F You Too!
Well, although I understand that I can't please all people all the time as a teacher, I always get a wee bit grumpy when anybody has negative feedback about me anyway! Usually my success rate as a teacher is pretty high. For instance, I had to talk six of my former students out of walking out of their 102 teacher's class this term because "she's not you, Kira." I was unsuccessful with the seventh one; he dropped and then demanded to Robin that she then add him into one of my (very full) classes. She declined. He was pissed. The end.
I had another student two days ago stop me in the hallway and ask me if he could transfer into my 102 class as he finds the new teacher incredibly boring. No, dear, sorry...not in the middle of the term like that. Still, it was very flattering.
Ran into another student who adores me today. She is pissed that she is not in my class although she finds the one she is in "ok."
Hell, the ONLY reason why Brit Lit I made the cut this term with 15 folks at registration is that five of those students are my former students. Last spring the department had to drop it because not enough people signed up. You have a better shot of that class "making" in the fall. This past fall, the class had 22 folks on Tuesday when I showed up to teach. By the next class I had my 30 maximum...word of mouth passed that I was the teacher. Ok, so, I know that I am a good teacher to most folks and on the whole I have a good rep. Yet, I find out that there are two negative comments and poof! I'm hurt. I know I'll get over it soon, but still, it bothers me. Y'all know how it is.
Comment #1: She SEEMS like she's cool, but she's not. She'll drop you if you go over your absences and makes it sound like it's the department head who makes her, but that's not true. And she hates men unless you kiss her ass.
Why is it, then, dear sir, that most of the former students who really like me are MALE??? Could it be that they "kiss my ass" by actually showing up to class? *GASP* And look, buddy, the absentee policy is clearly stated in the syllabus. I didn't make that muther up. I just follow it because I'd like my job, thanks.
Comment #2: She is ****ed up and immature. I was embarrassed in her class. She spent more time talking about the male anatomy than English. If you are clean, don't take her class.
Fucked up...check! Immature...no. Not really. I don't think that being sarcastic is immature. It's just, apparently, a sense of humor. I can buy you one if you like. I'm sorry you are embarrassed. Did mommy and daddy not inform you that girls have a vagina and boys have a penis? Surely this was not news to you! I am confused as to why you thought I talked about male anatomy so much. You see, the other student said I hated males. Surely, then, I don't talk about penises in class. In all actuality, although I will make a vulgar comment here and there, I don't talk about men's crotches in class. Imagine that. And I cover ALL the syllabus in ALL of my classes. My students do well on the whole after they leave my classes because I teach them to write. If you weren't so busy being embarrassed because somebody said "crap" in your classroom, you probably would have been able to pay attention and learn a hell of a lot. And what the heck does it mean that if you are clean don't take my class? What you mean to say is: if you are easily offended, don't take her class. Quaintly, I warn folks about that in EVERY class on the FIRST day: "If you are easily offended, don't take this class. I'm not the teacher for you." Did you have cotton in your ears? Or did you realize you'd be offended by anybody there at the school save maybe Emery who whites out offensive parts to poems and stories so the tender student eyes do not see the sexual organ words or damn or hell or crap words in all literature, so you just went ahead and stayed in my class??? I'm also wondering what specifically "if you are clean" means. I'm dirty, then? No, actually, I shower very regularly and I use soap! Did you mean clean-minded? Who the hell knows, you were too busy being embarrassed to pay attention to the important parts of class on how to write...so I can't expect to learn much from your writing!
So, over 20 students went independently to the administration this summer and said I rocked and needed to be made full time. I didn't know about ANY of them until afterwards. I had something blow up with a student at the end of last term that I got an ulcer over, but I handled it so well that the student and the student's mom both told the administration how terrific I was in the end (after all that bitching...sheesh...and for the record, he still got that F on his research paper...am I good or what?). The vice-dean of the school wrote me not one but TWO thank you notes about how I handled it, and Robin wrote me one too. I have students begging to get my classes. I had one student in my brit lit class state how she had me for 101, 102, and now brit lit and that she did this deliberately because I was her most favorite teacher ever. She decided to just announce this on the first day of class because she wanted to make sure everybody knew how lucky they were to get me! I have Brenda...well, you read that blog. Scroll down ;) Am I going to let these two fuckwits get to me? HELL NO! F YOU TOO!
