Dat hiatus, doe!!!
But seriously...12 reads? Wow. I haven't updated in such a long time, buts it's good to know that at least a dozen people are amused my struggles.
This portion, obviously, is wayyy overdue seeing as its October and I last updated this on April, but whatever. I started to write this about a week or two after my first update, but never got around to finishing it because of some things that have been happening.(i.e. sleep and laziness) I could just write a new rant for my "diary", but I don't want to put this to waste.
I don't know why the hell I decided to write this A/N, because I for one hate them myself and I don't think anyone will even bother to read it, much less this book. Whatever--what's done is done!
A long time ago, I had some of the best teachers I've ever had the honor to meet. Honestly, their love of teaching deserves a medal. They took up the role of a true teacher and turned each and every subject in school into an interesting and fascinating fountain of knowledge to my young ears. Because of them, I learned to appreciate school at an early age, and gained a new respect for anyone I would call a teacher.
And then middle school happened.
Today, my rant is about all the teachers who manage to turn the simple task of learning into a Mission Impossible worthy challenge.
Shitty teachers pisses me off more than it should. Students are here to learn (or at least are just there. There are such things as shitty students, too) and you make it a challenge to do that? Here in Florida, we have three shitty steps for a school year: learn some shit, test on the shit, then relax and shit.
I understand that the school year is bound to get complicated, with meetings, drills, assemblies, days off, substitutes, etc. But if it's hard enough to do that with a good teacher, what makes you think I can handle all of that and put up with your "I-can't-teach-well-for-my-life" ass?
Some of these teachers don't do this intentionally-or at least deliberately. But others, not so much. And while you'll find all sorts of bad teachers, this list is just some of the most common--or worse--of them all.
1) The Foreign Fright
I could finish this in one sentence: If you can't bother to learn the language of what most of your co-workers and/or your customers speak, then maybe you shouldn't be working there.
Some of the most common arguments I get in response to my-err, distaste-in FFs is that I'm racist, or I just believe that only Americans-born citizens should work here. 'Wahh, unnamed person,' they'd cry, 'you just have something against foreign teachers!' I always have two things in response to that: 1) I am against FFs, not foreign teachers, which you would have found out if you'd shuddup and listen; and 2) I have no problem with migrant laborers, but have respect for the drive they have to take care of their family.
But just like a lazy high school dropout thinking he can be the next President of the United States, someone who wants to be an English professor when their English is worse than the actual students shouldn't get the job simply. Why? They don't have what's required to do the job effectively. In other words, I'm in school to know more about Schrödinger's cat, not the Na'vi language. Kinda hard to learn about a contradicting kitty if I have to figure out if I'll need to learn German first to understand the class.
2) The Lenient Linch
Do you know how awesome it'd be if I could teach myself anything? I would learn how to code, cook, animate, and speak every language of the world. I would be the next Barbie. But let's keep it real--this is Earth we live in, and we're only humans. The last time I tried to teach myself something, I legit nearly blew up my kitchen. WE NEED TEACHERS FOR ONE SIMPLE REASON--THERE'S NO OTHER WAY TO LEARN.
You would think that the same people who were hired for said reasons would be the ones to best understand this. But it just ain't so.
I think the lenient linches are the worst shitty teachers. They come in different variations, but the ones I usually encounter are the ones who, after either not teaching you at all or directing you to the textbook, hands you an assignment (which ranges from a five question trivia on shit you learned since you were age fetus or a 300 page essay on the theory of how many licks it takes to get on the center of a tootsie roll pop) and expects you to get a 105% on the final exam by the end of the year. They are the ultimate extremists when it comes to the term "teaching to teach oneself." This may not bother a lot of students (like I said, shitty students are very much alive) but I think it's an absolute waste of time to not learn something out of school. If I'm required by law to go through this I might as well get something good out of it, right?
But noooooo. Even that can't happen. Life must love to look down at me and be like 'Not today, bitch. Not today' because since sixth grade at least two of my teachers were LLs.
