My English Teacher

[Subb]

So, I go to virtual school. I don't talk to the teachers unless I have a question. I do not see them, or hear them. I just do the assignments they make. This means that if I don't like you, you are doing something horribly wrong.

This teacher makes the absolute worst assignments I've ever seen. They always requre a lot of work, and are so vauge that you bever know what she wants. She want's you to overachieve, but doesn't give you any room to do so. I'll give you a couple examples.

We read "The Old Man and the Sea." and for the final assignment, we had to adapt it to a children's story. But check this out. Here are some of the instructions.:
-Must be a Prezi.
-Must be at least ten slides, the first being a title slide, the last being an about the author slide.
-This pissed me off the most. There was a LIST of things that you CAN'T put in the story. A LIST OF THINGS YOU WILL LOSE POINTS FOR IF YOU PUT THEM IN. This included:
1. An elaborate setting. (Killing ingenuity. Great.)
2. Give advice. (Have you read a children's story?)
3. Use a harsh or threatening situation. (HAVE YOU READ THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA?)

So, I butchered the story as per her directions, and she docked points because it wasn't engaging. Well, there's another story you can read if you didn't like mine. Sorry I can't make a story interesing if you don't give me anything to explore. Plus, I don't do kids stories.

Secondly, just the direction she takes things. When we did "Antigone," she made us focus on loyalty. Which is boring to me. You could have done free will vs. fate! And you chose LOYALTY!? Really?

You're ruined my favorite subject. And I'm failing it. I don't know if I'm gonna pass my FAVORITE SUBJECT because this bitch runied it. The only thing I've learned is how to be an incompetent english teacher.

[James Comey]

Those standards sound really, really dumb and confusing. I mean, the only real standard should be whether children really would like it.

[KFC Nyan Cat]

(01-18-2014 05:00 PM)SubCulture Wrote:  -Must be a Prezi.

My reaction to Prezi: JESUS! I thought Google Slides was bad!

[Gwedin]

What the hell's a prezi? Give the teacher a present?

Dang hipsters...

[xcriteria]

(01-19-2014 10:35 AM)Gwedin Wrote:  What the hell's a prezi? Give the teacher a present?

Dang hipsters...

http://prezi.com

You can make giant layouts and set them up as sequences.

I like using Prezi, personally. But yes, this sounds like an example of school not working. Can you choose another teacher?

We could come up with better assignments on SS, and propose them to teachers...

[brainiac3397]

Saw some students in my anthropology class use it for the final project. It's an interesting tool. I liked how it worked.

[Subb]

Prezi is interesting, but my computer isn't too powerful. It's very laggy on it. I'd rather use Google Slides.

No, I don't think I can change teachers. I like the idea of writing assignments, though.

[brainiac3397]

Prezi does look like something that'd be heavy on the computer.

Powerpoint is still lighter to use in my opinion. Might not look as good as Prezi but it won't suck up your processing power.

[xcriteria]

(01-19-2014 12:25 PM)SubCulture Wrote:  Prezi is interesting, but my computer isn't too powerful. It's very laggy on it. I'd rather use Google Slides.

No, I don't think I can change teachers. I like the idea of writing assignments, though.

If all you want is a slide presentation, I agree, you might as well use Google Slides, Powerpoint, or the OpenOffice version.

What I like about Prezi is the ability to use it to make large, interconnected layouts, including embedded videos, screencaps, etc. Considering what I do with walls of content in forums, I take that to another level with layouts.

But the question is then, how to use the tool effectively, for whatever your purpose is. And, finding a tool that will work for your purpose. That's something that gets overlooked by these assignments that dictate specific outputs and methods for no particular reason.

[Subb]

I just like the convenience of the Google stuff. Being able to just submit a link, instead of uploading a file. It's the most efficient one for my virtual school.

Okay, here's another couple assignments.

We had to go on the web to look up stuff on Ernest Hemingway. There was five or so questions, and you had to write a paragraph for all of them. The first question was "How does one describe Ernest Hemingway?" Really. What should I describe about him? His appearance? His writing? His life? WHAT!?!?!? That question is so unspecific, it's worthless.

The questions were always about his life. I saw no point to it, so to add some purpose, I always tied it back to how his life experiences impacted his writing. Guess what the last question was. "Did these life experiences shape his writing?" Well, LOOK AT THE FIRST FOUR QUESTIONS!!

The next assignment was simple. Pick a character that was in one story we read, and write two paragraphs about them. She stressed that that was a MINIMUM, so she really wanted us to write more. But, she spelled out specifically what we were to include in each paragraph. "Put A and B in Paragraph 1, and C and D in Paragraph 2." Guess what, Mrs. Bad Teacher. If you put a leash on us, we CAN'T overachieve and write more.

So I picked a character, and write about them. I analyzed him pretty well, I thought. But I didn't want to analyze the character. Throughout the writing, I had an itch to use the character as a lens into the message of the story, even the perspective of the author. To connect the conflict and the character to see the bigger picture. But I couldn't. Because she spelled out what to put in every paragraph.

Just..... Fail. Utter failure. You're supposed to let cool insights bloom, not kill them.

[brainiac3397]

Ernest Hemingway can be described as a successful meatbag, master.

[KFC Nyan Cat]

(01-19-2014 03:32 PM)xcriteria Wrote:  

(01-19-2014 12:25 PM)SubCulture Wrote:  Prezi is interesting, but my computer isn't too powerful. It's very laggy on it. I'd rather use Google Slides.

No, I don't think I can change teachers. I like the idea of writing assignments, though.

