Worst teacher you've ever had?

[kBob]

What is about French teachers? My high school French teacher was pretty bad, she quit when she married the football coach, only thing I remember learning in that class is a word I probably shouldn't put down here m*rd* (and once saw an NV license plate). My first grade French teacher was great though alas we moved and I forgot it all.

On that bulling/hazing thing it was pretty much ignored in my high school in the 70's my friends got it pretty bad, but when I was a freshman I couldn't go outside to play PE because of asthma so I stayed in and lifted weights. Then when the snow came it was time for everybody to come in and the coach had us do a bench press test. Soon all my friends had to drop out and it was just little me and the football players, I dropped out in about the middle of the pack of the football guys and magically I seldom got bothered after that, I was smaller than most of my friends too.

[peadar1987]

Our French teacher was great, he was born in Zambia to Irish parents, was an international rower, 6'2" tall, completely ripped, and put on this exaggerated personality that can best be described as "uncool white Mr. T".

"Hey, fool, why did you think it would be okay to come to class without your textbook? I wouldn't even think of going to a discotheque without my medallion!"

I suppose our Irish teacher wasn't great though. It took us a long time to realise that the reason for her erratic behaviour was because she was an alcoholic who had a fresh bottle of gin in her desk each morning. Luckily we were given a different teacher for leaving cert, and I actually managed to learn something!

[swiftgates24]

My third grade teacher gave me a C on a math test for making my 4's the wrong way.

P.S. '4' is not the right way, apparently

[John Crichton]

Forgot to mention my epic high school math teacher, he was the best. Our entire class hated math for some reason and hardly ever paid attention. So after 6mo he kinda gave up. He used to enter the classroom, silently walk up to the TV and then made us watch 1.5hrs of sensationalist documentaries similar to the History (lol) Channel's "Ancient Aliens" or shows with titles such as "Killer Sharks". During those programs, he moved to the back of the class and usually took a nap until break time.

I'd be mad, but he really tried at first...we were a horrible bunch of kids. I learned math through self-study because it tied in with my real interests. I also have vast knowledge about various killer animals thanks to our math classes back then.

[helaeon]

I had an English teacher that I had to explain it is mathematically impossible for grades all above 90 to average out to below 90. Then she acted like she was doing me some sort of favor when correcting my grade and threatened to change it back if I told anyone that she did that. To which I thought... tell the other students to check their grades because you can't add and divide, or check your own work?

[One-Way Films]

My current Maths Teacher. So , she's been with me and my classmates for two years (1st and 2nd Year) and she might continue with us until 3rd year. There are a few problems with her that everyone absolutely hates:

1) She can't speak properly with her damn lisp. It's not her fault, but it's hard to learn about algebra when understanding her is a challenge in itself.

2) When you couldn't understand something in your homework, and you ask her for help, she gives you a note! Thanks, b17ch! That's a third of what I need for detention!

3) She doesn't care what happens in the class! She doesn't care if you don't learn! She keeps going even if you don't understand! I have trouble with maths, and she put me at the back of the class. That's alright. The Parent/Teacher meetings came up, so I told my Mum and Dad to ask her to move me up front. There was a spare seat in the front row. They asked, but she wasn't listening. Yes, she agreed I wasn't doing too well, and when my Dad asked her to move me, she said, and I quote: ''Aw, but he's comfterable down next to the wall. I'd say he's happier there.'' I couldn't care less about being away from my friends! JUST EDUCATE ME!!!! I'd prefer to miss a few conversations with my friends than ending up in a sh1tty job as a bin-man! Thank you for reading!

Edited February 11, 2014 by One-Way Films

[WhiteWeasel]

My 6th grade teacher. Her inability to control the class and stop kids from picking on each other was so bad I had to quit public school and switch to a nearby catholic school.

Things she did that could be describe as absolutely ret*****.

-Saying "Not appropriate" as a default response to a kid misbehaving. Even if he makes something that would be classified as a terroristic threat.

-Having a check mark system for bad behavior, where a kid has to get six of them to be sent to the principal. Here's the punch line, it resets each day.

