Bad teachers

[Taysby]

So my physics teacher is horrible.  He can't teach good, and when he see's that we're still confused he pretty much says, screw you.  keep up.  we're moving on.  See below for a list of my complaints with him.  Do any of you have that one teacher thats horrendous?



(almost all of the class failed a quiz that was supposedly "easy" so he made us write an essay on what we need to change to learn all class content.  boy did I let him have it!  )


I disbelieve that I need to change anything to learn all of the material in this class. 

In all of my other classes, such as math 1050, AP Psychology, AP Government, etc, I put in the same amount of effort as I do in this class.  I pay attention, do homework, etc.  Those classes, by definition should be harder than this class.  If you expect this to be a difficult class where you have to study your butt off, then it should be an "Honor's class" or something like that.  Not entry level physics. 

Also, you're standards are constantly changing.  There are several examples of this, but the most recent one is that in the past on several quizes/tests you have allowed laws to be defined by giving the formula.  But then on this quiz, without saying anything, you have changed the standard and now giving the formula is wrong. 

You're grading is also bizarre.  On two questions on the most recent quiz, there were two parts.  Do this and this.  I got one part right on both of them, but you wouldn't give me credit for it.  You marked the whole thing wrong, when really, I should have gotten partial credit for getting part of the answer right.  On several of the assignments where you have graded us out of 4, I should have gotten a grade like 92%, which would have been like an 3.89 or something, yet you just gave me a ¾.  How is that fair?  Giving me a 75% when I earned a 92%?  It sounds like you are actively trying to give us a bad grade!  This same thing has happened to all of the other students too.

Also, it's really difficult to learn from your teaching.  Everyone in the class understands what other teachers in the school try to teach, but leave your class even more confused than when they arrived.  Every single kid in this class, including me, has this problem.  For example, with the question about which bike would get you up the hill easier, I knew exactly which bike would make it easier to get up the hill, but from your teaching, it made it sound like the other bike would get up the hill easier.  Then you proceed to move on to something else even though almost the whole entire class was still completely confused just because it's "time to move on".  We don't understand the first thing, so how do you expect us to learn the second thing?  Things like this have happened all year long.  Even though it was obvious that your teaching style wasn't working, you refused to change it to make it so we could understand it.

Sometimes you refuse to offer help.  All year long there have been examples of this, but the most recent one was the quiz.  Students who were trying their best to understand the material got a bad score, and so they were trying to learn why they got things wrong.  You pretty much gave them the middle finger and said "Screw you.  I'm not helping you.  Do it yourself".  How is that being a teacher?  Teachers are supposed to help kids understand material, but you won't do that with people who are trying their best!

Another thing has to do with the labs.  You give us one easy homework sheet, and then we move onto a lab and spend 2 or 3 weeks on it cutting wood and such.  Right after the lab you expect us to be able to do problems that are a lot more difficult than the homework you assigned, and long enough after that we've probably forgotten it all, and then get frustrated when we do all of the problems wrong.

Don't think i'm saying that you are not putting effort into the class.  You are just putting your effort into it in a way that doesn't help the students at all.  You're doing your thing and in the process, you are leaving all of your students in the dust and pretty much just saying "you need to work harder to keep up with me you lazy terds".  Most of us know what we're doing in school and have good grades in all of our other classes.  But you are making it extremely difficult for us to be successful.

Most, if not all of the students in the class have the same viewpoint as I do.  I've talked to them outside of class, and they all hate it because they don't learn anything from you, try to do their best, fail an assignment, wonder why, and you won't help them.  They try to learn in lectures, but you leave them behind.  We don't need to change.  We can be successful.  It's you that needs to change.  Not necessarily put in more work, just change.

[MisterJH]

You turned that in? Oh lord well good luck. Teachers do NOT, under almost ANY circumstance accept criticism of their methods, unless he is a VERY young fresh an open minded teacher. What youve done is served to insult him and you will likely get hell. The 'proper'(more likely to be successful) option would be to organize those students who struggle, assuming its as many as you say, and make a formal request to meet with the head of the department or the teacher himself. Then, if nothing comes of it you would be every bit justified to move up the chain of command, wherever that may be. Ultimately the teacher is boss and can and will do what he wants, and going about criticizing in this way will cause you more harm than good. Also incriminating the other classmates will make him much less likely to give a damn. Hopefully hes a rather openminded teacher, but usually it doesnt work like that. My mom was a teacher and my dad a college professor for awhile, and never did they tell me a story about a bad teacher reforming their ways. A good idea would be to quickly organize NOW and go to a higher authority, and also check the teacher rating websites. Use those as evidence(assuming hes been on there) that for years hes been a failure as a teacher. good luck, i hope it somehow works out!

