Should I report my English teacher?

[Wakko9001]

I’m not sure if this is the website to be asking these type of questions, but I don’t want to open another account for an answers website.

Anyways, I’m in a bit of a predicament. I have been seeing considerable flaws in my English teacher, and I feel that I should alert the principal.

The first thing is that she can neglect to grade our projects. Such examples are the summer book reports a five-paragraph essay, and a journal for our Holocaust studies. She says things like, “Oh, yeah, I haven’t graded them yet”, or worse yet, “Well, I lost them”. What angers me even more is that she can go on to the troublesome students about how they should be more responsible, but look at her! And these aren’t simple grammar worksheets, either - these were legitimate projects, which I have put a lot of effort into. I feel ripped off, and sort of hurt, actually.

Another thing is that I feel she is targeting one of the students in my class. Now, this student has had a bad history of forgetting to bring in his homework. However, I do not think that deserves being disciplined or being scolded at for very, very minor things. For instance, today, he had a cast on, and so he was forced to write with his other hand. She told him to hurry up writing these example questions, but he said he had a cast on. All she said was, “I have no sympathy. Write faster.” I cannot prove that she is purposely targeting this classmate, but it seems likely that that is the scenario.

One final thing is that (and it might be a nitpick) she can lead us into conversations, but suddenly tells us to be quiet and get to work. She can discuss with us on what has happened in her daily life, but she suddenly snaps at us, telling us to do our work. She’s treating it as if we started such conversations. Even if we did, she should have taken the initiative to tell us not to. It’s like she has no fault whatsoever.

Since I’m merely a kid, I probably have some faults in these arguments. But I would like to hear your opinion on the matter. I just want everyone to have a great school experience, which includes enjoying all of their teachers. Thank you for reading.

 

[Lasting_faith]

I think she has problems with her healt, and if you decide to report her may cause more damages so think long and hard on it.

I don’t know if you have a school doctor (or nurse) in US, we have it where I live, but if, talk the he/she first.

I can understand it is confusing, still I urge you to first talk to someone who don’t make the matter worse and be gentle.

 

[sojo]

I went to one of the finest public high schools in the country, and to a fine University. Despite all that, I had a few crummy teachers. We all do at some time. I learned a lot nonetheless despite it all. You will too.

I would caution against doing anything rash you may regret. This teacher sounds distracted, and if you were to cause her to lose her job, you may find yourself feeling awful if the reason she was distracted was her own health (cancer? pregnancy?) or that of a loved one or some other serious reason. Losing a job on top of all that could be devastating, and you might feel awful for a long time afterwards.

Or, alternatively, you may find yourself pulled into a big “back and forth” with the administration and your teacher, which could affect your future relationships with other teachers who may perceive you with mistrust. Is this really necessary when the school year is nearly over?

You learned from writing the essay and doing the research. You can live without a gold star or praise. If you seriously want criticism on the work, ask another teacher for their candid criticism. I assume you have either made a copy or saved the original in your computer?

Try discussing this with your parents, another trusted teacher or even a school counselor provided they will honor your request for confidence.

 

[Ben_F]

I taught English as a foreign language. I would have loved to have you as a student. I don{t know how old you are, but you show great maturity. Your parents must be real proud. Don´t report your English teacher. You´re learning a valuable leadership trait. Students, like adults, have to work with the ones appointed over them. Learning to do this well, is a valuable tool in success. Keep it up. All people, including teachers, have problems that effect their performance. I had a bad day once, that effected my performance, as a teacher. A student came up to me and told me in private, Mr. Weathers. I hope you feel better tomorrow. You have no idea how this helped me. It changed my attitude, as well as my performance as a teacher, the rest of the day. Teachers like bosses come and go. Hard work will go unnoticed many times in your life. You will even see others get the praise that you, yourself, deserve. It makes us better, in the long run. Trust me. God knows everything good that you do. He won´t forget it. Keep up the good work. God bless:thumbsup:

 

[Becca3]

I agree. Don’t report your teacher. You will make matters worse on yourself and on others around you. Be like Saint Therese. Show her the love of Christ. Do nice things for her in the classroom and be the quiet leader that you show yourself to be. And yes, perhaps, she is prolly going thru a terrible time in her life right now. And yes, that is still no excuse for inflicting her pain upon her students but she is only human. Try to overlook her flaws. I always tell myself when I have been around people like her, “She/He knows not what He/She does.” And that comforts me.

 

[Christy_Beth]

If this is going to reflect grades, then by all means report her. By losing your assignments, she is being more than just forgetful. Talk with a student counselor. This person may have heard other complaints about the same teacher. If so, then they can act on what they have.

As far as learning something, if your essays and all are lost, how do you know what you learned? I know of a few times when I thought I had it all together, just to lose out because I had something vital wrong. Nothing like thinking you have a great grade only to be disappointed when grades came out.

 

[SwizzleStick]

I don’t think you should report your English teacher, because most of your complaints seem to be regarding pretty mild issues. With that being said, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t act at all about the two more pressing issues.

How many projects has this teacher lost or not yet graded? One each? You’ll probably get a grade on the one in process, but if the other is truly lost and you think the likely outcome will be that no grade will be forthcoming on it, you can still act to try to effect the outcome if you feel that you should do something about it. Talk to your parents about this, and if need be, ask them to meet with her with you. Be your own advocate and act on your own behalf. Point out how much work went into the lost project(s), that you think you should at least get some score for the work, that you are concerned how a missing assignment might affect your grade. Be reasonable and share your concerns in a respectful manner. Also, if you do decide to discuss the issues with your teacher, I would also document facts about the meeting. I would just make notes of specifics, that you calmly discussed the matter, when, why, facts of the discussion, facts of the outcome, etc.

Is the student that you feel is singled out upset along with you and has he indicated this to you? Does the student feel singled out or is it only your perception? If so, I would encourage the student to speak with a parent about the issue IF the student has expressed that he is upset about it to you. Otherwise, I would probably leave it alone UNLESS the behavior goes well beyond the minor scolding you mentioned. Also, you might consider that there may be a history of bad behavior or performance from this student and the teacher is responding with less patience because of that. That doesn’t mean she should be unreasonable with this student, but you do not know what may be going on behind the scenes that she has to deal with without your knowledge. And, you shouldn’t know that.

Bottom line, deal with your teacher in a responsible manner and treat her with respect. Deal with your teacher as you would like to be dealt with.

 

[Wakko9001]

Wow, thanks for all of your feedback, everybody.

Oh, and by the way, when I say personal life, I mean stuff like what she does with her friends. I probably should have specified that. Oops…