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Mitchell Mylius

@MitchellMylius

The number 13 has had a negative reputation since the dawn of numbers. In the Bible, Judas Iscariot, the 13th apostle to arrive at the Last Supper, is the person who betrays Jesus. Triskaidekaphobia is a specific fear of Friday the 13th. When students step into their first class of college it will be their 13th year of their classroom career.

Proper classroom etiquette should be common sense for all students. Don’t be on your phone. Don’t be late to class. Don’t be on your laptop.

Sometimes, rules are just assumed and are not included in the syllabus: Don’t zip up your backpacks before the end of class and don’t be so high you’ll fall asleep. E-mail the teach to tell them you’re sick when you plan on ditching class to go to Berkeley.

Some students tend not to notice that they are a distraction to others. And it’s not just freshman, but all students alike.

Those who have experienced their first year in college know the field. They know how to act. Which means when others don’t know how to act, they get annoyed.

This is Kim Lindsey’s third-year at Las Positas College and the 20-year-old says it is “annoying AF” when her classmates exaggerate their movements in class, slamming their books closed or tapping their feet while the instructor is lecturing.

It’s okay that someone might have really enjoyed the ZZ Top concert this weekend. But students who worked through the weekend may not enjoy listening to the foot-drummer cover of “Cheap Sunglasses.”

Many spend the week folding clothes and conducting registers wishing they had a better chance at digesting the material during class time.

“Man, I’m cooking up food all day,” said Ryan Heanes, 21, former LPC student, “I used to hate it when kids would make noise during class. That’s premium time right there for me to gather study material. And there’s always that one funny guy in class.”

Heanes talked about times in the past when instructors would assign work to be due on a Thursday.

“There’s always that one funny guy who will complain about the due date and say ‘awwww, it can’t be due Friday?’ It’s just like, c’mon man,” said Heanes.

Heanes said that type of complaining could add more to the workload because the instructor will recognize that complaining and grade harder, although other students disagree and say communicating your interests with the teacher may have positive results.

An anonymous contributor to RateMyProfessor.com complained that LPC History instructor Brazell Carter graded a couple of his/her quizzes wrong. However, after meeting with Carter to talk about the quiz, the problem was resolved and they gained those points back.

Lizzy McNaney, a former LPC student who is now a psychology major at Sonoma State, said she thinks communication with a professor outside of class is essential to being successful inside class.

She went through chemotherapy her freshman year and notified her four professors of the days she would be missing. Despite being bed-ridden for the first month of the semester, some professors allowed her to turn assignments in online and stay caught up with the material.

Students who don’t communicate with their professor are the students who are playing “Clash of Clans” on their phone during a group project.

Learn the ropes. Don’t be that student.

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