Making the most out of office hours!

All material presented in designed and owned by Eduardo Lopez, Jr., M.S.Ed and David Napiorski,

M.S.Ed

What are office hours?

• On your syllabus, you should notice a spot where a professor’s office hours are given. Typically this will be a 2 hour window once or twice a week. The purpose of this is to allow busy students to meet with busy teachers.

• DO NOT be afraid to use this valuable tool, as most students feel they are ‘bothering’ the professor.

Prepare!• Office hours can be extremely valuable, and they are

offered for a reason. The meeting can be casual, but it is NOT a social call. Prepare beforehand your questions and concerns.

• If you do not do this, once your professor has figured out which concepts you understand and which you don’t, your time’s up and nothing has been accomplished. The same goes for getting help with papers. Showing up empty -handed saying “I don’t know what to write about,” gives the professor nothing to work with. It also gives a very poor impression!

Take Notes!

• Always come prepared not just with specific questions and concerns, but also a pen and paper.

• Taking notes does NOT make you look ‘rude’, but that you take the suggestions seriously enough to want to reference them later.

How to Prepare – Math and Science

• Try to arrive with a written list of problems and concepts you’re struggling with. Give the professor something concrete to work with.

• Also, take time to isolate significant problem areas and concrete examples of these same struggles. Remember that time is valuable here.

How to Prepare - Writing

• Try to come equipped with some concrete ideas written out and even some free-writing exercises based on the assignment. The best approach is to compose a few possible theses.

• The more concrete things the professor can work with quickly, the more fruitful your meeting will be.

‘Getting to Know’ him/her

• Using office hours to ‘get to know’ the professor better is not entirely illegitimate, especially if the class is large and impersonal. However, this should ALWAYS be combined with actual classroom needs and you should ALWAYS watch your time. There is a very fine line between charming and irritating.

‘Getting to Know’ him/her (part 2)

Getting to know your professors has tons of rewards!

Once you declare a major, you should use office hours to dialogue with your professor about broad/specific areas of interest relating to your chosen academic discipline.

This will definitely come in handy as you might want to apply to an internship, a fellowship, a scholarship, and/or graduate school and need a letter of recommendation for your application.

‘By Appointment’

• Most professors also offer office hours ‘by appointment’ in addition to the posted days/times. This is because professors know schedules will not always perfectly align. Do not be shy about asking for an appointment if you have a real, legitimate, specific concern and you are well-prepared for a meeting. This is part of the professor’s job description.

So take action: Be prepared and seek out your professors!