The Firing Squad thread

[Jacen McCullough]

This thread is meant to be predominantly for the students who frequent this board. One thing the teachers are always looking out for (at least beginning teachers like myself) is feedback on what does or does not make them an effective teacher. As a way to get at that, I wanted to create this thread which is meant to be a place for the students here to vent about teachers they hate, things that bothered them about a teacher etc. Did a teacher bore you to death today? Tell us. Was a lesson particularly interesting? Tell us about it. Is there a teacher who day after day just comes off as insulting to you? Tell us about it and describe the things that teacher does that just rubs you the wrong way. Hopefully, through this thread, we (or at the very least I) can learn to spot some of the things that just really bother or turn off the students in the class. Fire away!

[elainemichelle]

This thread is meant to be predominantly for the students who frequent this board. One thing the teachers are always looking out for (at least beginning teachers like myself) is feedback on what does or does not make them an effective teacher. As a way to get at that, I wanted to create this thread which is meant to be a place for the students here to vent about teachers they hate, things that bothered them about a teacher etc. Did a teacher bore you to death today? Tell us. Was a lesson particularly interesting? Tell us about it. Is there a teacher who day after day just comes off as insulting to you? Tell us about it and describe the things that teacher does that just rubs you the wrong way. Hopefully, through this thread, we (or at the very least I) can learn to spot some of the things that just really bother or turn off the students in the class. Fire away!
I assumed it would be a thread about Mexican revolutions.

I hate my French teacher. We all hate our French teacher.

The other day in class (this has happened numerous times to everyone) I asked her to explain how we know when to use which version of "what" b/c I was still really really lost. She looked at me like I was a blithering idiot and then said "Brent, what's the answer to number 20?" 5 minutes later she said "Now, if you guys ever get lost on anything don't be afraid to ask me about it so I can help you understand it." We just all looked at each like "WTF?" and then one kid said "Didn't Elaine just ask you a question though?" So she leaves the room and doesn't come back for the rest of class.

(Excuse my verb disagreement; it's early and I'm still half asleep.)

Basically, try to directly address students' questions.

[Metros Striker10]

I think the type of teachers that students don't like and teachers that have the most discipline problems are those who complain about every single thing. Don't make the subject that you teach seem as if it were the most important of the school, especially if it's a science class...not many kids like science. So don't go, "If you don't understand this now, don't worry...you don't have to think about changing your major." And yeah, I'm talking about high school, not college. Allow for some group work. Students need to move around a little bit. Basically, keep it simple, to the point and somewhat laid back, but enough that they still understand that you're a serious teacher. A pop quiz after a few "rowdy" classes should do the work. They'll understand that you like fun and games, but if they talk too much, a little quiz could be headed their way.

[elainemichelle]

A pop quiz after a few "rowdy" classes should do the work. They'll understand that you like fun and games, but if they talk too much, a little quiz could be headed their way.
See, this has never worked for controlling my classes. We all usually do really well on pop quizzes. (It's when we know we're getting one that we fail.) Then we just continue talking.

There are some teachers we will respect regardless of what they make us do b/c there's something that makes us afraid of them (yet we still love them and think they're great).

I think it has to do with doing what you say and saying what you do. We don't like to be lied to and we don't like being left in the dark. A syllabus for the entire semester is always nice b/c then we know when we can be absent....

I think it all depends on the kids you're teaching, agewise and classlevelwise

[Metros Striker10]

I think it all depends on the kids you're teaching, agewise and classlevelwiseGood point. The ways of a freshman are much different than that of a senior.

[elainemichelle]

Good point. The ways of a freshman are much different than that of a senior.
I've been with the same kids since my freshman year (73ish the first yr, soph. about 60, jr about 40, sr 34). Our teachers have had problems with the same 3 or 4 kids all four years.

Today my ToK (IB Theory of Knowledge ie. how you know what you know and why) teacher made a brilliant pt. Peer pressure has a lot to do with teaching. She's trying to teach us the art of debate. She was writing notes on the board about time allowances, what you can and cannot do, different types of debate, etc. A few kids kept talking and talking and talking and laughing. "I'm going to start writing. If you want to take notes, go ahead." She started writing, the same kids kept talking. She starts explaining after everyone stops talking and they started talking again. "Learn it on your own." 30 of us began to lay into the other 4.

That's also my math teacher's favorite method to employ. Needless to say, most of us are now failing and she has resorted to putting us in timeout and "treating us like kindergarteners b/c that's how we act."

[Metros Striker10]

That's also my math teacher's favorite method to employ. Needless to say, most of us are now failing and she has resorted to putting us in timeout and "treating us like kindergarteners b/c that's how we act."
Because of those 4 kids? That's not fair...

[metro24freak]

I could whine about each of my teachers for days. I would say don't teach right out of the textbook, it makes life so boring, especially in history and science. Hit on the main idea's and really focus on them but hitting every point in the textbook isn't really necessary. I know a lot of high school is learning what is and isn't important but it doesn't help when teachers repeat the textbook reading from the night before and write notes on it on the board it just confuses people and they have two copies of the textbook, the actual one and the one in their notes. My history teacher does that, we told her itwas just confusing us today in class but that was what annoyed me most about her, that and she kinda spoke in a monotone.

My physics teacher last year was great though. She was always so energetic about everything, sometimes a little too energetic, but I like physics now and think it's interesting and where i was walking around at the beginning of last year saying I wouldn't take physics again I might actually do it because I thought it was so interesting.

[elainemichelle]

Because of those 4 kids? That's not fair...
For some reason in math it's much worse.

My favorite teacher is the physics teacher. I had her once in tenth grade. I'm still in there at least three times a day b/c most of my friends still have her and we break into her room for lunch everyday. She has examples for everything instead of just drawing the problem on the board. She'd throw different things at people and explain why the object did what it did, she let us throw things off the stadium and make rockets, she came in early in the morning so everyone had time to get homework help, and she'd let you leave sports stuff in the back of the room so you wouldn't have to carry it all day.