If all you want is a slide presentation, I agree, you might as well use Google Slides, Powerpoint, or the OpenOffice version.

What I like about Prezi is the ability to use it to make large, interconnected layouts, including embedded videos, screencaps, etc. Considering what I do with walls of content in forums, I take that to another level with layouts.

But the question is then, how to use the tool effectively, for whatever your purpose is. And, finding a tool that will work for your purpose. That's something that gets overlooked by these assignments that dictate specific outputs and methods for no particular reason.

I hate how my school says "either Prezi or Google Slides" because I hate both and love my Powerpoint and OpenOffice Impress. Prezi is over-complicated, and Google products that aren't search or YouTube crash on My Shitty Windows PC that Lags Minecraft AND My Shitty Chrome OS PC That Runs Emulated DOS Games At Snail's Pace.

[Marlena403]

That's horrible. I used to like English in Year 8. I think it's because of this one English teacher who doesn't even teach me and never did. I didn't have her in Year 8. I had another English teacher, but she was ok. Anyway, I tried my best in her class and started doing my homework, just so that I get my favourite English teacher this year. I even got exeptional results in my Year 8 English exam. In my school, we get our new timetables in June, but start school in September and end in July. I thought I would get my favourite English teacher, but it sadly didn't happen. All that hard work for nothing. Who did I get instead? The worst English teacher I know. I accepted it only because I didn't know her.

I'm now in Year 9. In September she punished me for just getting pushed in the corridor by nasty kids. I tried to take revenge, but that got me a C2 (2 negative points and a sanction). In October, the same incident happened. Two boys kept pushing each other on me and telling me to give them a C1 (1 negative point). Then, the rest of the class joined in and pushed me away from AF9. Luckily, two English teachers (One male, one female) saved me. The male English teacher told one of the boys off while the female English teacher told off everyone else, including one of the two boys who started it. So, who did the right thing? The two teachers who saved me. If my current English teacher did the same in September, I wouldn't even try to take revenge on anyone.

Anyway, a few days later, me and two of the boys laughed when my English teacher gave another boy a U2 (Uniform Detention). She gave me and one of the boys a C1 while the other boy got nothing. The teacher just asked him (She asked me and the boy who got a C1 the same question, but we also got C1's) whether he thinks it's funny that someone else got a U2 for not tucking his shirt in. I told her to remove my C1 and she gave me a C2. I then said the same thing and told her that I will never get anymore reward points. She gave me a C3 (3 Negative Points and a lunchtime detention). I then told her that I hate her and got a C4 (4 Negative Points, removal and Departamental Detention). She then told me that if I apologise, my C4 will be removed. I apologised. My C4 was changed to a C2, but I still had to go to Departamental Detention. That was great because I could spend 15 minutes of my lunchtime with the Head of English.

In November, the class went wild and the teacher ran out of class. One of the naughty boys has been moved to the class that I wanted to move to because the teacher likes him more than she likes me. I should have been moved to that class instead. I passed my Year 8 English exam. This boy didn't. I have tried my best in English in Year 8. This boy hasn't. I can behave in English. This boy cannot. So why is it him getting moved to another class and not me? I then wrote a hurtful note about my English teacher. I wrote that she is the worst English teacher, that I'll blow up AF9, that she yells too much, that she's too strict, that the only good thing she ever did to me was giving me a C4, that she cannot spell easy words, that I'm glad she ran away, that she can't teach, that she is selfish, that I want her fired and that I want to be in another class.

Later, I was doing my French test in AF11. I was very happy about that. But a few days later, I accused my English teacher of stealing my pencil case and maths book.

In December, there was a parents evening and she lied to my mum about the incident in September. She said that she punished the boy for pushing another boy on me when she really didn't. She also said that she won't put me in the class I want to go to because if all students moved to that class, there would be too many people. I am not the only student in her class. My Pastoral Leader told me that my favourite English teacher will never teach me and that I will get the same English teacher again in Year 10.

After the Parents Evening, my English teacher has been giving me harder work than everyone else until the Winter Break. After the Winter Break, she was nice to me.

In January, I told my math teacher to burn in hell because someone was swearing at me in Polish and she sent me outside instead of punishing the student. I didn't mean those hurtful words. And I like my math teacher. I was just so mad that I couldn't control my anger. I also told my co-tutor that my Form Tutor fell down the manhole. Since there was no school for Year 9 the day later, I had Half-Day Seclusion two days after I told my math teacher to burn in hell. On the day when I had seclusion, I also had a C3 detention with the Head of English. My DT teacher was in seclusion for the first hour, so seclusion was not bad at all. After my seclusion, My rubbish Pastoral Leader told me that I'm not allowed to have any favourite teachers. Some teachers that I later talked to said that she is right because if teachers aren't allowed to have favourite students, students shouldn't be allowed to have favourite teachers.

I had five favourite teachers back then. Now I have seven. Four days after I came back to school after half term, I did something that made me the worst student ever. I hugged my Form Tutor even though she doesn't like it. On the same day, I misbehaved in maths. Then in English, I ate skittles, wrote a hurtful note about the cover teacher and refused to work. I got a C3 again, but the Head of English was not in the C3 detention this time.

In February, kids were pushing me around, so I now line up outside AF11 but still learn in AF9. Then, my English teacher was nice to me. However, after Easter, when I went to the Head of English for homework help, my English teacher lied to her and said I don't have any homework. My favourite English teacher was too busy to help me anyway. I was not mad at her. I was mad at my English teacher. A few days later, she yelled at me for nothing. Today she wasted 10 minutes of my lunchtime.

[James Comey]

Uh, use space please?