Every student has ‘that one’ professor he or she can’t seem to please during his or her college career. (Or, if a student is very unlucky, several professors). Before you despair and drop the class, consider these simple suggestions to cope with a difficult professor

• Ask yourself—is it him or is it me?
Are you doing something consciously or unconsciously to annoy the professor? Do you come late to class, turn in assignments late, and look bored and doodle throughout the lecture? While some professors don’t mind this behavior, professors are only human and what might seem like a small, inconsequential action to you might be personally offensive to many teachers.

• Touch base with your professor
Your professor has office hours—use them. If you don’t understand an assignment or what he or she is looking for when grading, show that you are making an effort to try harder. You might be overlooking something very simple that your teacher wants you to focus on. Also, if you have special circumstances like you are an ESL student or have extensive outside commitments like a family or a full-time job, your professor will be more sympathetic if he knows about them at the beginning of the semester, not right before an assignment is due.

• Know when to ask for outside help
Sometimes having an outsider—a tutor, a friend, or even another professor—look over your work can be very helpful. After a certain point, it can be hard to be objective about your own writing and someone who can give you honest but constructive feedback can help you look at things in a new way.