[MarduArrow]

The entirety of my welding class has made the decision to skip communications class, twice. You know you're a bad teacher when...

[MisterJH]

Well yea, like i said teachers abhor criticism of any form. Theres not a one who doesnt think they deserve teacher of the year. Youve shot yourself in the foot mid marathon my friend, good luck once more.

[MisterJH]

Haha fair enough, to each their own at least you had fun with it

Nice GPA too man goodfor you!

[Silent1236]

"He doesn't teach good."  I sincerely hope you're joking around with that. If not, then your physics teacher may not be the one you need to complain about

[Sparkle Ninja]

Well he's just a hard teacher and expects a lot of all of you. If you want to complain feel free. I've had teachers like this. They're annoying but if you manage to do what they ask you to do you excel everywhere. Just my 2 cents

[MisterJH]

Sometimes there are classes where a C is the best you can hope for, you just have to learn to work your ass off and take it on the chin. Its part of what makes college degrees worth it to employers, it shows you can deal with their BS .

That doesnt sound like the case for you though, it seems this guy is just apathetic about his job. Mediocrity is a great sin, he ought to lose his job. And if you dont believe in sin, replace 'sin' with 'trait of a worthless member of society.'

[MisterJH]

You may lose that battle however because it did not fit the topic given... Hes the boss so he decides eh? Just a warning

[Langku]

Well yea, like i said teachers abhor criticism of any form. Theres not a one who doesnt think they deserve teacher of the year. Youve shot yourself in the foot mid marathon my friend, good luck once more.

I'm a teacher.

I believe what a teacher once said: "Good teachers accept criticism. Great teachers seek it out". 

I do not abhor criticism, I adore it. And I am not a professional singularity. Many of my teaching peers feel the same.

This physics teacher is not representative of my profession. I pity him, struggling as he is, and, having struggled myself, I pity his students who have little choice but to struggle behind him. I would recommend a thoughtful and constructive petition, describing changes you wish to see. Share it with him as a first step and the principal as a second step. This situation needs to change and the teacher sounds unwilling or unable so the students must step up and affect that change. That kind of experience would be more valuable than any physics lesson.

[MisterJH]

Well we agree on how to go about it, but i think if you and your peers truly accept help youre the exception rather than the rule. Im sure many teachers say they would accept criticism to their teacher buddies(btw this isnt calling you out this is saying what ive experienced) but in practice they consider it an affront on their ability. Once again thats just many that ive encountered, definitely not all, and im living in one of the worst counties educationally in the nation, based on some strange criteria im site but regardless its widely regarded as pretty darn bad, so that accounts for some bias im sure. Also, its particularly college professors who are loathe to listen because so many believe they are gods gift to their profession, despite being no more qualified to teach than anybody with a degree in their field.

[MisterJH]

Dude you didnt follow the assignment. You were supposed to write on yourself, not on the teacher. If hes a good debater youll still get a 0 on that particular assignment. Just sayin, dont be surprised if he does because you techncally ignored his instructions in favor of writing about a different topic, although related.

[MisterJH]

Ah well the way i understood it from your first post was he prompted 'what will YOU change.'

If he said 'what is going to' or 'what needs to' he invited a typhoon of sarcasm, irony and accusation, its totally his fault.

Of course if hes a VERY good debater he may still squirm his way around to giving you a bad grade on that assignment, but i wont get into that. Chances are youre solid

[Piotr]

Ah well the way i understood it from your first post was he prompted 'what will YOU change.'

If he said 'what is going to' or 'what needs to' he invited a typhoon of sarcasm, irony and accusation, its totally his fault.

So if I leave my backdoor unlocked, is it totally my fault that someone opens it and steals stuff?

[MisterJH]

At least 50% Piotr