Just imagine that you put together a presentation that you've been working on for about a month. You're super passionate about it and you're excited to share what you've learned with the rest of the class. You're giving your presentation and everything is going great. Your classmates are listening, and you're slowly progressing towards the end. You have one final point to make, and as you're about to get there, everyone starts to pack up. You wonder if maybe you've exceeded the class time, but you check your watch and see that there's still a couple of minutes left. You've spent weeks on this presentation, and nobody seems to care. How would that make you feel? What would you do? If you wouldn't want something like this to happen to you, please don't do it to your professors.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have one of my favorite classes. For the sake of not putting anyone on the spot, I'm going to keep the name of the course and professor anonymous. Truthfully, I love my professor. He's energetic, funny, and most importantly, passionate about what he's teaching. He dives deep into the material and even goes on tangents with students to try and keep the class engaged.
As the lesson progresses, he masterfully pieces together points which build up to a central concept. He's about to reach the end of his lesson when all of a sudden he's interrupted by the shuffling of papers, the noise of jackets being put on, and the yawns and coughs of students itching to leave class. I take a look at my phone, and there's still five minutes left. I then look at my teacher, and can't help but feel sorry for him. He's spent an hour building up to a crucial part of his lecture and now has to raise his voice and fight with the class noise to get his point across.
You can see the disappointment in his eyes, and the lack of care in those of students packing up. As he raises his voice, the class seems to get louder until he finally gives up and dismisses everyone. This happens every lecture, and sometimes, he cuts points short because he knows people have already logged off.
It shouldn't be this way, and we can change this.
Honestly, I get it. Your class might not be the most exciting thing in the world. Whether you have it early in the morning, mid-day, or late at night, it can be incredibly dull, especially when you have a lackluster professor. You might be sitting in class counting down the seconds until you can leave, passing the time on your laptop, drifting away in thoughts of what you're going to eat, or wondering if Bryan is going to text you back (just let it go, Samantha!). You may even have a class right after the one you're sitting in, giving you all the more reason to rush out of there. Trust me, I've experienced all of this (except the Bryan part), and I get it.
However, doing something as simple as waiting until after class to pack up can have a significant impact on how both you and your professor feel about the end of a lecture. Firstly, by packing up after class, you don't miss valuable minutes of material that you usually would if you're spending time "organizing" your books and papers, putting on your jacket, and mentally checking out.
Also, you're not distracting other students around you who are trying to pay attention, even if you could care less about the class. You may even feel better about yourself since you're getting your "tuition's worth" and showing your professor that you respect their time. On the flip side, your professor won't feel disappointed or have to vocally combat the rest of the class noise to do their job. Plus, a teacher will appreciate that you're paying attention compared to another kid who is not.
If one person can change the world, then one student can change the classroom. God, that was awful. Now that I've finished, I would pack up and head to another article if I was you.
