8 Simple Rules

There are certain responsibilities I feel that teachers have toward their students.

I do not expect a teacher to comply to all of these all the time any more than a student would be expected to comply with every single school rule. In fact, I know of very few teachers who would comply with all of these, just as I know of very few students who have never violated school policy. I would, however, hope that a teacher would make a good faith attempt to comply to these rules and, upon student request, rectify any errors made, just as a student would if a teacher came to him or her about violating school rules.

UPDATE: Since some people (you know who you are) have been angered by the phrasing of these rules and avoided focusing on the points themselves, I have modified this entry slightly. I am sorry if I still sound too self-assured. My intention was and is to present my views in a straight-forward manner. As such, I would prefer to speak for myself than for the positions of others unless I am absolutely certain of their positions on an issue. I believe it is this that has caused the misunderstanding, and I am sincerely apologetic.

1. Student expectations on a particular assignment should be clearly specified in writing. All students do it at some time. They've messed up on an assignment that they were clearly capable of doing, simply because they weren't exactly sure of what the teacher was asking. Any teacher with 5 minutes and access to a copier should be able to write up what they want on an assignment, but so few do.
2. Students should be aware of how a particular assignment will affect their grade before they do it. Most teachers will provide a student with a grading system, and many will specify how many points a test it worth. Is it really that difficult to extend such a system to homework assignments? Let's face it: it's not worth my time to spend 2 hours on a 10 point assignment, but a 50 point assignment may be worth that much time.
3. If a student asks a question about an assignment, answer it. Don't give the student a false impression of the worth of something. This should be obvious, but yet teachers still manage to screw me over this way. Let's be serious.
4. Keep your class under control. This isn't really a complaint about grading; it's just a complaint about learning. If you can't control your class, it makes it significantly more difficult to learn in it. The ideal teacher is both loved and feared. However, as Machiavelli said, it is better to be feared than to be loved.
5. Don't waste class time, and if you must, don't waste it telling us things we don't enjoy learning. Don't tell us things we don't need to know instead of teaching us about the things we do need to know. It's fine if we're ahead of schedule and you decide to use the class to discuss a certain issue; in fact, these discussions can be both thought-provoking and fun. Just don't waste time that we should be devoting to reviewing material with stories about your kittens.
6. Don't take points off for dumb things. If I put my name in the wrong corner, forget to put the date on the top of the page, or don't use a number two pencil, don't lower my grade. In the real world, I don't think many of your peers will refuse to peer review your paper because of your choice of writing instrument. If you tell me you'd prefer I use a pen, that's fine; I'll try to remember. But I'm in your class to learn about a subject, not your personal preferences.
7. Don't assign pointless work. It doesn't really make sense for anyone to spend hours on homework if it doesn't make a difference in his or her skills. If a student is doing badly, then he or she could probably use the extra practice, but this should be option, targeted toward those who need it. When you're repeatedly applying the same techniques in the same fashion, it gets boring. When things get boring, people are less inclined to learn.
8. Be nice. If you're having a bad day and you blow up at the students, apologize during the next class. Do, however, remember that it is also important to keep the class under control.