-Sending that kid out for a half an hour after starting a petition of people who hate me in the class

-After seeing that we don't get along to well, she decided to sit right next to each other for "social bonding"

She is the reason to this day why I support corporal punishment, and I should not be a position of power because I have been scarred and (almost) support fascism.

[Joshington]

I might not be looking back enough years, but I've had the luck of having no super horrible teachers, but plenty with pros and cons.

For example, my current biology teacher lets us use our notes on all the tests, so they're fairly easy, but during normal days when he gives us a worksheet, he would consistently drone on about where he hunted when (it's Alaska), and I have less time to work on the worksheet.

And then my 7th grade math teacher just gave us packets, sat at her desk and ignored the war zone the room turned into. When my mom questioned my poor grades, she figured it out (I honestly ignored what was going on in there) and called the school. She got her act together very quickly.

Edited February 12, 2014 by Joshington

[kBob]

I'll share one more:

My business law teacher. He gave us the tests as take home-open book tests, the tests were the canned tests that come with the teacher's edition of the book. So I spent six hours using the index and slightly rewriting what I found on the first test paper. I got the only A in a class of about 15 (small college). So I decided this was a total waste of time and I bought a copy of the teacher's edition and after that just copied out the answers slightly rewriting them, saved many hours of work. I got the only A in the class, the teacher said he graded on a "strict bell-curve" and since it was a small class there could only be one 'A'...I felt sorry for whoever got the one 'F'. Cheating? I guess but I'd already proved I could do it if I wanted to spend the time (and I would have I was somewhat GPA obsessed back then). Fortunately my parents were lawyers so I absorbed a lot more about the law from them than I ever did from that class.

My experience suggests there are a few really good teachers and a few really bad teachers with most in-between...a nice bell curve, but I have to say a really good teacher can out weigh the bad ones, my business calculus I teacher got me so interested in math I went on to take the regular calculus I,II,III courses (most of which I've forgotten, oh well) even though the computer science major only required the business calculus courses. Just thinking about it makes me want to get "calculus for dummies" and re-learn it.

So for those of you currently stuck with a bad teacher, well: this too shall pass, and look forward to when you get a really good one to make up for it. And for those not in college yet, when you get into college, go see your teachers in their offices, show an interest in the subject to them and your grades will be better for it as most teachers like this (with the occasional exception) the derogatory term is brown-nosing but who cares if it gets you better grades.

[Seret]

My high school biology teacher. Just awful. She had absolutely no clue how to control a class of 14 year old boys, so she just ended up shouting louder and louder. Coupled to this she wasn't very bright, so the lads used to mercilessly take the p*ss out of her in ways she didn't understand. Very little learning got done in that class, mostly it just degenerated into agar fights whenever she left the room, or pouring various chemicals into her pet axolotl's tank to see what they would do. The day the whole thing went bright blue was fun.

I still have no clue how anything squishy and wet actually works, but I work in engineering so we tend to just ignore all that stuff.

[Rainbowtrout]

When I first saw this thread! I was thinking "Right, rant time!" Be warned, this contains a lot of hate.

Year 2-6 Spanish teacher = Oh boy. Oh oh boy. This. This "person" was sadistic. My primary school had a points system, where if you lose 10 points, you get a 2 hour detention on Friday. Bear in mind, we were young at the time. We also had laptops, most running old operating systems. One had a newer one (forgot which), and made a nice sound when opening. I heard it, and said "Hey, someone has the new laptop out!" Ten points straight off. Then, The next day, when the head came in, some idiot had to blab.

Year 3-5 RE Teacher - Devout Christian. When we learned about a new religion, she would always ay "God is always right, don't listen to this!" Being the only Atheist in my school at the time, I was annoyed. To say the least. Told her that I was Atheist. Boom. She was mad.

Preschool - Year 6 Head - Simply the most devout person I have met. We had to pray everyday, I didn't pray, "PRAY NOW!" Once, I expressed my atheism, it didn't go well. Did I regret it? Maybe. Was I proud? Hell yes. Did I show that I wasn't a pawn? See last answer.

Year 7 Languages Teacher - No control over class, failed to stop bullying and disruptions. Need I say more?

The rest were pretty good.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Rainbowtrout

[John Nowak]

Easy. The Statistics teacher who proved on the board that something had a 110% chance of happening.

