Angry AP Gov teacher

Applying to College
1

Wow, these last few days have been very interesting.

First my AP Government passes back our last test which literally 90%+ of the class got C’s or D’s on. Then he proceeds to literally blame it on us, saying that we don’t care about his class. He then refuses to remove the outliers while constructing the curve, so thanks to the work of a few students such as one who’s been admitted to Harvard ED, the curve was effectively worthless.

So one of the students in the class writes a letter to him with concerns about his teaching policy. It’s a very well articulated policy, giving rational arguments about how the test was unfair because the teacher under-emphasized Supreme Court cases which ended up being about 20% of the entire test. By underemphasized I mean underemphasized. He gave us a worksheet. That’s it. He spent the whole unit covering two Supreme Court Justices, having hours and hours of class time devoted to them and their beliefs and even assigned homework relating to them.

So everyone prepared for the test with heavier emphasis on political beliefs and behavior and were slammed with the test which asked for factual specifics which he didn’t cover in class. Yes, a teacher is not supposed to spoonfeed you the facts, but when you say almost nothing about a subject, how are students supposed to know it’ll be on the test? And oh yes, the stuff he emphasized? Not a single word of it on the test.

This letter was very maturely written, at no point making any personal attacks against the teacher, and merely offered constructive criticism. It was signed Anonymous.

So the teacher posted the letter on the door with his own responses. Scawled in ugly handwriting it said:

I AM NOT ANONYMOUS
I HAVE A MASTERS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
I HAVE TAUGHT THIS CIRRICULUM FOR TEN YEARS
I THINK ABOUT POLITICAL SCIENCE DAILY
IF YOU DON’T LIKE HOW I TEACH, THEN DROP THE CLASS.

Yes, he said exactly those plus a few extra I couldn’t read because his handwriting was so bad.

Interesting how he first of all flaunts his degree and experience. That’s about as mature as saying, “I’m a better person than you because I have a big (insert word that starts with P and rhymes with Venus)”

Remember, the question here wasn’t his qualifications, but his methods of teaching. Somehow he thought that with his Masters degree he automatically became an efficient teacher.

Anyways, I’m thinking of writing an anonymous #2 letter… so here it goes:

"Why is it that you believe having a Masters degree in Political Science qualifies you to be an effective teacher? Would you automatically assume Michael Jordan to be an excellent basketball coach just because he’s such a skilled player? You shouldn’t flash your degree or experience around as proof that you are a good teacher. The key is results. If students are unhappy and grades are low, can you really blame the class? Especially an AP class where practically everyone is UC bound. And to top that off, your response to the letter was very immature, I personally would’ve written an effective counter-argument defending my abilities and rationale for my teaching rather than a childish, “I’m better than you” response. You seem to have forgotten the purpose of a teacher, to not only educate, but guide your students. Rather than asking the anonymous to drop the class, you should’ve asked them to see you and talk it out. You’ve basically said, “If you can’t take it, quit”. What kind of message does that send to students? That you’re better than them? That because they’re not as well versed in the subject as yourself that they should have no grounds to complain about your teaching methods?

Quite frankly I am impressed by Anonymous #1’s well articulated argument. He/she was able to write the whole argument without once attacking you personally. I’m afraid I can’t do as he/she does and merely offer constructive criticism, but I can provide a fierce and coherent argument. You are not a perfect teacher in any way and your response to Anonymous #1’s letter confirmed that. Perhaps you should try to address his/her concerns instead of dismissing them. Anonymous #1 isn’t the only student who feels the same way regarding your teaching methods."

I don’t know if I’ll inconspiculously place it on his desk, but seriously, a teacher should not act the way he did. Telling the student to drop his class instead of wanting to talk it out. A student that wrote a very honest and concerned letter without pulling any punches.

