getting out of "class participation"

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raisedbyignorance
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12 Apr 2010, 7:22 pm

I think we can all agree that "class participation" is gotta be one of the most ridiculous things for teachers to be stressing over...especially in our case since it's difficult to take part in a discussion depending on the subject (even though we know everything that's being discussed).

Unfortunatly many teachers are being so strict on this that "class participation" counts as a percentage of your passing grade. I'm in a class right now where while "cp" is not part of the grade, the teacher is being a little more demanding about it. We're in a tightly packed and overcrowded classroom right now. I sit in the back. I was hoping to use most of the classtime to do homework for other classes. The crowdedness and the repetitive lectures by the teachers make this class a pain to sit through (not to mention it's a different course but the material is 90% the same stuff for another class I had with her months ago).

And even if I were paying attention, like I said it's difficult for me to speak up.

How do we get teachers to understand the difficulties some of us have with "cp"? I wish it was as simple as writing a doctor's note but damn I cant even use my Iphone in the classroom anymore. That sucks because that's what got me through the other classes I had with her. I do VERY well on the homework and tests. Like I said, the material is very simple to learn, the difficulty is sitting through each class and having to have very long and pointless discussions on material that for the majority wont even be on the tests she gives out.

Your thoughts on this?



gina-ghettoprincess
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12 Apr 2010, 7:28 pm

My strategy is to volunteer an answer or two near the beginning of class and they normally leave me alone after that (or sometimes I am giving way too many answers so they actively encourage me to keep it to myself and give someone else a chance. It depends on the subject).


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gemstone123
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12 Apr 2010, 7:45 pm

I hate this emphasis on classroom participation. It's almost as if you're gonna fail the course if you don't constantly speak up. In my philosophy class this has been a constant problem even though the most important skill in the end is if you're able to write good essays they still continuously go on at me about the fact that I don't participate in the class like the other students. My other teachers don't seem to mind as much that I work on my own and I find it hard to speak up. I know that my philosophy teachers (specifically one) has penalised me for not participating as much even though I probably get the best grades in my class. They love the students who won't shut up yet they go on at the students who just want to quietly work on their own! :evil: Anyways if I don't want to take part in group work I flat out refuse. Believe me I can be pretty stubborn about it as I'm not gonna stress myself out over something so trivial. 8) Then again if the teacher directly asks me a question, which I hate when they do, I will reply if I know the answer. It can be frustrating though that specific teachers even though they are informed that I have aspergers and I struggle with this sort of thing still criticise me for it although I think they are finally starting to get the message. Then again they still don't understand. My philosophy teacher actually asked me if I was ever going to talk to him. I said I might talk more as the year went on but then he called me a liar...I couldn't tell if he was joking or not but I still said in my mind "What a rude prat!" :lol:
Wow what a rant! When I get started I just don't shut up. Hehehe


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raisedbyignorance
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12 Apr 2010, 7:53 pm

gemstone123 wrote:
I hate this emphasis on classroom participation. It's almost as if you're gonna fail the course if you don't constantly speak up. In my philosophy class this has been a constant problem even though the most important skill in the end is if you're able to write good essays they still continuously go on at me about the fact that I don't participate in the class like the other students. My other teachers don't seem to mind as much that I work on my own and I find it hard to speak up. I know that my philosophy teachers (specifically one) has penalised me for not participating as much even though I probably get the best grades in my class. They love the students who won't shut up yet they go on at the students who just want to quietly work on their own! :evil: Anyways if I don't want to take part in group work I flat out refuse. Believe me I can be pretty stubborn about it as I'm not gonna stress myself out over something so trivial. 8) Then again if the teacher directly asks me a question, which I hate when they do, I will reply if I know the answer. It can be frustrating though that specific teachers even though they are informed that I have aspergers and I struggle with this sort of thing still criticise me for it although I think they are finally starting to get the message. Then again they still don't understand. My philosophy teacher actually asked me if I was ever going to talk to him. I said I might talk more as the year went on but then he called me a liar...I couldn't tell if he was joking or not but I still said in my mind "What a rude prat!" :lol:
Wow what a rant! When I get started I just don't shut up. Hehehe


I am so endlessly annoyed when a teacher still doesnt get Asperger's enough to understand that we actually have difficulties. Most of the time they write off the Asperger's and expect us to give as much as everyone else in the class. It's ridiculous.

