Can endless dealing with very bad students cause mental issues to professors?

[mahagonny]

Hi, I have taught over 10 classes in my CC over the past two years. I found that the majority of the students in my school are from developing countries who have no interest in learning but use the school as a stepping stone to stay in North America. Very often I had to repeat the same things 15-20 times and there were students who did not listen. These people made me angry as they are not stupid as individuals but they don't seem to care academically. One student mentioned that he had not used toilet paper nor a toilet in his country. Family member has been telling me the past few months that I became absent-minded, pre-occupied and got a bad temper. I started noticing that I am getting stupid, lost confident, indecisive and behave somewhat like my students. Could it be that I am getting old? Could it be that after dealing with so many bad students and reading comments from those who changed the stories and posted nasty comments about me on RMP, I am breaking down mentally?

Any faculty member has experienced what I am experiencing?

I'm going to try again 'cause I keep thinking about you.
In your first two sentences you state a very simple common problem that is real. The students don't remember your instructions.
If you stopped there and worked on the problem methodically you'll get better results. Don't delve into conclusions about their thought processes, why they are in the your country, etc. This is distracting you and feeding a theory of polarization and cross-purposes.
. You have a simple problem. You're not getting through to them.
Are your instructions clear enough? When you repeat them, are you reinforcing what you told them earlier, and making sure you're not changing it or confusing them? And making sure the focus is the task at hand, and not your frustration?
Are you sure you're not giving them too many instructions to remember. Baby steps!
Proceed with the belief that the problems have a solution.
Etc.

[Parasaurolophus]

Thanks. So it means my applications were evaluated by people who are not really qualified to judge my research.

Sure they are. They have PhDs in your field, just not necessarily your subfield. Like any human, their judgements may be flawed. But, like most such judgements, it was probably a fine call. There's just one position, and many applicants. Many of them will be perfectly acceptable.

Flip the thinking for a second. You've presumably never been on an academic hiring committee. What makes you think you're qualified to second-guess their decisions?

[Mobius]

hamburger clearly has issues with social cues and needs professional help.

[Caracal]

I'm going to try again 'cause I keep thinking about you.
In your first two sentences you state a very simple common problem that is real. The students don't remember your instructions.
If you stopped there and worked on the problem methodically you'll get better results. Don't delve into conclusions about their thought processes, why they are in the your country, etc. This is distracting you and feeding a theory of polarization and cross-purposes.
. You have a simple problem.
Etc.

This is  where Hamburger always gets stuck. It isn't a unique problem, you see it all the time here. I've done it myself plenty of times. It can be easy to forget that as the instructor you actually are in charge of the class. You can choose which problems to address and what not to address. In this case as Mahagonny says, it might be that phrasing your instructions in a different way, or reminding students students repeatedly, both in class, and via the CMS would cut down on some of these issues.

Since you're in charge, you can also choose how to respond when students don't do the thing they are supposed to do. Again, the point is to just avoid getting in to your feelings about it all. Your response to students who want to turn something in late can be to tell them they can't, or you can just say "ok, do it by tomorrow and I'll accept it." Either way you just do the same thing every time it happens and don't spend a lot of time speculating about your students' character and motives.

[marshwiggle]

I'm going to try again 'cause I keep thinking about you.
In your first two sentences you state a very simple common problem that is real. The students don't remember your instructions.
If you stopped there and worked on the problem methodically you'll get better results. Don't delve into conclusions about their thought processes, why they are in the your country, etc. This is distracting you and feeding a theory of polarization and cross-purposes.
. You have a simple problem.
Etc.

This is  where Hamburger always gets stuck. It isn't a unique problem, you see it all the time here. I've done it myself plenty of times. It can be easy to forget that as the instructor you actually are in charge of the class. You can choose which problems to address and what not to address. In this case as Mahagonny says, it might be that phrasing your instructions in a different way, or reminding students students repeatedly, both in class, and via the CMS would cut down on some of these issues.

Since you're in charge, you can also choose how to respond when students don't do the thing they are supposed to do. Again, the point is to just avoid getting in to your feelings about it all. Your response to students who want to turn something in late can be to tell them they can't, or you can just say "ok, do it by tomorrow and I'll accept it." Either way you just do the same thing every time it happens and don't spend a lot of time speculating about your students' character and motives.

This is the point. Setting aside one's own ego is vital in order to deal with all kinds of life situations, including teaching.  Viewing every problem as a personal insult, (whether it is or isn't), is a recipe for misery and a hole with no bottom.

[hamburger]

I'm going to try again 'cause I keep thinking about you.
In your first two sentences you state a very simple common problem that is real. The students don't remember your instructions.
If you stopped there and worked on the problem methodically you'll get better results. Don't delve into conclusions about their thought processes, why they are in the your country, etc. This is distracting you and feeding a theory of polarization and cross-purposes.
. You have a simple problem.
Etc.

This is  where Hamburger always gets stuck. It isn't a unique problem, you see it all the time here. I've done it myself plenty of times. It can be easy to forget that as the instructor you actually are in charge of the class. You can choose which problems to address and what not to address. In this case as Mahagonny says, it might be that phrasing your instructions in a different way, or reminding students students repeatedly, both in class, and via the CMS would cut down on some of these issues.

