Re: Frustrated with my English class again

[Guest guest]

Sounds like a really terrible teacher. The really frustrating thing

is not knowing how you are doing in class. I have had my share of bad

teachers, too. I think that the best thing to do is complain to the

head of the English department. Maybe you could get everyone else to

complain as well. If you have no other choice, you might wish to

consider dropping the class. I consider this option as a matter of

last resort though.

> Well, I have to get up early tomorrow (on my day off) to go talk to

my

> advisor about what I should do about my English teacher.

>

> She handed back my essay with comments but no grade. I made the

edits and

> gave her a second draft. She handed the second draft back with

comments but

> no grade. I asked her about the grade and she said she doesn't put

grades

> on the papers.

>

> There's just one problem with that.

>

> At the end of the semester, I'm supposed to put my two best essays

(out of

> a total of three) into a portfolio that is worth 60% of my grade.

But I

> don't know whether my papers are A papers or F papers until I put

them in

> it. After hours of writing and re-writing and re-re-writing.

>

> I went to her office hours and she gave me lots of double-speak and

> run-around and then tried to flatter me by saying things about me

being an

> experienced writer and how terrible the other students' papers are

(which

> made me feel VERY uncomfortable to hear!) She said I can get extra

credit

> by doing extra edits of my papers and that students who do that end

up with

> a better grade.

>

> I said, " I have no way to judge how I'm doing in your class. I feel

like

> the only way I can know if I've done my paper right is if I hand in

a draft

> of it and you tell me it's perfect and you and I both know that's

not going

> to happen. "

>

> She said, " no, it won't. " She paused a moment and then said, " but

you don't

> want to be perfect. That's being like God. "

>

> I just stared at her for a minute. I couldn't believe she said

something

> like that. I finally found my voice and said, " I'm not Muslim. "

>

> I spent twenty minutes asking her for an objective standard of

evaluation

> and got lots of subject-changing and obvious attempts at

distraction.

> Finally she said she would print out the grading rubric for me. I

looked at

> it and said, " that's the grading rubric for the GRE " (a test

required for

> getting into grad school) She said, " well.. uh ... " and then

changed the

> subject again. When I got home, I looked it up and that's exactly

what she

> had given me! (I think she didn't expect me to know what it was!)

>

> So I've gone from frustrated to annoyed to downright angry. She's

playing

> power games and manipulation. I watched another student ask about

grades

> and get the same run-around and hang their head and say, " oh,

that's okay.

> Thanks. " and leave. I think she expected me to do the same thing,

but I

> *HATE* bullies and I'm not about to just hang my head and

say, " sure, go

> ahead and bully and intimidate me. I don't really need to know how

I'm

> doing academically. " GRRR! What she wants us to do is keep writing

and

> writing and writing. She doesn't care that we have other classes

and lives.

>

> At this point, if it was just about me I'd give up and say, " oh

well, D is

> a passing grade so I don't care anymore. " But I keep thinking about

all the

> people half my age who are being pushed around by her and all the

people

> who will continue to be pushed around by her semester after

semester after

> semester. I think that no one has ever filed a complaint about her

refusing

> to give grades on assignments and that's how she's been getting

away with

> it. Because it really doesn't seem right to me at all.

>

> Oh yeah, and she tried to shame me! She said " It's not about the

product,

> it's about the process. It's not about grades, it's about

knowledge. Don't

> you care about knowledge? "

>

> My response was, " well, when someone looks at my transcript and

sees a D

> under English 102, I'll be sure to tell them that's it's okay

because I was

> all about the knowledge. "

>

> Sparrow

[Guest guest]

At 09:52 PM 10/21/04 -0000, windracer123 wrote:

>

>Sounds like a really terrible teacher. The really frustrating thing

>is not knowing how you are doing in class. I have had my share of bad

>teachers, too. I think that the best thing to do is complain to the

>head of the English department. Maybe you could get everyone else to

>complain as well. If you have no other choice, you might wish to

>consider dropping the class. I consider this option as a matter of

>last resort though.

I gave a letter to my teacher and if she doesn't respond within a week, I'm

going to the chair of the department. I can drop the class up to November

5th, but I don't want to do that because I still have to take this class to

graduate and now that I've started the complaints procedure, I'll get a

" reputation " in the English department and may have an even harder time

with the next teacher as a result.

It's better to do what I can to get it out of the way so I don't have to

deal with the English department at all after this class.

My partner (who has successfully protested grades and teacher conduct at

another school) looked at the syllabus and how it was worded and said, " so

long as you keep going to class and doing the assignments, you're going to

get an A in this class. She has worded the syllabus so poorly that you can

successfully protest any grade she gives you that is not an A. Just do the

things I suggest for you to do and it will be all right. "

So, the class may be stressful and the procedure for getting things made

right may be stressful but I'm not actually stressing about my grade right

now because the teacher has left herself so open to grade protests.

And I won't feel guilty if I have to protest to have my grade changed to an

A because the writing I'm doing in the class would be A work under any

other teacher I've ever had. So I feel that I deserve an A. If she were

honest about grades and just told us what they were, I would be happy with

a B and not complain, but since she's being so mysterious and manipulative,

I feel no guilt about demanding an A.

Sparrow

[Guest guest]

> >

> >Sounds like a really terrible teacher. The really frustrating

thing

> >is not knowing how you are doing in class. I have had my share of

bad

> >teachers, too. I think that the best thing to do is complain to

the

> >head of the English department. Maybe you could get everyone else

to

> >complain as well. If you have no other choice, you might wish to

> >consider dropping the class. I consider this option as a matter of

> >last resort though.

>

> I gave a letter to my teacher and if she doesn't respond within a

week, I'm

> going to the chair of the department. I can drop the class up to

November

> 5th, but I don't want to do that because I still have to take this

class to

> graduate and now that I've started the complaints procedure, I'll

get a

> " reputation " in the English department and may have an even harder

time

> with the next teacher as a result.

>

> It's better to do what I can to get it out of the way so I don't

have to

> deal with the English department at all after this class.

>

> My partner (who has successfully protested grades and teacher

conduct at

> another school) looked at the syllabus and how it was worded and

said, " so

> long as you keep going to class and doing the assignments, you're

going to

> get an A in this class. She has worded the syllabus so poorly that

you can

> successfully protest any grade she gives you that is not an A. Just

do the

> things I suggest for you to do and it will be all right. "

>

> So, the class may be stressful and the procedure for getting things

made

> right may be stressful but I'm not actually stressing about my

grade right

> now because the teacher has left herself so open to grade protests.

>

> And I won't feel guilty if I have to protest to have my grade

changed to an

> A because the writing I'm doing in the class would be A work under

any

> other teacher I've ever had. So I feel that I deserve an A. If she

were

> honest about grades and just told us what they were, I would be

happy with

> a B and not complain, but since she's being so mysterious and

manipulative,

> I feel no guilt about demanding an A.

>

> Sparrow

Sounds like a good plan to me, Sparrow. :-)