<p>I was given an 88.8% and my only B ever yet in Health of all classes by a rotten apple of a teacher. If you go to Salisbury University or Worwic,-avoid her. she stated at the first day of class that she "hates people and would much rather be at home with her dog/cat than be here with us". I swear to god she said that--I was shocked someone so disaffected and apathetic could be allowed to impact society at all in her position...Apparently she has done some good work with breast cancer survivors and helping them rehabilitate. But that doesn't excuse her for her passionless-downright rude antagonistic attitude towards me and the other students. She clearly is disinterested in teaching the coursework req'd for us to succeed in the class, as evidenced when she played movies for the 2 of the last 3 classes and on the 3rd to last class she just said "pair up and study" for the entire 1hr n a half class. What should I do? I don't really have the option to fight my unfair B grade, but I want to let the college know how horrible of an influence she is on the student body as a whole and the kids she teaches especially. She clearly sees this job as a paycheck, and she thinks it "below" her to teach at the lowly Comm. Coll. when she is a prof. at the highly prestigious and academically rigorous Salisbury University (PFFFFT- LOL Yea Right! Puhhhlease)</p>
<p>To be frank, yes I am embittered by the experience. Being given an 89% by a rotten prof. who refused to grant me a meeting to let me look over final exam or any of my coursework grades for mistakes...(She told me that the grades are "posted online to see, clear as day for us to see." When she refused a meeting, I called the dept. head, and she was abrasive and rude on the phone as well. At one point, she said "if that's tyhe grade she said you got, then I got her back on it." Well who's got my back for christ sake?! What the hell is this, college or the thin blue line? I understand that they watch out for each other, but that statement is just terrible. I thought that it was ridiculous that I can't examine my grades to check for any possibly error, as only 5-10 points would've pushed me to an A. A fact which I am still VERY embittered by, as I did A LOT of extra work in the class; even trying to help others I knew were doomed on the final (fyi, I read the entire book the few days before the final, and still got a 126/150, and I am a PHENOMENAL test taker, no hyperbole; I regularly take no notes or study at all in my demanding BIO and History classes and get a 100% on all exams).</p>
<p>Turns out a few days before the final, "Mrs. B" tells us that the final is very hard and that "many of her students fail it". HMM odd, as I have a stupid friend who also has Health, but a different teacher who got an A in the class and a B on the exam... AND HIS BRAIN IS MUSH! He is literally burnt out, not to be mean but it's true --
So I, knowing this, made a 50 Q? study guide for final with answers (which she point blank refused to help us review for!)-I made dozen copies for peers-posted it online and handed them out before the test-individually tutored them-I also lost 30lbs in the semester:it's part of our course objectives so we did a semester long fitness journal. Bottom line, I feel I deserved an A, but even moreso than that, I feel she shouldn't be able to teach; she deserves to be barred from interacting with students. Period. </p>
<p>Opinions? Concerns? Advice? Criticism? All is welcome, I have had this on my chest for a while now, and just want some feedback...</p>
<p>Sad, but very funny because it’s health class and college and only one B. You will be fine, and now you have a great bad college teacher story. Everyone has one.</p>
<p>Oh, forgot, on one occasion she chastised me in front of class because during the nutrition chapter, I asked her if nutrition and protein bars are good supplements or not. Her reply?: She shouted at me and said"I AM NOT AN EXPERT! Don’t ask me about that kind of stuff! If you care, google it!" in a very rude and condescending manner. </p>
<p>That event really cauterized my natural inquisitiveness, and I don’t want other, perhaps less thick-skinned students to be discouraged because of such treatment.</p>
<p>Lol, soso, you are right. It is a good “bad teacher” story. She is horrendous. My only personal concern aty this point is that I just worry for others that she may have contact with in the future. I know she will be just as apathetic and sour-attituded(<–not a word, but fitting nonetheless lol)</p>
<p>Oh, by the way, what is the policy regarding a student’s ability to check to make sure no errors were made when teacher graded ass’gns? She literally gave no graded feedback on anything I did besides verbal abuse in class for asking questions out of curiosity.</p>