Since you're in charge, you can also choose how to respond when students don't do the thing they are supposed to do. Again, the point is to just avoid getting in to your feelings about it all. Your response to students who want to turn something in late can be to tell them they can't, or you can just say "ok, do it by tomorrow and I'll accept it." Either way you just do the same thing every time it happens and don't spend a lot of time speculating about your students' character and motives.

Actually I was on several academic hiring committees ranging from selection of Assistant Professors to Associate Professors in one top university. At that time, the department head (a big bully) was always the SCC. With voting which none of us saw the results, the selections looked fair on the surface but he picked whoever he liked regardless of expert opinions of colleagues from the corresponding fields. I remember he used "dinners in a hotel" to encourage participations in after hours meetings with applicants. It was like a show.

[hamburger]

Hi, I have taught over 10 classes in my CC over the past two years. I found that the majority of the students in my school are from developing countries who have no interest in learning but use the school as a stepping stone to stay in North America. Very often I had to repeat the same things 15-20 times and there were students who did not listen. These people made me angry as they are not stupid as individuals but they don't seem to care academically. One student mentioned that he had not used toilet paper nor a toilet in his country. Family member has been telling me the past few months that I became absent-minded, pre-occupied and got a bad temper. I started noticing that I am getting stupid, lost confident, indecisive and behave somewhat like my students. Could it be that I am getting old? Could it be that after dealing with so many bad students and reading comments from those who changed the stories and posted nasty comments about me on RMP, I am breaking down mentally?

Any faculty member has experienced what I am experiencing?

I'm going to try again 'cause I keep thinking about you.
In your first two sentences you state a very simple common problem that is real. The students don't remember your instructions.
If you stopped there and worked on the problem methodically you'll get better results. Don't delve into conclusions about their thought processes, why they are in the your country, etc. This is distracting you and feeding a theory of polarization and cross-purposes.
. You have a simple problem. You're not getting through to them.
Are your instructions clear enough? When you repeat them, are you reinforcing what you told them earlier, and making sure you're not changing it or confusing them? And making sure the focus is the task at hand, and not your frustration?
Are you sure you're not giving them too many instructions to remember. Baby steps!
Proceed with the belief that the problems have a solution.
Etc.

Thanks. I practiced Jedi mind tricks for a few weeks but it did not work. Perhaps need more practice.

I just followed the syllabus and rules set by other colleagues. Students told me to change the rules claiming that "other professors" had done that for them and I have to do the same. So refusing to do so means I am not a good professor and deserve nasty insulting comments posted on RMP. I know a student created an entire website denoted to damage the reputation of a colleague. Some students like to use RMP to launch personal insults.

[mahagonny]

Hi, I have taught over 10 classes in my CC over the past two years. I found that the majority of the students in my school are from developing countries who have no interest in learning but use the school as a stepping stone to stay in North America. Very often I had to repeat the same things 15-20 times and there were students who did not listen. These people made me angry as they are not stupid as individuals but they don't seem to care academically. One student mentioned that he had not used toilet paper nor a toilet in his country. Family member has been telling me the past few months that I became absent-minded, pre-occupied and got a bad temper. I started noticing that I am getting stupid, lost confident, indecisive and behave somewhat like my students. Could it be that I am getting old? Could it be that after dealing with so many bad students and reading comments from those who changed the stories and posted nasty comments about me on RMP, I am breaking down mentally?

Any faculty member has experienced what I am experiencing?

I'm going to try again 'cause I keep thinking about you.
In your first two sentences you state a very simple common problem that is real. The students don't remember your instructions.
If you stopped there and worked on the problem methodically you'll get better results. Don't delve into conclusions about their thought processes, why they are in the your country, etc. This is distracting you and feeding a theory of polarization and cross-purposes.
. You have a simple problem. You're not getting through to them.
Are your instructions clear enough? When you repeat them, are you reinforcing what you told them earlier, and making sure you're not changing it or confusing them? And making sure the focus is the task at hand, and not your frustration?
Are you sure you're not giving them too many instructions to remember. Baby steps!
Proceed with the belief that the problems have a solution.
Etc.

Thanks. I practiced Jedi mind tricks for a few weeks but it did not work. Perhaps need more practice.

I like checklists (see above). Ask yourself 'what could a successful class look like and what would I have done, persistent, calmly and with authority. (Incidentally, confidence, patience and consistency are reassuring things for people to be around.) Not 'what kind of students would I get dealt from the deck.' Fate is not yours to control, but your teaching method is.
Your doing things different from other professors is your right, as long as it's within a certain range. Expect them to get used to it.
And as Winston Churchill said, when you're going through hell, keep going.

[Caracal]

I just followed the syllabus and rules set by other colleagues. Students told me to change the rules claiming that "other professors" had done that for them and I have to do the same. So refusing to do so means I am not a good professor and deserve nasty insulting comments posted on RMP. I know a student created an entire website denoted to damage the reputation of a colleague. Some students like to use RMP to launch personal insults.

