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Classroom Decorum

Norms of behavior vary in different circumstances, at difference times, and in different contexts.
How you act around your family may be different from how you act around your friends. How
you act around your family and friends may be different from how others act around their
families and friends. For example, your parents may be very easy going, informal, and relaxed
whereas someone else's parents might be very strict, serious, and formal. You may have been
raised to call your father "sir," while others have not been. In your home, perhaps you could eat
in the living room and put your feet on the coffee table, while others had strict rules about where
to eat and how to behave. You may have found that it is ok to be 20 minutes late to meet a friend
to hang out, but this doesn't "fly" for showing up to work. You may call your friends by a
nickname ("dawg," "honey"), but you don't address the bank teller, your boss, a grocery clerk, or
a doctor this way.
It is an important social skill to learn what behaviors are expected in different contexts or
situations and to act appropriately. Failure to act appropriately could be attributed to ignorance of
the expected norms, or it could be straight-out incivility
In civil behavior is any behavior that purposefully violates the norms of social interaction in
order to disrupt, undermine, or upset the standard social environment.
Incivility in the classroom is any behavior that disrupts the learning environment, creates stress
or hostility, or interferes with instructional activities.
Consider the following examples of classroom incivility:
1) arriving late to class;
2) noisily packing up early;
3) leaving early;
4) talking in class;
5) coming to class unprepared;
6) repeating questions;
7) eating in class;
8) acting bored or apathetic;
9) groaning disapprovingly;
10) making sarcastic remarks or gestures;
11) sleeping in class;

12) inattention;
14) using a computer in class for non-class purposes;
15) letting cell phones and pagers go off;
16) cutting class habitually or purposefully;
17) dominating discussion;
18) demanding make-up exams, extensions, grade changes, or other special favors;
19) taunting or belittling other students;
20) challenging the instructor's credibility;
21) making harassing, hostile, or vulgar comments to the instructor in or out of class;
22) sending the instructor inappropriate emails; and
23) making threats of physical harm to the instructor
In an effort to protect the learning environment from disruption (whether it is intended or not), I
ask that students taking my classes accept the following standards of behaviour.

1. Arrive to class on time, prepared, and ready to participate if call upon. If you cannot come on
time, do not come at all. If you cannot come to class prepared, do not come at all. Know that
attendance and participation are required.
2. Do not eat or drink in class.
3. Place all personal belongings except for your notebook and a writing utensil under the table.
4. Take notes.
5. Raise your hand if you have a question that pertains to the topic I am discussing or if you are
willing to answer a question I ask of the class.
6. Do not ask rude, irrelevant, or off-topic questions.

7. Address me as Doctor Smith, Professor Smith, or simply as Professor. You do not need
to call me "ma'am."
8. Do not pack up your belongings until class has officially ended or I announce that class is
over.
9. Do not leave the class until I excuse you. If you suffer from a medical condition that makes it
difficult for you to stay in your seat for the duration of the allotted class time, please bring a note
from a licensed physician.
10. Do not talk to the people in the class unless you are instructed to do so.
11. If you are given a task to complete in class, do so to the best of your ability.
12. Your time in class should be spent listening diligently, taking notes, and learning the
materials following the instructions I give you.
13. While you should participate in class, you should not dominate class discussion. Be cognisant
of others' need/desire to participate as well.
14. Understand that asking questions or making comments that do not directly relate to the topic
at hand, that purposely misdirect the direction of discussion, or that reflect a failure to have
completed past assignments constitutes disruptive behavior and is grounds for your permanent
removal from the course

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