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So I have been thinking about posting this question/discussion ever since I joined this community. A few years ago I was sitting in a Sergeants time training when I was suddenly attacked by the Z monster. Instead of submitting to this beast I decided to stand up and stand in the back of the class. After the class, I was approached by the class instructor and was informed in a harsh manner that standing is a sign of disrespect and I should have the discipline to stay awake.
While I sort of agree with him, I had always been under the impression, that if you are tired in class stand up because sleep is akin to slapping the instructor in the face. The stand up rule has been repeated in nearly every professional development course I have attended. I want to see what the community has to say about this topic.
Note: I did not unintentionally make any disrespect sighs or movements when I was standing. The sole issue was the fact that I stood.
While I sort of agree with him, I had always been under the impression, that if you are tired in class stand up because sleep is akin to slapping the instructor in the face. The stand up rule has been repeated in nearly every professional development course I have attended. I want to see what the community has to say about this topic.
Note: I did not unintentionally make any disrespect sighs or movements when I was standing. The sole issue was the fact that I stood.
Posted in these groups: 
Instructing
Disrespect
Instructing Disrespect
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 194
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I see nothing wrong with it. The only suggestion I would have is if you are in another class, ask the instructor if they would mind you doing that before they start. At least that way, you won't get attacked at the end.
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It is not disrespectful, have done it many times myself and this includes meetings. Some topics, instructors or presenter lend to making people doze. There is also the time of day, and several other factors. A person standing up in my class "tells" me the material can be boring, I need to pick up the speed, etc. It also suggests that they care enough about it, not to want to miss anything. While taking technical training classes in the afternoons at Keesler airplane patch, I have had the tendency to want to doze. Stood up, stayed quiet and followed the material from back of the room.
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I think it is a sign of respect that you are interested enough to try to stay awake and that you respect the person lecturing enough not to fall asleep in your seat. I have done it and so have many others I know (stood up I mean)
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I would rather have someone stand in the classes I teach versus falling asleep. Though, I did have a talented individual once fall asleep standing up and almost face planted in the middle of a block of instruction.
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SFC (Join to see)
You should tell that instructor to demonstrate how to be disciplined and stay awake while listening to a boring class on (pick your favorite Army Powerpoint class, the list is endless)
You should tell that instructor to demonstrate how to be disciplined and stay awake while listening to a boring class on (pick your favorite Army Powerpoint class, the list is endless)
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As a very young Student I was told that if i was tired to get up and stand in the back of the class if i was ever tired and felt sleepy. Our classes were in rooms that were not air conditioned and over heated in winter and super hot in summer so, it was always a fight to stay awake. We even had one kid who sat in an open window and fell asleep and fell out. Lucky for him we were on the ground floor and he fell into snow.
As an Instructor over the years I was never upset when my students stood and went to the back of the class, I did have to reevaluate what was going on in class and sometimes change the LP, but never worried about the student being disrespectful.
Powerpoint is a great tool, if used correctly. Never for more than 5 or at most 10 minutes at a time. If it was used to long, even I would be asleep.
As an Instructor over the years I was never upset when my students stood and went to the back of the class, I did have to reevaluate what was going on in class and sometimes change the LP, but never worried about the student being disrespectful.
Powerpoint is a great tool, if used correctly. Never for more than 5 or at most 10 minutes at a time. If it was used to long, even I would be asleep.
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while I think the standing in the back or side of room is appropriate to stay awake during instruction....and works while not being disrespectfull to the instructor.....This site needs a little modification to the navigation protocols....it took me forever to get to the bottom of this article in order to post my comment rather than post specific to another persons response ... while I do not agree with the comment above mine....I need a way to post to the entirety of the article...not just one persons view....TY
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I mark "nothing wrong with it" but there is something wrong with that, but it's not on the students. A proper presentation should find ways to keep the audience involved. Military or not, we're all people. If an instructor is putting students to sleep, standing or not, how often is that info actually retained? More often than not, it isn't simply because all you are focusing on is staying awake vs fully pulling in and keeping that knowledge. No offense to anyone that starts to zonk out during a presentation, it happens to all of us.
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Many times in my career, the courses of instruction was pretty dry and always was and encouraged others to stand.
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Now here's the other side of it. I am an instructor, and recently a student approached me and thanked me for teaching the way I do, because I was the only instructor he had encountered who was able to keep him awake (he had many encounters with the student NCOIC of the class prior to coming to my block of instruction over falling asleep in class and discipline to stay alert).
I looked back at how the student acted in class. He constantly slouched and leaned back, allowing him to fall asleep. So in this case I think it may have been disrespectful on the student's part. Of course every time he stood up in class was because he was being told to...
I looked back at how the student acted in class. He constantly slouched and leaned back, allowing him to fall asleep. So in this case I think it may have been disrespectful on the student's part. Of course every time he stood up in class was because he was being told to...
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