what makes a bad teacher?

[Anonymous]

-Lazy-doesn't check over homework or tests-just marks everything right and occasionally catches a mistake when in fact there are many

-No classroom management skills

-Poor attitude

-Posts drunk photos on facebook where students can find them

-

[Anonymous]

I completly disagree with the "parents make better teachers" argument. I've seen great teachers in their first year and in their 30th year, some who are childless and some who have grandchildren. I will qualify this by saying that I think it's a lot harder to be a great teacher and a parent because both require a lot of your free time. Not saying it's impossible, but it is harder.

I've seen some bad teaching before and the underlying common thread seems to be teachers who just don't care about their job. They don't care about the students, don't care about their profession or trying to get better, they just do what they can to get by. I also see bad teachers who go on power trips and humiliate their students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers who don't understand how impossibly brilliant my child is and that he needs way more attention than anyone else in class.
Teachers who don't value my opinion when it comes to the curriculum they are teaching.
Teachers that don't appreciate that I have to pay taxes to pay their salary.
Teachers who take time off from work when they are sick or their own child is sick.

Are you kidding?

- No your child does not deserve more attention than the rest of the class. You want special attention for your little snowflake? Hire a tutor.

- Your opinion and 5 dollars will buy me a latte at Starbucks. Teachers don't always have any say in the curriculum and probably don't always feel comfortable sharing their opinions about it with parents lest the parent report that back to the principal.

- Guess who else pays taxes? Teachers! If you want to really lord the fact that you're paying someone for a service, again go hire a a tutor.

- So what is the better solution? Come to work sick and risk getting worse, or getting your precious angel snowflake sick? Force their kid to go to school when sick? You're a real prize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers who don't understand how impossibly brilliant my child is and that he needs way more attention than anyone else in class.
Teachers who don't value my opinion when it comes to the curriculum they are teaching.
Teachers that don't appreciate that I have to pay taxes to pay their salary.
Teachers who take time off from work when they are sick or their own child is sick.

Are you kidding?

- No your child does not deserve more attention than the rest of the class. You want special attention for your little snowflake? Hire a tutor.

- Your opinion and 5 dollars will buy me a latte at Starbucks. Teachers don't always have any say in the curriculum and probably don't always feel comfortable sharing their opinions about it with parents lest the parent report that back to the principal.

- Guess who else pays taxes? Teachers! If you want to really lord the fact that you're paying someone for a service, again go hire a a tutor.

- So what is the better solution? Come to work sick and risk getting worse, or getting your precious angel snowflake sick? Force their kid to go to school when sick? You're a real prize.

Calm down. I'm pretty sure that poster was JOKING.

[Anonymous]

- bad teachers who don't see themselves as part of the problem.

[Anonymous]

DS had one this year - his homeroom teacher. she truly acted like she could give a shit. at first I thought maybe it was me/us as DS has an IEP and can be impulsive....but then I saw her interacting with the other kids and honestly I was floored.

Total lack of interest. has a monotone voice - BUHLER....BUHLER...., in parent/teacher conference she literally says NOTHING. We lead the conversation, very little feedback other than YEAH, SORT OF, MAYBE, OK. So happy this year is over.

[Anonymous]

Teachers who just assign classwork and homework expecting students to do everything independently and in small groups.
Teachers who wait until the last day of school to tell the student "you got a zero in your exam".
This just happened to us ...

[Anonymous]

The dictionary definition of a bad teacher should be my daughter's third grade teacher at parochial school. She was incompetent, had no classroom management skills, assigned ridiculously complex assignments that had very little redeeming academic value (eye candy), bullied kids whose parents weren't part of the "in" crowd.

[Anonymous]

Okay and she could not handle it at our location and moved to another school. same as Maria L. Muley. The same teacher we called EMS for when she thought her daughter was dying. She has the report of how many times she has tried to have a baby, but she is very touched in the head - you will notice this the moment you speak with her. SO to answer your question, all of that is public record. My child is no longer with her.

[Anonymous]

I'm a high school teacher, and I get great results from students. Most students/parents like me, and there are a lot of requests each year to admin by students who want to be in my classes for the next year.

