Do you skip a lot of classes if attendance isn't taken? Be honest!

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I can't stand it when instructors don't count attendance because...I get lazy.

My Psych 1 class is like this. We only get graded on exams, period, and out of 17 class meetings this semester I'll have been to a whopping total of: 7 classes! And the first 3 were the ones before I figured out I could get away with not coming, the other 4 days are for our exams which are the sole basis of our grade.

Sometimes I wonder why I wasted my money, because half the class isn't there on a given night and I truly am not learning a thing. Our instructor's teaching style is bad for procrastinators because she's always behind, and because she has us all read straight from the book and doesn't explain anything. Everyone knows you can study at home and save yourself the trip. We don't even have to swap notes...there's nothing to write down!

I need more motivation! AGHHH! So glad this class is almost over...I'm getting a B with very little effort and feeling quite guilty about it too...:imbar

This is a community college and I was wondering if anyone else out there had classes like this. On one hand I am happy because I don't have to work so hard, and on another I know I am shooting myself in the foot somehow...

By the way I know I won't be able to skip any actual nursing classes so please don't flame me, thanks!

Even if the teacher doesn't take attendance...they still know what faces they see on a regular basis and that could mean the difference between an A and a B. I always keep this in mind when I don't feel like going. If you are borderline between 2 grades and the teacher knows you were there...they are very likely to give you the higher grade.

That is true in many cases.

:coollook:

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At my school attendance is taken in nursing classes and if you miss more than 2 they get very cranky and if your grade is on the border you are going to get the lower grade. Now there are exceptions one guy had a brother diagnoised with a brain tumor and he was in the State of Washington he was gone for over a week (brother died 5 days after diagnosis) and it was fine. They also said that when an employer calls they will tell them how your attendance was and if you were tardy all the time. IF you miss more that 10 minutes of class if is counted as a complete absense but again when we had icy roads they backed off of that and even let some of us who traveled a distance leave early. My school is very reasonable on most things

Rhonda

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Specializes in critical care; community health; psych.

Why would you skip classes you paid for? In nursing, if you miss a 4 hour lecture, you screw yourself. In clinical, when there are only 10 students or less, one would definitely be missed by the instructor. That might be the day you get to insert that first foley or give that first injection. Even in prereqs, to miss an anatomy or physiology lecture might be to miss half or all of an entire system.

In short, no. As a consumer paying for my education, or even as a grant recipient, showing up is the best thing I can do for myself.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
Why would you skip classes you paid for?...In short, no. As a consumer paying for my education, or even as a grant recipient, showing up is the best thing I can do for myself.

I know, I don't get that either. Maybe there's a different mindset if you're on scholarship or grant? I pay my tuition totally out of pocket, so I wouldn't dream of skipping. It would be like going to the store, buying something, and then taking it home and throwing it away.

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Specializes in ER.

I don't know a single person in my program that "skips" nursing classes. You skip nursing classes, you fail....plain and simple. If there were people who skipped at the beginning, they either wisened up or got dropped. I don't think that's what the OP was referring to, though.

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I don't know a single person in my program that "skips" nursing classes. You skip nursing classes, you fail....plain and simple. If there were people who skipped at the beginning, they either wisened up or got dropped. I don't think that's what the OP was referring to, though.

Right, I wasn't referring to nursing classes. This is the world's dullest and easiest class I am talking about...Psych 101.

I really need help getting motivated. Does anyone have any tips? What do you do when you have a class that you can't bear to sit through? My husband is in my class too and he's a bad example because he never wants to go either. It's really tough because I work full time and am always so tired...

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Honestly, yes - I've been a class skipper throughout my pre-reqs. Most of the classes I've taken at the community college seem to be taught to the "lowest common denominator" and I end up bored to tears.

I am a grant/scholarship recipient, but I don't think that can be definitively related to my absence in class. If I was failing my classes, perhaps so - but for the most part I am an A-student.

I definately won't be skipping any nursing classes.. :)

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ive taken both of my psych classes as distance learning courses (telecourse) so i just come in every week to take the test. I find the material easy and it doesn't waste my time sitting in class. Got an A in both so for me it was a good choice.

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Keep your eye on the prize. Some classes seem like they are useless but the are an excersise in disipline. You will need to be able to stay focused when things are BORING as a nurse. You might as well learn how to now.

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Jimmy, I don't know if that was addressed at me, but...

I don't think that just because I choose not to sit in lecture that I'm being undisciplined. I don't see missing class as such a "bad" thing - as long as you're pulling your own and not expecting special favors from your professor and/or classmates.

Heck, I've worked full-time for the past 6 years, gone to school at night/online, and been a nearly single parent to my two boys. I think I know a thing or two about discipline and motivation. :chuckle

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I personally am one that has no qualms about skipping lectures because I don't believe I have to be dependent on the instructor to learn, especially for prereq classes like chemistry, A&P, psychology, etc. If I've determined from the first couple of classes that the instructor is not going to offer more insight that what I can get from the book, then I'll just learn from reading and save the commute time. On the other hand, if most of the instruction is from notes or the instructor is actually teaching then by all means I'll be there. Now, when I start actual nursing classes in the fall, there will be no missing of classes.

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I know, I don't get that either. Maybe there's a different mindset if you're on scholarship or grant? I pay my tuition totally out of pocket, so I wouldn't dream of skipping. It would be like going to the store, buying something, and then taking it home and throwing it away.

My school is completely paid for by a pell grant and a couple of other scholarships....there is no way in the world i would skip class just to skip. I guess some people figure they didn't pay for it, so it doesn't matter. But those are the same fools that can't go to school the next semester because they let their GPA slip and they aren't eligible for finacial aid...and all because they skipped class too much. I'm getting a free ride as far as funding for school goes...I'm going to take advantage of every oppurtunity i am given to learn something new while I am in school.

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