<p>I need some advice on how to deal with my Spanish class. I'm really struggling in it and the teacher doesn't seem to be much help.
If you are absent from a class she won't tell you what they learned, she just says to get notes from someone else. It is hard because nobody takes really good notes. I asked her if it is in the textbook where I could go back and review but she said it is not there, she just teaches random stuff in class.
She doesn't assign any homework so there is no way to figure out if you are learning anything.
There is no review for the test so I have no idea what is on them, I've failed 4 of the last 5 tests. </p>
<p>I've tried talking to her numerous times but she is very unhelpful. She refers us to a student tutor if we are having problems. </p>
<p>This last test I thought if I just had an idea of what to study I would do better. I asked her and she was very helpful and told me the concepts I should review. I studied for 4 or 5 hours for the test and felt really prepared, however when I took the test there was a whole section she had explicitly told me would not be on there. I was really discouraged and just found out I got a C. I've never studied so hard for a test and gotten that low of a grade.</p>
<p>Talking to her doesn't seem to help, and when I do she lies to me about things so I don't trust her anymore. (duh.)
I'm usually a good student and have A's in all AP classes, so I don't think it is because I'm dumb.<br>
What should I do?</p>
<p>You may want to go to your VP with a parent. The staff probably already knows she’s a problem. </p>
<p>My kids had a hard time with a Spanish teacher who hated that they left her class to go off-site for sports tournaments-honors Spanish classes were always at the end of the day. She penalized them by lowering their grades. </p>
<p>I, unfortunately was on staff at the school and ran into her all of the time. </p>
<p>The staff all knew that this teacher played favorites and played with a point system in her class. She was given permission to teach AP Spanish and, only 5 students signed up, She went all over the campus trying to get students to request the class but had no luck. She attempted to badger my kids into taking the class (to increase her number by at least 2 students) so they asked me to talk to her. I had to tell her that my kids didn’t think they had the background or ability in Spanish (i.e. previous lowered grades she had given them) to perform well in the AP class. </p>
<p>So, she then told me that my kids were very capable (which I knew already-we’re Spanish speakers) but she had to give them lower grades because of their attendance in missing her class for sports. I told her that I counseled them to not take the AP class because I saw their grades and I was concerned they would not do well in an AP Spanish class.
I told her that I had “no idea” that she used their participation in sports to penalize their grades. She asked me to explain to my children to “reconsider” her class, but I told her that since my children were adversely impacted by the grades she had given to all three of my kids, that I couldn’t in good conscious, recommend her class because of the previous grades and knowing since they all played sports, she would lower their grade. She told me she wouldn’t be as harsh to my kids, but I told her that her grading system needed to be fair for all of her students. She looked dumbfounded. They school dropped the course; 2 years later they offered it to another teacher and that teacher had well over 200 students request it.</p>
<p>So my point is that you need to go to a higher level person on campus, and have your parent tell the administrator that you and your family have completed the recommendations made by the teacher and are still have difficulty with the class. He or she will know what you are talking about. </p>
<p>If it is a private school, you may make some headway. If it is a public school, the wheels of justice grind slowly- you will make headway, but it will probably take years for the teacher to feel any pressure to change.</p>
<p>Peopleare creatures of habit. If you can find someone who took the class in a previous year and they saved their tests, it is likely that she will cover the same topics and materials from year to year.</p>