However, each year there are always some parents who would describe me as a "bad teacher". Here are the reasons I am a "bad teacher" to them:

1. I don't give undeserved grades. When a student gets an A from me, he/she has mastered the material and demonstrates mastery in test/quiz scores and well-crafted, well-written compositions. I won't give an A to your child if he/she is not performing academically at an A level. I don't care if your child really wants an A, or if you believe that your child should have an A, or if your child got As in elementary school.

2. I stay after school three days a week to help students with their writing on a walk-in basis. I have informed students/parents of these days/hours, and some students regularly attend one or more days per week, resulting in stronger compositions and improved writing skills. I am the only person in my department who does this. I am not sympathetic to your pleas that your C/D student cannot stay after school to work one-on-one with me to improve his/her skills because he/she "is really tired after school" or "participates in a lot of sports".

3. I have 82 students. It takes hours to carefully read and write comments in just one class section's compositions. I believe it is very important that I carefully read and respond to each draft of each composition. Thus, it will take up to one week for your child to get a draft back from me. I will not pull back-to-back all-nighters so that your child can have his/her 5 page composition draft back in one or two days. Similarly, I will not "skim" your child's work and write a check or check minus on the top to save time, failing to provide any comments to help your child craft a stronger second or final draft of the paper.

4. I will not allow your child to use wikipedia, schmoops.com, sparknotes.com, or similar as "sources" for their compositions. I am very clear about this, and I took a lot of time/care explaining the acceptable format for a paper, and showing children how to choose appropriate sources. You can see examples on the class webpage.

5. Since I carefully read your child's compositions, I am familiar with your child's "writing voice". I can immediately tell when someone else wrote the paper your child is submitting, and I will keep your child after class in this case and ask him/her to explain each point in the paper. I don't feel bad that your child feels "shamed" because you "helped" (wrote the paper for him/her) with homework for an AP course.

6. No, I will not complete your child's Common App recs within 24 hours of being asked. I have many of these to write, and I put a lot of time into individualizing the recs because I care about my students and want Admissions at their chosen universities to understand that I know the student well. Trust me, you don't want me to just create a "form letter" rec so that you can have it quickly. Why did you wait to ask me for a rec until the December of your child's senior year, anyway?

7. No, I will not add "graphics", sound bites, or bouncing balls to my class website. I spend hours reading compositions and creating lessons to help my students become stronger readers and writers, and to help them get that 4 or 5 on the AP exam. I don't care if you like my colleague's colorful, musical website better; her students mostly got 2s and 3s on the AP exam last year anyway.

8. No, I don't agree that it is "inappropriate" of me to seize Larla's phone from her when I caught her texting under the desk for the third time. I don't care if you think it was "humiliating" that I texted her best friend back at that moment, telling the friend that I was going to tell her AP Chem teacher that she had also been texting in class. Your Larla would get a 2 or 3 if she took the AP exam today, and I want her to get a 4. I don't care if she thinks I'm a bitch.

9. I am not sorry that I told you that "our meeting is over" that time you came in to tell me that Larlo is sorry that he plagiarized a composition (for the third time this year). I am not going to back down on Larlo's punishment/the school's disciplinary action. What? You wrote the plagiarized composition FOR Larlo, so he "didn't really plagiarize himself, and begged me not to do it"? Sorry, meeting over. Go tell the head how "unreasonable" I am. Maybe he can explain this situation better than I have done.

10. No, I will not send comments/corrections on Larla's Common App essay on Christmas Eve OR EVEN ON CHRISTMAS DAY. That is how much of a bitch I am. Why did Larla wait until Christmas Eve to send me her composition when I told her back in October to show it to me ASAP? What? You've emailed me on December 26 to say that my message to Larla, in which I wrote that I would send her composition comments on December 28 has "made her feel that you don't care about her"?

That is all. I am a "bad teacher". Happy Holidays, everyone!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a high school teacher, and I get great results from students. Most students/parents like me, and there are a lot of requests each year to admin by students who want to be in my classes for the next year.

However, each year there are always some parents who would describe me as a "bad teacher". Here are the reasons I am a "bad teacher" to them:

1. I don't give undeserved grades. When a student gets an A from me, he/she has mastered the material and demonstrates mastery in test/quiz scores and well-crafted, well-written compositions. I won't give an A to your child if he/she is not performing academically at an A level. I don't care if your child really wants an A, or if you believe that your child should have an A, or if your child got As in elementary school.

