Every silver cloud has a grey lining: National Teacher Hate Week

[riff]

Being hated as a teacher has its merits. As for myself, I constantly give my students the opportunity to provide me with feedback both anonymously and in informal classroom discussion. "How am I doing?" is one of my favorite questions? Teachers need to know why students hate them. Sometimes it is the subject, sometimes it is the method, and sometimes, they just hate your guts because you are a teacher.

Let's use this thread to honor the teachers we hated.

Miss. Picard: she called my parents and I got my ass beat.
Mrs. Brock: Old mean bitch 4th grade geography teacher. I was scared as hell of her because in another class she called my sister a little Judas.
Dr. Brian Strair: Should burn in hell for not allowing students to participate in Renaissance Poetry and Poetics. Fat fucked-up bastard.

Myself? Nah. One of my students on an anonymous feedback form (1st year teaching) did say I should be taken out back and shot. Looking back, he was probably right. LOL

 

[christophe]

I can honestly say I never reaaly hated any of my teachers...except the nuns!

I have great respect for them now looking back!

 

[freescorfr]

A guy in Stockton-on-Tees met up with one of his old teachers in a bar a few years back and the resurgent anger was so great that he killed him on the spot.

I reckon some of the most damaging things in any relationship are:
Comparisons It is death to a child'ds confidence to be compared with another child - soemtimes even if the comparison is favourable.
labels even - he's a brilliant kid. Much better, "I find your work brilliant"
threats "If you carry on like that you'll never get a job".
Blackmail " I want this work in on time. It's parents evening next week." "If you do that once again, I'll inform the headteacher"
Put-downs Every French person can say "Je suis nul!"
Disqualifications "You will never be a mathematician."
You must. Why?????must I?

Thank heavens none of this happens these days.

 

[GreenEyedGirl]

riff, you can line my cloud any day!

And hating a teacher can sometimes be a motivating factor in learning, but here are a few of mine:

Undergrad. ancient language teacher -
Class was titled "romance in ancient greek literature." She began the semester with Tony Morrison's "The Bluest Eye." I had the gall to ask why we were reading contemporary literature in this class and she berated me in front of the entire class for having "assumptions" and daring to tell her what to teach. I stuck it out and got a B, a very grudging B.

Kindergarten - my teacher went on maternity leave and the replacement was as sweet as vinegar. She accused me of wearing make-up (I was 4!) and scrubbed my face with a dry face cloth. I happen to have naturally dark red lips, and she thought I was wearing lipstick. Hussy that I am!

 

[morninggirl5]

Me, i'm hated by exactly half of the students who were present in my class today.

PMS, testing schedule from hell, and three completely wired students resulted in me being "a very mean teacher."

Practicing walking in the hall for 30 minutes instead of enjoying the computer lab has probably scarred them for life.

I suppose i should feel bad about it.


I don't.

 

[ExLimey]

I never hated her but some of the prior posts have reminded me with a chuckle of what she used to do.

Her name was Mrs. Tatum and she taught science during Jr High (8th grade I believe. 14 years old for those not from the US). She was an incredibly tall African American lady who wouldn't take crap from anyone. She figured out this system by which we'd get time on Fridays to just goof off if we behaved the rest of the week. Whenever we got a little rowdy she'd make a big production out of checking the time on her watch and she'd actually keep track of it and subtract it from the "goof-off" time.

She really knew how to get to us.

The only one I hated was my 12 grade Calculus teacher. He wore a really bad rug and got crusty spit build up in the corners of his mouth. He was about 90 and looked like they dug him up each year before school started. Son of bitch he was, that's why I only took a half a year of Calculus. It's been almost 15 years and I bet he's still exumed each year even now.

 

[Rubyfruit]

Mrs. DeGastin, 4th grade. She would pull and twist the skin on the inside of your forearm as well as lead kids around by their ears.

I was terrified of her.

 

[sabbathstorm]

I had two teachers in high school that I never cared for. One told me that I was one of the worst french students she ever had. Funny, at that point I had been having lessons since I was 5 and I was 15. She barely passed me for that course and that killed my interest in having a second language.

The other instructor taught pre-calculus and favored the smart kids. If you asked a question, she'd roll her eyes and tell you it was so simple anyone could get it. Needless to say, I didn't bother going to her class much.

 

[Starfish]

What is it with 4th grade teachers?

I can't remember the bitch's name, but she said to my mom, right in front of me, that "She'd never be any good at Math."

Fucking douche bag didn't know squat about my potential.

 

[enjoyingitall]

It was my fifth grade teacher..she had claws for fingernails,always painted bright red...very red lipstick and a face so pale she looked as though she had been dead for years. She taught by pure intimidation. A good day for her was when she had several students in tears. She loved (or at least it seemed like it) to humiliate students in front of others.
I couldn't write a cursive B correctly..she had me write a B 1000 times on the board and let the other students circle all the ones that weren't written correctly. It was a huge deal for a 5th grader. I can honestly say that I don't remember any postive experiences from that year.
Damn, she was some kinda bitch. I keep her in mind to make sure I don't use any of her methods in my classroom.

 

[cymbidia]

Mr. Early, 11th grade chemistry, the most boring teacher on the face of the earth, past or present, bar none. He explained concepts by reading to us from the book, not even bothering to hide the fact. If someone had the unimaginable gall to ask a question, he would assign extra homework (from the book) to the entire class. Needless to say, there were no questions asked of him after the first week or so of class. The tests came from the company who wrote the book. The labs, too. I never figured out why he was there, except to take roll. He was about 70 years old then and no one could figue out why he was still teaching. We used to call him "The Dead Guy" behind his back.

Mr. Nestled, 8th grade science, the meanest teacher on the planet. He pinched us and yelled and called people "dumb". I didn't want to dissect my frog and he made fun of me about being so sensitive for weeks. He had favorites, openly, and they always did better than anyone else on tests and homework and labs. He had terrible breath, too, all the time. I remember wondering if he ever brushed his teeth. I despised him and hated having to be near him in any way...all the while i loved the subject and continued to love the subject into, well, today.

I think there's a possibility that part of why i became a 7th/8th grade science teacher (7th/8th grade = students who are 12-14 years old) was to better these two terrible examples of those in my profession.

Perhaps there are a few students who have thought i've been a bad teacher, but not too many, and not for too long. As mg5 indicated, we all have bad days. Overall, though, those who teach do it because we have to, because it's a kind of calling. In any case, it's not cuz we hope to get rich doing it, on that you can rely.

 

[Todd-'o'-Vision]

GRade 6-9 English teacher Mrs. Ethel Watson.

She taught my mother and my grandmother.

By the time I met her she was about 50 years older than God.

She hated me for something one of my ancestors did in her class like a couple of hundred years ago.

I got her fired by proving she was intentionally flunking me.

The day she left when she walked out of the school into the day like she shriveled up into dust and blew away

 

[Todd-'o'-Vision]

GRade 6-9 English teacher Mrs. Ethel Watson.

She taught my mother and my grandmother.

By the time I met her she was about 50 years older than God.

She hated me for something one of my ancestors did in her class like a couple of hundred years ago.

I got her fired by proving she was intentionally flunking me.

The day she left when she walked out of the school into the day like she shriveled up into dust and blew away