1. How to Impress Your Professor

8/15/2019 1. How to Impress Your Professor

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Ten Ways to impress your Professor (without being the teacher’s pet)

Use these tips to make a good impression on your high school teachers and college

professors.

Teachers are human beings too with their own issues and concerns. They have good

days and bad days. While most attempt to be positive, this can become dicult on

tough days when no one seems to be listening or caring about what they are

learning. owever, students can ma!e a real di"erence in this.

#. $lways come to class with a great attitude and a winning personality, (be

early, greet the teacher)%. Pay attention to details. Write reminders if you have to, but come prepared.

Make sure that assignments are turned in on time, and you are

prepared for tests. Take a few minutes each evening to study what you

learned in class&or do a pre'reading. e attentive when they are teaching. *a!e an e"ort to listen each day and be

involved in the lesson. +ven though there will be boring topics covered in

class, realie that it is their -ob to teach and your -ob to learn the information

presented.. $nswer /uestions that the teacher poses. This shows you are listening but do

not hog the spotlight. $llow other students to answer /uestions too. 0t1s o!ay

not to raise your hand upon every /uestion posed.2. $s! follow'up /uestions 3pea! up4 Professors en-oy !nowing that they have

provo!ed you to thin!.5. 3mile and spea! to your teacher in the hallway. *a!e your teacher realie

that you value them and the -ob they do. y ac!nowledging them, you are

letting them !now that they are o!ay in your boo!.6. 7o the e8tra mile. 0f your teacher as!s you to complete an assignment, ma!e

sure it is done completely and neatly. Ta!e your time and do it right. 9our

wor! will stand out from the others, even if there are errors, as it will be

obvious that you did your best.:. ;augh at their -o!es. This does not mean use false or moc!ing laughter. ut

when teachers ma!e little -o!es in class, they are trying to ma!e connections

and lighten things up.


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0f scheduling problems suggest that you may always arrive late or leave early, ma!e

an appointment with the professor to discuss the situation. 3he may suggest you

consider ta!ing the class another semester.

%. *a!e eye contact during class

0 taught a large class once in which two students in the bac! row spent the entire

class reading magaines. 0 never saw their eyes. @o you thin! 0 was positively

disposed to round their grade averages up or downA

BememberC 9our professor can see what you are doing out there. 0f you groan or put

your head down, he doesn’t !now it’s because you -ust remembered your mom’s

birthday was yesterday. e sensitive to how hard your professor wor!ed to prepare

this lecture, and show that you respect the e"ort.

2. When you must miss a class, e'mail the professor

9es, there are == students in the class, so your prof won’t miss you. ut letting him

!now (in advance, if possible) that you must miss class for a funeral and will get the

lecture notes from another student indicates that you are responsible and that youta!e the class seriously. e will remember your name.

0 recommend e'mailing rather than spea!ing with the professor personally, because

he is unli!ely to remember a /uic! word in the hall, and an oce appointment may

be regarded as over!ill.

5. Proofread your wor!

Dothing gets my attention more than a paper with typos, misspellings and other

signs of sloppinessEand that is attention you do not want. $lways proofread your

wor!, whether it is a paper or a /ui.

$nd no matter what the professor says, neatness does count. and in the most

legible, pleasant'to'read wor! you can every time. @o not use a huge font to meet

the length re/uirements. (elieve me, your professors are wise to this one.) Type

the paper even when it is not re/uired. @o you want your professor mar!ing that

Fnal grade in a state of cran!iness due to eyestrainA

6. Than! the professor for a particularly interesting class


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@on’t do this often, and don’t do it when you don’t mean it. ut if you Fnd a class

particularly interesting, say something.

*ost of us put a lot of wor! into our classes, and everyone li!es to be appreciated.

i, @r. 3mith. 0’m Gohn @oe in your

physics class.?

#=. 3how how you feel by how you loo! Professors are not supposed to notice your

personal appearance, and most colleges and universities gave up dress codes long

ago. 3ometimes, though, your appearance does count.

BememberC Hollege is your professors’ -ob and yours. @emonstrate that you ta!eyour -ob seriously.

Terri Hombs'Irme, Ph.@., is a professor in the Hollege of 3ocial Wor! at the

Jniversity of Tennessee, where she teaches classes in human behavior and

research. 3he has taught previously at The Gohn op!ins Jniversity, the Jniversity

of *aryland, ;ouisiana 3tate Jniversity and Dorthwestern Jniversity.

Professors spea! outC When was the last time a student in a large class stood out to

youA WhyA

K >Ine student e'mailed before classes started and as!ed to pic! up a syllabus earlyso she could start reading. When she entered my oce, she loo!ed me in the eye,

introduced herself, and shoo! my hand. 0n class the Frst day, she sat in the front

row and smiled, seeming to ac!nowledge how hard 0 was wor!ing to !eep the class

interested. This continued throughout the class. 0 later found a -ob for this student at

one of the world’s largest advertising agencies and am glad to call her my friend

today.? E@r. Dancy Bidgway, associate professor of mar!eting at the Jniversity of

Bichmond

K >0 am more li!ely to notice students who sit in the front of the class and as! good

/uestions, especially if they ma!e eye contact and loo! li!e they are intensely

interested in the class material. ut the ones that come to oce hours will alsoattract my notice, as well as students who do especially well on tests and

assignments. $nd then there are those who cause disturbances, dress and act

strangelyL these are sure to get my attentionEnone of it favorable.?

E@r. Hlyde M. erreid, @istinguished Teaching Professor, academic director of the

Jniversity onors Program and director of the Dational Henter for Hase 3tudy

Teaching in 3cience at the Jniversity at u"alo


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Harolina'7reensboro

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1. How to Impress Your Professor