<p>I’ve looked it up, and she has NO positive ratings on that site. This is an outrage. I deserve an untarnished 4.0, as I am exceptional student, and this is an injustice honestly. I even sent her an email, stating that I wished to review how she came to my grades, she refused point black, told me to take it up with the dept. head (her enforcer–she just bullied me on the phone-however she didn’t realize I am not exactly a pushover when in an argument I really pursued this right at the end of the semester, it just seemed like a big undertaking, like it was me against the entire school and all of her lines of defenses. I felt like I had to prove something to be able to review my grades. I looked up the FERPA act, and sent an email to her citing it. Got not response. Since I only recieve a Pell Grant, I am not taking summer classes, and must work full-time until next Fall when I can continue my studies. I would just hate to have that .9% or whatever it was be the difference between me being able to go to an Ivy league or not… And I related that sentiment to her in an email (one of a dozen or so…) After going to the Dept. Head, the next step was the dean of academic affairs, and I was already embroiled in a full-time work schedule. I’m afraid I just lost my will. They beat me with their apathy and bullyish tactics. and I am ashamed of this fact, as this kind of injustice is just what I want to confront in my career (attorney)… I felt like nobody else had ever “bucked the system” before. I believe that the people I dealt with had in all likelihood never dealt with someone like me who didn’t tacitly accept their unfair grade. I want to follow up on this, I just don’t know how. By the way, on ratemyprofessor.com, she is on Salisbury University and name is Cathy Bryan.</p>
<p>I feel that even though I make a very well stated argument, these admin. officials are just too hand in glove with the profs and take their position over students blindly. It doesn’t matter how articulate, eloquent, or logical my argument is, their bond and their faculty “code” gives them a definite proclivity to take the side of their colleagues;a sad but true fact of small comm. colleges such as mine… Maybe one day my inquisitiveness will be rewarded instead of seen as nuisance. Until that day, I just have to be a good Lemming I suppose…</p>
<p>mkgoggins, my advice – since you asked – is to let it go. Mind you, I’m a sensitive, sympathetic person, but honestly, this is just not worth getting your knickers in a twist. If she had flunked you, that would be one thing. But sheesh, a grade of B is not a catastrophic event. Send an email to the Dean, if that makes you feel better. And then direct the rest of your outrage and passion toward something important, like saving the environment.</p>
<p>Lasma, i would partly agree. Except the part where you say it isn’t important. I would argue it is extremely important. this is the kind of teacher that is a detrimental element in academia. She serves no beneficiary purpose, she is a cancer, she needs to be expelled from the whole of academia. Other students–as I said before–may not be as thick-skinned as I, and maybe she will forever smother another student’s inquisitiveness/curiosity/self-esteem. Teachers like her need to be rooted out, identified and removed, wouldn’t you agree? they serve no positive purpose whatsoever. I say you are partly correct, in my circumstance, it could be worse no doubt, but others may still be her future victims which is tearing away at my conscience. I cannot simply bury my head and say oh well, it’s all over nothing I can do now" Well there IS something I can do, perhaps I can change the administrations mind about keeping her around…</p>
<p>My whole issue is that I just picture someone who is not as perserverant as I coming in contact with her and having a similar experience and just giving up on higher education because of a run in with one of these kinds of teachers. This kind of thing can make someone give up on higher education altogether, and frankly it makes me sad. And since I am in a position to “possibly” have an impact in this matter, I think I should “fight it” as Brielle said, maybe I can save someone from chalking up all teachers to being of her ilk and throwing in the towel before they can even see their true potential when nurtured by a truly great teacher.</p>
<p>On a side note, I can’t even FIND another prof. with even close to a 1.5 score on Ratemyprofessor.com. That should tell you something scary right there…</p>
<p>I’m not disputing that she’s a terrible teacher. Like I said, by all means communicate with the administration about your experience. And then you will have done all you can do, and you have to let it go. Don’t stay boiled up about it.</p>
<p>It’s a great reminder to use Rate My Professor prior to signing up for classes…</p>
<p>In reality? It’s likely going to be very difficult for you to do anything. You could try the Dean, but you’ll get further if you’re tactful and polite - firm - but tactful and polite. If you sound like an angered student who got their first “bad” grade you’ll just get brushed aside as one of many they come across over the years.</p>
<p>1° you can fight but it probably won’t change anything. However a B, even if underserved, is not a tragedy. I assume that Health is a 1 credit class or something, anyway.
