The Clap

As I head into the last few days of class, I must admit that this time of the semester really stresses me out. On top of the 18-hour, coke-fueled study binges and the insane pressures of my competitive Scrabble career (which always manages to heat up around this time), the end of the semester brings up that age-old question: When the professor finishes his/her last lecture...do you clap?

Sometimes this is made difficult just by the size of a class. In a seminar you can thank the professor personally and shake their hand. But what about a thirty-person class? Is that just weird? And what if you're the only one that claps? Won't thatsuck?

And some professors make it even more difficult by finishing off their lectures with anti-climactic lines like "So if anyone has any questions, just come up to the front" or "I'm going to go and walk my cat now." What the hell do you do with that? Do you try to start the Slow Clap in a lecture room of 125 students? It might be worth it, especially if the professor notices who starts it...but what if you fail? Do you try to pass off your clapping as an attempt to get honey off of your hands, or pretend that you're killing a really sturdy mosquito? And what if you think the professor is finished lecturing, but he's actually just pausing? Won't you end up looking like one of those idiots who claps during the middle of the symphony? Do all professors even deserve applause? Does it matter? Isn't anyone else worried about this?

Man. Law school is hard.

Comments

[Coob]

I think you're supposed to stand on your desk and exclaim, "O Captain! My Captain!"

I could be wrong, though. Often am.

[Sherry]

LOL. Dead Poet's Society was cool.

Here, we have more than one lecturer for every subject. Last year, we clapped when each lecturer ended their set. This year we're more discriminatory and only clap if the lecturer is worth it. If people start clapping for a lecturer I didn't like I skip the clapping. He'll never know because there's anywhere between 100-250 people depending on the course. That said, for the course where there's less than 30 of us, we haven't clapped a single time. Go figure.

[The Slithery D]

My first class to wrap up in law school was torts. None of had any idea anyone would ever even think about clapping in such a situation. Our (young) professor apparently took this as some sort of personal rebuke, and we were subsequently advised that this was the tradition. The professor who so informed us, however, claimed we should applaud ourselves for "finishing the semester." I can't believe how many people bought it.

[Milton]

I myself always found the Golf Clap oddly appropriate.

[Sean S]

I like to clap with one hand, if only to hear the sound.

[Dante]

I clapped at the end of the last class in my philosophy of law class last semester and everyone just looked at me like I was crazy. I think you should clap and if nobody else does well you'll at least look good in the person that is grading your exam eyes.

[wingsandvodka]

Dear Dante,

My Exam Eyes totally deserve an 'A', no matter how good I look in a person.

-wv

[yellowperil]

That post was brilliant.

Clap.

Clap.

....

clap.

[Tyson Stanek]

We clapped for out Torts professor, and I swear the man had tears in his eyes. He might not be the most effective professor, but no one doubts the sincerity of his effort. He loves Torts, and his greatest dream is for us slovenly 1Ls to see the beauty of his favorite subject.

Check out my classmates post for more about Professor M here: http://rexmomus.typepad.com/says_rex/2004/04/halfway_through.html. (Sorry, can't get the href to work.)

[tony]

Clap your heart out. Then, if it turns out you're the only one clapping, start yelling random obscenities, proclaim yourself "the Polish Prince of Penis"* and casually walk out of the room.

*-from the best episode of 20/20 EVER.

[Scott]

We always clap at our school. Good prof, bad prof, 100 students or 12. I think we're just mired in tradition.

What I do hate, however, is unorganized professors that end their presentation, then take like 5 minutes to bundle up their books and papers and get the hell out of the room. We never know whether to keep clapping until s/he leaves or not, forced to decide between the awkward "fizzle-out" and the uninspired sustained clap.

Law school is hard.

[d]

We only rarely clap at our school, even for the most prestigious profs. Some of them, former Ivy profs, federal judges, attorneys general, etc, seem to expect it, but our student body insists on an accurate evaluation of their semester performance. Regardless of their tenure, we only clap when there has been an extraordinary performance, like Professor Elliott's extemporaneous performance of some famous trial tactics: "...against the peace and dignity of the State!" (sweeping applause, deep bow, roses at his feet, etc.) Then, he graciously stooped to collect a pair of discarded panties, gently sniffed them, and bid us Adieu. Now that was an exeunt.

[monica]

the first class that ended of mine was Torts first semester. Since the prof had made every lecture a show starring himself, his last speech to us, about not losing sight of our ideals, etc. was quite dramatic (on purpose). He also bowed, and then quickly ran out of the room.

This semester, we clapped for my Crim professor, because she tried her hardest to make it a good class, and the truth is, she's just a crappy prof. But she's an alum of my school, so her final speech was about how she loved it when she was a student, and we've made her love it as a professor. And that was really sweet. And she was close to tears. And she clapped to us back. :)

[ames]

Seriously? Y'all clap? We certainly don't, never heard of it. My school is populated with drunken heathens anyway, it's amazing that any of us pass the bar. Especially when it's just as easy to turn left, walk right in, and order a mint julep.

Mmm. Bourbon.

[me2insav]

1Ls at my school always clapped, once they figured out that's what they were supposed to do. But once, as a 3L, we had this professor, who truly was legendary (especially for his 1L torts class) and we were struggling so hard to get down his last lecture notes that a bewildered looking prof left the class bamboozled that we were taking notes not clapping for him. It was painful once we realized he'd slipped out without us clapping, cause you just know he expected it. We ended up clapping for him after the final was over (it was one of those events where everyone took the full time). It was just so awkward and uncomfortable until we got the "closure" of clapping for him. That being said, some profs just don't care.

[Lashlar]

We clapped for Torts Prof last year, but that was because he was really, really, really good. His exit: reading that marvellous first paragraph from Lord Denning's judgment in Miller v Jackson in such a dry, sardonic voice had us all in stitches. It was all in the delivery. We clapped until he left the room. Conversely, I didn't clap at all for Legal Institutions Prof because he was a snore -- and so was the subject, but that's a different story.

I'd say the rule is to clap if the professor is really worth it, otherwise don't bother. "Worth it" is a subjective test, by the way, not an objective test. :-)

[red]

panties. heh.

[Lauren]

At my school, we clap for every professor, unless they truly sucked for some reason, and then we still might clap just because the whole class is over. I think its rude not to clap if the professor has really worked hard to make you have a great class experience.

[timewaster]

I think clapping is pretentious crap. There has been only one class where I felt the professor had done an outstanding job at communicating the material and was inspiring in her job as professor. Now, while that may say something for my school, it is still ridiculous, even for a really good professor. No other educators that I'm aware of expect their class to applaud them. One could also argue that my appreciation of the class is expressed by my tuition payments.

[ast]

We went clapping one better in Criminal Law. Shortly after the Sox won the World Series, we decided it would be fun to do the wave for our Yankee-fan professor when he walked in the door. He turned a strange shade of purple, then burst out laughing, so we guess he liked it. He asked us to do it a couple more times in the ensuing weeks, and it seemed only fitting as a way to end the semester.

But really, in my other classes I felt like I was on an episode of Cooking at the Culinary Academy on PBS, where they all clap for the chef when he produces the finished loaf of bread. Very odd.

[Buff1L]

That's right--a chef making bread isn't really putting on a performance, so why clap? Same with a teacher.