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Author Topic: Advice?  (Read 4350 times)
anna2404
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« on: September 10, 2011, 04:35:44 PM »

I am an adjunct who teach three courses in a raw. Two are in a computer lab and one in between in a far away classroom, there only 15 minutes in between them. The assistant professor who teaches the same classes as me in the lab stays there extremely long 2-4 minutes after my class starts. First he simply was closing the door and not let me in, but later he started to let my students in way before i come and speak with them, persuading to come to his class. When I come, he physically does not let me to master computer, stating that he has staff there. He is super nice to my students. I started to write  on the board, call students to start the class, even when he continues the conversation, it feels awkward. He organizes himself super slow and eventually leaves. Later I wrote email to head of the dept with cc to him, simply asking rules for lab share. She answered me that this won't stop and i just need to follow the steps i already did. But it feels annoying, it probably affect my evaluations, one student demonstratively told me in front of class that he leaving for this professor. Any other advice?
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anna2404
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« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2011, 04:47:04 PM »

Oh, and i forgot to mention that this the same guy wrote poor evaluation for my teaching out of nowhere...
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polly_mer
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« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2011, 05:35:09 PM »

If your head of the department won't go to bat for you on this and talking with the guy didn't lead to any resolution, then you can't ethically do more than show up a few minutes early, establish your presence, and call the class to order on time.

I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you unethical, rude, and pushy ways to get this guy to relinquish the room.  You might want to consider those ways.
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marigolds
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« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2011, 05:38:18 PM »


I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you unethical, rude, and pushy ways to get this guy to relinquish the room.  You might want to consider those ways.

Fart bomb?
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polly_mer
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hiding out from my grading. Shhh!


« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2011, 05:58:59 PM »

I was thinking more of the taking over the computer (tough noogies if he has stuff when the clock hits time for my class) and walking into the room to start talking at a couple minutes before class.
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geonerd
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« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2011, 08:16:59 PM »

Your email to the chair was wishy washy and ambiguous. The chair cannot read your mind.

All you did was ask for the classroom rules? When the chair said "this won't stop" she probably meant that back-to-back classes are normal, and the tight scheduling won't stop.

Write to the chair, or go speak with her face to face. Tell her exactly what is going on. Tell her that Dr. Jack@ss locks you out, locks your students out, dawdles, cuts into your class time by socializing with the students and refusing to leave in a timely manner, and interferes with your access to the computer.

The chair cannot help you unless you explain what is going on.

I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you unethical, rude, and pushy ways to get this guy to relinquish the room.  You might want to consider those ways.

Fantasy suggestion:

Walk right in and flip the room lights on and off while announcing: Intermission is over! Everyone please take your seats. Our class begins now. Dr. Jack@ss, please take a seat if you intend to take my class. Ask him if he has done the reading, and no more excuses for his late homework.
« Last Edit: September 10, 2011, 08:18:26 PM by geonerd » Logged

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zharkov
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« Reply #6 on: September 11, 2011, 09:05:18 AM »

Your email to the chair was wishy washy and ambiguous. The chair cannot read your mind.

All you did was ask for the classroom rules? When the chair said "this won't stop" she probably meant that back-to-back classes are normal, and the tight scheduling won't stop.

Write to the chair, or go speak with her face to face. Tell her exactly what is going on. Tell her that Dr. Jack@ss locks you out, locks your students out, dawdles, cuts into your class time by socializing with the students and refusing to leave in a timely manner, and interferes with your access to the computer.

The chair cannot help you unless you explain what is going on.


Chime.   I would strongly encourage you to meet with the chair face to face, not email or telephone.  Also, I suspect you are not a native born American, owing to your language and spelling.  So let me add that many things in the US are not a matter of knowing "the rules," but of establishing personal connections and working through issues, being specific about your expectations and what you see are problems.  So make it very clear when you meet the chair that (a) the other prof lingers beyond the beginning of your class time, which affects student learning, (b) you have asked nicely for him to leave on time, which he has not done, and (c) you are asking the chair to ask the other prof to leave the lab by the beginning of your class.