Again, if you think of yourself as in charge it really helps. It really doesn't matter what students claim other professors do. Writing mean things about you on RMP is mostly something that students do because they feel powerless. It isn't particularly important. The persecution complex is really not helping, either in your mental heath, or, I suspect, in your relationships with students. When the person in charge feels persecuted, it rarely goes well. You're seeing all of these requests that stem naturally from your position of authority, the instructor, as challenges and attempts to undermine you.

[Caracal]

(Incidentally, confidence, patience and consistency are reassuring things for people to be around.)

My teaching evals were terrible for my first few semesters teaching and then suddenly went up to average where they have stayed for the last five years or so. Really, what changed is that I just learned how to seem like I knew what I was doing.

Inexperienced me as a teacher interaction with student: Stu: "I didn't realize this response paper was due, can I turn it in tomorrow?" Me: "Um, well, um, you know the point is really to get it done on time." Stu: "Yeah but I got confused, I thought it said it was due the next day." Me: "Well, actually, its pretty clear and I mentioned...."
Now: Stu "I didn't know this was due can I turn it in tomorrow." Me: "Well the point of the response papers is so you've come to class having read, so I don't accept them late. But I know this kind of stuff can happen over the semester, so I just drop the two lowest grades, so just make sure not to miss any more and you'll be fine!" Student: "Oh great!"

The actual policies help, but really the main thing is that I can seem friendly, reasonable and in charge. In an ideal world, my students would actually know what was on the syllabus and I wouldn't have the same 20 second conversation all semester, but telling people things they ought to already know is just part of the job.

[ciao_yall]

Do you genuinely like your students? Can you appreciate them for who they are, today? Do you enjoy meeting them where they are at, and bringing them along?

If not, then you are in the wrong job. That is what is causing you problems. Not the students.

[downer]

Do you genuinely like your students? Can you appreciate them for who they are, today? Do you enjoy meeting them where they are at, and bringing them along?

If not, then you are in the wrong job. That is what is causing you problems. Not the students.

I don't think liking your students is a necessary condition of being able to be a good professor and enjoy the work. It can help. You just need to be able to teach them and enjoy it without getting upset when they are jerks.

[the_geneticist]

I'm going to try again 'cause I keep thinking about you.
In your first two sentences you state a very simple common problem that is real. The students don't remember your instructions.
If you stopped there and worked on the problem methodically you'll get better results. Don't delve into conclusions about their thought processes, why they are in the your country, etc. This is distracting you and feeding a theory of polarization and cross-purposes.
. You have a simple problem.
Etc.

This is  where Hamburger always gets stuck. It isn't a unique problem, you see it all the time here. I've done it myself plenty of times. It can be easy to forget that as the instructor you actually are in charge of the class. You can choose which problems to address and what not to address. In this case as Mahagonny says, it might be that phrasing your instructions in a different way, or reminding students students repeatedly, both in class, and via the CMS would cut down on some of these issues.

Since you're in charge, you can also choose how to respond when students don't do the thing they are supposed to do. Again, the point is to just avoid getting in to your feelings about it all. Your response to students who want to turn something in late can be to tell them they can't, or you can just say "ok, do it by tomorrow and I'll accept it." Either way you just do the same thing every time it happens and don't spend a lot of time speculating about your students' character and motives.

Actually I was on several academic hiring committees ranging from selection of Assistant Professors to Associate Professors in one top university. At that time, the department head (a big bully) was always the SCC. With voting which none of us saw the results, the selections looked fair on the surface but he picked whoever he liked regardless of expert opinions of colleagues from the corresponding fields. I remember he used "dinners in a hotel" to encourage participations in after hours meetings with applicants. It was like a show.

Strip away the comments about fairness and bullying, and that's basically how a search is conducted!  It is normal for non-voting members to not learn the results of the faculty vote.  It is normal to meet with applicants "after hours" over dinner.  Also, the final decision on hiring is not up to the chair, it's the dean or some other person in upper admin.
But seriously, agonizing over how a search is run does not matter for you since you aren't getting interviews.  That means you aren't making the short list of qualified candidates for the position.  No recent publications = no R1 or R2 or R3 interviews.  No passion for teaching = no SLAC interviews. 
And your obvious chip on the shoulder about wanting respect simply for having a Ph.D is really off-putting.  Your students don't care about your degree, they care about your teaching skills.  It's your class, you are in charge because you were hired to teach the class.
Anyway.  How's the non-academic job search going?
I hope your job skills are amazing because your people skills are clearly lacking.

[mahagonny]

Do you genuinely like your students? Can you appreciate them for who they are, today? Do you enjoy meeting them where they are at, and bringing them along?

If not, then you are in the wrong job. That is what is causing you problems. Not the students.

I don't think liking your students is a necessary condition of being able to be a good professor and enjoy the work. It can help. You just need to be able to teach them and enjoy it without getting upset when they are jerks.

My God no. I couldn't have succeeded this long if it were.

[hamburger]

Do you genuinely like your students? Can you appreciate them for who they are, today? Do you enjoy meeting them where they are at, and bringing them along?

If not, then you are in the wrong job. That is what is causing you problems. Not the students.

If they follow the rules, listen to my instructions and study hard, then I like them. If not, no.