There are many ways to get on a professor’s good side—paying attention in class, studying your materials, doing well on tests, meeting with them outside of class—and just as many ways to get on their bad side. Which is more beneficial? The answer seems obvious. Which is more fun? This is completely up to you. If you decide to go the latter route, here are a few things you can do to get in trouble during class.

1) Texting.

Every professor that you ever have will hate when students send text messages during class. If you really want to irritate your professor, text constantly throughout class and don’t try to be very stealthy about it. Make only minimal effort to cover up the fact that you’re not paying attention; this makes it even more obvious. You’ll probably find that texting can be so engrossing that you won’t even know if you get called on to answer a question: bonus!

2) Cell phone games.

If you’re not quite ready to step up to the serious methods listed below, cell phone games are a good place to start. Because of the constant button pressing, track ball scrolling, and screen tapping, you’ll be sure to get noticed quickly. If you’re looking to be as annoying as possible, send text messages to your friends when you get a high score.

3) Internet browsing.

You can take advantage of the fact that many students bring their laptops to class to take notes by bringing your own and using it to browse the internet during class. Hitting up Facebook or Addicting Games will keep you busy for a while. This is especially effective if your eyes never leave the screen; it is doubly so if the professor uses a lot of diagrams or projections. If you use an instant messenger program, like AOL Messenger or Google Talk, you can ensure that you’re typing throughout the whole class, even when the professor has stopped talking.

4) Watching DVDs.

Bring a laptop to class, as in the above suggestion, but instead of browsing the internet, pop in a movie or a TV show on DVD. You can read the subtitles or impress your classmates by putting your headphones on (you’re more likely to get away with this if you have a hood up . . . but you also run the risk of making it much more obvious). You can also use sites like Hulu to get episodes of your favorite shows. If nothing else, you can always find music videos and other entertaining shorts on YouTube.

5) Sleeping.

The Holy Grail of not paying attention during class. There’s not much to say about this one. It’s tough—if not impossible—to hide, but can be more effective than any other method for getting caught and irritating your professor.

If your professors become too adept at spotting the above methods, and you’re looking for new ideas on how to get in trouble during class, just look around at your classmates—juniors and seniors are experienced and can provide guidance through example!

As always, if you have any questions, comments or funny stories you'd like me to share about college or the blog, email me at stu@stuvu.com