Am I frightening?

[KrazyHorse]

Although we lie to the students and claim that the prof writes the assignments and tests, and sets final grades.

Saying this releases us from the endless amounts of complaining we'd otherwise have to deal with, as students generally see us as more approachable. I'm attempting to remedy that impression.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Ninot
I know a handful of TAs. Noone shows up to their office hours, and tutorials are jokes. So other than those two services, everything else is for the prof.

You've never met a Hopkins student. Especially premeds. 2 hours a week packed solid with people asking questions. And again, we write and grade tests and assignments.

Literally the only thing the prof does in this class is lecture 3 times a week.

[KrazyHorse]

I even had to pretend to be him when I called the publishers of our textbook to get instructor access to the online grading site.

[Sirotnikov]

Originally posted by Asher

Stop being rude to KH. He's come here for our help and all you do is criticize.

Actually Tacc's posts are an example of being direct AND polite.

He could have simply said "KH, you're a manipulative arrogant *****"

[germanos]

Re: Am I frightening?

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


"It's at www.inserturlhere.com. That info is on the class website in 3 places, by the way."

For the record:
I think this is direct, and polite.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Sirotnikov
I happen to know lots of people who think that being polite is a waste of time, and I think that it is a stupid and a selfish approach. It makes continuous contact with these people an annoyance. Especially when they're in charge of giving some service or what ever.

I made a thread on this a while ago.

The problem a lot of people have, especially in Canada, is overpoliteness. They forgo being direct for being polite. It's a crime to make someone feel bad even if they did something that probably warrants it. And if we don't feel bad, we don't learn for next time.

Another related issue is smalltalk and typical politeness protocol. It's so stupid. Like every time someone calls to a radio show:
Host: "John from Halifax, what's your opinion?"
John: "Hi Bob, how are you?"
Host: "Fine John. What's your opinion?"

What is the point of asking how he is? You don't know the guy well, you don't honestly care. He's going to tell you the same stuff as always so as to not sidetrack the purpose of the conversation.

This happens all the time, especially with coworkers in the elevator or something. Dumb.

[DinoDoc]

The better question isn't if you are frightening. It's if you are an *******.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Sirotnikov

Actually Tacc's posts are an example of being direct AND polite.

He could have simply said "KH, you're a manipulative arrogant *****"

Way to DanS that post.

From Siro earlier, by the way:

Direct is great for online chats or whatever.

It is a dumb attitude in life. And it is very in appropriate for people in power positions.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
The better question isn't if you are frightening. It's if you are an *******.

I know I'm an *******. I don't need any feedback on that. Duh.

[Ninot]

Re: Re: Am I frightening?

Originally posted by germanos


For the record:
I think this is direct, and polite.

It's direct, but mentioned 3 places and ending with "by the way" implies, and correctly so, that the student is retarded. That didn't have to be done. Although, frankly, it's delicious that it was.

[DinoDoc]

Then you know why freshman might find you intimidating. They'll toughen up next year.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Other way around in intro classes. The prof has nothing to do with anything. He lectures. We write the assignments, grade the assignments (when they're not online), write the tests, grade the tests, hold tutorials once a week, hold office hours (he doesn't hold office hours) and set the final grades.

And he calls himself a teacher?! He does what--shows up two or three times a week to read from his decades-old notes??

He should at least be--if not writing the assignments--put together an outline of what the assignments should be. And he should be writing the tests because he should be testing for what he thinks is important. I wouldn't expect him to grade the tests (that's what you're for), but he should be overseeing the grading, double checking, and spot checking.

It is a privilege and an honor to educate. He's using this opportunity to skate. Shame on him!!

[Ninot]

Profs dont show up to teach. They show up to publish.

[KrazyHorse]

The sad part is they are about 50/50 freshmen/not.

Many of them put off taking physics for as long as possible because it's "hard" and is not a prereq for anything.

So we get a lot of seniors taking this 100 level class.

[Nubclear]

So then what's the point of this thread? You realise you're an *******, you've consciously rejected being polite in favour of being an *******, and you seem to want absolutely not advice on the matter.
Are you simply wanting to feel "good" about how "superior" your actions are?