The teacher may (or may not) be the problem, but I haven’t read anything that’s suggests she’s “toxic.” I certainly wouldn’t be throwing around that word to administrators without some supporting evidence. Being a difficult and subjective grader, even not giving the most constructive feedback in the student’s eye, doesn’t make her “toxic.”
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The art teacher at our local high school is notoriously tough. But she’s a good instructor and kids still fill her classes. Do you think you would enjoy the class more if you took the grades out of the picture? You’re still a sophomore right? There is no guarantee that you would have straight As in the future even without this class in the picture. And if everyone has a 4.0 that means that there is probably a fair bit of grade inflation going on at your school. The art teacher might not have gotten the memo yet. I guess you have a bit of cognitive dissonance going on. You expected a relaxing, easy A and it turns out that it’s not. Once you recalibrate your expectations you might find yourself challenged as a student and enjoying the growth that the class provides you. You still get to do art right? This is coming from someone that went to a high school where straight As were not a thing. 100% was never given and over 90% was a very rare occasion. It was rather freeing, because it taught us to be good students but not perfect. I know the school you are at is different so I would counsel you to adjust your expectations, remove the stress (unless the stress is a driving force for your art😁) and learn to be a B art student in your teacher’s eyes and an A art student in your own. If you continue to be miserable in the class you might want to see if you can change electives mid year. Good luck!
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I find that I learn the most from frustrating, unfair, “toxic” situations. But that requires developing the wisdom to see the situation from another perspective.
Perhaps the teacher wants the OP to focus more on creativity and less on a “plug and chug” approach- do X then Y then Z you get an A. Perhaps the teacher wants the OP to learn to appreciate that some of her “dumber” classmates in fact, have a better eye and more talent when it comes to art. Or perhaps the teacher is just a mean old witch.
But until the OP comes to realize that she does NOT need a 4.0 average, and that getting a B is not a problem, or that not every teacher in her career is going to bestow A’s just for trying- she won’t have the perspective to gain some learning out of this experience.
OP- couldn’t you relax even MORE in this class if you decided that you wanted to learn and didn’t care at all about the grade??? In which case- problem solved! You took the class to relax- and it worked!!!
Hugs. You are going to figure this out, I’m sure…
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