2

<p>ahaha thats pretty hilarious, what a pathetic teacher.</p>

<p>but i think your letter is pretty well-written, if your teacher wises up, he should wake up and smell the roses.</p>

3

<p>I would take it up with your gc or principal, leaving it on his desk might get u in trouble because he might think that u were the one who did the first letter</p>

4

<p>Yeah, the only thing that keeps me from delivering the letter is the fear that he'll find out I wrote it and be extra biased when he grades my essays.</p>

5

<p>i didn't get to read it all but it reminded me of my govt teacher during my sophomore year hahahaha. except my govt teacher got his bachelors from pittsburgh university in kansas or something.</p>

6

<p>coolman,
Is one test really worth is? Sometimes it's best to lay low and get out with your gpa intact. Cool off a bit. From my experience with my own kids, this is exactly the kind of teacher who will take revenge on you. And it's easy to do in a class with subjective grading. There is a hostile adversarial attitude, as evidenced by his unprofessional note on the door. </p>

<p>If you must address the issue, I would urge you to consult your school handbook for grievance procedures. Follow them and don't go over anyone's head. Be respectful and prepared. You may want to begin by your parent having an informal phone conversation with the teacher about YOU (not everybody else). If this is ineffecive, your parent(s) should have a formal meeting with the principal. Bring written notes on specific quotes, dates, names, etc. Bring examples of your unfairly graded paper. At this point, it may be beneficial to ask the principal for anonymity because of fear of retaliation.</p>

<p>You may be surprised to find that you are not the first person to complain about this individual. Good luck if you go forward with this. Just think it through well before you do anything.</p>

7

<p>Coolman this is what you do: Tell your teacher to take all those D's and F's and reccomend to him that he should sodomize himself with those pittyfull grades! and say this to his face and tell him to %$&* off and call him a little be-Yatch. Show him whos boss!</p>

8

<p>where are you from coolman? just wondeirng what part of California?</p>

9

<p>LOL @ the last post</p>

10

<p>coolman, it depends on whether u want to have fun or toget a good grade. eh it depends on your comfort level with confrontation</p>

11

<p>coolman, don't do it. it isn't a smart thing to do.</p>

<p>just talk to him in person and if he blows you off then talk to a principal about it to chill that guy out.</p>

12

<p>I taught college for many years. If 90% of the class got Cs and Ds, I would ENTIRELY blame myself for not teaching the material properly.</p>

13

<p>I think that your class would have been better off sending a couple of well respected students to talk to him privately with concerns about the test. They could have said they represented the whole class.</p>

<p>I think what ticked off your teacher was the anonymous letter. No one likes getting anonymous criticism. All that does is makes the receiver feel paranoid. Anonymous letters also make the concerns seem less credible because the teacher had no idea how many students felt that way. Even if the letter claimed that everyone in the class felt that way, the lack of signatures meant there was no evidence that the whole class supported the letter.</p>

<p>If your class had problems with the test, they could have all signed their name to the letter or they could have handled the problem in the way that I described. Many teachers will be reasonable if things truly are handled thoughtfully. How your class chose to handle things, however, would have seemed sneaky to many teachers, and would have ticked them off, not made the teacher thoughtfully consider the concerns.</p>

<p>Instead of going over the teacher's head, I suggest either dropping the matter (think about it -- is one test really worth this much anger and concern?) or asking the teacher to talk with the class about the concern. Again, it would help if a couple (not a large group!) of well respected students talked first in private with the teacher about the matter.</p>

<p>One teacher having to face a large, angry class is not a great situation for the teacher. While the class may be sure that they are in the right, think about it, too, from the teacher's position. How would you yourself feel about having to face a large group of angry, possibly very disrespectful students? That's a hard position to be in. If the teacher also is someone who has been helping out students by, for instance, writing college recommendation letters for them, having to face a class that is ganging up against the teacher also would feel very hurtful. If a person's back is put against the wall, they are unlikely to look for a compromise. </p>

<p>That's why I suggest having only a couple of students politely talk to the teacher to see if they can work things out. By "well respected," I mean students who are respected by faculty for their hard work and courtesy, not loud mouths who'd tell the teacher to stick it where the sun don't shine.</p>

