My teacher is a haughty, imcompotent, unrealiable egotist. What can my class do? (1 Viewer)

[Kittikhun]

My class is just about near breaking point with our English teacher. She is constantly away when we need her the most and when she is present, she castigates us unfairly for not completing work which she has delegated to unqualified substitute teachers (how the bloody hell are we meant to complete the work when we do not even comprehend it in the first place?); she is just not a good teacher. She talks pompously with sophisticated vocabulary, expecting all of us to understand, and then explains thing superficially. She hasn't even marked one piece of out work and given us any feedback! My class and I do not know what to do and we indignant few think that this is utter bullshit. We plan on writing up a note, much like the Declaration of Independence, and getting everyone in the class to sign it. Then we are going to send it to the English faculty but I am afraid that this might break her heart and will be a bit too harsh. What do I do? What does my class do?

Thank you. This is really freaking urgent due to the proximity of the HSC.

 

[icecubeX]

To be honest, breaking one person heart to get the whole class up to speed is better than becoming sitting ducks and doing nothing about it.
Its your hsc not hers.

 

[Will Shakespear]

Get a rly good tutor? lol

 

[Phoenix Fury]

Talk to her at lunch or after class and ask wtf is going on.

 

[SeCKSiiMiNh]

some students from my grade last year complained about a really awful physics teacher to the head teacher. some were allowed to change class lol.

 

[ilikebeeef]

My class is just about near breaking point with our English teacher. She is constantly away when we need her the most and when she is present, she castigates us unfairly for not completing work which she has delegated to unqualified substitute teachers (how the bloody hell are we meant to complete the work when we do not even comprehend it in the first place?); she is just not a good teacher. She talks pompously with sophisticated vocabulary, expecting all of us to understand, and then explains thing superficially. She hasn't even marked one piece of out work and given us any feedback! My class and I do not know what to do and we indignant few think that this is utter bullshit. We plan on writing up a note, much like the Declaration of Independence, and getting everyone in the class to sign it. Then we are going to send it to the English faculty but I am afraid that this might break her heart and will be a bit too harsh. What do I do? What does my class do?

Thank you. This is really freaking urgent due to the proximity of the HSC.

Talk to your principal about it.

 

[Tofuu]

move to my class, one think i don't like is that she does not spoon feed *sigh*

 

[jazzzod]

Complain to principal as a class and make the petition. Got my rubbish Ancient teacher fired last term - funniest thing ever.

Best of all, we know his login credentials - unblocked to all sites. Fuck yeah.

 

[rubookmark]

We had the same problem back in year 10. Our response was to write a letter explaining (and probably complaining) about our teacher and her faults, getting everyone to sign it and sending it off to the english head of staff.

It turned out that our teacher had no idea that her teaching methods were working and was really upset that we did not go to her first to highlight the issues. A simple class discussion would've sorted out everything.
Instead, it turned into a huge mess, where it was clear that the class didn't want her but there weren't any other alternative teachers available (our school has english classes on at the same time). This ensured very awkward lessons for the rest of the year.

Always go to the teacher first. If there is no improvement, then try asking as a whole class.
Only go to those in charge once it is clear the teacher is capable (or doesn't care) of teaching the class.

And always start from the lower end of the heirarchy. If there has been no complaint and you go straight to the Principal, more likely your class will be worse off. (This is true only if no-one else has complained about this teacher before).

Sorry for the long post.

 

[pman]

My class is just about near breaking point with our English teacher. She is constantly away when we need her the most and when she is present, she castigates us unfairly for not completing work which she has delegated to unqualified substitute teachers (how the bloody hell are we meant to complete the work when we do not even comprehend it in the first place?); she is just not a good teacher. She talks pompously with sophisticated vocabulary, expecting all of us to understand, and then explains thing superficially. She hasn't even marked one piece of out work and given us any feedback! My class and I do not know what to do and we indignant few think that this is utter bullshit. We plan on writing up a note, much like the Declaration of Independence, and getting everyone in the class to sign it. Then we are going to send it to the English faculty but I am afraid that this might break her heart and will be a bit too harsh. What do I do? What does my class do?

Thank you. This is really freaking urgent due to the proximity of the HSC.

so do you really....

In the way of advice, talk to mur head teacher

 

[ilikebeeef]

Complain to principal as a class and make the petition. Got my rubbish Ancient teacher fired last term - funniest thing ever.

Best of all, we know his login credentials - unblocked to all sites. Fuck yeah.

Lol that's gold. The DET blocking system sucks.

 

[Phoenix Fury]

Oh yeh, principal is good idea too.

