Being of German origin and having had to learn English by rule and rote, I notice and am "needled" by things that often don't bother most people.

In English, there is a homonym (a word that sounds like another but has different meaning and/or spelling) that appear in your post, of which there are three forms. The one I refer to is <there/their/they're>. The predicate-adjective form "there" as in, "it is THERE" is one form, the possessive "their" as in, "it is THEIR right" is another, and the contraction, "they're" as a contraction for "they are" is the third.

Now, as for the behavior of students.

If a student fails to appear for class, well, some consider that the student's option, as he, or, more often, his family, is paying for the privilege, and it is a privilege.

If a student is not attentive, or if he's not prepared for class. The same applies.

If a student is, in any way, disruptive, he should be ejaculated from the classroom on the first occurrence, and expelled form the university on the second. That includes audible distrubance from his iPod, his cellphone, his pager, or his alarm clock, none of which should be brought into the classroom. If he or his family object, on the basis that it is his right to be disruptive, then they and all other members of their gene pool should be expunged from the planet's population, as they have no right to be here. Exception should be made for cases where the student has a health issue, e.g. a heart attack, but only if he dies withn 3 days as a result. How stringently these premises are applied is, of course, up to the instructor and the administration.

I doubt anyone who has ever stood before a lecture auditorium full of rude, unruly, unprepared, distruptive students will disagree with this.

It is not the instructor's job to motivate the student. The motivation should come from within the student, as his future is at stake, and from his family, as they are paying for him to be there.

It is the instructor's responsibility to be promptly in attendance during class hours and office hours. It is his responsibility to ensure that homework exercises are promptly graded and the associated material reviewed, though that is often handled in recitation sections. It is his responsibility to ensure that NO ONE RECEIVE A PASSING GRADE who hasn't fully grasped the required elements of the class he has presented, and demonstrated, both by written and oral testing, and by laboratory demonstration, if applicable, that he/she has done so. That ensures, also, that no one enters a subsequent class which builds on knowledge derived from this one, who is not prepared.

Faculty making exception to these principles common should be summarily dismissed from their teaching role. It is not their job to be liked or admired. It is their job to be stern taskmasters who prepare their students for further education.

I doubt that any student who has "squeaked by" a prerequisite class, only to find that he/she was failing the difficult next class because he'd only "squeaked by" the prerequisite will disagree with this.

RE