If the dean changed the grades for all students who felt they didn’t get what they deserved, it’d be a full-time job and everyone would get a 4.0. So if the problem is just that you don’t deserve a B, nothing will be done.
You’re not a client and the Dean isn’t customer service. A grade isn’t a shirt that won’t fit.
However if you get the average for the class and there’s a significant deviation compared to other classes, you may have a case (ie, if the average is 80 and your section’s average is 70, with a grade ditribution of 30%As, 40%Bs and 30% Cs and Ds in the other section but 10%As, 30%Bs and 60% Cs and Ds in your section). In that case your entire section’s grades would be reviewed not just yours. However that is extremely, extremely rare. Typically you have to forget it and tell yourself it prepares you for the real world where unfair, downright outrageous or totally off topic job evaluations are common (and make you lose money to boot).
2° your instructor may be an adjunct who is paid horribly (I do mean horribly, like $400 a month - that’s not a typo) to teach a class she’s not supposed to teach (ie she was hired to teach English but they tacked Health on to it). Her hope may well be that if she doesn’t do a good job she won’t be forced into it again. Anyway you may suggest, rather than she’s a kind of monster as per your subject line and description, that she doesn’t like teaching the class and clearly resents having to teach it, can she be given another class to teach?
Just so you know, being berated publicly isn’t unheard of and organizing review sessions isn’t a requirement, college students are supposed to be mature enough to do it themselves.
I do commend you on designing that review paper. Hold on to it as it may come in handy to kids next semester and you might have found yourself a part time job as a tutor (in the “make lemonade” tradition)
3° I understand your concern for other students and indeed someone should be aware of the problem. You must understand however that your tone makes you sound like a kid who’s never had something unfair happen to him before, has always coasted or been proved right or helped by someone so that things turn back to his advantage, but is discovering life is unfair and wants <em>something</em>to be done. This is unlikely to endear you to anyone. (The Dean probably thought, like many adults here, “is that your big problem? Seriously?”) Your points are valid but you would be listened to (and heard) more if you sounded more reasonable about it, trying to make the situation better for all involved (the entire class, the college, the instructor, and yourself). And I do realize that it’s very hard to do when something unfair has been done but right now either you manage it or you’d better give up.
4° When I read your title, I thought you’d discovered a teacher who abused children, an instructor who’d slept with a student for grade change, or other truly serious problems that you needed help with. Try to avoid overdramatic subject lines and state them plainly like “got a grade I don’t deserve from horrible instructor, what to do?”</p>
<p>I’d go so far as to say that by making the instructor so easy to identify, combined with your exaggerated accusations, that you are flirting with libel.</p>
<p>Ha, I would love to have a debate with you ion this topic… In a mature way, not abusive or agressive or any of that kind of manner. But you do make quite a few presumptions about me. Firstly, I already tutor a good portion of my peers and get a fee of about 7 bux an hour. I am hardly someone who has had anything easy. I work very hard for my 4.0 GPA, and I know I should have one right not, and not a 3,9. But that is not what upsets me. It was the way I was treated like I was guilty of something for requesting a meeting to review the grading she did. I literally had to battle against at least 5 lines of defense (for her mind you) before I would even be able to get to anywhere close to meeting and speaking with anyone who had the power to become a reconciling agent in the matter (if they were even inclined to do so at all). I think for you to make assumptions is quite arrogant and lowers any validity you may have had in your arguments. For your knowledge I was nothing but courteous in my requests, and on the phone with the dept. head, it was as though I were a lowly serf begging for some day old bread from the fiefdom the way I was talked to. I don’t think there was anything out of line with my tone at all. And to propose that I have simply been “handed things in life, or coasted by” in life is quite a rude and uninformed stance to take, For your information I lost my father when I was very young, that’s why I had to drop out of H.S. I am doing this because I want to support my mother who is without any prospect for retirement at this point, and I want her to be able to enjoy her later years without the worry she has had for the past 30 years of her life. You don’t know the struggles I’ve had. That is what insults me the most. I only want to ameliorate situations like the ones I experienced by the hands of this teacher/“holier-than-thou” system that faculty members often take. I, unlike you, stand up when I feel I’ve been wronged. Just because I am a student and they are the teacher, does not mean I am any less of a human being. If anything I want to help her and everyone around me by bettering the entire institution. So maybe think twice before you accuse others of being aggressive, spoiled, whiners when you have no clue about them in the slightest. By the way, arguing your point is in no way disrespectful as you may have been led to believe. Freethinking is still a valuable virtue no matter what you may have been told in your academic career…</p>
