A Third of Each Class Is on Track to Fail
Experienced educators are facing a concerning decline in student engagement, attendance, and respect, coupled with negative evaluations. This isn't isolated to specific courses or instructors; it's a widespread shift impacting multiple classes simultaneously, leaving professors feeling demoralized and struggling to adapt. The core issue seems to be a breakdown in the traditional student-teacher dynamic.
SOURCES (60)
“I often receive emails from students to the effect of "Dear Professor, I will be absent next week for XYZ reason; my documentation is attached. Please let me know if I can make up any activities I missed." I teach several classes, so now I…”
“I am in collage working towards my teaching degree and one of my required courses is Into to Special Education. I have had my professor for one other class a few semesters ago and they are also teaching a different education course that I am in. When I am in their other classes I have no complaints it is clear that they want to help future teachers anyway they can. However in my special education course she keeps using the R word interchangeably with intellectual disabilities, we also have some”
“I was grading multivariable calculus quizzes in the department lounge when I circled a symbol that appeared once and was never explained. A postdoc looked over my shoulder and said the answer might still be salvageable. That brought two more people to the table. Someone grabbed a marker. Within five minutes, we had three interpretations on the whiteboard and a side argument about whether the student's notation was unclear or simply wrong. One of them glanced at my geeksoutfit raglan and said”
“It’s frustrating that this teacher had students dumped on them with very little (if any) direction or planning time accommodations. But sure, place the blame on the teacher, that’s par for the course”
“One of my students is always sleeping in class. He doesn’t act out or cause any problems but he also doesn’t do any class work. We had a test on Wednesday that he failed and yesterday we had our beginning of year iReady diagnostic that he tried sleeping through. I kept waking him up by tapping his desk or Chromebook and he finally got it done. In the end, I think I woke him up 5 times. The last time I woke him up, I noticed that his hair had all kinds of things in it. I’m not sure if it was lice”
“I recently posted as I was feeling down about going back to work. I wasn’t looking forward to the semester. I teach undergrad full time and I have really engaged and amazing students. But those students tend to be the minority. These first days back it was like pulling teeth. I am teaching a grad class for the first time and it’s like I fell back in love with teaching! They are all brilliant people who were engaged and actually did the readings and were able to tie the readings to their discussi”
“I recently started as a long term PE sub last minute after the original hire fell through. This week has been insane trying to get caught up on everything. Previously I was just a daily sub, but now I’m on schedule until November with 5 classes, mostly freshman. I was supposed to have a co-teacher the entire week, but they had to pull him since we’re also in a sub shortage. I have some student aids for some classes, but for my largest classes I’m on my own. MIND YOU, my largest class is 41 🙃 an”
“Congrats! Last year was the first time I felt a noticeable decline in the quality of my students (behavior, academics, motivation) and it really got me down. But so far this year is wonderful!”
“I teach an online class for a 4 year university as an adjunct, and I have been at this college for about 4 years now. A student from last semester reached out to my boss asking about his grade. Well apparently he emailed the assignment to me, and I forgot to enter it into the LMS. (It was one of the major assignments.) I asked what I could do to fix the situation, and I was told to recalculate the grade and update them. How bad is that? Has anyone else accidentally done this throughout their car”
“Please dont ever think you arent worth it if your grades are low do bot associate your worth with grades if they are bad thats ok mid thats ok high thats ok because if you do that and they are low your mental health may get effected really really bad. Its just grades just grades. Ok? submitted by /u/hello_people_yeah [link] [comments]”
“Hi everyone, a bit of a rant about my disappointment teaching my first class so far. Working toward some solutions but I've been a bit sad about all this. We kicked off our class a few weeks ago. It's always been my dream to teach at the higher ed level, largely because I was a first generation college student who had to work really hard to be here. I TA'd many classes in my masters and I am now a PhD student. My former university reached out and asked me to teach a graphic design co”
“I have had several students who needed accommodations that included turning in late assignments. It usually is fine, and only been an issue with end of term projects so far. This semester, I am teaching a class where the focus is on a group project, and I am at a loss as to how to deal with it. A big part of the class involves being part of a team. Most of the assignments are done as a group, and the students will give feedback on each other’s performance as part of the team. It would be a FERPA”
“Does anyone have any experience with recording accommodations, particularly with pushing back on them? I have a student with such an accommodation this semester, and the accommodations office insists that the conditions of the accommodations are enough to make sure they won't be misused. To be blunt, I don't believe that. This student has a reputation for belligerence toward faculty and is an aspiring right-wing influencer, and I do not want to find a recording of myself making the round”
“Cool. Then you can’t fill out a course eval and the university still gets the same amount of money because we’re past the refund deadline. The student was upset I told him to not do something during exams in the future. No points deducted. No disciplinary action, just told him to not do it again and got an over the top “tell me now if the class is going to be like this the whole time so that I can drop it and not deal with this BS.” I’d whine about students not behaving like the adults they are”
“I’m a relatively new professor teaching a graduate class, and I need someone to tell me I’m not crazy lol. There’s one student who is constantly typing on her laptop, and I’m pretty sure she’s messaging classmates because she’ll look at her screen, look at them, and they’ll start laughing. I’ve also caught some eye rolling/facial expressions while I’m talking. I know it may have nothing to do with me, but it makes me feel insecure and paranoid while I’m teaching. Has anyone else dealt with this?”