Ok, that made me feel better. Ahhhhh.... :D
*****
All right. Only because Amanda made me....
Random top 5 CD's: (If Amanda can do five, so can I. Oh wait, that sounds wrong...fun, but wrong!)
The Soundtrack from Bend It Like Beckham
U2: How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
John Mayer: Heavier Things
Matchbox 20: Yourself or Someone Like You
Led Zepplin: Led Zepplin II
1. What is the total amount of music files on your computer? Uhhhh well, I think about 200.
2. The last CD you bought is: Bought? As in, nobody gave me and I didn't "acquire"? Hmmm...Poe's Haunted? No, wait, that was Joe giving that to me. Uhhh...ok, Billy Joel's Glass House. I think.
3. What is the last song you listened to before this message: Clandestino by Manu Chao
4. Write down five songs you listen to a lot or mean a lot to you.
Your Body is a Wonderland: John Mayer
Memories: Cats
She's So High: Tal Bachman
Bitch: Meridith Brooks (my damn theme song!)
Closer: Nine Inch Nails
5. Who are you gonna pass this stick to (three persons and why)?
I'll pass it to Toss My Salad so that he has a first entry to write into his blog! Go Chuckie baby!
Alex. Because I want to see if I can guess some of his choices accurately.
Angie: I'm guessing some heavier metal there, but I'd just like to know. Besides, I read her blog regularly so I'd actually be able to find out rapidly hehe :D
I had another student two days ago stop me in the hallway and ask me if he could transfer into my 102 class as he finds the new teacher incredibly boring. No, dear, sorry...not in the middle of the term like that. Still, it was very flattering.
Ran into another student who adores me today. She is pissed that she is not in my class although she finds the one she is in "ok."
Hell, the ONLY reason why Brit Lit I made the cut this term with 15 folks at registration is that five of those students are my former students. Last spring the department had to drop it because not enough people signed up. You have a better shot of that class "making" in the fall. This past fall, the class had 22 folks on Tuesday when I showed up to teach. By the next class I had my 30 maximum...word of mouth passed that I was the teacher. Ok, so, I know that I am a good teacher to most folks and on the whole I have a good rep. Yet, I find out that there are two negative comments and poof! I'm hurt. I know I'll get over it soon, but still, it bothers me. Y'all know how it is.
Comment #1: She SEEMS like she's cool, but she's not. She'll drop you if you go over your absences and makes it sound like it's the department head who makes her, but that's not true. And she hates men unless you kiss her ass.
Why is it, then, dear sir, that most of the former students who really like me are MALE??? Could it be that they "kiss my ass" by actually showing up to class? *GASP* And look, buddy, the absentee policy is clearly stated in the syllabus. I didn't make that muther up. I just follow it because I'd like my job, thanks.
Comment #2: She is ****ed up and immature. I was embarrassed in her class. She spent more time talking about the male anatomy than English. If you are clean, don't take her class.
Fucked up...check! Immature...no. Not really. I don't think that being sarcastic is immature. It's just, apparently, a sense of humor. I can buy you one if you like. I'm sorry you are embarrassed. Did mommy and daddy not inform you that girls have a vagina and boys have a penis? Surely this was not news to you! I am confused as to why you thought I talked about male anatomy so much. You see, the other student said I hated males. Surely, then, I don't talk about penises in class. In all actuality, although I will make a vulgar comment here and there, I don't talk about men's crotches in class. Imagine that. And I cover ALL the syllabus in ALL of my classes. My students do well on the whole after they leave my classes because I teach them to write. If you weren't so busy being embarrassed because somebody said "crap" in your classroom, you probably would have been able to pay attention and learn a hell of a lot. And what the heck does it mean that if you are clean don't take my class? What you mean to say is: if you are easily offended, don't take her class. Quaintly, I warn folks about that in EVERY class on the FIRST day: "If you are easily offended, don't take this class. I'm not the teacher for you." Did you have cotton in your ears? Or did you realize you'd be offended by anybody there at the school save maybe Emery who whites out offensive parts to poems and stories so the tender student eyes do not see the sexual organ words or damn or hell or crap words in all literature, so you just went ahead and stayed in my class??? I'm also wondering what specifically "if you are clean" means. I'm dirty, then? No, actually, I shower very regularly and I use soap! Did you mean clean-minded? Who the hell knows, you were too busy being embarrassed to pay attention to the important parts of class on how to write...so I can't expect to learn much from your writing!