Now, I like to consider myself reasonable. Maybe, just maybe, there is a chance that I could try to understand the reasoning behind it all. But the excuses are as repetitive as they are horrible.
I can't stand children.
^^Oh, really? You poor soul. It's so unfortunate that you voluntarily decided to choose a carrier that deals with children. I completely understand.
I'm too tired.
^^ Mmmhmmm. Keep talking like you're the only one who gets up early. See where that gets you in life.
You're here to learn how to teach yourself.
^^(*Sneezes*) Pardon me. Bullshit must be in the air; I'm quite allergic to it.
But really? Is that your excuse? Even if that was true, you're not even doing that! Where's the lesson on sufficient note-taking? Or the guide to understanding what's in a textbook? Well?
Yeah. I thought so, you insufferable son of a gun. Now sit down.
The only thing I could ever learn in a L.L's class is how to be lazy and overall a waste of a degree. And trust me when I say I could be easily doing that at home instead of being surrounded by fools playing on their phone while I'm trying to memorize the Bible in 50-minutes for some test. You don't want to be here? Fine. But instead of coming to school with a nasty attitude practically screaming to the world that you don't want to be there (which is ironic, coming from someone who gets angry when a student complains about being in their class), then give the degree to someone who would actually need it and die in a fire because there is no need for you to be in the school system--as shitty as it already is--when the only thing you can bother to teach us is how to be a foolproof failure and waste of space in life.
3) Biased Bitches
This type of teacher, as long as it's not acted upon too much, won't really affect what or how you're being taught, unlike the last two. In my opinion, BBs are the most annoying. 'What does the BB do?' you ask. It's pretty simple: favoritism.
These teachers put 'teacher's pet' to a whole new meaning. I already got my mother comparing me to everyone under the sun; the last thing I want is for the same to happen in school! I got a C in my test? Fine! I don't need you to make a speech about how Lauren got 100. I was tardy? Then just mark me. I'm pretty sure knowing about John's perfect attendance won't exactly help it.
I'll give this type some props, though. I hate this type the least because there are degrees. With the other teachers, they either are or aren't. But not all BBs are excruciatingly biased, so some are tolerable. Others...not so much.
My Spanish II teacher in middle school is an example of a non-tolerable BB. Let's call her Bitchugray (or Ms. B). My classmate had her for Spanish I in 7th grade and she did pretty well in the class. Let's call her Mary. Around the middle of the school year, Mary had to go to Algebra pullouts. Even though Ms. B got an email of the students going, she would still stop by her class to tell her she's going because she knew how much Ms. B was true to her name. But being the bitch she was, she still gave her D's and marked her absent every time she went.
Mary had straight A's. So it isn't so surprising to learn she was pissed when she saw the drop in her grades. But still, she mannerly asked her about the D's even though she did nothing wrong. And what did she do? Reprimanded her about not coming to her class.
Since Bitchugary wasn't going to do something, she went to the Assistant Principal at that time to change the grades for her and he did. He also sent a letter to Ms. B explaining her absence. And what did she do when she got the email? Well, what every other sensible teacher would do—yell at Mary in front of the whole class for getting her in trouble.
But how does this relate to favoritism, you ask. A Hispanic girl in the same Spanish class that was failing was in the same pullouts as Mary, yet Ms. B did none of that BS to her and even gave her A's.
What's even worse was what happened to the class.
The principle thought it would be nice to give the less educated kids (the people with a score of ones and twos on the FCAT*) and put them in Spanish. Of course, he couldn't put them into the actual high school version, so they downgraded Mary's class to Spanish Basics. The Hispanic girl got moved to Spanish I right away. But Mary had to stay, according to Ms. B. She said, and I quote: "You needed the downgrade anyway."
Must I say more?
While I'm sure many who are excellent, there are also just as many shitty teachers out there not worth being called one.
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A/N: FCAT used to be the end of the year test in Florida in to determine whether students learned anything in the school year.
A quick dedication to 17Serenity. She makes awesome book covers--popular, awesome book covers--but I'm so grateful that she's nice enough to accept all requests regardless of how famous the book is.