“I teach at a large Uni with up to 150 students a section. After years of disengaged students, I finally pulled the trigger with a "no laptops or Tablets" rule. Im printing them copies of physical guided notes instead of digital lecture slides. Expected backlash, complaints, or low attendance. But the result is mind blowing (although to be fair my expectations are low and Im easily impressed). Not a single student has complained, and even those with approved technology prefer to use the”
“Hi everyone - curious, how many complaints are conisdered many complaints? For context, the question is about complaints in an undergraduate course at a SLAC (US). submitted by /u/Longjumping_Plum_418 [link] [comments]”
“Yeah I’ve had nurse instructors/professors who lowk traumatized me bc they had behavior issues/lack of patience. This is so overlooked as a whole…teaching needs to be in a safe environment and a place to grow and a lot of these nursing ”professors” lack that”
“Hey friends! I’m not sure if this is the right sub to post this in, but I need some advice or at least to be pointed in the right direction. I am teaching some English comp courses this semester, and I need ideas or suggestions for in-class activities. Particularly for days when students begin drafting their essays. For example, right now my classes are working on the argument essay. On the first day when I introduced argument as a concept, we did a fun activity where I read a claim on a semi-co”
“It is seriously cringe, I just move on. Sometimes i get so frustrated and just have no clue what Im doing wrong or how/what changes to make. This semester I have 4 classes - 1 class so cozy and wonderful then a drawing fundamentals with actual art majors mostly and today we did a lesson about the gesture of objects - lots of out of the boxes exercises and my assumption was they would be engaged and it was crickets. then i have 2 classes of a art survey style class and 1st class they talk but not”
“I'm happy someone at the faculty meeting said it. All of us were thinking it. Our attendance numbers for August aren't great. We have a specific list of chronically late, chronically absent students with no documentation. Here's the thing. Those with documentation as to why they are chronically absent have been nothing but cooperative with us. One of my students is having health issues and has been communicating with the school. The principal had the audacity to tell us that the stud”
“Maybe even more than my students. Rant over. submitted by /u/professorpissypants [link] [comments]”
I find it infuriating how lazy students are becoming. I have a question as part of the syllabus quiz to send me a professional email introducing themselves. I had to take the…
“I also tell them why I have such “high” expectations—they appreciate I’m not just being a bag because I hate them.”
