miércoles, 24 de abril de 2019

I have a teacher who makes me want to kill myself

I have a language teacher (who I will call S) that makes me want to genuinely die; I don't know what to do about it.

Some background is that I have an Asian upbringing and it is hard to get grades besides an A. The only people that can excel in her class are those that already know the language. In my opinion she is unreasonable.

•She gives us tests on vocabulary she never mentioned, and expects us to know it. She admitted that we would probably get an F and to no surprise, most did.

• Although she does allow most people to pass, it is by what I think is evil means. She is part of a lot of different associations with the language program and etc. so she offers extra credit to those who help her with her programs and other school performances that have no direct effect on the learning of the language. S's participation in these associations are purely based on the culture of the language.

•S plays favorites to the extreme. Although humans have a natural tendency to be bias, S is so extreme in it that she will allow her favorite students to cheat and others to fail. Some will be able to use the bathroom, eat in class, and do what they want while other students that she does not like will fail. A former classmate of mine pointed out to her that someone else was cheating but she merely told him to be quiet. The ONLY student reprimanded was the guy who pointed out that someone was cheating.

•She helps people cheat, and others fail. Two guys did not know the language, and while one tried, the other did not. The one who did not try was the one she liked and she stood behind them and whispered the answers to him. This infuriated me and the person who tried because it seemed to me like disrespect to all the hard work that he put in.

•She talks in the language we are trying to learn and occasionally mixes it with English. Although a mixture of the two can be useful, she does it so much that even the people that are fluent have a hard time understanding her. Additionally, because we are beginners in the language, it would be similar to that of listening to someone speak in a foreign language and you are forced to understand it because she gives directions in that format.

•S is extremely moody. I would like to display human empathy for her as she has had a divorce and her mother and brother has passed away, but I do not believe that classtime is a proper time to tell life stories and grieve for your past. Furthermore, she yells at people in Korean at times. For example, while we were doing nothing and she was talking about her life story, two kids were doing homework from another class so that they could save time (as they have band and other extracurriculars such as musical instruments), but she was infuriated and made them give her their homework and write a note of apology or she would call their parents.

•S also yelled at me in the foreign language after I asked a classmate for a translation of a word that I missed, but because I did not understand the foreign language, she got increasingly angrier and angrier until she grabbed me and repositioned me. While still at the corner of the room, she was apparently mad that I was not facing the front of the classroom. I thought that it was perfectly okay to not be facing the front of the classroom because she told me to face her and she was in the corner. Despite me telling her that I did not understand and that I was merely asking a question to a classmate, she is unable to comprehend that she is wrong and was still mad.

•Building on to my previous point, she can not take things when she is wrong. We all are forced to take pictures as living evidence of her word and actions. She wrote that we had to write 10 sentences and their translations, but the next day she said we had to write 45 sentences and their translations. Even when we proved her wrong, she said that we got her intentions wrong, and EVEN WHEN WE SHOWED HER THE PICTURE, she has the gall to say that we got her intentions wrong.

•We are given a language textbook that has 12 chapters, which is lengthy in each (since they are supposed to be given throughout the year). However, her pacing is a struggle because adding on to her own worksheets and assignments that are well beyond our understanding, occasionally she gives an ENTIRE chapter in ONE day. This should not be something that a teacher should do, unless a year is going to be compressed in a measly 2.5 weeks. Because of this, weekends have been a pain (as I have to do chapters in advance) and I've been struggling to understand concepts because of the lack of time and spaced repetition (the best way to learn) to memorize and understand these things.

•She acts like an angel in front of other adults and teachers. Some teachers come in and she prepares for the day and actually does something that seems like she could become a good teacher. For example, when WASC (an association involved in making sure that schools are actually teaching the students) visited our school, her class was monitored for a while and she acted like a great teacher. She told us what to show them and we had to prepare for that day. But when they are not there, she is very moody. This means that the adults will most definitely have a warped perception of her and that they will think that us teenagers are overreacting. I admit that most students overreact to teachers but I have never disliked a teacher before this class. I have always loved all my teachers and believed that they genuinely cared for them, but I am still unable to see her in this way. I think she is lonely and that this is her way of being able to socialize with people. Although I do want her to get some help, I think I want the school to help the students and remove her.

•Sometimes she can say hurtful things and she calls us lazy and that we don't work hard. I work very hard to maintain all A's because I lack aptitude. I have a video of her yelling at us which is about 30 minutes long because she did not get an apology letter from a student that was long enough to please her.

•Although not entirely educational, sometimes people have to use the bathroom in her class and she says, "After you finish your classwork." We are unable to finish classwork and even if we do, she will give us more to prevent the usage of the bathroom. Some people genuinely have to use the bathroom and do not abuse the system and bring their phone along with them. I think that we have a natural right to use the bathroom, but I am pretty sure that the law allows her to prevent the usage of the bathroom as the school gives the teachers certain rights.

I personally believe that language is a puzzle piece. The vocabulary that you learn is the puzzle piece itself, while the grammar is the way in which you put the pieces together. The problem with S is that it is hard to learn when given vocabulary and not knowing how to put them together, and being expected to put things together when you do not understand the vocabulary nor how to put it together. She makes us translate newspapers and stories when we know neither the vocabulary or how to put it together. This makes it near impossible to translate in the time slot given. I have stayed up countless nights doing these and the lack of sleep coupled with my anger for her lack of empathy has made me genuinely want to kill myself.

Multiple classmates have gone to the office to complain, and yet they are unable to do anything. They know that so many kids and parents have complained, but because she is tied to both the school and multiple associations (which give the school money), it is hard to fire her or get rid of her because it would lead to a loss of money.

I know this must seem like a rant but I want to do something for both me and the students in the next years. The freshman that I know hate her because of how unreasonable she is. I have had her for this year and the last year, and albeit the year is almost over, I want to prevent her from hurting more students. If there is anything I can do or anything I should do, no matter how small, please let me know.



Submitted April 24, 2019 at 04:53PM by Dr_BrownBear http://bit.ly/2W6CnYj

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