2. I stay after school three days a week to help students with their writing on a walk-in basis. I have informed students/parents of these days/hours, and some students regularly attend one or more days per week, resulting in stronger compositions and improved writing skills. I am the only person in my department who does this. I am not sympathetic to your pleas that your C/D student cannot stay after school to work one-on-one with me to improve his/her skills because he/she "is really tired after school" or "participates in a lot of sports".

3. I have 82 students. It takes hours to carefully read and write comments in just one class section's compositions. I believe it is very important that I carefully read and respond to each draft of each composition. Thus, it will take up to one week for your child to get a draft back from me. I will not pull back-to-back all-nighters so that your child can have his/her 5 page composition draft back in one or two days. Similarly, I will not "skim" your child's work and write a check or check minus on the top to save time, failing to provide any comments to help your child craft a stronger second or final draft of the paper.

4. I will not allow your child to use wikipedia, schmoops.com, sparknotes.com, or similar as "sources" for their compositions. I am very clear about this, and I took a lot of time/care explaining the acceptable format for a paper, and showing children how to choose appropriate sources. You can see examples on the class webpage.

5. Since I carefully read your child's compositions, I am familiar with your child's "writing voice". I can immediately tell when someone else wrote the paper your child is submitting, and I will keep your child after class in this case and ask him/her to explain each point in the paper. I don't feel bad that your child feels "shamed" because you "helped" (wrote the paper for him/her) with homework for an AP course.

6. No, I will not complete your child's Common App recs within 24 hours of being asked. I have many of these to write, and I put a lot of time into individualizing the recs because I care about my students and want Admissions at their chosen universities to understand that I know the student well. Trust me, you don't want me to just create a "form letter" rec so that you can have it quickly. Why did you wait to ask me for a rec until the December of your child's senior year, anyway?

7. No, I will not add "graphics", sound bites, or bouncing balls to my class website. I spend hours reading compositions and creating lessons to help my students become stronger readers and writers, and to help them get that 4 or 5 on the AP exam. I don't care if you like my colleague's colorful, musical website better; her students mostly got 2s and 3s on the AP exam last year anyway.

8. No, I don't agree that it is "inappropriate" of me to seize Larla's phone from her when I caught her texting under the desk for the third time. I don't care if you think it was "humiliating" that I texted her best friend back at that moment, telling the friend that I was going to tell her AP Chem teacher that she had also been texting in class. Your Larla would get a 2 or 3 if she took the AP exam today, and I want her to get a 4. I don't care if she thinks I'm a bitch.

9. I am not sorry that I told you that "our meeting is over" that time you came in to tell me that Larlo is sorry that he plagiarized a composition (for the third time this year). I am not going to back down on Larlo's punishment/the school's disciplinary action. What? You wrote the plagiarized composition FOR Larlo, so he "didn't really plagiarize himself, and begged me not to do it"? Sorry, meeting over. Go tell the head how "unreasonable" I am. Maybe he can explain this situation better than I have done.

10. No, I will not send comments/corrections on Larla's Common App essay on Christmas Eve OR EVEN ON CHRISTMAS DAY. That is how much of a bitch I am. Why did Larla wait until Christmas Eve to send me her composition when I told her back in October to show it to me ASAP? What? You've emailed me on December 26 to say that my message to Larla, in which I wrote that I would send her composition comments on December 28 has "made her feel that you don't care about her"?

That is all. I am a "bad teacher". Happy Holidays, everyone!

82 students? lol!

I have 130.

cakewalk, honey bun

- HS English teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers that are not able to speak, or write in the english language.

I don't need my foreign language teacher to be able to speak English.
All my good teachers were knowledgeable beyond their subject, good at explaining things and calm. Bad ones didn't explain much, we just had to read the chapters.

[Anonymous]

Failure to assign homework of a substantive and regular nature starting early on (and I don't mean just 'read tonight').

Reading is one of the most important things your child can do to expand their background knowledge and vocabulary. It's too bad that you do not value this as homework.

[Anonymous]

We've had wonderful teachers with poor spelling/grammar, etc. I think in the early elementary years this doesn't matter at all.

Anonymous wrote:Teachers that are not able to speak, or write in the english language.

[Anonymous]

We've had wonderful teachers with poor spelling/grammar, etc. I think in the early elementary years this doesn't matter at all.

Strongly disagree with this statement. You really don't mind a poor model for your child?