So, over 20 students went independently to the administration this summer and said I rocked and needed to be made full time. I didn't know about ANY of them until afterwards. I had something blow up with a student at the end of last term that I got an ulcer over, but I handled it so well that the student and the student's mom both told the administration how terrific I was in the end (after all that bitching...sheesh...and for the record, he still got that F on his research paper...am I good or what?). The vice-dean of the school wrote me not one but TWO thank you notes about how I handled it, and Robin wrote me one too. I have students begging to get my classes. I had one student in my brit lit class state how she had me for 101, 102, and now brit lit and that she did this deliberately because I was her most favorite teacher ever. She decided to just announce this on the first day of class because she wanted to make sure everybody knew how lucky they were to get me! I have Brenda...well, you read that blog. Scroll down ;) Am I going to let these two fuckwits get to me? HELL NO! F YOU TOO!
Ok, that made me feel better. Ahhhhh.... :D
*****
All right. Only because Amanda made me....
Random top 5 CD's: (If Amanda can do five, so can I. Oh wait, that sounds wrong...fun, but wrong!)
The Soundtrack from Bend It Like Beckham
U2: How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
John Mayer: Heavier Things
Matchbox 20: Yourself or Someone Like You
Led Zepplin: Led Zepplin II
1. What is the total amount of music files on your computer? Uhhhh well, I think about 200.
2. The last CD you bought is: Bought? As in, nobody gave me and I didn't "acquire"? Hmmm...Poe's Haunted? No, wait, that was Joe giving that to me. Uhhh...ok, Billy Joel's Glass House. I think.
3. What is the last song you listened to before this message: Clandestino by Manu Chao
4. Write down five songs you listen to a lot or mean a lot to you.
Your Body is a Wonderland: John Mayer
Memories: Cats
She's So High: Tal Bachman
Bitch: Meridith Brooks (my damn theme song!)
Closer: Nine Inch Nails
5. Who are you gonna pass this stick to (three persons and why)?
I'll pass it to Toss My Salad so that he has a first entry to write into his blog! Go Chuckie baby!
Alex. Because I want to see if I can guess some of his choices accurately.
Angie: I'm guessing some heavier metal there, but I'd just like to know. Besides, I read her blog regularly so I'd actually be able to find out rapidly hehe :D
posted by Kira | 5:45 PM
3 Comments:
I would always do the very same thing. We never actually got to see our evals at Tech though. (Not sure what happened to them. Probably lost in Marianne's office.) But I still remember the one bad comment from my evaluations at Clemson... "confuses personal life with teaching." Oh, how I obsessed over that! And I couldn't tell you the word-for-word comemnts that were good. I only remember that bad one. At any rate, one thing I've learned about teaching is if the people who don't like you aren't very well liked, then you're probably okay. If you're a popular teacher, the bitchy teachers will hate you... no big deal. Same goes for students. You could please that one little jerk who wants a traditional class where you write notes on the board, he copies them, and then you give him a fill-in-the blank test on how well he memorizes things... OR you could appeal to the majority of your students by not only being engaging, but by engaging them too. To me, it sounds like you are doing the latter. Screw the little fucktard morons who can't see your genius!
Forgot - I put the answers to the music quiz on my blog. =o)
Totally agree with the student comments.
I get heaps of great remarks from my students - I get along well with them and they find my stuff interesting.
But last year, one student wrote "This class was a WASTE OF TIME!!!"
I just thought "F you, you stupid kid, you will continue to completely miss the point throughout your entire life..."
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