Hmm... usually... you get a full list of when your various 'midterm' exams will be, when your various papers are due, and all of that jazz.
Like you should pretty much be able to fill in when everything is due for every class on your calendar after the first class in each subject. If your professor doesn't know that stuff right from the beginning... then... yea... he sounds super disorganized.
My first suggestion would be to go see that professor during their "office hours" (they HAVE to have some specific time in every week set aside for students to come to speak to them, either by drop-in or by appointment). Go see him during his office hours, and see if you can get clarification on "what's due when". At least for the first few things, you'll be graded on for that class.
Now as for overall strategies on how to navigate this guys class:
So... what you're going to find is, that you will need to employ VERY different strategies with each different professor... based on 'how they teach'.
For example, if you've got a professor who's lectures follow VERY closely the order of some particular 'textbook' for the class... then... really... unless you particularly enjoy that professors lectures... THAT'S the class you can skip (to catch up on some other shit...) because you're not really "missing" anything by not attending the lecture. It's all right there in the book... so you just have to make sure to read it at some point.
On the other hand, there are other professors who give lectures YOU DO need to attend... because it's totally different information he's talking about... than what you have in your books. This professor will also expect you to do your readings... but in a class like this... you're better to fall behind in the readings (and then cram before a midterm) than you are to 'fall behind' in attending lectures.
So for a disorganized professor like you've got... it either goes one of two ways:
1. The professor REALIZES that he's not getting through the material nearly as quickly as he was hoping to. He has sympathy on his students... and drastically cuts the 'scope' of what you're expected to know for a midterm. If this is going to be the case... the professor will certainly communicate that to you (at some point)
or
2. The professor really doesn't care. He's relying on his assigned readings to cover all the material he didn't get to in his lectures. This is by far the more likely of the two options.
At the end of the day, there are certain things you're going to HAVE to know (as a class) in order for him to justify passing you in "Sociology 101" or whatever the course is. So if he's not getting through the material in his lectures... you can still pretty much count on him testing you on a bunch of shit he's never even mentioned in class... but WHICH IS IN YOUR ASSIGNED READINGS.
So how you deal with it is by first, getting whatever clarification you can around due-dates and assignment expectations. The way a course-grade breaks down DOES make a difference to what strategies are appropriate to use for a particular class. Otherwise, the best thing you can do is to stay on top of your assigned readings for the course.
Honestly... this might be a case of a professor's lectures being so useless (practically speaking) that they're not worth going to. Again, it depends on what he DOES cover in his lectures... and whether or not that same information is available in your assigned readings. If that's the case... it MIGHT even make sense to skip that class... and devote that time to reading FOR THAT SAME CLASS.
I found the biggest thing was 'time management'. The problem was... that there simply IS NOT enough time to stay on top of everything all the time. There was A LOT of "strategic" weighing of options when it came to prioritizing my workload.
p. s. It makes me so happy that you're in college. Just so you know. It really makes me happy. :)
Then get clarification from him after class or in office hours.
Look, this type of situation is going to happen A LOT in the real world, so being proactive on getting clarification is critical to survival in life. At work, I always say "OK, so let me echo back what you just told me and please correct me where I am wrong." and then I relate my understanding of what I was just told. I don't leave until I understand completely.
Study on your own and consult him for reference and when you need help.
It'll cost more time and you'll need to invest more but it's totally worth it. I remember being the only person in the library and studying all day long during the holidays lol
Get in touch with him or ask him about the assignments and your confusions after class.
I did that in highschool. I got through it.
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Study everything by yourself, but keep asking his opinions on your work. That's the value of university anyway. Professors can give very good feedback to the problems you pose, they might even point you to better problems to solve, but if you let them pose the problems for you, you won't learn much.
It's hard when professors can't keep up with the technology... I've seen it happen... I think one help is to simply ask if they could use a hand. At my community college a number of professors said yes
My opinion is call him out on it and tell him he got you confused and
you need help on some things?
Schools are based on higher key
Complain to the head above
drop out
What class is this?
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