Anyone intimidated by my way too long post can skim it and get a pretty good idea of what's going on:
Ever heard of www.ratemyprofessor.com?
Well, one of the courses that I've been taking this summer has been a disaster. Right off the bat, the lectures were terrible. The teacher would spend an hour giving us notes that only recited the text. We never really talked about anything besides what's in the news [and did not relate it to the course]. I think she noticed some rumblings amongst the students, so during class she asked us if we had any ideas. Well, a few of us mentioned some things, but kept it pretty modest. Then, given that she wanted some ideas, myself and another student took it upon ourselves to try speaking with her after class. We told her that we thought we would learn the material better if we had more concise notes and more discussion amongst ourselves. She argued that she wasn't confident that people were reading the text/readings and so she gave thorough notes. We said that the onus is on them to read it, not her. So, although she was noticeably uncomfortable, we tried to be cool about it and just express our thoughts. After we left, we weren't sure if we had done any good, but at least we had stood up for ourselves.
The next class, guess what... POP QUIZ. Her exact words: "Considering some of you feel that you know the material so well, you should have no problem with this pop quiz." It was our only pop quiz during the entire semester. I'm convinced that she did it purely out of spite. She's a child. A fucking child.
Every so often during the next few classes, she would take little, inappropriate jabs at me. By then I was getting along with everyone so they only thought less of her, rather than me. And the other girl that spoke to her with me got completely insulted when she went to the teacher for some help after class (she nearly cried). Things were not going well. I had a paper due in a week and I was worried that she would mark me unfairly. Well, that's what happened. Someone else who wrote on the same topic got a 9.5 (I got an 8) and he admitted that mine was much better. It didn't make any sense.
Oddly enough, those suggestions that we made, to which she responded with a pop quiz... ARE NOW IN EFFECT. The notes are more concise and we set aside 30 min to an hour for discussion each class. So she liked our ideas, but she didn't like that we gave them to her. Uh huh.
She (the teacher) is also extremely rude to students. She picks on the quiet Asians because she knows they'll struggle. She pokes at the lone conservative in our class (no one laughs - it's just mean). She has certain people that do her bidding; she showed them no respect until she noticed that people were disgusted with her. Just all around a very rude person. We've reached a consensus that no one likes her - or at best they're ok with her.
So... just over a week ago... three of us ended up rating her at www.ratemyprofessor.com. Giving very poor marks and some detailed, negative comments. One day after I post my comment, two more appear:
5, 5, 5
"SHE IS FUNNY AND SMART!"
5, 5, 5
"Very informed and clear. I appreciated the structure and organization of the class. I think the participation mark is going to raise my grade but lower the grades of those complaining students."
I just saw these now. And I was honestly shaking a little bit. I'm so disturbed. We have a class of like 15 people and I've spoken to all of them. NO ONE feels that way about her. And this particular sentence:
"I think the participation mark is going to raise my grade but lower the grades of those complaining students."
Ooooh... *shudder*. That has to be her.
I can't believe she'd do that. Well, in fact, I can. But it's still no less disturbing. And that I think she has a good idea of who made them, given what we said [our examples], I'm almost sure that she's going to do whatever she can to rip my mark apart. I haven't even taken my Final Exam yet and she's currently marking my huge term paper.
I am boned. Utterly and completely boned!
Ever heard of www.ratemyprofessor.com?
Well, one of the courses that I've been taking this summer has been a disaster. Right off the bat, the lectures were terrible. The teacher would spend an hour giving us notes that only recited the text. We never really talked about anything besides what's in the news [and did not relate it to the course]. I think she noticed some rumblings amongst the students, so during class she asked us if we had any ideas. Well, a few of us mentioned some things, but kept it pretty modest. Then, given that she wanted some ideas, myself and another student took it upon ourselves to try speaking with her after class. We told her that we thought we would learn the material better if we had more concise notes and more discussion amongst ourselves. She argued that she wasn't confident that people were reading the text/readings and so she gave thorough notes. We said that the onus is on them to read it, not her. So, although she was noticeably uncomfortable, we tried to be cool about it and just express our thoughts. After we left, we weren't sure if we had done any good, but at least we had stood up for ourselves.
The next class, guess what... POP QUIZ. Her exact words: "Considering some of you feel that you know the material so well, you should have no problem with this pop quiz." It was our only pop quiz during the entire semester. I'm convinced that she did it purely out of spite. She's a child. A fucking child.
Every so often during the next few classes, she would take little, inappropriate jabs at me. By then I was getting along with everyone so they only thought less of her, rather than me. And the other girl that spoke to her with me got completely insulted when she went to the teacher for some help after class (she nearly cried). Things were not going well. I had a paper due in a week and I was worried that she would mark me unfairly. Well, that's what happened. Someone else who wrote on the same topic got a 9.5 (I got an 8) and he admitted that mine was much better. It didn't make any sense.
Oddly enough, those suggestions that we made, to which she responded with a pop quiz... ARE NOW IN EFFECT. The notes are more concise and we set aside 30 min to an hour for discussion each class. So she liked our ideas, but she didn't like that we gave them to her. Uh huh.
She (the teacher) is also extremely rude to students. She picks on the quiet Asians because she knows they'll struggle. She pokes at the lone conservative in our class (no one laughs - it's just mean). She has certain people that do her bidding; she showed them no respect until she noticed that people were disgusted with her. Just all around a very rude person. We've reached a consensus that no one likes her - or at best they're ok with her.
So... just over a week ago... three of us ended up rating her at www.ratemyprofessor.com. Giving very poor marks and some detailed, negative comments. One day after I post my comment, two more appear:
5, 5, 5
"SHE IS FUNNY AND SMART!"
5, 5, 5
"Very informed and clear. I appreciated the structure and organization of the class. I think the participation mark is going to raise my grade but lower the grades of those complaining students."
I just saw these now. And I was honestly shaking a little bit. I'm so disturbed. We have a class of like 15 people and I've spoken to all of them. NO ONE feels that way about her. And this particular sentence:
"I think the participation mark is going to raise my grade but lower the grades of those complaining students."
Ooooh... *shudder*. That has to be her.
I can't believe she'd do that. Well, in fact, I can. But it's still no less disturbing. And that I think she has a good idea of who made them, given what we said [our examples], I'm almost sure that she's going to do whatever she can to rip my mark apart. I haven't even taken my Final Exam yet and she's currently marking my huge term paper.
I am boned. Utterly and completely boned!
