What to do about a bad teacher.

[jimmy g]

Well In my math class I have this teacher (MR.S) We still dont know his real name :thinking: Anyways, I have a feeling that I am being treated unfairly in class. He keeps me after class and tells me I need to stop goofing off and stop thowing stuff around.....I am in highschool, Im 16...I havent thown somthing at someone since I played base ball in the 7th grade. He calls my house repeativly and tells my mom about me going though his things and stuff, which I would never do....
He tells me I need to mature and start doing better in class although I Ace all of his tests and turn in my h/w on time so I dont know what hes talking about.
I brought this up with my other teachers and they just tell me to wait it out..Many of my classmates noticed that he does pick on me and does try to get me in trouble many times, even if Im Innocient....
I just dont know what I should do....do i switch into another class? Or do i just sit there all year and have him accuse me of doing things I dont do.
Thanks for your time,
Jim.

 

[fishman830]

wow... uhmmm.. hmmmm, never dealt w/ this i'm 15, and am in HS... but is there a chance at all... that maybe possibly.. be a pedofile(Sp?) We had a Pedofile english teacher last year that was cought staring at butt and chest (and down shirts) of a buncha girls.. which was kinda... awkward..
jim.. lol we got the same name

 

[tangman99]

Well, there are always 2 sides to every story, but assumming yours is 100% corrrect, I would say you need to do something. I would have your parents make contact with him and request a parent/teacher conference. If my son's (he is also 16) teacher called the house all the time, I would be down there wanting to know just what in the he!! was going on that he felt he had to call my house all the time.
Now why would he pick on you specifically? Teachers are human and like and dislike people just like everyone else. Although, they should leave this out of the classroom. I would do some deep thinking and try to figure what I had done to pee this teacher off. If he is picking on you, he doesn't like for some reason and getting out of his class may be the right thing for you.

 

[nikkoli110]

I had a bad problem with one of my teachers my senior year. It was my contemporary issues class, which was suposed to be a senior blow off class, that you basicly sat in and talked. Well we got a new teacher that year with a bad rep, even other teachers warned us about him. It just the begining of my senior year when Sept 11th happened, and since that was a contemporary issue, we had to talk about it. Now I was in this class with about 10 kids, and like 3 of my friends. One kid brought in picutres and a slideshow of what happened that day, the planes, the fires, the explosions, everything. In the slideshow, it played this sad song by Dido, or whatever her name is, and showed pics of the people who were lost, firemen, policemen, and alot of them were pictures of people falling to their deaths out of the windows. It was horrible. Well when we asked for him to turn it off, he said "no this is why your in this class" and he made us watch it like 5 times. It was only like a week after, and everyone was still really shaken up about it. I think it was just to upset us, but he had that slideshow playing everday when we came into that class. Still when I hear that song, I get this horrible feeling in me, and its all I can think about. One more thing about him, I had been out the 2nd quarter for 3 weeks, I had a woman problem, had to do with a big cysts on my ovary, and when I came back, all my teachers except him let me make up my work. But he FAILED me, my senior year, for being out! I even had a doctors note! When I went to the principal complaining, he said all grades are final. It brought my GPA down too, which pissed me right off. But thankfuly, the jerk got fired 4th quarter of that year for saying some "inappropriate statements" to a girl student. He pretty much ruined my senior year.

 

[floorguy]

Stand up for yourself but let your mom know whats going on first. stand up speak clear and sturnly and ask "why do you have such a problem with me" with out being a smart azz cause i still remember what its like being 16, you will either get some respect at that point or you will find something out about yourself you didnt realize. good luck. hey my wife is a teacher ill ask her for ya see what she suggest.

 

[beth]

What do you think the reason is that he is picking on you? What about classmates? Anyone ever have the same problem?
If you can get out of this class, then do so. It is not helping your learning experience to "feel harassed" or persecuted, no matter if there is 2 sides to every story. My feeling about school is tht you are there to learn, not try to figure out personality dynamics.
Nike, it sounds like that teacher was trying to live through his own issues via the classroom and imposing the horrors of 911 on students. Herein is the problem with public school.

 

[malounsbury]

Check around in his other classes and find out if any one else in his other classes have the same problem with him. Most likely, there's at least one other person that he's singled out. I would confront him about it first, or have your parents do it, to find out why he's being particularly hard on you. If you have tests and quizes that show you're doing good in his class, you at least have some evidence that you're doing well in the class, contrary to everything he's saying to/about you.
If he fails to respond from the conversation that you and/or your parents have with him, I would find the department head for the math department and bring this to his/her attention. If you have been able to find others that are having the same problem, this will usually help your case against him.

