The blatant suck-ups annoy me the most . . . particularly when they somehow manage to do it in a slightly condescending manner. As if I'm so stupid that all they have to do is provide lip-service sucking-up and I'm going to be so bowled away that I'll just adore them and automatically give them good grades . . . when, in point of fact, I then have to make an effort to keep my dislike from being too obvious. Sigh.
If I could just write them off as grade-grubbing it would be one thing. Unfortunately two of these women in particular seem to be just really socially impaired. I should feel sorry for them, and I sort of do, but they're also so irritating that it's hard to remain sympathetic. I'm sure it will change as the semester gets underway, but it was a weird start to things.
Oh I hate those students.
I wish there were some way to hold a mirror up to them and let them see how they look -- but of course the mirror would be in their blind spot, I'm sure.
I have thought for a while now that talking about dogs is the best kind of team-building there is, not to mention a diplomatic filter, as in "hi, how's your dog?" followed shortly by "I need to ask a favour..."
What I hate are the suck-ups who hate you and are doing it so that you won't notice when they challenge your authority. I get this semi-frequently: young men (early- to mid-20s) who have problems with female (or any) authority. The first few days, they try to impress and show off (often with a little flirtation -- more insulting because I'm pretty sure it's accompanied by the idea that I'll be grateful). After that, they try to pull all the class discussion their own way (generally, they're not nearly as smart as they think, and want to talk about what they know, rather than what I'm trying to teach), and constantly challenge my authority. Always politely, mind, but I can't say how glad I was when a male colleague referred to last quarter's problem child as 'an arrogant little prick.'
pt. 2
Aargh. Fortunately, students generally police themselves, but I'm still at a loss for how to deal with certain classroom behaviors, especially when it's clearly a problem with women authority figures, because it's the one time direct confrontation and/or trying to co-opt the students into "leading the class" doesn't really work.
Well -- that was a vent I hadn't expected.
Another Damned Medievalist, I have had *exactly* the same experience with the arrogant young men (who aren't even remotely as smart as they seem to think they are) who have problems with female authority . . . in fact, I was attempting to get at that a little bit in my earlier comment, but you did it so much more articulately. It's infuriating, and frustrating, and subtly alters the dynamic of the classroom. I get one of these "bad apples" about once every year and a half, it seems . . . the last one I nicknamed Satan's Spawn because he was SO unbearable!
Oh, yes, suck-ups are the worst! It does make me wonder, however, if sucking up generally works. That is, do other faculty actually fall for it? If not, how on earth did these students come to think that this pattern of behavior is a good thing?
jwb
I haven't quite managed the "very relaxing" response. But I have tried: "I had a very good summer. How about you?" So far, so good.
jwb
I have three Ryans in one section & no obvious suck-ups so far -- though I know the species well, so I count myself lucky. If the suck-ups only knew how grateful we'd be for a bit of honest enthusiasm! Enthusiasm goes a long way with me.
I think someone ought to do a name frequency analysis of student names and link that to their origins. I think you'd find some interesting naming patterns here that aren't only defined by time, but also by socio-economic background.
(I have many Jennifers, but also a lot of Amandas, Ashleys, Alyssas, Kirsties, Kristies but no Jessicas signed up for my January courses so far.)
Commenting by HaloScan