<p>Go on. How so? I am truly curious as to how this could be the case. Enlighten me.“snarlatron” How exactly do you know if any of my claims are exaggerated? You are completely uninformed as to the voracity of any of my claims–so how can you claim they are baseless? Explain please, I would love to hear how you explain yourself now. Libel. Ha. Show me how this is so and I will completely go back on my principles and claim you the winner of this argument.</p>
<p>mkgoggins: I am on your side. But your subject line IS melodramatic, and this B is probably one you’ll have to live with. That said, if I could I would help you fight it. I really would. You might benefit from throwing all of your energy into fighting this, rather than arguing with strangers. You asked their advice. They gave it. Take it like a man :)</p>
<p>As far as libel, you very well might be playing with it. I was shocked that you actually identified the teacher. Nothing is wrong with going on RMP and complaining, or coming on here saying “My math teacher had a bout with kidney stones at the start of the semester. I wish he’d have them again.” (ahem). I have even gone as far as to mention teacher’s names in convo online as long as the topic is neutral or positive. When you start making accusations that could threaten someone’s career - though you may very well be correct - you could get into some trouble. Frankly, as a future attorney I am surprised you didn’t know that.</p>
<p>I am appreciative of EVERYONE’s posts in the thread, I just really like to argue my viewpoint, and I admit, I do sometime get overzealous. But as far as you being worried for her losing her job, what if she were in a different profession? They have sites like angies list, etc that tell other people seeking to hire workers on the internet how well(or bad) they perform, about how terrible their plumber or contractor was;whatever may be the case may be. Why are educators exempt in this situation?</p>
<p>For example, say a surgeon mucked up a lap-band surgery and it got infected and he offered no help. He would immediately be a pariah in his field. Now that analogy was not very apt, but is this not the same principle? My question is this: why are teachers seen as beyond reproach in these cases? Is there any other member of the workforce that is completely exempt from being subject to scrutiny and being warned about if they botch their job, so why the heck is is not the same for teachers?! I mean if a plumber screws up, maybe a pipe gets busted, but if a teacher really does something similarly wrong, don’t you all think that has far reaching consequences(like, impacts that have harsh consequences on a human being’s psyche?? </p>
<p>I think there should be more people standing up for their rights. It was evident that nobody else cares as much as I regarding their grade, but why is it a bad thing in all your views that I am criticizing how a teacher conducts herself. I just think it is a bad idea to tacitly allow such behavior without any repercussions…I know if I was doing a terrible job at work, I’d get reprimanded and then fired. Why do some teachers have no such punishment hanging over their heads?</p>
I really pursued this right at the end of the semester, it just seemed like a big undertaking, like it was me against the entire school and all of her lines of defenses. I felt like I had to prove something to be able to review my grades. I looked up the FERPA act, and sent an email to her citing it. Got not response. Since I only recieve a Pell Grant, I am not taking summer classes, and must work full-time until next Fall when I can continue my studies. I would just hate to have that .9% or whatever it was be the difference between me being able to go to an Ivy league or not… And I related that sentiment to her in an email (one of a dozen or so…) After going to the Dept. Head, the next step was the dean of academic affairs, and I was already embroiled in a full-time work schedule. I’m afraid I just lost my will. They beat me with their apathy and bullyish tactics. and I am ashamed of this fact, as this kind of injustice is just what I want to confront in my career (attorney)… I felt like nobody else had ever “bucked the system” before. I believe that the people I dealt with had in all likelihood never dealt with someone like me who didn’t tacitly accept their unfair grade. I want to follow up on this, I just don’t know how. By the way, on 
Anyway you may suggest, rather than she’s a kind of monster as per your subject line and description, that she doesn’t like teaching the class and clearly resents having to teach it, can she be given another class to teach?