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Adapting Zharkov a bit to this situation, ignorance and confusion can explain a lot.
pedanterast
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« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2011, 03:13:31 PM »

Writing to the chair and cc'ing the offending instructor was a very bad idea.  You will probably blame poor evaluations on this loss of a few minutes per class, but the honest truth is that your English is not good enough to teach at the college level, so you should work on that as much as possible and as quickly as possible.  Best of luck to you!
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macaroon
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« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2011, 08:37:46 PM »

Writing to the chair and cc'ing the offending instructor was a very bad idea. 

Oh, I don't think it was that bad. 

Sorry, anna, this is a crappy situation to be in, and I empathize.  I also teach in a computer lab, and it can be so difficult to get the other class out!  And, yeah - it does effect your evaluations because your students will see how you treat the offenders.  If you're negative to the class or other professor, they'll be intimidated by you.  It's rough.  And I think that there is some sexism involved here as well. 

You could ask the powers that be if it would be possible to move your class to a different lab.  Dunno if that would work out, but it would take care of your problem.

I think I would jokingly tell him he's welcome to stay only if he's done the reading.

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anthroid
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« Reply #9 on: September 12, 2011, 11:38:01 AM »

If Anna has any connection to the students, perhaps a well-placed hint for students to complain to the chair might resolve the situation, if Anna cannot do it herself.  But I suspect Anna is going to have this problem until she is able to face down Dr. Jackass herself, something that most of us would find pretty daunting.
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gekko
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« Reply #10 on: September 13, 2011, 02:40:04 AM »

I thoroughly enjoy the superiority felt by individuals who are almost without a doubt specialists in fluff fields based on their ability to speak their native language with greater clarity than someone who immigrates to a new country, generally to study a challenging field. In most institutions I've been associated with, you wouldn't be able to staff any program that isn't a daddy's credit card field without accents. Face it, Americans go to school to drink their ass off at sporting events and screw each other at fraternity/sorority parties while getting their passport stamped. Those who "don't speak English well enough to teach college" are probably the only ones who actually belong there.
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spinnaker
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I don't deserve these self-entitled students.


« Reply #11 on: September 13, 2011, 08:27:52 PM »

If I were a woman and this were being done to me by this man, I would consider telling him in private "I really think you need to stop harrassing me."
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isaacsweeney
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« Reply #12 on: September 14, 2011, 05:36:06 AM »

You will probably blame poor evaluations on this loss of a few minutes per class, but the honest truth is that your English is not good enough to teach at the college level, so you should work on that as much as possible and as quickly as possible.  Best of luck to you!

Why do college teachers have to speak/write perfect English? Maybe if she's teaching English classes, but we don't know that.
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polly_mer
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« Reply #13 on: September 14, 2011, 06:21:01 AM »

You will probably blame poor evaluations on this loss of a few minutes per class, but the honest truth is that your English is not good enough to teach at the college level, so you should work on that as much as possible and as quickly as possible.  Best of luck to you!

Why do college teachers have to speak/write perfect English? Maybe if she's teaching English classes, but we don't know that.

Only someone who has never taken a class with an unintelligible teacher would ask that question.  Try learning math from someone who writes a set of equations on the board and then says, "This do that.  That do these.  You end up with plant go boom."

Anna doesn't seem to be that level of unintelligible, but I took a fair number of classes from non-native English speakers.  Some people had wonderful accents and different experiences to share with us students.  Some people should not have been in the classroom because even I, dedicated student who did all the reading and had all the prerequisites, often had no clue what the professor was doing and couldn't get answers to my questions.

Do people need to be perfect?  No.  Do people need to be above a certain level of proficiency?  Yes.  Can written work indicate level of spoken proficiency?  Not always, but I don't commonly find non-native English speakers who write better than they speak.
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spinnaker
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I don't deserve these self-entitled students.


« Reply #14 on: September 14, 2011, 07:13:14 AM »

I might also walk into the class and say to the dawdling professor "are you running late again?" He may be starting his classes late as well as ending late. He's the unprofessional one here, not you.
If he's in your classroom, uninvited, during your class time, or locking you out after his has ended, he's harrassing you. Of course you can just say "you need to stop harassing me" without explaining further. "Harrassment" suggests ideas about serious trouble, about which the department would care. It might work.
Then, if needed, talk to the chair and mention that you are concerned that your students are not getting all of the class time they're supposed to get. If nothing is done about it, you have done your job.
Continue to think about your teaching effectiveness. It could be that Professor Jackass actually has a couple of ideas that work well.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2011, 07:14:33 AM by spinnaker » Logged
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