I think we need another thread like this.
I'm only reminded because of really mild suck on the part of my Sociolinguistics professor. She has a habit of only telling us about research projects the week before they're due. And I know they're online/on the syllabus, but we don't really know what she wants from them, so can't start them yet, you know? And that was ok for the first project because it was pretty short, just involved an interview. But this one? That she only gave us a little more than a week on? 5-page paper with 5 outside scholarly sources. On language death...having to pick a dying language, do a lot of research about it, and then write a fairly big paper on it. [I picked Irish. ] So...it's really minor suck, but it would be nice to have a little more notice on a 5-page paper, 'cause it's not like this is my only class.
Bigger suck in the past. My 2nd year French prof. Now, I was pretty good in French. Mainly because I took 2 years in high school and had done stupendously in those. [I won an award, actually. Both years. Actually, my teacher had me do this honors testing when I'd only had one semester of French...and I got the best score. That was awesome lol. But anyway.] So I was good in French, but I'm not magical, you know? And my prof was talking to me and telling me how she thought I would do really well if I would just skip 202 and go right into 301. Miss an entire semester's worth of grammar, etc. Why? Because she didn't want the 301 class to be canceled for lack of interest or whatever.
So I...very foolishly...agreed. How hard could it be? She was teaching it and she said that I would do very well in that class.
...WRONG. I was horrible. I mean, I might have been able to pass the class with an A, but that's only because her grading system was messed up. She heaped praise on her "good" students while she ignored everyone else. By the way, I was one of the ones she then ignored because my French skills weren't up to par. Why? Gee, I don't know...maybe because I hadn't taken the pre-req?! To top all of that off, I was dealing with a ton of PTSD issues and some other pretty difficult classes for my major. I didn't need this.
To recap some more horrible stuff about her teaching style: she sucked at teaching concepts. She liked assigning actual stories to us and having us answer all these questions and do a ton of assignments based off them. Only problem? Hardly any of us could READ the stories because we didn't have nearly enough vocabulary. And it's not like we were just learning, it was just that the stories were that advanced. Another time--and I wasn't there for this--she actually BLEW UP at the whole class, telling them how stupid we all are and that it's our fault for not getting all these grammar concepts. I don't know, if hardly ANY of your students are getting it, don't you think maybe you should take a look at yourself first?
I ended up petitioning to withdraw. She was actually really nice about it [because even though I wasn't her "favorite," I was a nice, shy girl...not a troublemaker at all], but the school? Sucked. It got denied because I "didn't withdraw from all my classes." You see, if you're withdrawing due to PTSD, you have to be failing everything! Not, you know, working your ass off to stay up to date with your other classes. So I now have an F on my transcript and I'm STILL pissed about that.
And another French-related suck. My French 101 prof was...very strange. He went through boxes of chalk. His teaching style wasn't the suck, it was other stuff. I ended up feeling very uncomfortable around him. He liked touching my shoulders and coming up behind me. One day, he had me stay after and he taught me how to write some Armenian words because my "handwriting was so pretty." Found out from another girl a couple years later that he also had a propensity to only pay attention to the girls with big boobs, and he made fun of another kid's accent. Dick.
Aaaaaaaaand one last one. From junior high. My P.E. teacher...would stare at all the girls' butts when they ran. And what little boobs they possessed. I don't know if anything happened to him [I don't think so], but I know I was petrified to tell. It's hard to judge that, you know? Like...is he REALLY staring? Yeah...yeah, he was.
Ok, and another one. Was just kind of gross. My 7th grade Physical Science teacher...never wore a bra. And they sagged. And you could see how er excited she was. GROSS!
Any other stories of professorial mayhem?
I'm only reminded because of really mild suck on the part of my Sociolinguistics professor. She has a habit of only telling us about research projects the week before they're due. And I know they're online/on the syllabus, but we don't really know what she wants from them, so can't start them yet, you know? And that was ok for the first project because it was pretty short, just involved an interview. But this one? That she only gave us a little more than a week on? 5-page paper with 5 outside scholarly sources. On language death...having to pick a dying language, do a lot of research about it, and then write a fairly big paper on it. [I picked Irish. ] So...it's really minor suck, but it would be nice to have a little more notice on a 5-page paper, 'cause it's not like this is my only class.
Bigger suck in the past. My 2nd year French prof. Now, I was pretty good in French. Mainly because I took 2 years in high school and had done stupendously in those. [I won an award, actually. Both years. Actually, my teacher had me do this honors testing when I'd only had one semester of French...and I got the best score. That was awesome lol. But anyway.] So I was good in French, but I'm not magical, you know? And my prof was talking to me and telling me how she thought I would do really well if I would just skip 202 and go right into 301. Miss an entire semester's worth of grammar, etc. Why? Because she didn't want the 301 class to be canceled for lack of interest or whatever.
So I...very foolishly...agreed. How hard could it be? She was teaching it and she said that I would do very well in that class.
...WRONG. I was horrible. I mean, I might have been able to pass the class with an A, but that's only because her grading system was messed up. She heaped praise on her "good" students while she ignored everyone else. By the way, I was one of the ones she then ignored because my French skills weren't up to par. Why? Gee, I don't know...maybe because I hadn't taken the pre-req?! To top all of that off, I was dealing with a ton of PTSD issues and some other pretty difficult classes for my major. I didn't need this.
To recap some more horrible stuff about her teaching style: she sucked at teaching concepts. She liked assigning actual stories to us and having us answer all these questions and do a ton of assignments based off them. Only problem? Hardly any of us could READ the stories because we didn't have nearly enough vocabulary. And it's not like we were just learning, it was just that the stories were that advanced. Another time--and I wasn't there for this--she actually BLEW UP at the whole class, telling them how stupid we all are and that it's our fault for not getting all these grammar concepts. I don't know, if hardly ANY of your students are getting it, don't you think maybe you should take a look at yourself first?
I ended up petitioning to withdraw. She was actually really nice about it [because even though I wasn't her "favorite," I was a nice, shy girl...not a troublemaker at all], but the school? Sucked. It got denied because I "didn't withdraw from all my classes." You see, if you're withdrawing due to PTSD, you have to be failing everything! Not, you know, working your ass off to stay up to date with your other classes. So I now have an F on my transcript and I'm STILL pissed about that.
And another French-related suck. My French 101 prof was...very strange. He went through boxes of chalk. His teaching style wasn't the suck, it was other stuff. I ended up feeling very uncomfortable around him. He liked touching my shoulders and coming up behind me. One day, he had me stay after and he taught me how to write some Armenian words because my "handwriting was so pretty." Found out from another girl a couple years later that he also had a propensity to only pay attention to the girls with big boobs, and he made fun of another kid's accent. Dick.
Aaaaaaaaand one last one. From junior high. My P.E. teacher...would stare at all the girls' butts when they ran. And what little boobs they possessed. I don't know if anything happened to him [I don't think so], but I know I was petrified to tell. It's hard to judge that, you know? Like...is he REALLY staring? Yeah...yeah, he was.
Ok, and another one. Was just kind of gross. My 7th grade Physical Science teacher...never wore a bra. And they sagged. And you could see how er excited she was. GROSS!
Any other stories of professorial mayhem?
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