Professors, we ask that you listen to our ideas and concerns.

Please lay out your expectations clearly and concretely at the beginning of the quarter. Not knowing the logistics of what it takes to get the desired grade in your class leaves us lost and uncertain for the quarter, in turn, leaving our minds in other places than where they should be. This leads us, as students, to not only see you as an instructor, but also as a leader, a leader in this long educational process we are undertaking.

Please find other means to explore subjects and areas of teaching with media other than PowerPoint. PowerPoint has many amazing tools available within it, but many professors appear to not be taking full advantage of them and their creative potential. Students learn more when taught learning tricks, such as mnemonics, and being in a classroom with a professor who is dynamic and enthusiastic. Nothing motivates students more than to see professors who are passionate and knowledgeable in their area of expertise.

Inform students of books that are available by other means than the De Anza bookstore; students, especially in these times, are in a financial crunch and should be given the information needed to save money anywhere possible. Look to online sources for possible classroom integration, if at all possible. Students will be eternally grateful for the money savings. If online resources that fit your needs in the classroom don’t yet exist, please do try to find books that are inexpensively priced for your students instead of settling for the default book that does the job, but at a considerable cost to the student.

Please remember to take into consideration that all students in your class may not have a passion for the subject being taught; this is not to say that all students in the class have no yearning to learn the knowledge you have to give, this is simply saying that the priorities of students in your respective classes varies greatly. We want you to know that you are inspiring us, in ways you may never know, but you have to remember that sometimes students find their calling early on and they will pursue it to the end of their academic career.

These are financial crunch times, and we may have to put our work before your homework in order to maintain our status and enrollment in your class. Please understand that we appreciate your understanding and mean no disrespect in the slightest by our absence.

We love that you are here at De Anza, teaching those of us just beginning our journeys toward wherever life may take us.