Working hard in school is important. Nothing will keep those test scores up like showing up on time, paying attention in class, and studying your hind parts off. But sometimes that’s still not enough to keep you in the teacher’s good graces. When the professor doesn’t like you, no amount of hard work or kissing up is going to help your situation. Like any relationship, the teacher/student relationship can be a precarious one. If you aren’t cautious you can find yourself accidentally on the outs with someone who holds your future in the palm of their hands. Now some teachers might just be blatant about it and tell you straight up that they don’t like you. While other teachers may not make it so easy to tell that you aren’t their favorite student. Some professors choose to be more subtle and dole out their disdain a little more subversively. So, if a teacher comes out and just tells you that they don’t think so highly of you, that could be a blessing in disguise. Because dealing with a teacher who subtly dislikes you can have you taking on a whole different set of problems than just switching up a class or 2.
Written comments at the end of papers
One of the ways in which professors love to let the passive aggression fly is through comments left at the end of your papers. It is one of their first and most powerful forms of communicating their frustrations with a student. If you are seeing comments like “consult your textbook for correct format,” or “see the syllabus to better understand the assignment.” There is a pretty strong chance you are working against a professor who doesn’t exactly think the world of you. Comments like those are their way of telling you that they don’t think you are giving enough credence to them or their class. While that may not seem like a big deal at the beginning of a semester, if you are still seeing comments like that come midterms it might be time to try a little harder … or drop the class entirely.
Who watches the watch … man
If you find that your professor is constantly checking the time while you are trying to talk to them, there is a good chance they want you to wrap it up. The reason being that they aren’t so impressed with you. If it seems as though they can’t wait to be done talking to you because they keep looking at that ticking clock on the wall, that is a pretty good indicator that they have no interest in whatever it is you have to say. So, if you approach your algebra professor about your grades and it seems like they are preoccupied with the time, you might want to bring them a fresh crisp apple next time to smooth things over.
Professor Of few words
If you have just given what you think is an eloquent well-stated answer in class and your professor still hits you with a one or two-word answer, there is a good chance that it is more than just your answer they didn’t like. Even if the answer is wrong, a teacher who likes you is likely to give a well thought out response a bit of respect in the conversation. If they immediately shut down a well-crafted statement, odds are they just aren’t that enthusiastic about having you in their classroom. Or your answer was just so mind-altering correct that they couldn’t find the proper words to praise it. But odds are it’s the former.
What they don’t say tells the story
Nothing tells the tale of how a professor feels about a student quite like the body language they espouse when conversing with them. If the professor is loose and open with you during conversation and uses inviting body language, odds are you are the type of student they are going to talk about for years to come. But if they are more likely to cross their arms and look away while chatting, that tells a whole different story. A teacher that uses closed-off body language and doesn’t look you in the eye is probably counting down the days until you are out of their class.
