I have been pretty lucky in law school as far as professors go. I really only had one I didn't care for too much, but she's widely regarded as one of our best, and most people love her, so I was able to say it was just a personality thing, and move on (actually, I found her judgmental and biased). [Oh! I just remembered Corporations! He was HORRIBLE!!!]

I have heard many horror stories about adjunct professors, though. And I told myself that I would NEVER take a class with an adjunct. Our faculty is, for the most part, really great. Why not just load up my course schedule with them?

However. I've been wanting to take a certain skills-based class FOREVER, and it has always been taught by an adjunct .... who has always been, shall we say, rather well-versed in the field. So uh, okay.

The typical adjunct, however, was not able to do it this quarter. We didn't know this right away, and those of us who took the course did so after talking to our fellows who took it in the past, and said that the course was really a piece of cake.

It's also 2 credits (important plot point).

New adjunct this time, though. The newbie is a colleague of the outgoing adjunct, so perhaps it will still be okay?

Well, see, last week, he lost me. On the first week of class, he told us to draft a court document. It was in the syllabus, and was verbally reiterated as we left the class that first day.

about a week later, as I'm sitting down to draft the document when I decide to put it aside and review the course materials. Included within is the document we're supposed to be drafting - for the same case.

What the hell? I think. Does he want me to just RETYPE it? Did he not realize it was THERE? Is there something wrong with it?

I type one up, I make a few little (minor, inconsequential) changes, and print it out. Whatever. It took 7 minutes, I wasn't about to complain.

We get to class that evening, and he says, "who here drafted the document?" Only about 1/2 the people raise their hands. what the hell? Why are people not doing the first assignment in this class? an assignment they have to hand in?

But then he points to one of us who had our hands raised and says, "why did you draft it?" she says, "it was good practice." WHY DID SHE SAY THAT? It was our ASSIGNMENT!!

Apparently, this is what happened --- someone saw the document in the stuff, and wrote him an email and said, "do you want us to do something other than what's already here?" and he said, "the fact that you wrote me this email means you passed the assignment, you're done." That person told another, who told another. but it didn't quite make it all the way around the grapevine, since at least 1/2 of us didn't get the email.

But to the 1/2 of us who raised our hands? The prof/practitioner says, "this was just a test to see who actually reviewed the materials. it was on the syllabus to do so, you know."

This really pissed me off. I don't really appreciate being "tricked." It made me not like him. This conclusion is permanent, it turns out. That happens with me sometimes. Not always, so I can't predict when a bad interaction will stain my impression of someone forever, but it does happen.

Like once, last year, one of the mom's in Emz' class approached me at a classroom gathering in the early part of the school year (probably October, but remember, they start on like Sept. 8), and she said, "oh, i just had to meet you. i was told you were really YOUNG, and the YOUNGEST Mom in the class, and I just HAD TO see what this YOUNG MOM looked like. But I just don't understand why I've never seen you before, you know, I'm ALWAYS here, in the morning AND in the afternoon, and i've NEVER ONCE seen you."

Yeah, first of all, I'm not that young, leave me the FUCK alone. Just because I'm aging well does not mean that i need to hear people go on and on about how I'm the YOUNGEST MOM in the school. Second of all? Our daughters are 9 and 10. They do not need their hands held into their classroom anymore. Since my younger daughter's teacher has told parents not to walk their kids to the classroom anymore, and since my older daughter is a capable individual who can get herself through the hallways of her school all by her own self, I don't see the point in loitering around the classroom.

I still don't like her.

Oh yeah, my class.

Tonight was really no better. Others were upset because of the amount of reading, cryptic assignments, and exercises in futility (we had a drafting assignment due today - some people spent up to 8 hours on it - i spent 3 - just to be told after "lecture" "now that you all know what you're doing, go back and re-do the assignment for today."

I was mostly upset because he kept referring to the trial judge in a case that is central to the class as "he." Uh. Her name is Diane. Assume much? Forget to "read the materials?" It's in 3 places.

The problem is, for the most part as my classmates see it, this is a 2 credit course. we're getting up to 12 hours of work per week, and this upsets those who chose to take a 2 credit course in consideration of the fact that they're doing a clinic, or have a job, or some other 3rd year adventure.

I am just bothered because I don't like him. I don't like his "tricks." I don't like that the change in adjunct professors made it so that a class I was looking forward to is now just a series of futile exercises.

So. eww.

posted by Zuska @ 9:44 PM

1 Comments:

At Friday, September 15, 2006 12:19:00 AM, Anonymous said…

He is treating you like children. Except that I, personally, would never treat children that way.

Can you complain, or do you have to wait for evaluations to rip him a new one?

He has obviously made some sadistic 2nd grade teacher his role model.