Next time if the teacher asks you when you'll talk to him you could say "when you make it worth opening my mouth for" :lol:



daeki
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12 Apr 2010, 8:11 pm

I don't know how useful this will considering you situattion is different from mine, im a university student and fortunately I have a number of people advocating for me-a number of people at disability services and a clinical psychologist. At the start of each semester it was suggested I approached each of my lecturers and tutors and explain to them the difficulties I have with participating in classes, I also had supporting documentation from a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist to support my claims.

Some of the academic staff I've encountered have been somewhat reluctant at first, and as difficult as it was to actually speak to them in person, the results were alot better. Positive outcomes from speaking to them one on one was my tutorial attendance was seen as somewhat flexible and my participation was optional and I was never put on the spot.

Like I said my situation is different from yours, My suggestions are get supporting documenation from an expert and approach the teacher with it or talk to the teachers superior.



gemstone123
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12 Apr 2010, 8:32 pm

raisedbyignorance wrote:
gemstone123 wrote:
I hate this emphasis on classroom participation. It's almost as if you're gonna fail the course if you don't constantly speak up. In my philosophy class this has been a constant problem even though the most important skill in the end is if you're able to write good essays they still continuously go on at me about the fact that I don't participate in the class like the other students. My other teachers don't seem to mind as much that I work on my own and I find it hard to speak up. I know that my philosophy teachers (specifically one) has penalised me for not participating as much even though I probably get the best grades in my class. They love the students who won't shut up yet they go on at the students who just want to quietly work on their own! :evil: Anyways if I don't want to take part in group work I flat out refuse. Believe me I can be pretty stubborn about it as I'm not gonna stress myself out over something so trivial. 8) Then again if the teacher directly asks me a question, which I hate when they do, I will reply if I know the answer. It can be frustrating though that specific teachers even though they are informed that I have aspergers and I struggle with this sort of thing still criticise me for it although I think they are finally starting to get the message. Then again they still don't understand. My philosophy teacher actually asked me if I was ever going to talk to him. I said I might talk more as the year went on but then he called me a liar...I couldn't tell if he was joking or not but I still said in my mind "What a rude prat!" :lol:
Wow what a rant! When I get started I just don't shut up. Hehehe


I am so endlessly annoyed when a teacher still doesnt get Asperger's enough to understand that we actually have difficulties. Most of the time they write off the Asperger's and expect us to give as much as everyone else in the class. It's ridiculous.

Next time if the teacher asks you when you'll talk to him you could say "when you make it worth opening my mouth for" :lol:

Wow that's a good comeback. :lol: I wish I'd of said that although it wouldn't have gone down too well.


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MONKEY
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12 Apr 2010, 9:05 pm

I actually kind of like participating in classroom discussions if it's something I'm opinionated about. I put my hand up quite a a lot then. Most of the time I'm quiet though.
But I don't do team work and group projects, no no no no no. I usually get away with it in psychology because the teacher asks me what I want to do and I always pick working on my own, but sometimes she pushes me a bit and encourages me to work in a group and sometimes I reluctantly agree.
In religious studies group work isn't too bad because we tend to do discussions and not actual group work, I just give my opinion and that's it. I hate pair work/discussions though because I'm more pressured to talk if it's just one other person, in a group it's not as important so I can just sit there thinking the whole time and do my own thing.


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13 Apr 2010, 7:12 pm

I've always rather enjoyed class participation because after all everybody does have a right to my opinion. :D


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15 Apr 2010, 11:02 am

I'm a champion at Classroom Participation. For most of my classes, it's over 10% of the grade.

For most first-year classes, it isn't required. But if you're going into a faculty that requires it, you kind of have to get used to it. Some professors make exceptions for foreign students, but not always. Considering the level of understanding that most people have of AS, I also wouldn't bank on getting an accomodation in this area without having to do tons of work to make up for it.

Shrugging group work is also a really bad idea. The number of group projects increases as the years in the program go by. In some courses, group work is over 50% of your grade.

You can't always assume that you'll be able to talk Disability Services into removing those parts of the course for you. They can modify the method of teaching and testing you, but they can't actually remove the course contents. If you don't want to interact with people during University, they might just ask you "then what are you doing here?".

There are very few jobs that require zero human interaction. Part of the purpose of University is to prepare you for working with people, and various types of people at that.