 

[capschamp]

is there someone else in your class that is throwing stuff or doing things he does not like and the teacher is blaming you? if so, you may want to direct this teachers attention to that student. and like others have said, get your parents up there to talk to him. sometimes seeing a pis_ed off parent can set stupid teachers straight.

 

[jimmy g]

Its not just me, He has singled out a couple other kids also and he says we are all troblemakers and he says that he heard us talking bad about him behind his back....Fist of all, I cant stand the kids that he mentioned and wouldnt talk to them if they were the only two left on earth. Every time I try to talk to him I try to be as polite and respectful as possible and he just tells me this isnt the time to discuss this, So I ask him what a better time would be and he just blows it off and says...Never.
I told my mom about this and she doesnt know who's side to take, She says that there has to be a reason why hes picking on me personally and I just tell her I have no idea.
I would like to get out of his class, I even asked and they said that Its imposible to just drop the class in the middle of the semester.

 

[capschamp]

i teach in cps, so if you are at a cps high school i know what your goin through. you need to convince your mother to side with you.

 

[jimmy g]

"CPS"?

 

[grantman]

He probably means chicago public school. I am a teacher and I think you should schedule a parent teacher conference. If your teacher is unwilling to schedule a conference then you should go to the school counselor or principle. If you are indeed being treated unfairly then the situation should be handled promptly. I do not doubt you feel you are being treated unfairly but you should give your parent and teacher the opportunity to rectify the situation before you go to higher authorities.

 

[jimmy g]

I agree and I am going to try to just get my parents to talk to him and I want him to explain to my parents exactly whats going on...I also want to be in the room because he has lied to my mom before and i dont doubt he will do it again

 

[capschamp]

if there is a problem that he feels is coming from you, then you should be in the meeting with him and your mother/father/guardian and the principal. if this guy wont talk to you, talk to the principal or a counselor as suggested. and i do mean chicago public schools. since you are from chicago i guessed. sorry if i was wrong.

 

[floorguy]

well as I told you my wife is a teacher and she said have a talk with the teacher alone, tell him im sorry for getting off the the wrong foot but you would like to try to resolve the problems with the two of us a help make the school year better for the both of us, she said do NOT do it in the room full of kids. he will feel threatened and just send you to the office good luck.

 

[grantman]

jimmy, I gotta believe your mother doesn't see your avatar.

 

[jimmy g]

Guess what, I did have a talk with him after class, it was just me and him and he told me how today i was outof my seat and being loud ( which is a f****** lie because yes, I was talking to the person i sit by but unlike other kids i wasnt yelling or out of my seat.) I told him this and he called my mom again!!!! and my mom said that i was grounded and I begged her to be on my side. I am going to try my best to get out of that class first thing monday
grantman, No my mom hasnt seen my advitar....why ? lol

 

[capschamp]

you dont go to a chicago public school do you.

 

[floorguy]

hey my wife is always on rate my teacher dot com to see what kids say about her you should leave him some messages. hehehe

 

[dskidmore]

What about your Dad? What about your other teachers? I have a hard time understanding your mother beliving your teacher over you if you've been a good kid up to now. Get some character witnesses. (Make friends with the nerd kids the teacher likes, most of them will give an honest report that other teachers will believe.) Record a diary of events. Maybe even slip a recorder into class. Is the class offered by a diffrent teacher in the same period, or during your study hall? I've transfered teachers in the middle of the year before. (I had medical reasons, and a Dr's note ordering a switch to a partial school day. I dropped unnecessary classes and got all the important ones taken in my partial day.)
If you're not usually the type, (as your avitar indicates you may not be) play the goody-two-shoes in all your classes until you can get all those character witnesses. If there's an academically more difficult teacher that doesn't harrass you personally, request him/her specifically to impress authorities how much you want to switch. Most importantly you have to address any trust issues between your parents and yourself. Find out whatever it is that makes you untrustworthy in thier eyes, and fix it. Chores, homework, proper speach, family obligations, whatever. If you can convince your folks that you're the one being honest with them and they go to the school, the school has to listen to them. A letter signed by your folks is good ammo. An angry parent in the principal's office is better.