First of all I want to thank you for your sage advice in dealing with my
trouble student. You advice mirrored that of some of my psychology colleagues,
who suggested that I get this young lady to our counseling center by any means
necessary. She has been a thorn in several other instructors' sides, and
knowing that has made all the difference. So thanks for your help on that
one...now here's another...
I've just recently made the quantum leap from part-time road warrior, chasing
between 3 different schools, to full-time assistant professor with an office
and everything. It's been a wonderful transition, and the only real problem
is that some students have been abusing my "open-door" policy. Now don't
get me wrong...I enjoy helping my students with their coursework, and I also
enjoy chatting about life on Friday afternoons...that's the problem. The
problem is that some students seem to come by my office for "social visits"
with clockwork regularity. I don't want to seem unfriendly or disinterested
in my students, but I usually have work to do, and this kind of socialization
has a low priority during working hours. One young man comes to my office
to "brown nose" every day before class (he occasionally has questions about the
material, but usually not), some of his classmates have noticed this and have
made comments...some calling him an "asskisser", and some, thinking they are
somehow losing ground, are trying to follow his lead.
The most aggregious example came last Friday when a young lady came by to
drop off an assignment she'd spent 5 minutes on, and then proceeded to talk
to me for an hour about nothing having to do with our class. (And I'm
thinking, shoudlnt' she have spent an hour on the assignment and 5 minutes in
idle chit-chat)
So my question, how can I cut down on the time spent in excess chit-chat
without making my students feel that I don't want to talk with them or help
them? Do I just need to speak up and say "OK, I have to get back to work"
(and risk their hurt feelings), or is there a more clever way I can handle
this? I look forward to hearing your wisdom...
-- Don
--
%%%%%%%%%%%%% Donald Carter Davis, Ph.D. ([EMAIL PROTECTED]): %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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