I recently have had unresolveable problems with a teacher

[BaronVonRotterdam]

I finally was given a form to switch teachers and they gave me a small rectangle for my signature and why I wanted to drop. I have just too much to say for a small rectangle and proceeded to write this:

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Kyle 12.11.2008
Student Reason for Course Change

A good teacher is professional and creates a safe and positive learning environment for their students. Contrary to the professional and positive role a teacher should exhibit Ms. Ermie is not only unprofessional but has an abusive nature, consequently her position is used to degrade and demoralize her students. A student is to be inspired to succeed and have their confidence built by a teacher. A student is not to be belittled and humiliated under any circumstances in what is to be thought of as a “professional learning environment”. Ms. Ermie unfortunately does not believe in the latter. This manner of behavior displayed by Ms. Ermie is more characteristic of an adolescent than a professional educator.

The problem I have with Ms. Ermie is not the educational material she is trying to teach, but how she presents it to her students. Ms. Ermie has a significant problem with how to communicate to her students. When a student makes a mistake Ms. Ermie feels that she is not only justified but that she is obligated to criticize and humiliate her students in order to make them improve. This is morally wrong and not what a teacher is there to do. Ms. Ermie feels that she should be allowed to do this because she is an “intimidating person” and she admitted to this and continued by saying that “she makes grown men shake in their boots” with a haughty smile as if she were proud of this atrocity. If a student made a mistake on an assignment they were given, a good teacher would in a caring, non-demoralizing and belittling manner tell a student why what they submitted contained mistakes, and then in a positive educationally nurturing manner show them how to fix it. If you have gone to school long enough like me you will come to realize the good teachers from the poor ones. Two examples of phenomenal teachers who do an extraordinary job teaching are Mrs. Kelliher from the Tech Department, and Mrs. Meskutovecz from the English department. Both of these teachers exemplify what a teacher should be. I have been privileged to be given both of these teachers as my mentors. They create a nurturing learning environment that is conducive and invaluable to a student. To be able to not only create but to maintain such an environment is commendable and a quality that a good teacher possesses. Needless to say Ms. Ermie has demonstrated the exact opposite of these commendable traits.

A student is to go to school in a stable non-abusive learning environment in which education is paramount. A student is not to go to school in an environment where when they make a simple mistake they are criticized and humiliated for it. Unfortunately Ms. Ermie has taken the path of the latter. Ms. Ermie is deficient of proper communication skills and the love for teaching students. A good teacher teaches for the love of teaching. All students should have a safe and positive learning environment which Ms. Ermie is incompetent of creating. Ms. Ermie instead is determined to use humiliation to be her primary motivating tactic for teaching a student rather than positive reinforcement. On more than one occasion I have tried to resolve this conflict with Ms. Ermie and on more than one occasion she has expressed to me that she is not capable of making a mature decision. This blatant disregard for the thoughts and feelings of her students and the unwillingness to correct this repulsive behavior is purely the reason for me wanting to change teachers. I have done all I can on my part and she has made no effort on her end to resolve this issue. This is unacceptable.





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This woman is unbelievable (in a bad way) and I wasn't having it. My home situation sucks and I wasn't going to go to school and deal with her crap on top of my own stuff I had to deal with. So I put her in her place and told her what the deal was in person and she didn't view this as a problem.

This is an example of the kind of woman she is

If I said "Hey Ms. Ermie, does 2+2=3? She would say "No it does not equal 3! I cant believe you are in the 11th grade and cant even count! you are pathetic!

A reasonable and good teacher would say upon hearing my question "No 2+2 is not 3, it is 4. Let me show you how to get to 4.

Heres what she did in class today. We were given an essay to write at home and all of us but two people in my class failed it. So my poor excuse for a teacher proceeded to tell us how pathetic these essays were and all the things we did wrong and kept on droning on belittling us. As if we didn't get the point that she was trying to make within the first 10 minutes she then went on to put the worst introduction paragraphs on the overhead projector to humiliate those individuals infront of the entire class.

I can't stand this woman and this unjustice that she is doing to me and my classmates and instinctively (also why I wanted to become one of your administrators) I wanted to correct this behavior.

I have tried to sit down with her and calmly tell her what the deal was and she wasnt having that and tryed to make it my fault and continued on trying to humiliate her. So I wrote the damn nicest go-to-hell work of literature I have ever seen. I wasn't going to be treated like a piece of crap so I took a risk and am the only student who has stood up to her and tomorrow she is going to see the repercussions of her actions.

************EDIT*********** I reconsidered alot of the essay to make it more professional.

[Salmiakkikossu]

Justified? Yes. But...

A big part of dealing with school, especially in the private Catholic school I went to, has to do with putting up with other peoples' bullshit. Most importantly teachers. A lot of them are totally full of it and total asswipes.

I tried to deal with some of my school issues in a similar way all throughout my time in school and it nearly got me kicked out every time.

It sucks to say this, but as I'm assuming you're almost done with school (and that this is high school), I suggest doing the bare minimum you need to to get through this bullshit and just keep your head down.

If this is your last year at high school (I hope it is), there are actually some colleges out there that once they accept you (go for early decision) they really don't care so much how you finish out the year. Moreso with more prestigious schools (with exceptions). I don't know what your grades situation is like or where you're going but try to keep in mind (and repeat this every day) that what you're going through is

a) bullshit
b) not important to your life or your future, no matter what they tell you
c) has nothing to do with your best interests but the school's and the teachers'

censored EM!

Teachers like that are just another obstacle in life...one that you are guaranteed to get around.

