Some university students struggle to participate in classes.
They are afraid they would look stupid when saying something in front of the class.
But they’re also afraid that they’ll get an F for not speaking up at all?
Well, look no further, class is in session!
This is Class Parting 101, something that university students should learn.
Think Before You Speak? How About Writing Before Speaking?
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Step one: Write down what to say so that you won’t stutter when saying it.
This helps not to let the nerves get the best of you.
You are simply just reading off what you were thinking of earlier!
Fear The Man Who Has Practiced 100 Times
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Step two: Practice raising your hands.
There would be no worries in raising hands if you have done it many times!
Something easy to do at home is to train is 100 raising of hands, 100 times of shouting Prof, and 100 tongue twisters.
This is then followed by a 10 thousand word yapping session, every single day.
Though this helps a lot when class parting, it also helps in other areas, such as meeting the word count for an essay.
Search, Google, ChatGPT, If Needed
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Step three: Look things up.
If you could tell that the professor is ramping up towards asking a question, then quickly Google what it is.
You can then appear to have great ideas, though you copied them wholesale from the internet.
However, this doesn’t mean you should read up way ahead.
For example, if we’re only in week 2, don’t go on talking about content you’ve read in week 6 to flex to your professor and other classmates.
They might hate you!
Why Class Parting Can Be So Nerve-Wrecking
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Though the past few paragraphs were just for laughs and giggles, university students would know how tough it is to participate in class.
In theory, one has to do to get marks for class participation.
But in reality, people get nervous.
One’s palms are sweaty, knees weak, and arms are heavy.
The heart pounds quickly as one gets second thoughts.
What if you’re not value-adding to the class?
Will people think that you’re dumb?
If someone brings up some new piece of knowledge, will it seem like he’s trying to flex to everyone?
What if someone says something really bad, and then news spreads quickly that he’s just a yapping yak?
Yapping For The Grade Instead Of Adding Actual Value
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But the issue comes when a module prefers quantity over quality in class parting.
One might only get the maximum grade for class participation if they raised their hands twice in each class.
In the first place, it’s hard to pay attention in the first place when the class is at 8 am.
Preferring quantity over quality would mean that there are more contributions that add less value to the lessons.
It’s just a bunch of empty, shallow talk that students ought to do for a better grade.
Is it wise to graduate from university, thinking that it’s better to let one’s mouth run than to be deliberate in what one says?
At work, one could save everyone’s time by bringing things up only if they’re important.
Starting A Sentence, Not Knowing The Full Thought
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Another thing that would save everyone’s time is knowing what to say.
People would hate it if you raised your hand when you haven’t finished your train of thought.
You might eat up everyone’s time with long pauses and filler words.
Some people really need to hear themselves talking so that they know what others have to go through.
Many fall victim to the trinity of filler words when class parting: “umm”, “ahh”, and “like”.
If your response is rather long, type it out so that you spend less time reading from your laptop instead of trying to remember what you were thinking mid-sentence.
It also helps you not to get sidetracked.
What Happened To Raising Hands Before Speaking?
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Some just talk without raising their hands.
It’s sad that some could not class part because the professor was looking in another direction.
But instead, someone just shouts out the answer, and then he gets the marks.
Some might have raised their hands long before he started talking.
However, it appears that this kind of thing is not first-come, first-served.
Do People Really Care As Much As You Think?
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Consider this: your mind is playing games with you.
People aren’t going to care that much about what you said; you don’t even remember what everyone said last week.
Class parting isn’t as daunting as it seems.
Because after contributing to the class, people realise that they didn’t have to worry that much.
If anything, it feels good that the prof acknowledges your contribution, and you just improved your grade.
And sometimes, your contribution doesn’t need to be mind-blowing.
You could just point out something basic instead of thinking about what would amaze everyone.
Sometimes, it’s not that deep.
Just do what you need for the grade.
You’re going to appear a little annoying or desperate, but at least you’re practising the skill of speaking up, which helps in other areas of life.
Let’s not pretend that class parting is 100% bad.
Well, maybe people could also stop saying, “to add on to what the previous person said, I also agree that…”
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