<p>One of my TAs allowed people to leave the room to answer calls, because he used to be a prison warden while he attended OSU and would need to answer important calls. I’ve never seen someone leave the classroom to answer a call. There’s this cool, silent thing called texting. Much more discrete. </p>
<p>Food is okay, in all of my classes. There’s this thing called Grab it- quick lunches, and the Prof’s don’t care if you eat it during class. My one Prof catered an authentic southern meal during the last day of class- chicken, peach cobler, collard greens etc;</p>
<p>^ I suggest you DO be that freshman who sits in the front row. You get a lot out of class with fewer distractions, you hear better, and you see better at the very least. I mean, don’t shove people out of seats to get to the front row, but it’s nice up there.</p>
<p>Something to keep in mind is that your professor is probably in a different generation than you. People in Gen X and above grew up in a world without cell phones & texting. We made it through college without constant communication with friends and parents. To us, even if we are making conscious efforts to acclimate or think we have, a cell phone interruption will always catch our attention and not in a good way. Particularly if we’re trying to teach, it’s a distraction to others at best and an irritating nuisance as well. </p>
<p>Another aspect of this is that part of college is to learn how to responsibly manage yourself with all your conflicting needs & time demands. If you don’t, you will have an extremely hard time managing in the real world and/or workplace. This includes developing basic respect for others and courtesy if you have somehow escaped being taught these things at home.</p>
<p>Some places dont allow food… like at UW, some lecture halls have signs that say absolutely no food or drink (except water) is allowed. I think they’re trying to keep the place clean. Also, no crinkly Sunchips bags please.</p>
<p>I didn’t read this whole thread, but I find many people bring their laptops if the professor uses powerpoints during their lectures, and has a website where you can download the PPT presentation.</p>
<p>At the bottom of the PPT slides there is a “notes” section, which I find useful for writing notes as the professor goes over the PPT lecture.</p>
<p>I took a Computer Science class where 75% of the class had their laptops. Much easier to write code (copy what the prof is doing) during class as the lecture is going on than to write it in a notebook.</p>
<p>I’ve seen some great answers here. But honestly, I would either silence or set your phone on vibrate… I would also take notes in a notebook. Information is easily retained that way, and easily accessible for future use/studying. Plus, it assures you pay more attention, and get more out of the lecture. Laptops only increase your chance of getting distracted, needless to say, not a good thing.</p>
<p>Would it be too “freshman-like” to ask a class as a whole if anybody wanted to grab lunch? Like after class ended, and people were packing up? I’ve been thinking about it, and would hate to eat alone, especially the first few days. Has anybody ever done this? Did it work in trying to make friends? Sorry if this seems silly!</p>
<p>I would sit at or near the front, I have bad eye sight and not the best hearing. Plus one of my high school teachers is like my best adult friend right now and i got to know her (she is 61) by sitting in the front.</p>