Let's face it, we've all had them - unhelpful college professors. You know the type. They're never in their office. They never answer their phone. You can never find them outside of class. And many of them prefer you to do online assignments so they don't get defiled by being in close proximity with their students.
Where's the justice in this? I paid some good money to get a good education taught to me by an excellent teacher. And all I'm getting is someone who doesn't even know how to convey to me, nor to his or her assistant, what I need to know to ace their tests or at least pass.
Some of these teachers seem a bit psychotic. Some of these teachers are arrogant. Some are snippy. And some are in need of a real attitude adjustment! But all of them seem to have one error in common. And this is it. They lack organization!
Now, I know I lack organization, I'm the first to admit it; but that's my problem and I have to deal with it. However, these are people paid by tax payer dollars and private funding. And they really need to get straightened out. But guess what? You're not the one to do it! You'll only make matters worse!
So what am I saying? I'm saying this. You can't do anything about them! But you can do something about yourself.
Here are some ideas:
How to Deal with Unhelpful College Professors
1)With all the classes you take, always remember one of the most important things before you take a professor's class is to size him up! Ask your adviser what he thinks of the instructor. Ask students who have been in this teacher's class before what they thought of this person.
2)If you're already in the class and it's not too late you might want to see if you can get a transfer or get a drop slip.
3)If you're already stuck with the jerk, talk to other teachers and and your adviser to see if they can help you with the problems you're dealing with.
4)Talk to other students who have unfortunately had this person before. Perhaps they can shed some light even if they didn't do well in that class.
5)Get a tutor.
6)Last, but not least is grit your teeth. You'll learn some lessons from the 'school of hard knocks' in all of this.
With all the problems our nation faces in education these days it seems unimaginable that we should have to deal with this problem as well. However, every college and university has a few of these geniuses, so you'll probably be running into one or two before you know it. And they're not going to be adding to the happy times in your life.
When all else fails:
When all else fails, read the directions. If the idiot isn't going back to his village and you're stuck with him as a college prof, then do your homework. Literally, do your homework. They may not assign you homework, but you go ahead and assign yourself some. Study like you've never studied before. Don't let them get the best of you. This is your real chance to prove yourself.
How many times have you gotten a test that had nothing whatsoever to do with the boring lectures you've listened to? I know a girl right now who is taking nursing. She recently got a 64% on a test. She said the test had nothing to do with the materials she was lectured on. So when she took her HESI Test she decided to just use the HESI book and forget the teacher's lectures. She blasted an 84% on her HESI just today! Good thing she didn't study her lecture notes, because that poor jerk of a teacher just isn't doing her job, and this girl would have failed!
In closing, let me just share something. As a middle grades teacher I remember giving a piece of advice once to an 8th grader of mine. She wanted to become a doctor. I told her that learning everything in the 8th grade that she would someday need to know to become a doctor was something I could never teach her. I encouraged her that to become a doctor she had to go the second mile and read things and learn things on her own. She needed to become her own teacher, her own disciplinarian as far as her education was concerned.
Recently, I learned that she never had the money to become a physician and that's a sad thing about education in America. But she did take physical therapy. And she's doing quite well financially with that. So that's okay too.
What I'd like to leave you with is that it's all up to you. Do all you can before you take a class to make sure you're getting the right professor. And if you do get stuck with an unhelpful one, give it all you've got because after all it really is up to you. You are your own greatest advocate. You alone are the professor in your own right who is going to help you make it through!