“Unfortunately, I am sick. I am out today, and I was out yesterday. Yesterday I had a sub. Today, there weren’t any subs so some colleagues had to cover my classes on their prep. I teach freshman. This group of kids can get chatty, but they’re all capable and I’ve never had any issues with them. As soon as I call them out, they fall in line. While I was napping, my phone was blowing up with email notifications about students commenting on Google Classroom. It had 73 comments. The kids were just s”
“It's my second year and I'm definitely "way to nice" and I'm clearly noticing that it negatively impacts the work and ambiance in my class. I've heard a lot that you have to "scare them" and "show them who's boss" but this is so far remote from my personality that i'm first looking for things that would "fit me" iykwim. I'm mainly teaching IT to 14-15 yo kids but I have other ages also. So yeah if you have any advice, experience”
“Today was the start of our second week and I am feeling absolutely dreadful. No matter what I do, the students just aren’t engaged, they can’t follow directions, they refuse to think for themselves, and have little to no critical thinking or social skills. I cannot conceptualize doing this for many more semesters. The outlook is bleak. Sigh… submitted by /u/m_xt-pe [link] [comments]”
“Putting humor since it was embarrassing for me at the time, but it's kind of funny now. I have a small upper level class this semester (9 students), and yesterday was our first day of classes. There is a prerequisite for the class, but it's a freshman level so in theory a sophomore could take this course. Many don't. All 9 of them were in 7-8 minutes before the start, so I asked if they wanted to start early so we could get out early. Not surprisingly, they all agreed, so I checked t”
“Gang, I need some advice. I'm a TT Humanities prof who (I like to think) is generally a really solid teacher. But one of the things I have always struggled with is getting students to look at / talk to each instead of me. Do you have any tips or tricks for making class time feel more like a mutual conversation instead of them individually responding to questions I'm asking? Some of this is just the room set up (sitting in rows, facing forward is not conducive to group discussion). But ev”
“Please help. It's day fucking TWO of the semester. TLDR: An adjunct not in my field is auditing my class and trying to treat it like he's the expert. It's literally syllabus week. I need to get him out ASAP. Help me. For context because it matters: I'm a late 30-something female who teaches a niche subject in literature. I'm currently the only one at my school that specializes in this. This subject attracts a particular type of nerd (this matters, I swear). From a teaching pe”
“I started to cry in class because my 12th graders didn’t know the cardinal directions or the regions of the USA. They never had to take a geography course and have no interest in looking at a map or copying it down when I went over it quickly. I tried not to cry but it made me tear up and the ones who were paying attention could hear it in my voice. It’s so sad how we are failing these kids because some states deem it unnecessary to learn different subjects. THEY DONT KNOW THE DIRECTIONS!! THEY”
“I’m teaching an honors section of seniors this year, and I taught them all last year as juniors. I taught some of them even as sophomores and freshmen. We have a history together and we know each other well. We had a great dynamic last year when they were all separate in different sections, but I now have all the friends back together. And they’re chatty. And they know they’re smart and they’re the “select” group and it’s even encouraged some shy ones to be outspoken this year. They’re great kid”
“Hi All, I teach a large lecture class of 250 at the undergraduate level. One of you wonderful Redditors gave me the idea of incorporating student voices into my class by giving them a survey on their ideas on how the class would run. It has been extremely well recieved just one week in. One of my questions was about...asking questions. To no one's surprise, a significant number said that they do not want to ask a question in front of 250 people (and I get that) I'm looking for solutions”
“Hey, So I am teaching a larger survey course for my department. Due to an error, I have about 25 students in the class, as opposed to it being capped at 20. I teach at a SLAC so large lecture halls are not really a thing. This course is part history and part lit. I do not mind lecturing but over the past few years, we have been assaulted with the idea to lecture as little as possible. So for this class, I have assigned each of them a section of the history text reading (very factual based)--arou”
“I plan by the week, but even then I'm not exactly where I thought by midweek. Planning any more further out just won't be realistic, especially if you're adapting lessons to fit your students. Having a general outline of the year is good to do early, like how you're going to split up the units and when projects will happen. Especially if you do a syllabus with an outline of the year. But do the actual weekly, or even daily, plans as you go. Otherwise you'll just end up changi”
“But have you shared your learning intentions and success criteria with these students?”
“My uncle did this for 10 years after retiring from teaching shop. He was at a pretty small college.”
