Bye Bye, Syllabi

In about half my classes, the syllabus has ceased to have much meaning. Reams of reading is assigned in the syllabi, but the professors move through the material at a pace determined by how well they think the students are getting it. In no case is the professor ahead of the syllabus, but a couple of them are miles behind. One professor has dodged the whole issue and said, "Just read fifteen or twenty pages past where we ended the last class." For a meticulous planner like me, it's just maddening.

Why not just grind along through the book while the classroom discussion falls behind? To some extent I've tried to do that, but it gets me into trouble. The reading is so voluminous and so dense, I can hardly remember what I read three days ago. Sometimes I open my reading notes at the beginning of class and they might as well have been written by someone else.