<p>I do not suggest going over the teacher's head to talk to the principal. One test is very trivial in the scheme of things. How you as a class handled things also was IMO inappropriate. I think that going over the teacher's head would simply make the teacher very mad and is unlikely to get you the results that your class wants. If the problem were a major issue: sexual harassment; a teacher not preparing the class for AP, a teacher not having any grading criteria -- then going to the principal would be appropriate, but I don't think it's worth it for this situation.</p>

14

<p>Northstar is right. An anonymous letter is cowardly and immature, no matter how well reasoned or judiciously phrased. If you want a mature response from your teacher, you need approach this problem maturely--by respectfully expressing your concerns to your teacher and trying to work things out.</p>

15

<p>Steaky - Uh, it says Irvine right below my name. Yeah, even rich school districts have poor teachers.</p>

<p>Northstarmom - It's not just one test. This teacher is in general a very poor teacher. He's almost like a college professor, what he lectures about is never on the exam and what's on the exam he's never lectured about. I could see his paranoia at an anonymous letter, but seriously, you have to agree that his own response was very immature. Being qualified doesn't make you good. This reminds me of my AP US history teacher last year. He was similar to this guy except a bit less boring and without such a bad attitude. He taught horridly. The pass rate on the AP Exam was around 50% (thankfully I got a 4). Now you may say, oh, that's rather high, but compared to the pass rate for AP European history when I took it the year before that which was ~88%. That class was taught well, the teacher cared about the students, explained facts in detail. Never did I hear a single complaint about her. And we're not picking on the teacher. The AP Euro teacher was a forty year old diabetic with a husky voice and a mean face. Before entering the class everyone thought she was a b1tch, but after the first day, everyone loved her, she was a great teacher. As for AP Gov we're not even covering material relating to the AP exam. The exam tests on factual information and everything he lectures on is conceptual and totally irrevalent.</p>

<p>And this man has not written any letters of recommendations for us, he in general is not a very helpful teacher. Certainly not nice. Certainly not caring. He just doesn't seem to enjoy his job.</p>

<p>I believe, as a theory, that he's bitter that he didn't go anywhere with his degree. I for one, would be very unhappy to end up teaching high school after going through college and graduate school. I guess he didn't have much of a choice since he didn't go for a Law Degree or an MBA after his degree in Poly Sci... </p>

<p>Maybe he enjoys teaching. But I'm pretty sure it gets stale after ten years. You can only push yourself forward so much saying to yourself, "I love shaping young minds." Especially how the class is when he lectures, completely and utterly bored. I don't have trouble paying attention in any class except his.</p>

<p>I could see how he's offended that nobody cares about his class. Unfortunately it's quite true, a majority of the class is going into Bio and Engineering and have absolutely no interest in the subject.</p>

<p>My AP Physics teacher is a prime example of someone who overcame his bitterness. He graduated with a Masters in Physics, went to work for AMD back when they made chips for planes. The chip they created was 0.5 nanoseconds slower than the competitions, so the competition got the deal. Well, whatever happened, he ended up getting a teaching degree and has taught for the last 17 years. Does he act arrogant with his degree? Not really. He has very difficult tests (this semester I failed 2/3 of them). But regardless of that, everyone loves his class. He uses humor, he talks about the Simpsons, he gives nicknames to all the students. But even with this, he still enforces a strict policy. Homework must be turned in with name, date, period, correct assignment number at the top, two lines between each question. You get ONE thing wrong, like writing 3/24/2005, instead of 3/25/2005 and he gives you a zero on the whole assignment. The tests are ridiculous because he tests us on problems that we've never covered, but are supposed to deduce how to do through our logic. Well, that's better than Gov where we go into a test blind without even basic knowledge to help us draw conclusions. In fact, my AP Gov teacher asked "Why do you care about this class less than Physics?" </p>

<p>Hm. I wonder why.</p>

<p>Well, I'll be going to class in about an hour and half, so I'll tell you guys if he makes any comments. I decided I'm not going to submit the letter, I don't want to screw up and end up getting a D in his class because he gains personal bias. But Starman is going to start an argument in class because the teacher already hates him (literally sleeps the whole period). Heh, this should be interesting.</p>

