1.  Get to class early.  If it’s a large classroom, sit front and center – the teacher is likely to learn your face and, if s/he is in the habit of chatting with students before class, may actually learn your name (or at least what your favorite TV show is).  (Note: even if you sit in the back, you can also attract the professor’s attention by sleeping, reading the paper, and/or eating lunch during lecture– but I don’t recommend it).  

2. If you must arrive late, come in quietly and sit in the back of the room.  If you can’t sit on the aisle, sit on the floor – it’s better than disrupting the class by crawling over people to find an empty seat.

3. No cell phones or beepers unless your life, or a family member’s life, depends on it.  Pizza delivery and party plans, strange as this may seem, don’t count.

4. Be organized.  Know what you need (notebooks, writing instruments, tape recorders, textbooks, etc.) and have it ready to go before the lecture starts.  

5. Be quiet.  Snapping gum, unwrapping candy, slurping drinks, clicking your pen, wiggling in your seat to make it squeak, etc., are sure ways to make lots of enemies (especially among those of your fellow students who are trying to catch a few well-earned z’s during class).

6. Maintain frequent eye contact with the professor.  The impression of attentiveness (even when it’s faked) will make the professor feel good.  And you might just find that paying attention to her facial expressions and gestures help you absorb the material.  

7. Ask questions.  A good professor will stop periodically to let students catch up and ask questions.  Take advantage of that time.  Don’t try to show off by asking a question designed to demonstrate how much you know (it’s almost certain to be less than you think).  Do seek clarification if you’re confused (your fellow students who are too shy to ask will thank you later) and do ask about connections between what the professor is talking about and other things you may be learning.  If the professor doesn’t leave time for questions during class, take advantage of office hours.  One caveat: if it’s a question about course structure and/or procedures, check the syllabus first – that’s why the professor wrote it in the first place.

8. Answer questions.  A good professor will let you ask questions.  A better professor will ask you questions to see if you’re absorbing the material and/or to help you make connections among concepts.  Take advantage of that opportunity and try to answer the questions.  Be sure to follow the appropriate protocol – don’t shout out answers if a show of hands is asked for or if the teacher has called on someone else (but do try to answer the question in your head if that’s the case).

9. Unless the teacher is late and your next class is across campus, don’t pack up your stuff and leave before you’re dismissed.  It’s rude and disruptive.  If you have a teacher who is always late ending class, let her know that you’ll need to leave right at the end of class and sit in the back where you won’t disturb people on your way out.

10. Introduce yourself to the students who sit next to you.  Get the name, phone number and/or e-mail address of at least one other person in the class – someone you’d feel comfortable contacting for information from missed classes or for getting together to study with. 

11. Laugh at the teacher’s jokes.  Always.  Just be sure they’re jokes.