And I had to explain what was wrong with that.

[MartGonzo]

I'm over 40 now, when I was very young we had a maths teacher called Mrs. Foden who used to like to drag kids around by their hair or ears, hit them with wooden rulers or throw wooden board rubbers at them.

Nowadays she'd be sacked in an instant, back then teachers could be out and out sociopaths without anyone lifting an eyebrow.

[vetrox]

The problem i had with my teachers was probably more to do with disruptive pupils.

I just couldnt understand how some teachers were the arch enemey (I.E you wouldnt misbehave in their class) yet another teacher would be the oposite.

In my school at least, the ability to physically harm students would be slightly usefull. Its a shame alot of teachers would have abused this privilege back in the day. I never had any bad teachers other than their inability to control the classroom. I had a great science teacher for half a term, she loved science (i dont even remember her name) and all she wanted to do was teach it. She lasted half a term before she left. Students at my school were just awfull

EDIT: We had an RS (religious studies) teacher who pretty much gave up. I have memories of just watching episodes of the simpsons in his class. Poor guy.

Edited February 14, 2014 by vetrox

[roblamb98]

my physical science teacher, i tell her that i have a clear understanding on "how centripetal force affects the orbits of planets" yet she still talks to me like all i know is i'm on a rock in space. it's not really that frustrating, but after a whole semester it gets old.

[roblamb98]

I like your story, you have officially been awarded 1 ****

[John Crichton]

Religious studies teacher. I questioned 99% of her claims to the point where I was suspended from those classes. My dad complained about her questioning of evolution (aka a science subject) to the principal. Me not having to attend her snake oil sessions was a "compromise" since I flat out refused to gobble up her BS.

[Helix935]

in my first AP class, I had a teacher who only made us do outlines of the book, but the thing was that she didn't actually tell us how to do the outlines and would just sit there reading a book while we wrote. She was fired within a few weeks

[Dispatcher]

I had a biology teacher whose breath smelled like alcohol, and he mumbled most of the lectures. The most memorable thing he taught that I recall is that when you scratch an itch, you are inoculating the site.

[Accelerando]

Well, I got one: my high school senior year Physics teacher. He was+is a complete nutjob, and thanks to the tenure system he's probably going to remain a nutjob until he eventually retires from his too-easy career or drops dead on the spot.

He was obsessed with himself and his academic progeny, aka. his obsession with "preparing you for the business world", his own idiotically formulated grading system which tied in with the former, and deeply egoistic and/or completely inane things like showing off his yellow Ferrari to the class or forcing the class to watch David Copperfield videos and science fantasy movies like The Core, which he justified on the grounds that "if you look closely, you'll see a lot of science in there".

Seriously.

What his view of "preparing you for the business world" amounted to was that we would:

1) have "projects" to do for which we would have to pay for all materials and engineer everything without assistance from him (mind you, among these projects was constructing a man-size ballista), and:

2) our score would be judged based on how well we could achieve the inane goals he set for us. On the ballista project, what this meant was that whether or not you passed or failed the project depended almost entirely on how far you could fling a tennis ball using your contraption  and if you won the first two rounds, you got to go to bonus rounds and score even more points than everyone else who was already barred from the "competition."

And if you fail to handle all of this perfectly, don't expect any help. In fact, you could even expect to be punished for failures that had nothing to do with your own work. Want to get a good grade while flying model rockets made of plastic and powder? Well, you'd better be prepared to control the wind. On your first try. In a basic-level high school physics class that teaches you nothing about design. (Again, we had to pay for the rockets ourselves, and use existing models, so there weren't any test runs unless your parents were willing to spend another however many dollars on BS). Even if nobody else had done anything to "engineer their rocket better", as he put it, to prevent the wind from blowing their spent sparkler into a tree, you would get 1/3 off the entire grade if your rocket was blown astray.

Oh yeah, and for one project he based part of the grade on how "cool" a domain name we could come up with for the make-believe companies he had us organize into. Obviously this aging grey-haired fat narcissist waddling around the room in his too-small blue polo shirt was the judge of cool. This was for an egg drop project.

The guy had no sense of originality, and no real grasp on the science he had ostensibly been teaching for the past twenty years to earn his tenure.