<p>Anyways, yes we must look at the teacher's perspective, but how about the student's perspective for a change. Is authority always right? Is there really no such thing as a bad teacher? I think not.</p>

<p>Spoonyj - Unlike the teacher, the student has much to lose if he causes any tension to build up between them. The letter was not immature. The teacher had the choice of not putting the letter up for all to see. He instead decided to put it on the door scrawled with his immature messages. </p>

<p>He has no justification for claiming the Anonymous is cowardly if he himself acts cowardly in not confronting the issue at hand.</p>

<p>And we have expressed concerns in class, but all he seems to do is say the reason we do poorly is because we don't care and that there's absolutely nothing wrong with his teaching.</p>

16

<p>yeah, my AP Macroeconomics class is complete chaos. The last discussion we had was one about bikini waxes and if they hurt or not (the teacher was sitting at her desk talking about this with students). Kids bring in McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts and have full-course meals. A few weeks ago, students moved the back desks aside and played handball when we were supposed to be discussing monetary policy. When we have a test, she ends up having to curve them b/c everyone does horribly. Another thing that I HATE is when the rich, stuck-up snobs go up to her desk, open her grade book and LOOK at EVERYONE'S grades and laugh at the people who do badly-- and my teacher allows that !! I know I'm not going to pass the AP.
.... sorry about that rant.
Even though I think my teacher is <em>nice</em>, I was thinking of going to the principal and I think if something needs to be done then it needs to be done-- however, it should be done respectfully. I think the principal just needs to sit down with the teacher and ask what's going on. I remember I had students give anonymous comments in the past to another teacher of mine and he handled it well. Your teacher seems to be immature.</p>

17

<p>There are teachers like that in every school, and I'm sure in college too. </p>

<p>I'd say go for it.</p>

18

<p>Go for what? Being relentlessly hounded for the rest of the year? For getting the lowest grade in the history of the course? I urge coolman to cool off and get some perspective. All he really wants is out of this class with a decent grade. Please reread posts #6 and #12. If you antagonize this teacher directly any further, you are going to lose.</p>

19

<p>Just deal with it. Work harder and stop complaining. If you can match his his absurd requirements in tests and such then it makes you the better man. If you can adapt to even the worst of people then you can do anything. </p>

<p>However, since it is an AP gov class. I would really enjoy it if you and your classmates signed a "Declaration of dissapointment" in his teaching. Have everyone sign it and mimick it to be like the Dec of Ind. I would truly do that if he is unbearable.</p>

<p>But really, just deal with it. Be the bigger man. If you can beat him on his tests then you can do well in life whenever adversity arises.</p>

20

<p>"I believe, as a theory, that he's bitter that he didn't go anywhere with his degree. I for one, would be very unhappy to end up teaching high school after going through college and graduate school. I guess he didn't have much of a choice since he didn't go for a Law Degree or an MBA after his degree in Poly Sci... "</p>

<p>Your scorn and disdain for teaching is appalling. If your views reflect your classmates', I can see why the teacher seems indifferent.</p>

<p>Yes, there are some bad teachers. At the same time, there also are teachers who are repeatedly faced with students so condescending and uninterested that the teachers literally give up on teaching.</p>

<p>Believe it or not, some people like teaching. They don't see it as a career for failures or for people who can't do better. Just as is the case with people in other careers, people can be in teaching for many years and can continue to be inspired by the lightbulbs going off in students' eyes as the students grasp challenging material.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, if your current teacher really is awful, there is not much you probably can do about it now -- particularly not much you can do by simply being hostile and resentful. All you're doing is making things harder on yourselves.</p>

<p>Think about your goal: Getting a decent grade and passing the AP exam. After achieving your goal, yes, take your evidence and go to the principal, but right now, showing lots of hostility to the teacher probably isn't going to help you reach your goals.</p>