 

[annabackwards]

Go complain to the principal, but be tactful and polite. A petition would be good.

 

[lychnobity]

Always go to the teacher first. If there is no improvement, then try asking as a whole class.
Only go to those in charge once it is clear the teacher is capable (or doesn't care) of teaching the class.

And always start from the lower end of the heirarchy. If there has been no complaint and you go straight to the Principal, more likely your class will be worse off. (This is true only if no-one else has complained about this teacher before).

Sorry for the long post.

qft.

However, once the teacher makes it clear that they're not going to improve, go straight the principal. Any other stupid head teachers and micromanagers getting in the way will just stick by your teacher, and nothing will be done.

Ensure that this is a class effort. A few people or even half, will not be enough. Many people aren't willing to stick their neck out or even work up the courage to go against the teacher.

 

[fullonoob]

just fail. JOKING LOL. (but not really ) i remember once i got like 20+ people to go to the eng staff room to complain abt changing the assignment 2 days before the examination. It failed miserably...only 2 people to back me up and the rest just standing there watching LMAO SIDETRACKED
hmm for your case, try talking to your teacher if you have the guts that is. :wave:

 

[iiinsane02]

Well, I know which English teacher you are talking about. I had her for Extension English during Prelims.

There is in fact, a reasonable explanation about her absence which I cannot, unfortunately, speak about here on this forum. This happened to our class last year, and like you, we were worried it would ultimately compromise our ability to perform with excellence during the HSC. After countless substitutes, Mr McKenzie was assigned as our new classroom teacher. However, it didn't really help because we were X amount of weeks behind syllabus content. We often found ourselves speeding through course content (i.e. prescribed & related texts, assessments), with only a satisfactory degree of understanding and flair. So I do understand how you're feeling at the moment.

Albeit, I think describing her as haughty, incompetent and an unreliable egotist is to a certain extent, harsh. Yes, she can be unreliable in the sense that she's constantly absent - but this, she cannot help. Her vocabulary is indeed, very sophisticated, but our class (Class of 09) has never had issues with it. (Maybe that was why she favoured our class dearly). But as a HSC student, a majority of English teachers raise their expectations about vocabulary levels, writing styles etc. from their students.

If you do need some help, maybe Kelvin (OhNivlek) and I can do something to make you feel comfortable. Good luck with your studies - hope you enjoy the school.

-EDIT-
But if you do have an ongoing issue about this, I suggest you bring this up to the new English Head Teacher - I am not familiar with the teacher so I cannot really say much. Be tact, polite and share your concerns, as well as your peers.

 

[0hNivlek]

Hey, yeah iiinsane02 and I had your english teacher in Yr 11 for Extension English and yes she was away often due to certain circumstances. I also had her in Year 7 and 8 too, and i thought she was pretty good. Well i don't have much to offer but if your class really wants something done i suggest you take it straight to the head teacher and if nothing is happening, consult your year advisor and deputy principal.

 

[mecramarathon]

i had a similar incident with mine, ended up with my head eng department saying to me, 'u have no right to judge ur substitute teacher, she is more than qualified to teach the HSC ... YOU NEED TO PUT IN THE MOTIVATION YOURSELF,' blah blah blah and my letter being photocopied and gossiped through the entire school staff.

I ended up droping eng ext just to piss her off.

Moral of story: I'm afraid there is nothing you can do - just put your head down, gear up for the HSC and self study at a pace comparable with the other standard teachers

 

[Kittikhun]

Yeah, I know, that was pretty harsh but I was extremely angry and indignant at that time. I hope that she doesn't go on this forum or else I'm going to be in some really deep s h i t.

I think it's not really appropriate to speak in such a learned fashion when you are teaching a Standard English class! Our vocabulary is not that sophisticated as you would expect from an English Extension class and she knows it.

And what would that comforting thing be? It's not just my HSC, mate, but also that of my fellow classmates. All that we want is equality, nothing more.

Thanks for your well wishes by the way. I enjoy CVHS even though I'm a bit ostracised at times during recess and lunch.

 

[iiinsane02]

Just to clarify, there's not exactly a real difference between Standard and Advanced. Both attempt the same Area of Study Belonging paper.

Because HSC English is compulsory for the entire State, students should take the opportunity to broaden their vocabulary as they're competing against everyone, not only their peers. This would only be of benefit.

And besides, isn't it better if your teacher uses words you don't understand? You can revise it in the dictionary and incorporate it into your sentences in essays or creative writing. You should ideally, be learning a new word every day. (So they say. I haven't been though.)