Also, things like this will happen all your life...be it from family members, coworkers, bosses, partners. Look out for yourself 100%. If you're even considering that what you're doing is for the benefit of everyone, all you're doing is taking the bullet for everyone else. Change is a very slow process in most environments. You have to weigh whether or not you're willing to suffer (and I really mean almost no good can come from this) for everyone else or do what you need to do in life with minimal interference from idiots.

The less you say to the school, the better. Just get out of her class with as little noise as possible, regardless of how you feel. Save your energy for the big battles ahead.

[Quester115]

I'll stick in a yes and say you did the right thing in this situation.
You went through administrative channels to voice your opinions. Yeah it's a lot of red tape, but you did not become distributive or combative (administration doesn't look to well upon the latter).

So I say high five!
It's a formal form so, besides having a very good argument for getting your instructor switched it will also be reviewed by the instructors superior and have a whole lot more weight than just a class bitching a moaning.

edit: mainly in response to Salmiakkikossu
Formal complaint processes are put in place for a reason, to be used. I believe in exactly the opposite of sit down and shut up. Eventually the subtler things build up and eventually escalate, even if your voice is silenced. The loser in that situation is most always the student who does not learn well under the instructor.
You have got it lucky, my high school did not have any such processes in place, some students who would obviously be better off with an instructor in the same hour block were denied a chance to move because of policy.

edit2:
And school is not something that has to be 'dealt with' or struggled through, or made to be some gauntlet to pass, especially at the highschool/undergrad level, that time is the best time to explore your interests, find your niche, any other cliche etc.
It should be about finding out what you love to do broadening you intellectual horizons in your chosen field; along with the school guiding you so that your intellectual goals can be met alongside of the development of your professional skills.
There are some instructors that just don't see it that way, so if you don't agree with their viewpoints and (because you can't agree with everyone) can't come to an understanding, the best choice may be to find another instructor. Trust me the right one does make all the difference.

[BaronVonRotterdam]

I edited the essay, I would go through and read it again quester and salmia.

[Quester115]

The changes certainly do make it sound more professional (I'm not the best at proofing, heck I don't even notice the changes, but tone is very much improved)

good luck to you

[Salmiakkikossu]

To PB: Tone definitely is a bit better.

edit: mainly in response to Salmiakkikossu
Formal complaint processes are put in place for a reason, to be used. I believe in exactly the opposite of sit down and shut up. Eventually the subtler things build up and eventually escalate, even if your voice is silenced. The loser in that situation is most always the student who does not learn well under the instructor.
You have got it lucky, my high school did not have any such processes in place, some students who would obviously be better off with an instructor in the same hour block were denied a chance to move because of policy.

edit2:
And school is not something that has to be 'dealt with' or struggled through, or made to be some gauntlet to pass, especially at the highschool/undergrad level, that time is the best time to explore your interests, find your niche, any other cliche etc.
It should be about finding out what you love to do broadening you intellectual horizons in your chosen field; along with the school guiding you so that your intellectual goals can be met alongside of the development of your professional skills.
There are some instructors that just don't see it that way, so if you don't agree with their viewpoints and (because you can't agree with everyone) can't come to an understanding, the best choice may be to find another instructor. Trust me the right one does make all the difference.

Q: I'm not always an advocate of a "sit down and shut up" approach...in fact, I've stuck up for myself my entire life. What I'm saying is, from my experience of doing just that, it looks like PB has the easy recourse of just getting another teacher...without having to get into a battle of reputations.
And even if it doesn't work out...at the end of the term, PB is done with that teacher.

See, the thing is, to make anyone act on anything, you have to convince them that it is in their best interests to do so. Students in school below the Undergrad level are almost entirely without influence. There is little impact of making big complaints against teachers (trust me, been there, done that, authored a 4000 signature petition about it). This is for a number of reasons:

a) There needs to be a compelling reason to remove a teacher mid-term or even at end of term. That is really the only option available that directly benefits students. The average hiring process in the US costs $20k. It's higher on the scale for teachers. Also, teachers have very strong unions and teachers who have been teaching a long time are almost impossible to take action against.
b) Parents generally don't care if a teacher is a jerk. Parents usually just care that their children do well. If they don't, the teacher has to spin them a convincing story about why their child isn't doing well. An intimidating teacher with students will likely be the same with parents. I've had all sorts of lies made up about me by teachers before. It's called job security.
c) The biggest usefulness of complaint forms is to give administration advance notice of if a teacher is doing something that will open them up to liability. Unless it's something serious like physical or sexual abuse or drug use, I doubt it will make enough of an impact to actually change the situation.
d) If this becomes public knowledge and a lot of people start pressing to change classes, likely nobody will get to. In that situation it's possible they would have that teacher take the rest of the term off and finish her classes with a substitute, but that's reaching a little.

In regards to edit 2, that would be an ideal situation, but in many places that is not the case...especially for students whose interest and experience are not directly related to the material being taught and the services being offered by the school (activities, etc)... ...and keep in mind: a school is a business like any other. They have their own interests (their bottom line, keeping everyone employed) that at the end of the day will always come before the needs of the students.

[Quester115]

valid points made.
The hours were late, I had been staring at code for way too long. I can get idealistic and preachy. Life is life, I guess you should always look for the best way that will make it a little bit better for yourself, even if it does suck at times (had my share of those).

best of luck to PB.

peace

[Nard]

Lol nice job paintball. I even accidently called your house and told your dad how awesome the essay was. If this was supposed to be kept secret, he has no idea what im talking about so don't worry.

[virussick]

with the teachers salary they should at least teach us and respect us a little

[XL500]

Thank goodness all of my DOD teachers were awesome!!! BTW, nice work Paint!!!