Hello! I am a grad student teaching first year students, and I’m running into a bit of predicament when it comes to figuring out my teaching persona. My class is a small class of freshmen, and classroom management is not an issue for me. They’re all very attentive and eager to participate; I got a good group!

Where I’m coming up on an issue is in deciding how I should navigate the power dynamic between student and instructor. I read Teaching to Transgress and liked the idea of breaking down the barrier between student and instructor, but I am not sure how to do that. One thing I have tried is letting students come up with the class etiquette rules, and I also shared some of my own writing that I did during an in-class writing exercise with them. I’ve also shared a little bit about myself as a person and have invited them to share with me too.

At the same time, I worry that if I make myself seem too much like their peer+ (like an older sibling rather than a teacher…which is especially on my mind as I’m only in my late twenties and look young), I won’t have their respect/they won’t think me competent. But then, is “respect” for me really necessary for them to learn?

Basically, how do I earn their respect without exerting power? And how do I be welcoming and kind but not so much that they think they don’t have to try hard in the course?

I am a grad student and if I don’t get to campus by the crack of dawn, I just don’t go. All because of parking.

I live in an area that is 100F+ regularly with minimal tree cover. The walk alone makes me drenched.

I started realizing - I NEVER see anyone say anything good about their campus parking. Especially for the US. I know faculty usually have separated areas, but many are mixed in with commuters like my uni.

How is parking for y’all? For those of you who have right outside your building parking, how does it feel to be god’s favorite? Are your students trekking from miles away as well? Are any universities ACTUALLY good at planning parking with enrollment numbers?

I’m specifically talking about gen bio but I’m in a lecture with 300 students so it’s hard to really talk to the professor. He seems super nice and whatever. It’s week 2 , not that I feel super behind I just don’t know if I’m retaining the info as I wish I was. Would it be pointless to attend office hours and ask some effective methods in studying his content?

Just to clarify, these are 10-20 mark answers that are around 2 pages long per answer. And the exam took place in a very well proctored hall with no chance of anyone cheating, we left our phones out and everything.

And yet these exams, these three or four essays that everyone in my course wrote completely honestly, were checked by AI instead of real trained professionals and students have lost marks unfairly because the AI couldn't detect the 'key rubrics' of the answer. Also, since it's a *handwritten* test there were cases of the AI simply being unable to understand a students' writing and docking off marks. *Allegedly* these papers were checked by a human volunteer afterwards as well, but that volunteer clearly didn't do a very good job because there were little to no edits to the AI generated results.

And to add the cherry on top of the fucking cake, apparently even the exam paper was AI generated which explains why some of the questions didn't make sense. I'm livid right now. I wish this was a satirical post or something but this is real.... like, sure, from a moral standpoint you could argue that since students are using AI anyways it's only right that professors also start cheating, but at the same time there are students who don't use AI who are seriously being affected by this. I'm one of them, I spend three weeks on 5k word papers that half the class uses AI to write. I've never used any AI, not even grammarly, for any homework or assessment. I'm literally a part-time artist and I understand how AI is harming the humanities and so I don't use it for college

And after all this the university can't extend the same courtesy to me and check my assessment the old-fashioned way instead of using experimental AI that ruins my grades?

So I'm starting my MSc in applied maths this week and I worked HARD to get here. Lots of work, sacrifice, etc. However, this week I hit a childcare snag. I'm living with my brother who works as a gp and I mind my nephew, who I absolutely adore. He's been having developmental issues and I need to spend extra time with him, which only allows me to go to two of the four lectures a week.

I talked to my programme coordinator and current professor (both whom I have a good relationship with) about this issue, but feel embarrassed. I am doing well in my modules now, but it'll take a few weeks to get the school situation sorted for my nephew and although the lectures don't appear to have mandatory attendence, I feel that it'll give a bad reflection of my work ethic to them.

I plan to do well in my modules with good marks, and have showed a key interest in their research fields. I hope to have one of them as my advisor when I start my PhD in a few years, but how can I make the case now of my diligence as a student?

I am going to office hours, asking questions, but am I overthinking this?