As part of our "note taking" he absolutely required us to make complete copies of the slides he showed us, which were seriously just whole sections from the textbook scanned onto the overhead. Not only that, but we were assigned whole sections of the book to copy verbatim into our notebooks. I forget if we were supposed to imitate the pictures too, but I wouldn't be surprised if we did...

As you would gather, he was completely inept at explanations. In fact, we were once studying momentum and he told us without a trace of irony in his voice that photons cannot exert momentum â€â€*but not only that! I raised my hand and asked him about solar sails, which are propelled by the momentum imparted by photons, to which he replied, "Some scientists think that light may be able to exert pressure, but that's only a theory." Give me a break! This was winter of 2010 â€â€*Japan had already flown a real, successful solar sail months earlier.

Getting back to grading, somewhat: in the spirit of the projects he had us do, we could also earn extra credit in the form of "Barbour Bucks" (his name) for such inane things as writing a book report on one of his favorite science fiction novels. Granted, we could also write a report on one of his favorite science nonfiction books, but he definitely recommended reading at least one SF novel: Michael Crichton's State of Fear. Why? Because "it has a very interesting section in the back about how anti-industry scientists are faking global warming." This was how you could BS your way out of an F grade, basically. Later on, this guy also told us outright that he believed JFK's real shooter was being covered up. Who would have guessed?

Midway through the year I managed to get a transfer out of that class with my parents' help, and I'm glad I did. We also filed a complaint with the administration, but nothing happened because tenure. Whatever it is, I hope he commits a petty crime soon and gets himself thrown out.

Edited March 21, 2014 by Accelerando

[SuperBigD60]

Side note:

But everything changed when he started a class with one of those work guides that basically explained why atheism was bad and how 'we' should cure it. It was the most offensive and childish thing he had ever done to us. One of my close friends stared at me as I read through the first page, and when I got to the end, almost half of my classmates were sharing evasive stares at me. They knew I was pissed and I knew it too. So I patiently got up and asked my teacher what did that thing mean. I bet he could see I was getting red, because he immediately started explaining himself, and saying that guide was intended for those who believed in that thing.

As a middle class, white, Christian male, I can honestly say I have no recollection of ever being discrimminated against, so I can't relate there. But this resonated with me.

Very few things make me really angry, but the one thing that does w/o fail is people using their beliefs to claim they're better than other people. Especially Christians, because I am one.

If it helps, know that it was pompous religous types like that who killed Jesus, which makes that teacher super ironic.

end side note, apologies.

As for teachers, mine all loved me and I was always the smart kid everyone else hated, so we got along fine.

My cousins have a few stories, though. For instance, their high school physics teacher was of the "there's more to life than physics" variety.

My older cousin had an A in the class, and when my rocket scientist Uncle asked about something simple, she had no idea. Not a big deal here, because My older cousin didn't like physics anyway. My younger cousin actually wanted to learn, and that was when this lady evidently got really pseudo philosophical and almost refused to teach physics for some reason that only made sense to her.

I wish I could remember the story more precisely, because it was a hoot.

[6.forty]

My English teacher in high school insisted the word "leviathan" was pronounced "le-vee-the-an". And my physics teacher seemed to have no problems with me playing Unreal Tournament on my laptop almost every day. Good ol' American schools right there.

Edited March 22, 2014 by 6.forty
gg keyboard

[SkyHook]

I think that 90% of "bad teachers" are actually bad students with terrible attitudes.

[_jack]

I haven't had any bad teachers (yet), but I have several friends who do have one. He "teaches" World Geography but ends up spending half the class time talking about his personal life and is always late by at least 5 minutes. They have skipped most of North America and South America, all of Europe, and Africa.

[WhiteWeasel]

One day in our CAD class this one kid got the original halo on his flash drive and uploaded it to all of the computers. Instead of deleting it, he used his admin powers to lock kids out of their computers if caught playing it. And started to play it himself on his laptop one day. Then he said "If you get all your work done-properly i'll let you play halo".

Students->

Either he was awesome, or manipulative. Still as far as other teachers were concerned, he was not supposed to do that. But you can't argue with the larger number of turned in assignments.

Edited March 25, 2014 by WhiteWeasel