Apart from complain to the school... I've had this math teacher for the last 2 years, and shes always been dunce, coo-coo, and just plain stupid... This is the 3rd or 4th time I've heard her life story... YAY! She likes to talk to us about our improvement... So she tells us she went from 145K/year thanks to her ex husband, to 12K/yr, to being a school teacher to support her kid with down syndrome... The reason she went from 145K/yr to 12K/yr was because her husband at the time(shes had 3, and equal # of divorces) was molesting her 2 daughters, and her family fell apart, he went to jail... She told us that she tried not to commit suicide by drinking and OD'ing on pills so she'd die... What the **** can I do? This ***** is pissing me off.
Obviously this lady has been and is currently dealing with some major issues. I would consider writing an anonymous letter to the principle and the school board gingerly explaining the issue at hand. I don't know her merits as an educator, so the tone you use in the letter should be picked very carefully. Just think about it like this, do you think she is doing a disservice by teaching? Or can she teach well if she stops dumping her problems on the students? Just wondering because the tone you use in the letter can dictate how the school board interprets the situation(affecting the way in which they choose to handle the matter: meaning do the discipline her, offer counseling, or straight up FIRE her). All important considerations. Crappy situation all around
Hey, "?.?"... i don't think it's a question of whether or not she can teach; even if she's the best teacher in the school, it's still inappropriate of her to dump this stuff on a bunch of students... Patrick, i think John's idea of writing an anonymous letter is a great one... If others in your class feel the same way, note that in your letter... Have you spoken to your 'rents about this...? If not, why...? If so, what do they have to say about this...?
I told my mom... She said my teacher needs counseling. This teacher has also told us that her daugther was out in the streets as a crack whore and got knocked up.
How 'bout an anonymous letter to her first? Tell her that her past is unfortunate but her job is to teach and not dump her personal problems onto everyone. Mention that a copy of the letter will find its way to the principal if this continues. That way she'll have a chance to clean up her act rather than getting ratted out first. I'd be very surpised if it continued after doing this. Make sure you don't tell anyone about it as it could get back to her and you may find your grades get adjusted. Good luck.
Agreed, just wondering though if she is a very poor teacher in general, because if so, you could/would want to see her let go. Period... or is that a question mark? Period? Question mark?(F40, ignore this last part, its a FQC thing !.!)
Great idea. That way SHE has an opportunity to change her ways without having to be blindsided by consequences from above. Would it be a good idea to say in the anonymous letter that you are a 'concerned parent of one of her stundets' who doesn't want to be known? It might carry a little more water than a letter addressed from an anonymous student. I am just thinking that if she sees that it is from a student she might think, "Yeah right kiddo, you are probably just one of my worst students trying to get a rile out of me." But a letter from the parents might see her reaction change to, "Oh NO, I really don't want to lose my job!"
Her primary purpose in her job is that of an educator. There are no secondary, tertiary or whatever purpose in her job that states she can use young people as confidants to her personal problems. This alone is the only thing you should be worried about. At no point should an adult turn to non-adults and confide in them their personal problems. It undermines the entire educational process. You are there to be educated, not be the shoulder for an adult to cry on. It may sound harsh, but teachers must lead by example, and someone that blithers and cries and weeps on the shoulders of the young are in no position to be teaching them. Get rid of her before she starts seeking other ways to corrupt the young and essentially innocent.
Agreed. There are people like this that seem to thrive on misery and misfortune. They relish and enjoy being "the victim" and always have a story to try to get people to feel sorry for them. They try hard to gather sympathy from any source, and will continue to have "bad luck" no matter what. I'm a champine armchair psychologist, and I enjoy studying people, and I have still not figured out the psycho-pathology that makes them like this. It is unfortunate that she is teaching children, as they take it all at face value and don't realize that she will always have these unfortunate circumstances despite all external forces. She gets "secondary gain" from telling these stories She is sick. One good thing about public education is that it is an EDUCATION. You learn to deal with all sorts of people and this puts you in good stead for any job dealing with the public. I'm not joking with this. Its sad she is your teacher; but there are pathetic, sick people in the real world, and you need to learn how to deal with them. Some people get sucked in by their stories and get trapped into helping them; there is no endpoint to that as they won't get better (short of true psychiatric care). DO NOT send her a letter. IT HAS ZERO CHANCE OF HELPING. A letter to to chairman of the school board, copy to your Principal is a much better idea. Type is and use spell-check, don't rant; try to make it sound as objective as possible. Be organized and cite as many specific things she said as possible. It is OK if it is very long, i.e. 6 or 8 pages, but if the writing is densely packed use double space to make it easy to read or there will be a tendency for them to just skim in. Try to use relatively short paragraphs. Good luck.
This is where I disagree. Our young students should not have to cut their teeth trying to analize a teacher. A teacher is there to teach and lead by example, not serve as some template for how to deal with a ****ed up human. Dealing with **** ups is an innate skill and cannot be taught; most people learn this skill at an early age by dealing with their peers.
Beyond all that and all this, have you taken your concerns to your parents? If I recall you are a young man that is also very intelligent. Field this question with your parents. If they are anything like you, they will know what's best.
I agree with uro its not as though she is teaching 6 year olds these "kids" are or will soon be in the "real world" and have to work and interact with/for all sorts of nutjobs. I think the only real question is, is she teaching the maths well? if yes then learn to deal with it as you will spend the rest of your life dealing with odd people
