<p>I've been trying to figure out what to think of him........he's really nice, but he does things once in a while that seem kind of sexist. A few weeks ago we were learning about the calculus "washer" method (referring to the disc-type of washer) in his class, and he stops and asks the girls if any of them know what a washer is. Then he says that one girls in his 3rd period didn't know, and jokes that it "goes right next to the dryer, huh?". He also had us do this thing where he divides us into girls and boys and we race doing math problems on the board. The girls in our period didn't do too well, as he says that "man, the girls in the other periods didn't do very well, but none of them did this badly." Since we have a different number of girls than boys, I thought it would have been better to just divide the class in half according to where we sit, since we sit in rows going front to back. It was weird to come into class and hear him say "girls by the door, boys by the window."</p>
<p>I remember also at the beginning of the year he said he became a math teacher because he had a math teacher at his high school who gave A's to the girls who "sat on his lap, and us boys scraped by with C's" and that he majored in calculus so that he could take that guy's job. I wondered when he said that if it meant that he less respect for girls or something. People say he's really conservative too, and he has a few sons but no daugters. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>I think that he's sexist, and his comments are insulting and inappropriate. I also suggest that the girls in his classes document his remarks -- dates, quotes, etc. Then talk to their parents about what's going on, and then ask their parents to complain to the administration. (Boysand their parents, too, can complain. I have sons, but if my sons told me about things like that going on in their classes, I would complain. )</p>
<p>What he's doing also is called sexual harassment, and people lose their jobs for those kind of remarks.</p>
<p>Thanks, I feel a lot better about it now- no one else seems to have mentioned it much. The weird thing is, if I see him in the hall or something he'll always smile and say hi, and he always seems like a decent person, it's just once in a while he'll come out with stuff like this, and I'm not sure what to think.</p>
<p>I would jot down the stuff he is saying, and take it to a counseler. What he is doing is wrong, you are very assute to see it, and if you feel uncomfortable, you can tell the counselor to keep your name confident because with your teachers attitude toward girls, who knows what snide little remarks he may make. Get a couple of girls to go with you. Or go to your parents and have them go to the school like Northstarmom said. DO not take it any longer. Talk to girls in his other classes and inlist their help. There is power in numbers.</p>
<p>Well, curious, is he joking? I know one of my male teachers will joke with us girls sometimes. He'll make comments that would be sexist, but one of us jump in at him with a comment back and we'll all have a chuckle and get back to the listen. But he rarely divides girls/boys unless we're like "Oh, come on!" He normally divides it by grade or something when there are games. </p>
<p>It sounds like he does have 'grounds' for being sexist, with his little past history. Do what was said earlier. I hope it helps.</p>
<p>P.S. - the fact he only has sons isn't his fault. well, it is, but well, you know what I mean! He didn't chose a son.</p>
<p>lol yeah, I've just always kind of believed that men with daughters are somehow immune from becoming sexist, hehe, but I guess that point is kinda irrelevant.</p>
<p>He's just joking around, lighten up, it's not going to kill you. I tell horribly offensive jokes all the time. Just today I told my french class why I was better than Jesus.</p>
<p>If he's actually hurting your grades just because you're a girl, then you have a legitimate gripe.</p>
<p>LOL that is nothing compared to my english teacher. He went on a huge rant about how guys are strong and dont cry while girls are fragile and cry all the time. Then he asked a guy when the last time he cried was and he said "I don't know," and the teacher said "That is because you are a man." Then he yelled at a girl next to him "AND WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED REALLY HARD???? LAST PERIOD I BET HUH HUH!!" That is just one example of a comment he has made.</p>
<p>Yeah I used to have a geography teacher..and he was always "joking around", but sometimes it got a little crazy. I wore this flower hair-piece thing and it was around spring time..and he said something and called me a "blooming idiot" afterward. I didn't really care cuz I don't like to get into fights, and I knew he was joking, but we had some crazy feminists that were totally offended and got him in trouble. </p>
<p>wbm, your teacher is very rude--I feel sorry for the girl he said that to.</p>
<p>Whether or not he is joking, the comments are inappropriate. I used to work in human resources. The kind of so-called jokes the the OP's teachers (and some other poster's teachers) are making are the kind of "jokes" that create a hostile environment and get people fired.</p>
<p>I would be irate if I heard that those kind of "jokes" were going on in classes that my S is taking. Anything that puts down students creates a bad environment for everyone, including students who lack the characteristics that are being made fun of.</p>
<p>It's amazing what is tolerated in public schools today. Unfortunately, it's very hard to remove a teacher - even for sexist behavior. What they need is a thick file of grievances, so it's your responsibility, I believe, to take the matter to your counselor, principal or vice-principle (use your judgement as to who would be most likely to take your complaint seriously and act on it). They may ask you to make the complaint in writing. Keep notes and dates of the offensive behavior, and document it with the complaint. Tell your friends to do so as well. It will help down the line, and you will feel empowered, as you will know he's not really getting away with it.</p>