“I have been fielding emails from students telling me that they will miss the first week of class due to "unavoidable" conflicts with their summer vacation travel plans. Call me crazy, but maybe don't schedule your recreational trips to conflict with the semester whose schedule has been on the books forever. submitted by /u/baseball_dad [link] [comments]”
Ill explain more if asked. submitted by /u/ssjisM_7 [link] [comments]
“I have assigned seating from day 1, but counselors end up switching schedules so much the first couple of weeks that by week 3 or 4, I pretty much have to redo the whole thing all over again since I’m working with a completely different roster of kids”
“I’m a new instructor teaching 5 new classs and just worked 75 hours my first week. I’m designing these classes from scratch and it takes forever to prep because even some of the topics are new to me. I haven’t had time to take care of myself (cooking, cleaning) let alone do anything I enjoy. And I certainly don’t make enough to rely on take out. I’m in a new location so I don’t have tangible support from family or friends either. How do I survive? I’m miserable and this is unsustainable but I ca”
“Wasn’t that bad last year…. Now it’s they’ll ask mid lecture. They genuinely don’t care if it’s important content. It’s constant. Then it’s 5 hands go up. I’m so f***ing done submitted by /u/Ill_Card_357 [link] [comments]”
“If a student sleeps in my class, ill announce that I see someone sleeping and we need to wake up. I then take my microphone and lift it toward the speaker and it created a screeching feedback sound. Thay wakes students right up”
“I teach a general education creative arts course, and my dean has been quite adamant that no students should fail it. I understand that many students, mostly engineering majors, enrol because they assume it will be an easy A. Many are not particularly interested in the subject, which is fine. The problem is that those who fail generally do so because they barely attend, do not participate, or simply do not submit the required work. In other words, they fail themselves. The pressure goes beyond g”
“I DIDNT WANT TO DO THIS. I WAS DOING OTHER THINGS. BUT IM TIRED. IM TIRED OF WATCHING PEOPLE FAIL. THEN FAIL AGAIN. WITH TUTORS. WITH FLASHCARDS. WITH A WHOLE TEAM. THE LAW SCHOOL DROPOUT. ITS COMING. BUT RIGHT NOW WE RELEASING THIS FOR THAT (CONSIDERATION). A BARGAINED FOR EXCHANGE. THATS IT. I GIVE YOU SOMETHING. YOU GIVE ME SOMETHING. ITS NOT HARD. PAST CONSIDERATION IS NOT CONSIDERATION. A GIFT IS NOT CONSIDERATION. A PROMISE TO GIVE A GIFT IS NOT CONSIDERATION. ILLUSORY PROMISES ARE NOT CON”
“Yes but generally we actually try to show up on time. We're probably less tardy then on time. Classes have barely started and one kid has already been late for the class time. So they've been late when they're coming from their other class and when coming from lunch. And it isnt like oh the teacher's a stickler for the rules. It's always at least 10 minutes late.”
“For context: I teach first-semester writing at a large community college. In the last year, I've worked to do more in-class, handwritten analog work to get away from AI and get the focus back on thinking. When I receive an accommodation request, I read through the letter (90% are about extra time, and an increasing number include notetaking assistance/audio recording of lectures). I sign it, I move on. I'm bothered by the number of students who need to be able to make audio recordings of”
“On the first day of full lecture class (the first day is a throwaway class going over the syllabus), I had a student who seemingly wanted to show off how smart they were. They wanted to answer every question, plus add in an extra tidbit. I finally had enough. During one answer I cut them off: "Stop right there. You need to stay on topic." I could tell it hurt the student's feelings. At the next class, they were absent (they dropped). I feel a bit guilty, but also a bit relieved. Ho”
“I had a class last year that was constantly interrupting. I got a clicker counter ( like they use to count attendance at events) and kept count of all the times they disrupted class. I didn't say anything about what I was doing the first day. At the end if the day, I wrote the number on the board and told them what I was counting and why. I set a reasonable weekly clicker-count goal after that, with a reward set for the end of the week. The kids started correcting each other and the behavior”
“Yup. “I’m not taking questions. I’ve already explained. Ask someone else.” When they sit there and do nothing like helpless babies, they get zeros.”
“On top of this we had some epic textbook fails and I'm temporary faculty. So I'm getting blamed for things that are absolutely out of my control. I don't really know what I am hoping to get from this post other than to say I truly feel for these kids but I am tired of repeating myself 200 times a day for them to just ask the same question again. It's like they all immediately forget what I just told them or worse, don't even bother to try. I can forgive not knowing, but I can”