very first time they walk in. Or, they might disguise it until you raise your hand at an inopportune time & shoot you the Glare of Doom. They won't accept your work late (or before the due date), they don't want to do another example because 'examples hold up the rest of the class', they will not reply to your emails, they will refuse to give your essay any comment besides 'POOR FORM, TRY HARDER NEXT TIME', & they loathe students that ask for extra credit. They might also have a trace of cruel sarcasm, & enjoy calling students out on their mistakes, or be a flat out sadist, & give you a huge group project over a holiday break.

How to handle a class taught by Professor Rage-a-holic... Your best bet to survive the class is to be as minuscule as possible. Don't be afraid to ask questions, but if Ragey goes for your jugular for asking something 'so asinine he could probably fart it onto Braille, & have a monkey understand it' (yes, a professor actually said that to me), just brush it off your shoulders. But do be sure you get your answer - not answering a direct question in relation to the subject they teach, during class time is inexcusable. Don't show off when answering a question in class, don't react when they purposefully bait you, & whatever you do - never, ever correct them.

Don't expect any favors though. Turn in any assignment RIGHT when its due! I had a professor who demanded all homework was on the exact corner of his desk, stapled, with a coversheet before 10 minutes past class starting, or it was late, & would not be accepted. If an assignment has insane requirements, buckle down & just do it - arguing with the professor to change them is unlikely to work, & is just going to get your assignment more closely scrutinized, & graded more harshly.

Lastly, be polite. Don't kiss ass, that'll irritate anyone & especially Professor Rage-a-holics. Pull out your 'sir' or 'ma'am', call them Mr./Mrs. Whatever, & phrase any question or request in a non-whiny way. Bad "question" - 'But professor, that material wasn't covered well enough to be on the midterm!' Good question - 'Sir, I noticed you included the diagram of the eye on the midterm study list. May we review it in class before we sit for the exam?' You might feel like an idiot, & your fellow students might sneer at you (behind the professor's back), but you're not going to get flak for it from the big cheese - this isn't boot camp.

Hopefully, with these three tips, you can make dealing with a bull professor in a ceramics class a little bit easier! Next, I'll cover my second-least favorite professor stereotype - the Ben Stein - aka, professors that are so dull & lifeless, a squad of stripper cops could burst into the room with a boombox & start gyrating wildly in their face... & get zero reaction.

19 comments:

  1. I've had alot of Rage-a-holic professors lol, Excellent blog! enjoyed reading it, keep the posts coming ^_^

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  2. I can certainly relate with crazy profs. Nice blog! following

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  3. last 3 exams an im finished yaaaay

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  4. They have some serious issues.

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  5. lol Awesome! I once had a teacher in highschool that we thought had a party in his pants cause it always looked like he was trying to hump the chalkboard... like wtf. I only remember good teachers in college, but I didnt stay there long.

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  6. Love this post! Great tips too, I always try to be polite with my teachers, even the one's who are assholes. I've never really had the rage-o-holoic to the extreme but I've had a few nasty ones, I'm sure when college roams around I'll run into a few. I've never understood why teachers, who hate kids and teaching, become freakin teachers! Strange, strange world, and again, great post!

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  7. i remember this happened all the time in college

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  8. my german teacher was that way when i was smaller... damm i think she fucked me up alot i still want to assault her hahaa

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  9. I've dealt with a rage-a-holic teacher one. It was the worst kind too. Like you, math simply does not compute for me. Everytime I'd ask a question or simply not understand what he was talking about, he's get mad. To this day, that one teacher has still put me off math.

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  10. This was a great read =]. I have had luck and have gotten mostly cheerful teachers. I did get a teacher who would always talk about his 'awesome' past before he started teaching. Better then raging I guess.

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  11. These kind of people always take their problems out on those around them, just think how their partners must feel.

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  12. fortunately most of my lecturers are pretty nice and i've only dealt with a mild rage-a-holic so far. very good tips though!

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  13. My school was full Rage-a-holic Professor. i cant believe i survive there 3 years.

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  14. I just wish I had this during my school time :(

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  15. "Don't pick me, don't pick m - OHSHI-" Reminds me of high school lol

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  16. This really is a huge problem in schools, this is top quality info.
    How to Hack Life.

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  17. very funny, dont pick me dont pick me hahaha

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