<p>If your parents will get involved and tell other parents, all the better. If they won't or can't, you can still make a difference.</p>
<p>Get other students in your class to back you up. Don't do it alone. Talk to other girls and sympathetic guys. Get them to document what's going on, talk to their parents, and then the students and/or parents in a group need to approach the administration with the major problem. By "administration," I mean the principal or assistant principal, whomever supervises the teacher. The GC does not supervise the teacher, so the GC is not whom you need to contact. If the principal refuses to get involved, then go to the principal's boss -- the school superintendent. This is not a trivial issue, and it is something that any supervisor with good sense would not tolerate.</p>
<p>This doesn't sound like sexist behavior. It sounds like a lot of events that had something to do with gender, and you are stringing them together and lumping them into a category called "sexist comments."</p>
<p>I'm not sure if I need to go as far as administration........he is a nice guy, I'm thinking about just coming in after school and talking to him about it, just telling him that it makes me feel uncomfortable and ask him to think more carefully before making comments. Would this be a reasonable thing to do?</p>
<p>Just because someone thinks he is joking around, does not make it okay. What he says is sexist. Does he ever say, oh yeah, all you dumb jocks are slow, or you URM just don't get the math, or you big people, or whatever group he picks...unless he "teases" every group equally, and good naturedly, then he has a problem. People tend to think sexist comments are okay, but if the teacher said blacks, hispanics, asians, instead of girls, then they might realize what the teacher is saying is bad. My suggestion: print out this thread and put in the teachers mailbox. </p>
<p>"This doesn't sound like sexist behavior. It sounds like a lot of events that had something to do with gender, and you are stringing them together and lumping them into a category called "sexist comments." </p>
<p>ummm a pattern of behavior, all having to do with gender is a problem. A one time comment is one thing, a pattern of comments putting down a class of people is another. So, unlucycharms, when does it become a problem, how many comments, how many shide remarks does it take before you would consider it something to be addressed? 3, 5, 10, 100?</p>
<p>i believe all of you are taking his jokes way tooooo far. Getting a guy fired over some remarks? If it bothers you that much, talk to the teacher about it instead of going behind his back and trying to get him fired. Geez!</p>
<p>good luck with the firing... highly unlikely as he probably has tenure... but yea i do think maybe this is an overreaction? not that i'm saying it's not uncalled for, but yes my math teacher makes dumb blonde jokes, but we all know he is just kidding... maybe it's cuz he looks like santa i don't know, but just take it in stride, he's only ur teacher for another 3 months...</p>
<p>The reason that I suggest that students have their parents talk to administration is that it seems that the man has a pattern of making sexist remarks and also doing things (pitting the girls against the guys, for example) that lead to girls being singled out in a negative way and disadvantaged. The problem is something that needs to be addressed with him by his supervisor. There is clearly a problem with how he is running his classes and how he regards his students. If a student talks to him privately about it, it sounds more like a personal issue, not something that really does affect everyone.</p>
<p>It also would be easy for him to shrug off the student's comments by assuming that she's oversensitive or on her period or whatever stupidity goes through his mind when it comes to females.</p>
<p>High school should be a time in which students are not put down for gender, racial or other reasons. In addition, students should be being taught how to cooperate in diverse groups, not be encouraged to cluster in similar groups and to pit themselves against other people. For instance, I doubt that it would be considered OK if the teacher pitting the URMs against the whites and Asians in problem solving or were having fat students pitted against normal weight ones.</p>
<p>Do not feel that if your parents and others parents address the problem with administrators that if he gets into trouble, it's somehow your fault. His behavior really is inappropriate and is a problem for everyone -- male and female -- whom he teaches. Remember, while he's not singling out the guys for those negative remarks, he is a role model for them about how males are supposed to act on jobs, and how males should act with females, including females who are their colleagues. </p>
<p>It is unlikely, too, that he'd get fired for the things that you have described. However, if his boss realizes what's going on, his boss should give him advice and education about what is proper behavior on the job.</p>
<p>On a daily basis my english teacher makes comments how horrible poeple all men are. She makes fun of men all the time, obliously in a joking manner, but she definitly has a bias. Complaining only gets you on the teacher's bad side. Complaining about your boss in a company won't get you a promotion. Sometime you just have to deal with it. Until it gets to the point where you can't handle it, just chill and take it. You can't take these types of comments/actions personally. The politcal correctness of our society has gotten completely out of hand. Untill it serisouly affects your ability to learn in the classroom you have nothing to complain about.</p>